First off I'd like to explain that my husband and I have a great
love and respect for all animals. We believe that they are a
wonderful gift. We have four dogs and five parrots. When we
first saw Joey, he was in a pet shop and we realized that he
was a bit bigger than the rest of the puppies that were there,
and that he had almost out grown the cage that he was in.
Come to find out, he was the last of the litter and one of the
pet shop employees had informed us that if he did not sell
pretty soon that he was going to be destroyed!! My husband
and I could not believe our ears. We already owned a female
Miniature Pincher, and felt like Joey would be a perfect play
mate for her. So we purchased him and took him home. It
brought tears to our eyes to see that he was in total awe of the
grass, trees sky, etc. Then the trouble began. He ate
everything that he could, including wood blinds, as well as a
whole room of carpet. He would totally try to dominate our
other dogs. Taking him to the vet was the worst thing that I
had ever gone through in my life!!! It would take three of us to
try to muzzle him and he would bite each of us. He would not
let anyone touch his feet or belly, without bitting. One day I
was giving them all a treat, when he went over to our smallest
dog and had his throat in his mouth. That was the last straw
for me, I realized then that he was getting worse and that he
was not going to out grow this horrible behavior. I informed
my husband that he either took him some where to be trained,
or that I was going to send him to my brother in Texas. Then I
heard about Brenda and thought what could we possibly lose
by letting her take him for two weeks of training. As I went to
put Joey in the pet carrier, he bit me and he bit me hard. I was
now at the point that whatever happens, happens. I was even
thinking of having him put to sleep if this did not work out!! I
am not the type of person who takes life lightly, not any kind
of life, so please try to understand where I was at mentally. I
just didn't care what happened to him and I hated myself for
that. After one week of Joey being gone, which by the way I
wasn't even missing him, it was so peaceful around the house
without him, Brenda called and asked if she could come over,
that she had something that she wanted to share with us. She
came over and put a video tape in of Joey. I watched the tape
as tears were streaming down my face. What a wonderful
difference in him, and we had Brenda to thank for this
wonderful transformation that had taken place in him. Now, I
missed him very, very much and I wanted him home, but NO
he had one more week to go and Brenda was very stern about
it. So the second week ended and we were to pick Joey up. I
was scared that he would go back to the old Joey. I was so
amazed and overwhelmed. He did everything for Ron and I,
as he did for Brenda. He came, sat, heeled, stopped and laid
down. But best of all we could touch his feet and rub his belly,
and NO BITTING!!! I will never forgive myself for just
wanting to throw in the towel, so to speak and for even the
thought of destroying this wonderful, wonderful friend of mine.
That, I will just have to live with every time I look into those
beautiful brown eyes of his as he lies quietly beside me. I will
forever be grateful to Brenda for this wonderful gift. More
grateful that you could possibly imagine, Brenda!
From the bottom of our hearts, Thank You
Ron and Kelli Golde and Joey too!!!