I just got an email forwarded to me from my trainer, from a client we have that finished their CGC class last night and had a lot of reactivity trouble and were going to return their dog to the SPCA had it not gotten better. Of course, to make matters worse, they were lied to about the dog getting along with other dogs, but her reactivity was really what held them back. This email made me feel AWESOME, especially since it was the first class I've taught. Names changed (other than mine) for confidentiality.
"We just finished a Good Citizen class with Jane and Danielle. Our dog, Sophie, presented quite a challenge. We rescued her in Jan from SPCA and she had been there approx. 6 months. She had a lot of reactive barking and we're still not sure how friendly she is with other dogs.
On the first night it was clear that we couldn't be with the other dogs as she wouldn't stop barking. Basically for the next several weeks we had private training with Danielle and she was excellent. She really knew how to work with Sophie and by the last class for us, which was last night, Sophie made it into the classroom with the other dogs for about 5 minutes.
We're leaving for vacation tomorrow and when we get back we're going to sign up for another class. Hopefully, Sophie will continue to improve and maybe we can be part of the class more.
We really appreciated Jane and Danielle working with us because Sophie was quite disruptive. They gave us a lot of encouragement.
Just wanted you to know that Danielle especially, because we worked basically with her, is awesome and gave us lots of hope and encouragement for our future with Sophie."
Makes my heart melt. This is what I want to do for the rest of my life.