Carl's Story: From a 60-Pound Wild Man to a Dog With Manners

Where Carl started

Carl came home from Kern County Animal Services in August 2023 as a fifteen-week-old mixed breed puppy. By the following spring his owner described him as a "60 lbs wild man that began showing signs of aggression and a complete lack of manners."

Nothing went wrong here, and his family did nothing unusual. This is simply what happens when a large dog reaches adolescence without a structure in place. The puppy who was easy at fifteen weeks is a different animal at nine months, and by then the habits are practiced.

The training journey

Carl's family came in and talked it through before committing to anything. They were given options, and they chose a two-week aggression and behavior program.

Through the two weeks they got what his owner called "daily Pup Dates on Carl's training and progress," so they could follow the work rather than wonder about it. At the end came a two-hour education session covering what Carl had been through and what the family needed to do next.

That final session is not a formality, and it is the reason we insist on it. A dog sent home without the family knowing how to hold the new structure will drift back inside a month.

What actually changed

• The aggression settled. The reason they came in the first place.
• He came home with manners. Which is what a 60-pound dog needs to live in a house.
• He held it at home. After the first full week back, his owner reported "he is doing amazing."
• The family knew what to do. Two hours of instruction before he left the building.

★★★★★

“In August 2023, we adopted a young puppy from the KCAS, a 15 week old mixed breed puppy, Carl. Over the next 6 months he grew into a 60 lbs wild man that began showing signs of aggression and a complete lack of manners. […] We decided to do the 2 Week Aggression and Behavioral Training. During the two weeks we received daily Pup Dates on Carl’s training and progress which was awesome to be able to track his performance. Upon completion of the two weeks we received a 2 hour educational training on what Carl went through and what we needed to do to continue our growth. We are happy to say after the first week of having him home he is doing amazing!”

Ryan Mallard, Google review, March 2024

What it changed at home

The line his owner used to describe the outcome was not about obedience at all. He wrote that the whole thing was "an opportunity to be create a tighter bond with your fury friend."

That is the honest description. Dogs are not difficult because they are bad. They are difficult because nobody has given them a way to understand what is being asked. Once that exists, the relationship gets easier in every direction.

Why Carl's story matters to us

The adolescent rescue is the single most common call Off Leash K9 Training Bakersfield takes. The dog is between eight and eighteen months, it has doubled in size, and the family is starting to wonder what they have taken on.

It is also the easiest problem on our list to fix, if it is caught before the habit is a year old. Carl was caught in time.

For a dog showing real aggression, our 3 Week Board and Train for Aggression is the program we run today, and for a dog whose problem is control and manners rather than aggression there is the 2 Week Board and Train. Prices for both are on our plans and pricing page.