I received my service dog, Harrison, from a program in December 2016. He has been a great dog from the start, but I felt that the program released him too young (he was only 1) and he was not fully ready to start working. I, also, was not trained enough on what to expect and do having a large service dog (I’d only had small dogs) and how much work it would require of me to keep up his skills. Along with that, I was living away from my family for medical treatment and was being frequently hospitalized — all leading to Harrison losing a great deal of his training in only a few years. When my treatment ended and I returned to my family, I was still using Harrison in public, but he was barely, if at all, meeting service dog task criteria and had some behavior problems. So I was referred to Sarah and Ralf who really saved the day. Harrison went back into training, this time boarding with Sarah and Ralf to be retrained. Because Harrison was already 5 and having a few health troubles, we chose one task to retrain and of course lots of retraining for behaviors and manners. Harrison has always made a life-saving difference in my life, and the training he completed in their program renewed his ability to help me completely. He now behaves excellently in public, reliably completes his task on command, and makes me proud, and healthier, every day. He is really a different dog than before they retrained him and my partnership with him now is truly amazing! I would still be a very ill person without the assistance of Harrison and I will be forever grateful to Sarah and Ralf for the kindness they showed us, and the excellent teaching they provided.
Elizabeth Anderson, California (read on Google)