Recommending Margaret Johnson and The Humaner Trainer crew is really personal for me. We were ready to surrender our dog back to the rescue group we adopted him from due to his severe fear aggression. It was awful. We contacted the group and she suggested two highly skilled trainers, exceptionally qualified for our situation (a struggling ""re-homed"" dog). We interviewed both and selected Margaret. We have now had Rip for 9 years. \r
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Margaret is direct and insightful. She does a thorough analysis of your pet and frankly, a thorough analysis of you! We learned, for example, that in our efforts to socialize Rip, we were setting him up to fail. It was overwhelming to him. She put us on a regimented desensitization program that was KEY to getting him in a place where he could be trained. The desensitization routine helped us develop a rapport with Rip that we didn't otherwise have. Yes, because of this, the obedience training took longer. But, boy, did it work. We live in an active central Austin neighborhood; there are runners, dog walkers, cyclists, you name it. We could never sit outside with Rip with this activity without him chasing down all these poor folks. Now, people stop to say hi and pet the dog!\r
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I want to add that Margaret continues to be an excellent resource to us. My sister lives in Denver and is having some issues with her dog and she is expecting her first child. Through Margaret's connections, my sister and husband got into a class taught by a nationally-recognized animal behaviorist on how to introduce your dog to a new baby. \r
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Please interview Margaret at The Humaner Trainer. Without question, she is worth your consideration.\r
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