Hello from Heather and Happy in NJ (south-central)

[Heather]

Hi everyone, I am glad to be here.

I came across NDT when my Newfoundland dog, Happy, was about 6 months old and I was looking for solutions to his jumping and grabbing at family members' arms/hands/clothes in our yard. He was/is huge and I was not expecting or prepared for the behavior; at the time I wasn't even sure what it was, but at the time it was stressful, and I was becomming afraid of being outside with him. Over the span of a few weeks I had tried just about everything anyone had ever suggested, positive and negative, to get him to stop.

Of course I quickly learned that getting him to stop wasn't really the point, although I did stop doing everything I had been doing and focused on observing and creating a calm environment. Eventually I started pushing and tugging. I found Neil's site through Kevin Behan's site, and the step-by-step written instructions and DVDs explaining how to push and play tug have been invaluable (previously, pretty much everything I had been doing was what a scary predator would do, and upon reading Neil's "how to play tug" article, I had a lightbulb moment).

Happy is 9 months old now, and NDT has allowed me to truly enjoy my dog. I don't think I would ever have been able to see the world through his eyes even a little bit if it weren't for the NDT book, and Kevin, Neil, and Lee's websites.

I'm just plugging along playing (pushing/tugging) and walking every day, and trying to absorb as much information as possible so that I am better able to understand how the energy is flowing in our day-to-day lives. Lately I've been very excited to see Happy truly relaxed during vigorous play, it is clearly draining him emotionally, and I am not stressed, or afraid, or worried anymore.

We are still pretty much in the beginning stages with NDT and I will hopefully have some help building a box next week. Controlling the environment has been pretty easy this winter, but there are some challenges ahead with the nice weather right around the corner and the kids/toys that will soon take over the yard!

[neilsattin]

Hi Heather,

Welcome to the forum. It's great to hear about your successes! Please do keep us posted.