Dogs are incredible creatures and can be incredibly difficult to understand for the average dog owner. As dog trainers, it’s essential to understand what drives these behaviors, especially when it comes to reactivity and aggression. One of the most common issues we see in reactive dogs is what we call “fake confidence.” What Is Fake Confidence?
I was at my wits end with my 3 dogs fighting in the home! I had tried 3 different trainers and was getting no where fast! I got referred to Mango Dogs by my neighbour who had similar experiences with her dog. Mango Dogs offered my a complimentary evaluation and I knew walking out, this was
We had always wanted to add a Great Dane to our family because of its regal and calm demeanor, but quickly came to find that was not the case with our 13-month-old, Osler. We did puppy obedience classes, and consistent at-home training and still couldn’t manage his reactivity around other dogs. Leash walking him was a
Freya is a 3 year old cattle dog that recently started becoming reactive and aggressive. There were moments that caused that embarrassment feeling when out walking with her, I felt extremely frustrated with her. Trainers before told me we only needed to work on confidence training, once her confidence was up she was wouldn’t react. So
I had a leash-reactive German shepherd mix that was aggressive towards other dogs. Before going to Mango I had tried many of the tools that Mango uses to train him myself but I wasn’t getting the results I wanted. Mango really helped me refine my training and teach me, how to teach my dog. I’m excited
Mango Dogs will change your life. The experience will be an investment that will provide a lifetime of happiness and freedom with your dog. You will look back on your dog’s life without regrets, missed opportunities or experiences. You will learn how to involve your dog in every part of your life if you want to.
My Welsh Corgi had a severe case of reactivity with other dogs and people. I had spent 5+ months of training with another trainer that used positive reinforcement only techniques which could not get the reactivity under control. I decided to reach out to Mango Dogs for help since they used a balanced approach to dog
We hired Mango Dogs to help us train our dog Cindy. We were specifically looking for an e-collar course as my ultimate goal was to be able to take her off leash. Also wanted help with recall and general obedience including a few issues like door dashing and fence jumping. We work with Jared and he’s
Before Mango Dogs, my German shepherd Lana was a nightmare to take on walks. She would pull and lunge at other dogs, people, bikers, etc. She was mouthy. I felt hopeless and was considering giving her back to the shelter. After just 4 weekly lessons with Justin, she is able to control her impulses and excitement
I have never been so impressed!! I could not recommend Mango Dogs enough! Taylor has completely changed our life at home with our 80lbs rescue dog, Yuna. My boyfriend and I had been struggling with how reactive Yuna had become toward dogs and people, from negative experiences with other dogs. I was starting to lose hope
Before training with Mango Dogs Carolinas, my dog Brady had been “trained” by two other trainers. I had resigned to just not walking him as their methods were not enough for him. He is very reactive towards other dogs which made walking in public impossible. I saw a recommendation on Next Door for this trainer and
Before training, we were a nervous wreck taking her anywhere. She is a very reactive Texas Healer (cattle dog mix). One day she ran out of the house and nipped another dog on the butt. She would jump on guests coming into the house and go crazy on walks. When walking her, she would pull and
I adopted my dog Gino when he was 3 years old and he is so sweet, but he was sooo poorly behaved. He didn’t listen to any commands other than sit. He would not come when called unless I had a treat and even then it was iffy. It was embarrassing I couldn’t take him anywhere
We adopted our rescue dog Lucky, from South Korea in August last year. Lucky was bonded to me in a few months but he was still skittish to my partner even 6 months after we adopted him. It was impossible for my partner to even put a leash on Lucky without my help. Lucky bit my
Our experience with dog training before Mango Dogs was quite frustrating. We went through two trainers and a veterinarian behaviouralist. All of them only wanted to do management training and got me to do things like tarp my fence and other things to stop my dog from seeing things that made him reactive. This isn’t the
When we contacted Mango Dogs we were at a place where we felt defeated and lost at what we could do and what our future with our dogs looked like. We had such high hopes for our little family but felt so stuck. Let me start by introducing our furry friends: Izzie and Leo: Izzie is
Prey Drive and Predatory Aggression in Dogs Prey drive is one of the most misunderstood components in the dog training world so let’s define a few terms. 1: Prey/play drive 2: Prey/stimulation drive 3: Acquisition drive 4: Predatory aggression 1. Prey/play drive. This is often the drive dog trainers refer to when evaluating the interest level
The traits that once served our dogs now haunt themEach day as I work with reactive and aggressive dogs, I see the direct link between dog breeds and specific issues. If aggression was formed by nurture alone then why do we dog trainers see so many of the same issues in breed groupings? It’s my opinion
In April of last year, I decided my 7-year-old Golden Retriever needed a friend and came across Lola the Bloodhound who needed a new home. I thought that adopting would have to be much easier than raising a puppy. She was already 2 years old, but it didn’t take long to realize she was full of
After over 40 years of sharing our home with eight different dogs ranging in size from a Pug to Newfs, and often two at a time (Cocker and 166 pound Newf; 130 pound Newf and Boxer; same Boxer and rescue Pug), we considered ourselves fairly skilled in raising and handling our canine companions. Then we got
Our pup Murphy is a German shepherd/Belgian Malinois mix which inherently has a lot of strong breed traits. I started with the generic puppy classes then moved on to obedience classes. Murphy was an absolute rock star in class, but this did not transfer over to the chaos of everyday life in our home. Murphy was
Getting a puppy too young. When taking home a puppy there’s one thing that you can do that will almost ensure that your dog will have behavioral problems or aggression issues as they grow up. Adopting or purchasing a puppy from a breeder at an age under seven weeks is rarely a great idea. Okay, I
Covid-19 has changed many things in our society and from the perspective of a dog trainer, one of the biggest things that have changed in the lives of dogs is that most veterinarians will not allow humans to enter the clinic. This means that dogs will go into uncomfortable situations at a vet clinic and they
Golden retrievers and doodles suffering from reactivity and aggression issues. As a dog trainer who specializes in working with reactive and aggressive dogs, I see golden retrievers and doodles very commonly. One might suggest that this is because there are such a large number of these dogs in my area and I think that that is
—Some dogs don’t love being around other dogs and that’s ok.— Likely the most difficult part of my job as a dog trainer is centered around getting some dog owners to realize that they don’t need to have a “dog-park” dog. Some call with very real, attainable expectations like “He’s had some bad experiences around other
My family and I found Ted and Amy @ Mango Dogs after our dog’s behavior became way out of hand. Our dog Maze is 100 lbs; a mixed breed bull terrier and lab, about 2 years old at the time. Maze pulled on walks and he was utterly uncontrollable, especially when other dogs came around. I
Does age matter when training a dog with behavioral problems? Age does affect how the training process will look but it doesn’t mean that if you have an older dog they are not capable of changing their ways. This is a common question that we get almost every day and so I wanted to address it
We are a four-dog household and always had the mantra, if you don’t like it, don’t come to visit. We existed with chaos at the door any time someone came by….or even a car in the street. Walks were full-out wrestling matches on a good day. Time spent off-leash in the woods, often ended with porcupine
Henry, who just turned one, is the third golden retriever that we have had in our family. We wanted to make sure we would have a super well-trained dog – our other two were pretty good but they were leash-pullers all through their lives and had other “light” behaviours that we just didn’t want to have
Mango Dogs has helped us significantly in the process of training out aggressive behaviors in our rescue pup Mango (yes her name is Mango too haha)! About 3 months after bringing her home, we started to notice aggressive barking, lunging, growling, nipping behaviors specifically inside our house in the presence of visitors. We are very social
You Want A Baby But Your Dog Is Nuts Six days a week we have dog owners come in asking for help with their dogs. Many of them are coming in because they want to have a baby, just started trying to get pregnant, or they just found out the joyous yet stress-inducing news that a
I would like to say that Mango Dogs is the best. It had been a very long time since we had a puppy/dog in our home and it was exciting and scary all at the same time. We thought we could do it all by ourselves. Nope! So, we started training when Scout was 8 months
Stella, our Chesador (Lab/Chesapeake Bay mix), celebrated her first birthday recently. The fact that she did that as part of our family is a credit to Ted and Amy at Mango Dogs. Before seeking Ted’s help, we were struggling with Stella’s many issues, which included constant nipping, counter-surfing, lunging, etc. The most serious of these, her
Bubba is a 2-year-old English Bulldog who recently got an attitude adjustment from Mango Dogs and here’s his story. Bubba was brought home to a new family at the age of 8 weeks from a local breeder. Showered with love and affection for the first 6 months, when they realized they were not equipped to give
Before coming to Ted, my dog Callie would pull on the leash and was reactive to most dogs that we passed on our walks. I was stressed taking her to new places because I had a hard time holding back a 70lb dog and I didn’t know what she would do if a dog got too
Ted has been exceptional in helping train my dog Beanie, a year old German Shepard who was reactive with other people and dogs in the car and while on walks as well as leash pulling and poor recall. It got to the point where I was nervous taking her for walks and minimized her time in
I believe in investing in experiences and my time with Mango Dogs continues to pay off through the enjoyment of daily life with my dogs, Gemma, and Lucy. Before training, I couldn’t enjoy my dogs off-leash and didn’t have full control of them. In addition, my two young dogs liked to wrestle in the house. Sometimes
If you have a pit or staffie who has problems, this blog post is for you. Every day I have dog owners contact me with “Pit-esque” dogs who need help. Most of them were recently adopted and brought into Canada from states like Georgia and Florida. The new owners are trying to do their best for
IN YEARS GONE BY, dogs always had a job; Protection, pulling, herding and hunting were the reasons why dogs woke in the morning. In recent times, not so much. Remember this; Dog’s are entrepreneurs, and if you don't give them a job, they will start a business that you will hate. In many cases, that business
Ted, from Mango Dogs, was a game changer for me when it came to my german shepherd Lexi’s behavior. I would recommend Ted to anyone, any day. Lexi started becoming very reactive on a leash and reacting poorly to other dogs off leash when she was 1 yr. She would lunge and bark aggressively at people,
Will using correction result in a negative association or fear? It makes perfect sense, doesn’t it? Of course, using any type of corrective training tool can be nothing but develop fear. Right? Well not exactly. Whenever using any form of correction, it’s essential that the handler (you) shows your dog what I call the 3 pillars
Much has changed in the Veterinary world in regards to spaying and neutering in recent years. When I first got a dog about 15 years ago, every Vet that I talked to was 100% firm on spaying and neutering at 6 months of age. More research has been done in this area and the hearts and
Should you correct your dog for growling? A question I get frequently and one that’s worth investigating. The answer….drum roll, please…. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. A common sentiment among dog owners, trainers, and most other pet professionals is that you should never correct your dog for growling because if you do, your dog will stop growling
It’s not uncommon for me to refer to my client’s dogs as bank robbers, so today, let’s unpack what that means. In life, some dogs are honest bankers, and others are bank robbers. Most dogs go threw life without any need to cause much of a ruckus. These are honest bankers. The dogs who wait in
Let’s start with some simple terminology A dog fight is serious—The dogs involved have serious intentions to hurt or kill the other dog. A dog argument—Much more common, and they look a lot like a dog fight. Often the dogs are up on their hind legs, and their teeth are smashing together. Plenty of noise, but
As a dog trainer who trains and specializes in rehabilitating aggressive dogs, I feel the need to sound the alarm on livestock guardian breed dogs. The most common (LGD) we tend to see here in Nova Scotia would be Great Pyrenees, but we also see Anatolian Shepherds and Maremmas. They are beautiful dogs but their size
Before reaching out to Mango Dogs, I was at my wit’s end with my dog’s behavior. I never imagined how quickly my life and the life of my dog would be transformed after working with Ted. A few shorts months ago, I would not bring Nova around any new people/dogs due to her reactive behavior –
When asking thousands of past clients why they think their dog became aggressive, two answers stand out. Often I hear their dog’s behavior changed immediately after being spayed or neutered. More common still, dog owners tell me of their dog became fearful of other dogs after being attacked or getting into a fight. It’s this final
Fear is not the default when a puppy is born. Surely there are dogs who are born with the genetics that make them more prone to becoming fearful but dogs not born fearful. Some dogs are born more skeptical than others, and some more confidence. It’s easy to assume that some dogs are born fearful because
Yesterday I had a young woman come in asking me to help her with her dog. Her dog had bitten one person and also struggled with some leash reactivity towards others dogs and people. As we dove into a good long chat, a few things quickly became obvious. This young woman had a lot that she