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 This is a long overdue note. We have two fabulous dogs,
Kaleigh our blue merle border collie and Annabelle, our black and
white border collie/ black lab mix. They have always gotten along
fabulously until a few weeks ago. Suddenly and surprisingly, Kaleigh
started fighting with Annabelle. The fights appeared completely unprovoked,
and we were very disturbed by this, as it usually happened when our
three year old and one year old daughters were in the backyard, with
us and the dogs. The fights escalated to such a level that we were
unable to break up the fights by yelling, “no,” or by
utilizing any other measures we thought might stop the behavior.
The behavior became very frightening. Fortunately, no one had been
injured, but we knew that we needed some help to stop this behavior
ASAP! One of our neighbors had even suggested a shock collar or even
euthanasia, neither of which we were interested in and found completely
repulsive! So, we placed a call to our vet, who, after determining
that no organic cause for this behavior change existed, recommended
Joanne Murphy with Dog Dynamics. Joanne came out and did an evaluation
of Kaleigh’s behavior toward Annabelle, and her behavior toward
her surroundings, in general. After an extensive evaluation and discussion,
Joanne was able to point out some behavior patterns that Kaleigh
was exhibiting, and she was able to offer some possible solutions.
My husband and I started working with Kaleigh, and while I can say
that she is still a work in progress, her most troublesome behavior,
the fighting, has stopped! Annabelle and the rest of us are so thankful
and relieved!
Kaleigh’s less serious
issue was the fact that Kaleigh would not
come when called, nor could anyone call her off when she was barking
at a neighbor, the garbage truck or anything else that she had determined
was “invading her space.” As
we told Joanne, Kaleigh was not socialized as she should have been as a puppy,
and she has had some neighborhood kids taunting her, in another neighborhood
where we had previously lived, so Kaleigh has
reasons for her behavior, but we had hoped that Joanne could help
us reverse some of these particular behaviors. Again, Joanne presented some possible
solutions to the problems. Immediately,
we started following her suggestions and Kaleigh did
an almost instantaneous turn around, and now, comes when she’s
called, and we can call her off most things that she is barking at. Previously, we were completely unable
to hold a conversation with anyone outside our fence, because Kaleigh would start barking incessantly, and we were unable
to hear. Of course,
it was also scary to the person we were trying to talk to. Now, after working with her, utilizing
Joanne’s suggestions, we can call her off and stand and talk
with our friends and neighbors. Again,
she’s still a work in progress, but we are confident, that
with continued work, she will continue to improve. It
sounds like such a simple thing, but this has made our lives and
our neighbors’ lives so much more enjoyable. And,
we’d like to think that it’s made Kaleigh and
Annabelle’s life a little more relaxing and fun, as well.
Joanne, thank you so much
for all your help. If another problem arises, we won’t hesitate to call you, and
we won’t hesitate to recommend you to others who are having
issues with their dogs. Kaleigh doesn’t know it, but our family
has a feeling that you may have just saved Kaleigh and/or Annabelle’s
life. And, for that, we are eternally grateful!
 I want to thank
you for the wonderful personal & written feedback on
Cassie & Cody. Cassie has been a total gem since
we talked. I was very grateful for the assurance that
both dogs are fine and that we are doing some things right. I've
been amazed by Cassie's tolerance when Cody approaches her
crate. She has been completely silent. I have
shared your feedback with some of my fellow dog lovers and
I've raved about the benefits of having your in-home consultation. I'll
follow your advice and be sure to call if/when I have any
concerns.
My family owes a world of thanks to Dog Dynamics
for helping us
with our puppy Gigi. At 3 weeks of age little Gigi and her nine
littermates were abandoned behind a dumpster and left there
to
die. Through the kindness of someone who rescued these little
pups we acquired Gigi. At 3 weeks and barely 3 pounds we brought
little Gigi home. Gigi was a wonderful puppy but because of
her
harsh start in life and the fact she was taken from her mother
long before she should have been, we started to have some issues
with her that we knew needed to be addressed. Gigi never learned
proper bite inhibition from her mother and littermates. Gigi
was
also a very shy and under confident puppy. At 4 months she started
to show signs of being afraid of people. She was also still
very,
very mouthy. The problem was further exacerbated by some bad
advice
from a bad trainer. Thankfully, Dog Dynamics came to the rescue.
Joanne Murphy came in and taught my children and I exactly
how
to handle Gigi properly. Through Joanne’s guidance and gentle
training methods we began to see a significant change in Gigi’s
personality and behavior in as little as two weeks. Now, at almost
6 months our shy, under confident little puppy has become the
cuddly, confident, people loving dog we knew she could be. My
family and I will always be grateful to Joanne Murphy at Dog
Dynamics
for her intervention and wonderful ways of training dogs with
both love and compassion.
 I
have known Joanne for the past 7 years. She has been a wonderful
pet owner. She has always followed my medical recommendations
with regards to her own pets. When she told me she was going
to
get her certification for behavior training, I was very excited
for her. I could not think of a better person for this job. Since
her return from San Francisco, I have referred a number of my
clients with behavior issues. My clients have been very impressed
and happy with her recommendations. She has also given me some
good advice for my own dog, “Trystan”. “Trystan”
has an extreme case of separation anxiety, startle aggression,
and resource guarding. Joanne’s advice and suggestions
have
made our home situation more manageable.
 I've
known Joanne Murphy for several years as a colleague in professional
animal training, and I can say she's top notch! Joanne possesses
that rare combination of excellent training, decades of experience,
and a sense of kindness and empathy that makes her an effective
animal behavior consultant. She understands and loves dogs, but
she's also great with people--and that's essential for helping
people to train their dogs and work through behavioral issues.
 My
CD/AD (Carolina Dog/American Dingo) is a rescue who was found
in the woods during an ice storm with a living puppy and two that
had frozen to death. After almost two years, she’s still
afraid of so many sounds and objects. Joanne was able to get through
some of those fears to teach her many crucial and valuable commands.
Her help is much appreciated.
 Harley
is a Great Dane/Belgian Malinois mix who came to live with us
when he was about 8 weeks old. He had been fostered by the Wake
County SPCA since he had been found as a single stray when he
was about 3 weeks old. These days, Harley is a big, lovable two
year-old; but that hasn’t always been the case… He
has had “issues” since we brought him home. First,
because he was taken from his litter too soon, he didn’t
learn all of the things a puppy would normally learn from its
mother and litter mates about discipline, how to play, dominance,
etc. We had to teach him how to play without hurting someone (those
puppy teeth are SHARP!). As he got older, Harley participated
in some group training and socialization thru the local pet store,
but he began having issues with anxiety (separation and situational)
and was diagnosed at 6 months with hip displaysia for which he
receives a monthly shot (which adds to his anxiety re: trips to
the vet). When Harley was about a year old it was clear that we
needed help. Harley and I still had not truly bonded, he continued
to use me as a chew toy, barked constantly, wouldn’t listen,
was being destructive (more so than was age-appropriate), and
worst of all I was becoming somewhat afraid of him. Dr Jon prescribed
medications for Harley’s anxiety and hip and suggested that
we contact Joanne Murphy with Dog Dynamics for more intensive
1:1 training. Joanne was a godsend; she first calmed many of my
fears (that I was a bad “mom” or was doing something
wrong) and validated my concerns regarding Harley’s behaviors.
THEN she provided Harley and me with the tools we needed to ensure
that our relationship would be successful. First we worked on
ending the inappropriate biting, which (given the right tools)
was relatively painless for Harley and I both. We then began working
on getting Harley to listen which was (and is to this day) not
easy, he is very independent, but we learned that with a lot of
hard work and finding the right treat/tool it can be done. Harley
had a rough time around the 2002 holidays with some very frightening
behaviors related to side effects from some of his medications.
Joanne was there to help us work thru this and together with Dr
Jon, we got Harley on appropriate medications and changed his
diet which improved his mental and physical health and went a
long way toward improving our relationship. The techniques that
Joanne and Dog Dynamics provided have allowed me to really listen
to Harley and look at his behaviors (is he in pain, frustrated,
bored, scared, etc) to determine how to address them so that we
are both successful in getting what we need. I had never realized
that Harley could experience so many different emotions or that
destructiveness could be a sign of boredom and how to give him
“jobs” to do to keep the boredom at bay. With the
help of Dog Dynamics, I learned to look at the behavior before
I reacted so that I wouldn’t make the situation worse, but
could also teach Harley better ways of expressing himself. These
are techniques that I will use forever. In June, we decided it
was “time for Harley to have a buddy”, I met a puppy
at the SPCA and Joanne agreed to go with us to take Harley to
meet his new friend. Her support was invaluable during this experience
which I’m sorry to say didn’t have the anticipated
outcome. Joanne helped me to see that Harley might need a more
mature friend or may need to be the only puppy in our home, a
hard concept for someone who’s always had multiple pets.
Since that day, I have focused more on improving my relationship
with Harley and am happy to say that while I still hope to have
additional “babies” things will be okay if Harley
is the one and only because we have finally bonded and are on
track for a long and healthy relationship! This will never be
an easy relationship as Harley will forever challenge me, but
together we will work thru issues and as needed we can contact
Joanne for assistance to ensure that we don’t fail again.
I will always believe that Joanne Murphy and Dog Dynamics saved
our relationship and potentially Harley’s life and am forever
grateful for that…
 Joanne
is both a dedicated pet-owner and skilled professional. Once you
see her love for dogs, her education as a dog behaviorist, and
her wonderful dog AND people skills you'll realize that you've
come to the right person.
 When
I contacted Dog Dynamics, I had a 3-4 month old male Yorkie with
a sweet disposition yet a tendency to nip while playing. Also,
he constantly soiled my carpets despite my efforts to paper- train
him. I needed help!
So, I did my research and talked with several trainers. Joanne
was straightforward and she had a no nonsense approach to training
pets. She came to my home for a one-on-one session with me and
my puppy.
She showed me several techniques that helped my puppy understand
that nipping and biting was unacceptable. Thanks to my training
session, I was able to help my dog use his papers to eliminate.
As a result, that training has helped me to transition him to
litter box training today.
Joanne was very knowledgeable about my pet's breed and special
precautions I would need to take because of his size. Plus, she
showed me some holding techniques that would help my dog be better
prepared for examinations at the vet.
Overall, it was a positive experience and well worth the time!
I would highly recommend it!"
 Our
Piper, an English Springer Spaniel, joined our family when she
was 9 weeks old. Immediately she began having separation problems.
We put her in the crate and she would howl, pant, and drool.
As
things got worse with her, our vet recommended we
contact Joanne Murphy at Dog Dynamics. She came to the house
and
spent quite some time getting to know Piper and looking over
the
physical set up we had. By using videotapes we provided, she
determined
that Piper was suffering from Separation Anxiety. Piper was not
exhibiting full-blown panic when left alone but rather was not
able to relax and didn’t know what to do. Joanne made suggestions
for placement of the crate as well as outside stimuli (music,
TV, lights, Kongs, stuffed bones, chew toys). She suggested ways
to make Piper happier about going into the crate that included
treats and eating in there. We implemented many forms of behavior
modifications such as reinforcing any quiet and controlled behavior
in the crate, treating after 2 minutes in the crate and leaving
the room, returning and treating after 3 minutes etc. Joanne sent
us notes from the meeting that reminded us of all she had suggested,
and exactly what we needed to do. She also recommended several
books to read that helped. We followed up with a home visit from
her 4 weeks later. Now at age 10 months Piper still suffers from
anxiety but things are better. Joanne has been extremely helpful
and accessible by phone and email. Her positive outlook and knowledge
of the situation have helped all of us work better with Piper.
Piper is a precious dog, very smart, and getting better because
of what we have learned from Joanne. We are so glad to have her
on our team!
 Joanne's
dedication to people and their dogs is truly impressive. That dedication,
plus her stellar education at the renowned San Francisco SPCA Academy
and her drive to maintain the highest professional standards in
the field of humane, positive dog training, means that dog owners
in the Triangle area have a trainer who they can trust to produce
results.
 We
have a wonderful, sweet and mostly well behaved 18 month old golden
retriever and we couldn’t have done it without Joanne’s
help! After our 14 year old cocker died, we decided to give a
golden a try since they are such beautiful and reportedly wonderful
dogs. Fortunately, I spoke to Joanne before Molly came home and
she reminded me how much work and time a young, playfully, highly
energetic retriever puppy would be. She also recommended some
great books. Her advice was wonderful
and we got off to a great start with Molly – but boy was
she a mouthy puppy. Joanne came for a home visit and gave some
great suggestions to work on the mouthing and other ideas for
keeping Molly busy. It’s truly amazing to watch Joanne work
with dogs – her manner is just perfect and dogs respond
beautifully. She’s very knowledgeable and great with owners
too! I would recommend her services to anyone looking for a dog
trainer.
 As
a fellow dog trainer I have had the privilege of seeing Joanne
in action on several occasions. Her expertise and professionalism
are the best that I've come in contact with. When I am stumped
with a tough client of my own Joanne is the first person I contact
for advice.
 I
had the unfortunate experience, last fall, where three men attempted
to break into my house while I was home with my dog. My dog and
I were in the kitchen as they were trying to come through the back
door. My dog was first to be alerted to what was going on. He raced
to the back door barking aggressively which alerted me in time to
slam the door shut and fend the three men out of the house. After
seeing me in a hysterical state, phone calls, and police coming
in and out of the house, my dog was in a very heightened emotional
state too. Subsequently after that incident my dog associated seeing
anyone outside any of my windows or the doorbell ringing with the
break-in. He would whine and aggressively bark and run to the door
or windows. When someone would come through the front door after
ringing the doorbell, he would still aggressively bark, throw his
body against the door, and have his hackles risen. Joanne helped
me use techniques to help change his negative association to a positive
one. Every time he would see someone outside a window or heard the
doorbell ring either in real life or on TV, I would focus him on
playing with his favorite toy (a ball). I would praise him and tell
him he was a “good boy” and give him lots of treats
for playing rather than barking. Eventually it evolved to the point
where when he heard the doorbell, he would run to grab his toy and
want to play and would not aggressively bark. Now it has evolved
to the point if he sees someone outside or hears the doorbell he
will ignore the stimulus and not over-react like he used to.
I also had another experience where the exterminator for the rental
property where I live was to inspect my house while I was at work
one day. He had a master key to disengage my alarm I have for my
house. He neglected to inform the rental office he broke the key
and went from house to house setting off alarms. My dog was in his
crate with an alarm going off, police and rental agents entering
my house and I was nowhere around. I wasn’t notified of this
incident, which happened at 10:00am until that evening when I got
home around 4:00pm. My dog was so stressed to the point that he
vomited in his crate and had to sit in it for most of the day. After
that incident… if he heard a noise of some sort and I was
nowhere around, he would stress himself to the point of making himself
sick and vomiting. Joanne was great to suggest other ideas to help
him overcome this. I now leave a radio on all day playing softly
so the “silence” of being in a crate all day was not
too overwhelming. I also had a couple of friends come over while
I was at work and they got him out to play and this gave him assurance
that every time someone came in while I was not home was not a bad
thing. Since I had worked on that with him, I have had packages
delivered, and exterminators come in while I was gone and my dog
has not made himself sick.
 Dear
Joanne,
Bob and I want to thank you for your support and advice dealing
with problems between Brick and Maggie. It is such a relief to
know signs and solutions for the aggressive behavior.
Brick is still trying to move up the ladder to become the alpha
and Maggie is still refusing. There is still bickering but we
now know this is okay and to let them settle this issue without
our interference.
We were very surprised at how simple it is to understand what
they are doing if we just look at the subtle signs. Thanks to
explaining these signs and the list of booklets to read we are
a much happier and confident family again.
Please be aware that any dog/dog aggression is very
serious and needs to be evaluated by a professional. In this particular
case, these littermates were not causing serious damage to one
another but rather having very normal sibling spats that did not
require human intervention. Guidance and education for the owners
along with management of the dogs was the best course of action
in their situation. Never assume dog/dog aggression will fix itself,
it needs to be evaluated by a professional. There is potential
for serious injuries and/or death of a dog with any dog/dog aggression
issues.
 Joanne
is a knowledgeable and dedicated dog behavorist with great skill
and patience in dealing with difficult problems. Her love of
dogs
is always evident.
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