Ruth Marquardt Quotations

It's like hiring a sitter. Interview those people to find out if their techniques are in line with your own thinking and if they're qualified to handle your 'family member'.

Sit down and make a list of all the things that you would like in a dog and, by all means, investigate the breed type. You don't want a border collie if you lead a sedentary lifestyle. Next, assess your lifestyle: Do you have small children? Are you able to devote time to play with and train an animal? What is the size of your home or yard?

I see people in tears, not wanting to give up their dog but not knowing what to do anymore.

A lot of people feel that if a dog has nipped, growled at or bitten someone there's no hope for that dog. Nearly 99 percent of the time a dog like that can be turned around if an owner is willing to work with it.

A lot of people are good people leaders, but dogs think differently than humans do. When we treat them the same as humans, many times we get the opposite effect of what we're intending.

Those places are full of nice dogs. And those people know them best and are able to match up the personalities of the dogs and people.

The success is based on canine and owner participation. The only owner I can't train is one who doesn't want to learn ? and that's unfortunate for the dog. A lot of the dogs are turned over to shelters because most people haven't come across a training technique that works.

One of the reasons I started doing this was to help more dogs stay in their homes whereas a volunteer for a dog rescue I was always trying to find a new home for dogs.

Most of the time, I find that dogs are in complete control of the house because they're confused about their role. Dogs instinctively follow a pack mentality. By training owners to use voice control and body language to establish authority, we teach them how to gain control so their dogs can become obedient, enjoyable family members.