Meet Sadie!

Sadie was abandoned in a rural area of Benton County.  She is an Akbash – which is a livestock guardian dog related to the Great Pyrenees. These dogs were bred to stay with sheep, goats, chickens, etc. and guard them from predators.  They are bred to be independent thinkers. At the time we found her, it was estimated she was between 1-2 years old.

When we first brought Sadie home, she didn’t know any commands, not even “sit”.  We don’t believe she had ever been in a house as she was frightened of the TV and the ceiling fans.  And she had definitely been abused by being hit.  She was very afraid if you picked anything up in your hand that looked like a stick and cowered as if you were going to hit her.  She was also very scared of most people.  But she was very, very sweet.

We have had numerous dogs over the years, mostly Golden Retrievers, and are familiar with training.  However, given Sadie’s circumstances, we decided we should get some professional guidance to help her overcome her fears and to learn basic obedience.  That’s when we enrolled her with Let’s Go Dog Training.  She has been training with them over a year now and has made tremendous progress.  She started in the Foundations class learning basic commands and how to behave around other dogs.  She also learned to trust the trainers who were very patient with her.  After gaining some confidence and learning some commands, she advanced to the Essentials Class.  We brought her twice a week to classes and practiced the exercises with her at home.  She continued to grow more confident and skilled in the basic commands of sit, down, heel, come, and other commands.  My ultimate goal was that she would learn to trust us and would develop a solid recall off-leash so that she could run on the beach with our other dog when we went on vacation.  The instructors were very kind and patient with her and she has gone from a dog that would shrink away from being petted by them to now rolling on her back and asking for pets by them. She is still a bit shy around strangers, but once she knows you and trusts you, you are her friend forever.  

Sadie passed her test to move from the Essentials class to the Advanced class a few months ago.  But more importantly (at least to me), she has developed a fairly sound recall and we have been able to take her to the beach and let her run off leash with our other dog!  Mission Accomplished!!  I am so proud of the growth we have seen in her and credit the trainers at Let’s Go with their expertise and kindness in her training.  We will continue her training for a while longer as I know she will continue to benefit from it.
-Ro V.