Hear what our students have to say about Nose Work:
Bella (three-year-old shih tzu) does nose work every day. Before nose
work, she was deeply suspicious of lots of things. Now, she'll put her
head in a box, climb on, over or through things to get to a food
source, and is willing to interact with all sorts of objects that she
avoided before. She uses her nose much more during our walks, and in
general, seems to be more confident, especially when we are away from
home.
-- Sarah Foster
Last Fall Molly, our 6yr old Rat Terrier, would not let me come into her space willingly. She used to love being with people, but due to some relationship issues with myself and another dog in the home she had become fearful of contact. It was quiet disheartening to see a dog who so loved being affectionate to come to dislike it. We had tried giving her space, taking a group class to build on the relationship and while those things helped a little it was very slow going.
Fast forward to today and you have a dog who is growing in confidence almost weekly and loving life. What changed? She started doing Nose Work! We started it at home after a local workshop in October 2010 and then started taking classes in February 2011. Molly loves using her nose! The joy she has to go to class each week or just to do a quick search at home is a site to see. I know it's improved her confidence, but I honestly believe it's improved her quality of life. She has something to look forward to, something she is good at and a firm building block to our relationship.
I believe Nose Work has given our relationship a huge boost. Molly enjoys sitting by me now, she responds better to direction and even seems to enjoy gentle petting. Our Nose Work class time is our special time. Time for her to be a dog and I the student.
-- Paula Nowak
Hear what our clients have to say about Canine Country Academy in Dacula, GA:
What a blessing Cathy has been for our family! My husband and I have always trained our dog Asia with an "assertive dominant pack leader" mentality without the balance of positive reinforcement. This produced a very shy, fear aggression dog without much confidence. Cathy with her expertise has accomplished a delicate balance through teaching us how to train Asia with a confidence building approach. We now have a dog that enjoys being around people and seems to 'smile' a lot more. We are so grateful we found Cathy!
-- Kent and Libby Phillips
Cathy Bruce is a fabulous trainer, and her move to Georgia was a great loss to those of us who live and train our dogs in the Northeast. Thanks to Cathy, my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel easily passed her Canine Good Citizen and Delta Society Therapy Dog tests, and earned her first leg towards a title in AKC Novice Rally. Cathy is a positive motivation trainer, the only type of trainer I would work with. She is also a serious student of her profession, attending conferences to stay abreast of the most current thinking. Casey and I really miss Cathy’s excellence and good humor!
-- Joan King, NYC
After learning some bad training techniques from 'traditional' training, I was able to quickly see how Cathy's approach worked with my dog. Tahoe & I didn't even need to practice very much to get some great basics in place. Even when we encounter new issues with Tahoe's behavior, I am able to rely on Cathy's approach with positive training and am able to turn things around for us. Working with Cathy has been a great experience for us and gave me the confidence that I was doing the right things to get great behavior from my dog.
-- Diana Murphy, owner of labradoodle Tahoe
