Over the years, I’ve rescued a few dogs. Of course, I also love puppies! Anyway, when Lexi came into my life as a rescue I already had five other dogs. We were a happy household – if there’s one thing I found is that one dog, three dogs, six dogs – there’s not a lot of difference. So I was excited to bring Lexi into our pack, and she was just as excited to meet the pack. In fact, I would have to say it was a success.

But not all was going to go off without a hitch. Lexi had come to me when I picked her up. She was extremely scared but we went slow and things were okay. Once in my home the same applied. She was hesitant and scared but we took it on her terms and things moved along nicely. In just a couple of days she was this fabulous love bug that wagged her tail so hard her bottom half looked like it was going to disengage.

After Lexi was settled into my home, in love with me and the pack, it was time to introduce her to some new humans. This did not go at all like I had envisioned, after all up until now there had been no signs that would have made me think there might be any aggression issues. So imagine my shock when I introduced Lexi to my Mom and she almost took my Mom’s face off. In fact, I’m pretty sure if my Mom hadn’t been as calm as she was she would have suffered some serious bites. Luckily, Lexi chose not to make that final move and bite.

Having done rescues in the past and worked around dogs all my life, it takes a fair bit to alarm or worry me but this certainly did! I decided to consider that,  just in the off chance that this would not happen again. But I was wrong. Every time Lexi was introduced to people the reaction was pretty much the same – aggressive lunging, teeth bared and foaming at the mouth. Yet with me, she remained this beautiful cuddle bug that was happy and obedient.

So what to do? Well of course, it was time to call in the professionals. This is when I learned that not all dog trainers are created equal. They certainly don’t have the same skills and they certainly don’t approach the problem the same way, even those who say they work with ‘aggressive dogs.’

In fact, the first gentleman to arrive to work with Lexi said he specialized in aggressive dogs. He worked with Lexi once and then after that came up with excuses why he wouldn’t come back. The second trainer worked with Lexi for 20 minutes and then left, and where I live there aren’t a lot of trainers. All I can say is, thank goodness for Doggy Dan and his video training system.

Make no mistake Lexi’s aggression towards humans was so bad that I simply could not allow her near any other human. Why she didn’t eat me on our first meet, I have no idea but she must have decided she needed at least one human in her life. In actuality, she needed two humans – Doggy Dan being the other human being. It was his training techniques that gave Lexi a shot at having a normal life.

Almost a year has gone by and Lexi is truly a lady these days. No one would believe what she was like back then. This kind lovable creature has learned to trust others in the way she trusts me, although I will say it does take her some time to warm up, and that’s okay!