The dog talker.

My life is really awesome these days, I have an airstream trailer, and a great job/career, I get to travel full time with my awesome dog Gravy.   I use the Tinder app for meeting local single friends in a new area, especially for finding doggie playdates.

I'm still amazed (especially in San Diego) how many cute, available single ladies have dogs. I'm also upset how many of those are dogs are termed "misbehaving" and they can't take them on walks, etc.  One of the sexiest things for me is a person who has a great relationship with their pooch.  I believe all dogs want to be good, and when they aren't I think it's a reflection on the owner.


My pooch Gravy came from an Akita rescue, and had a reputation in his foster home for being a horribly misbehaved dog.  People who knew him would tell you that his nickname was "bolt" because if he got outside without a leash on he'd be gone, and he could run for miles. We'd usually need to wait for somebody to find him and call us.

Gravy would pull me everywhere, and pull hard, to the point he was choking himself.
He would challenge/attack every single dog on a hiking trail, if it was a male dog that was intact it would be ugly, he'd do his back up, juke, and get out of his collar and attack. I'd have told hold him as tight as I could by the collar and wait for the other dog to pass by (which rarely happened without incident). At dog parks he would immediately find the dog with the tallest legs and immediately start trying to hump it, male or female didn't matter. He didn't listen to any commands, he would not pay attention, if let off leash in a big park he'd just run ahead until he was lost.  There was no recall command.

When we moved to the beach we learned Gravy couldn't walk near or around sewer grates, which are basically on every other block.  He would get skiddish, start backing up, his collar would come off his thick neck and then he could run away, out into the middle of the street and away much faster than I could muster. I never wore flip flops on a dog walk in fear I'd have to chase him down.

Gravy's also smart enough to open most gates which aren't locked or child proofed.  He's ridiculously stubborn.  This was my life, this was my dog.  I couldn't take him anywhere.



This is the story of how I met Ben the dog trainer.  My girlfriend at the time said that Gravy wasn't allowed to go to the beach with her dog anymore.  I knew that being excluded from fun activities would make him frantic and even worse behaved.

I resolved to redouble my efforts in getting him trained. I found Ben through an advertisement he had posted on Craigslist. I emailed him, Ben called me back. We had a quick phone call, I explained the situation and problems,  he said it was really common, he'd fixed these before, and he could most likely fix all my issues in one 90 'initial' appointment for $70.   I was in disbelief and very skeptical, he offered me a money back guarantee if I wasn't completely happy. 

At this point in my life I had Gravy for almost 4 years prior to meeting Ben -- I'd tried countless other trainers, shock collars, etc.  I couldn't resist the opportunity to pass it up, but I was sure this guy had no idea what he was in for with my problem dog.

Ben came over, and immediately his presence was noted by both our dogs.  He put a leash on Gravy and took him for a walk, talking to him and critiquing Gravy.  I walked behind him with my girlfriends dog.  Ben's technique was spot on, within a few moments of arriving he had established dominance, and within 15 or 20 minutes Gravy was starting to get with the program.  After 60 minutes Gravy was effectively "fixed" .. and Ben then spent 30 minutes with me showing me how to do what he had done with Gravy.

Since then Ben and I have become friends, he's a great guy with an amazing skill.
I've told him that he has an amazing skill and he should raise his prices, etc.
I don't know if he still does the money back guarantee. Anyway if you need a dog trainer, I'd highly recommend him.



These days I tell people all the time that having a well behaved dog is possibly one of the single biggest improvements in my life quality I've had.  Now we walk, hike, or mountain bike almost every day.   In Oregon he'll run along side my bike, it's one of his favorite things (I wish we had dog friendly mountain biking in San Diego!!)

These days gravy doesn't bark at anything, ever, well .. he barks at Jet trails high in the sky (hence the nickname "Radar") but most people thinks it's hilarious, and the planes don't seem to mind.    The neighbors have 5 dogs who charge the fence, bark, etc. he'll look at them and just pee on the fence post (in their faces) and walk off. 

Gravy knows a few tricks (sit, chill out, and play dead) and we're working on high five, and dancing. He's aware of "check-in" and we've established that he should not run away and he shouldn't go more than 25 ft feet on a trail (I always worry about him finding a poisonous snake).

More importantly he can now visit any dog park, brewery, or bar and he is one of the best behaved dogs there.  We go on buses, trams, gondolas, and all forms of public transport as my service animal (his service is that he finds+picks up cute chicks for me).   I'll take him into home depot, most grocery stores, the bank, and more.

I am so happy when I receive complements on my well behaved dog.  People tell him he's a lucky dog because he gets to do so many fun things.

Anyway, that's the story.
Ben has a website http://devotiontodogs.net/ and I really can't say enough positive things.


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