ABOUT

Welcome to Good Dog! Family Pet Training

Hi everyone, I'm Amanda Cordier and I have been training dogs in a corporate setting since 2011. I've been working with dogs and pet parents helping them with obedience training from the basics to the more advanced including preparation for Canine Good Citizen (CGC) examination. I also love helping people solve the common, but pesky behavioral issues like potty training, jumping, nipping, leash pulling, counter surfing etc.

It is my passion to help people better understand and communicate with their furry companions. I love helping people achieve their goals, whether it's to prepare for CGC examination or just manage some behaviors like jumping, over-excitability or potty training.

There's no love quite like that from a dog. It's purely unconditional. This is why I love to help build better understanding and communication between my canine friends and their people. It's all about bond and being good family members.

Bruschi's Story

My star pupil, featured on my home page and through out this site, is my now (2015) 9 year old shepard, lab, hound (etc.) mix, Bruschi. I like to refer to his breed as "etcetera" vs. mutt, which I feel is not a posititve enough description for my boy.

We got him from a friend who had a "whoopsie" litter of pups in upstate NY. He was 8 weeks old when we drove him home. About a week later his little baby belly swelled so big it looked like had eaten a whole grapefruit. We rushed him to an emergency vet and discovered he had bladder stones. They tried to relieve the issue via catheter, but surgery became necessary. We were so wrought with worry. He needed the stones removed from his bladder and his uretha was damaged. The vet called us in the middle of the night and told us that they couldn't repair it; it was better if he didn't wake up. Ten minutes later, while we wept in mourning, he called again and said there was one more thing he could try that they typically do to older dogs. We, of course, said YES. So, he got neutered early in order to allow for his non-damaged section uretha to be redirected to a new place to urinate from. It saved his life! So our free "whoopsie" litter pup ended up costing us a small fortune in veternary bills. But, he was well worth it!

He was a good puppy, but typical; he chewed, he jumped, he mouthed, he pulled on the leash and wanted to chase squirrels. He was easy to potty train though. We took him to at least four different puppy/beginner classes. We wanted a well socialized dog that would listen, be good with all people, kids and other dogs. That's exactly what we achieved! He's not perfect...few are. However, he is a GOOD DOG! and we love him to bits! He's patient, tolerant and continues to survive life with our kids, cats and Cutie (cue malevolent music). Cutie is his pest, I mean, canine campanion. She loves him, though we're pretty sure he just tolerates her. He's such a good boy!

Cutie's Story

Cutie became a part of our family in January 2014. She was just 9 months old at the time. Her family could no longer provide her the care and attention that they felt she deserved. When I picked her up she was extremely fearful and barked incessantly at me, lunged at me and even "bluff bit" me quite a few times. Even I thought, "Oh geez what did I just sign up for?". Once I got her in the car, I decided to take the long way home and to extend our time alone together before bringing her home to meet her new family. Her new family would include a whole household of a man, two young kids, two cats and Bruschi. We made a little progress on the drive home, though she was still very fear aggressive. Once we got home, I opened the passenger side door and much to my surprise, Cutie jumped right into my arms. From that point on I was her person! We took things nice and slow and within 3 hours she was pretty well adjusted to most of her new family.

The fun part was getting her not fall back to her fear aggressive ways when extended family and friends came to visit. They were all evil strangers in her book. It's a slow process, though within one year she has made lots of progress accepting her extended family, friends she has seen often and is even getting better with accepting complete strangers.

As one would expect with a small dog, she can be a bit of a yapper. When we first got her she would tell us and everyone else in the neighborhood about everything she saw. She now understands the cue "QUIET" and no longer has to tell everyone about everything. Don't get me wrong, she still loves to make noise and there are still things that set her off, but it is a huge improvement. She also like to boss "the big guy" (Bruschi) into going outside with her or playing with her too. She's lucky to have such a patient big brother.

I like to refer to her as "My Lil' Project". She is a continual work in progress, as is any dog, but she has made me work harder. I absolutely LOVE her! She has snuggled herself in the hearts of this whole family.

LOKI

Bruschi's Brother (litter mate)

MIDGLEY

"Mama Cat"