Puppy In Training Testimonials & Thank You’s
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Way back in February 2007 I decided to keep an online journal of my adventures raising my first guide dog puppy in training, Stetson.
It took about six months, but in July 2007 the Puppy In Training blog was born.
Over the years I’ve not only documented my journey with guide and service dog puppies, but I’ve also done my best to help others raise and train their puppies by answering questions via email/phone, putting together videos on the Puppy In Training YouTube Channel, and even meeting up with readers in person.
Yep, I’ve met a few of my awesome readers in the real world 🙂
Many have thanked me for what I’ve done and do here on the blog. I appreciate each and every one of my readers and thank you very much for visiting.
Today, I wanted to start collecting some of the testimonials and awesome comments I’ve received over the years.
If you have a moment please feel free to add to this list by leaving a comment below or send me an email through the contact form and I’ll add your testimonial/thank you to the list.
Thank you everyone!
Colby, Raven, and Elsa
Testimonial
noun
- A formal statement testifying to someone’s character and qualifications.
- A public tribute to someone and their achievements.
Puppy In Training Testimonials And Thank You’s
I love it when people send me a note or leave me a comment just to say thank you and those who expand upon that thank you makes my day/week/month/year!
This little bit of inspiration from you goes a long way to making this a successful blog. Thank you!
Here are a few of our thank you/testimonials:
I just wanted to say thank you. We bought a pure bred chocolate Labrador on October 11th. Hazel was 7 weeks old. The first night was amazing with her. The next night everything went down hill for the next 3.5 weeks. She would not stop barking in her cage throughout the night. I questioned everything and even thought about getting her a different home. My kids weren’t sleeping, I wasn’t sleeping. But I did research and came across this on Sunday November 8th. After working with Hazel all day long the first few days and really making her cage a safe & fun environment I’m pleased to say we are now making it 9pm to around 5:15-5:30 am with no barking. She will be 12 weeks on Monday. I would obviously like her to sleep until 7am, lol (and we will get to that point someday) but we have made great strides this week. I just wanted to say Thank you!
–K.E.
By the way, with COVID-19 and not being able to visit a trainer, your website is REALLY appreciated!
–B.B.
We are getting our first dog, a rescue puppy. I am 54 and have never owned a dog, and your website has been INVALUABLE – I’ve been up all night reading and taking notes. I LOVE your tone and perspective and detail. Thank you SO much! Wish us luck!
–V.L.
I’d like to say thank you as well for this list, and suggestions. I found it most thorough and helpful. My first litter will be here soon. Much appreciated, Amarillo Texas.
–S.W.
I think I’ve read this article over 10 times now. Thank you for the helpful article! Tomorrow is the big day! We are bringing home our 8 week old Golden Retriever puppy and he will be my first pup! I love dogs, we babysit our friends dogs, but never raised one of our own and boy am I excited. I’m also nervous for crate and potty training but your words helped a lot….
–R.N.
I wana say I’ve been reading your page all morning and it’s just awesome all the way around.
–H.C.
Wanted to thank you for your wonderful help in raising Daisy. She just turned 14 months and passed her evaluations to become a registered therapy dog. We go to high schools for troubled teens and she is amazing with them. Your website was instrumental in preparing us. Again, thank you.
–J.B.
Hi Colby, I am not just enjoying your blog and tips, I feel that I have an experienced guide with a good sense of humor helping me through this new adventure! Thank you. Thanks for your quick response to my question, too. It is good to have a benchmark to know when to expect Garbo to have learned something more thoroughly.
–S.N.
Colby, I am so pleased by your commitment to the blog. I have a three year old Lab that is my fifth dog to raise and train. In the past I had read books, went to dog training classes and worked very hard at doing my part to have a well mannered dog in the family. I even won first place obedience awards. Then along came eight week old Levi, the chocolate lab. It had been 16 years since my last puppy and, of course, he proved to be the most challenging! I found your blog and so enjoyed the wisdom, encouragement, and humor. Your shared experience with crate training Stetson kept me full of hope as I listened to my puppy insist he was going to die if I didn’t open that door and hold him! It wasn’t long before he retreated to the crate for a nap! I spoke of your blog to anyone with a dog! It was frustrating and disappointing as the blog lost steam. I took to re-reading posts. Thanks for your commitment to the blog and your willingness to answer questions!! Today Levi is the best mannered member of the household. He takes long walks off lead (in urban setting) and is a fetching, swimming and jumping machine! He is such a pleasure and lives up to your promise that patience and persistence and consistency will deliver a giant payoff, Thank you!! I so look forward to enjoying your blog into the future!
–R.G.
Thanks Colby. The service you provide is of such great help for those in need. Fortunately no one in the family has required your services but it is comforting to know you and yours exist. Thanks for the work you do and the information.
–T.K.
I’ve been a subscriber for about 2 years and wanted to thank you for putting in the time and energy for an excellent website. I appreciate the articles and blogs and your serious yet humorous perspective on puppy training. I’m an educator of puppy/dog parents helping them help their dogs. I love it. And San Diego weather helps. I have often wondered how one goes about becoming a puppy raiser and was not very successful finding specifics on line. So I thought if anyone would know you would be the one. Are there organizations I should research or people I should talk to? Any information you could provide would be greatly appreciated. And if ever in the San Diego area I’ll buy you a cup of coffee ? and we could chat about being a puppy raiser.
–G.C.
I have been watching your youtube uploads and reading your blogs and I must say I’m completely in love with Dublin. He is so sweet and intelligent, and a hard working dog! I learn a lot from your training blog posts. I want to ask you if you would post a new puppy (2-4mths) potty/feed/play schedule that you’d recommend.
–M.H.
Thank you so much for this website! I have been a proud owner of a sweet yeIllow female lab for a year named Cookie. Your blog is just what I’ve been looking for and can’t wait to read your tips and updates on your labs, thank you!
–R.B.
Colby I just wanted to say Thank you for what you do for people and for the animals.
–C.U.
Colby….I really enjoyed those videos of Dublin’ adventures! Thank you so much for making them! I have a therapy dog and we volunteer at two local hospitals. I am going to an orientation tomorrow night in Rochester, Michigan to volunteer at Leader Dogs For the Blind. I would like to work with the pups at the facility and I am interested in finding out about being a puppy raiser. I’m hoping to do this somewhere down the line. I retired from teaching and I would just love to raise/work with the puppies. Loved seeing the graduation video. It looks sad, but very rewarding. Looking forward to more videos from you! Thank you again…keep it up…you never know who you’ll be an inspiration to!
–L.B.
Hey Colby, I’m so proud of Dublin (and congrats on all your hard work!) and I’m really excited that he’s in Chandler. My family lives there and maybe I’ll bump into him one day! I can’t even imagine what it’ll be like when Jasper has to leave go to training. I really hope he graduates. We still have a while to go before he leaves though. Thanks for the updates on Dublin! The Puppy In Training TV was a Godsend. I think it was really sweet that he came to you when you said his name. 🙂 I probably would’ve cried right then and there. Anyways, congratulations and I hope you guys have fun at your Memorial Day weekend reunion!! 😀
–P.P.
Hello Colby, and thank you for sharing your puppy-raising experience with us. We are volunteer Puppy Walkers, for the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association in the UK, and it has been interesting to see the similarities, (and differences), in our two systems. We know just how proud you must feel now Dublin has graduated. The only better feeling is to talk to a Guide Dog Owner, (GDO), and hear how the dog has changed their lives.
–P.B.
Yes thank you for posting all this information – love the puppy tv! We are presently in the process of adopting a non-qualifying guide dog here in Canada. I know I will be back to this site for more information in the future. Can you post updates on how Dublin is doing with his training? My kids and I have been talking about him since watching all the episodes this weekend!
–D.K.
Keep up the good work.
Just LOVE the episode of Dublin at the Getty! What a good boy! You’ll have to bring him to the Villa sometime, too.
–J.J.
Great job. I love how you explain everything. A great education tool for anyone wondering what it’s like to be a puppy raiser! Dublin is doing great already! Good job!
–L.L.
Colby , great video ,and what a great name for your dog “Dublin” what a great Idea crawling on all fours first having a puppys view of the room,so to check out that its safe for your puppy. Cheers!
–M.M.
Thank you so much and now that we took a step back he is doing better and he did have a UTI which is being treated and I would not have realized had I not read your website.
–C.U.
I just wanted to say “thank you” for your fantastic web site! We only brought our puppy home a few days ago, but I have scoured your site and learned a lot. We are already seeing the progress!
–E.W.
Hello. My husband and I just adopted a black lab puppy who is now 8 weeks old. It is our first family dog and the first dog we’ve owned since being married. We both grew up with dogs but now realize the work our parents went through when training them! 🙂 Since having this puppy (only about 10 days), I’ve cried, had feelings of frustration with training it, and have possibly wanted to “take it back!” Of course, I haven’t let Lily (the dog) see my frustration…or our children. I have read TONS of online tips, etc. and even received books and advice from friends who have labs. I wanted to let you know I stumbled across your blog today and think it is the BEST ever! You give practical, easy to read advice and the best thing is that it is coming from a lot of your own experience raising and training dogs. I can’t wait to share your blog with my husband. I thought I would just tell you that I appreciate you blogging your training advice and tips—I’m feeling much more hopeful now after reading various posts you’ve made and will be adding many suggestions you’ve made into our own training immediately! Thanks again!
–A.W.
I got much more useful information and great tips from reading your “What should I expect from my 8 week old puppy” than I did from 190 pages of my “Dummies” book ( halfway through, and probably through!) You covered so, so many of my questions so well and you have really calmed a bunch of gnawing concerns I’ve had about getting my Miniature American Shepherd 8-week old puppy. ( No pun intended using the word gnawing…) Thank you so much for making your experiences and observations available.
–J.I.
Tonight is our first night home, she will be trained to help me know when to take my meds. I started having her use her crate since the moment I picked her up, along with encouraging her to relieve herself where I’d like her to use. Thankfully her breeder has been using the name I chose for her since her 3rd week so she already knows her name. I really appreciate this article as she is right at 7 weeks and where I have done my homework well, it has been 9 years since my senior dog was brought home and this is the first time I’ve ever owned a smaller breed so I was second guessing things which you reinforced here. So thank you for such a well laid out, well written article.
–S.O.
Excellent read, extremely informative, and helpful. Im actually getting a yellow lab on 9/26 and my stressor right now is whether to go crate or puppy bed (though the bar is raised more so towards crating while a baby) and potty training. Though I’ve had other dogs (mine just recently passed in July) I was either too young or not living at home when my dogs were puppies, so this is all new to me. We live in a townhouse so his first night is either him with us in the bedroom or me downstairs sleeping on the couch so he can get used to being down there…
With all this being said, your right, every puppy is different and all the dogs I’ve had we have been extremely lucky as they were both tremendously great dogs. We do what we feel is best and learn because mistakes are going to happen! Thanks so much again!
–M.R.
Hi–your articles are great–I am on my 4th puppy to raise, previous 3 have graduated and became SD’s for a national group, after 3 decades of purebred dog conformation experience and all that comes with that and I am still picking up things from your writing, so can’t imagine how helpful to a new SD raiser or even a pet raiser your information is–thanks.
–K.L.
Thank you everyone for making my day by visiting the blog and leaving a note of appreciation.
I’ll continue to add to this list as a place for inspiration.
If you’d like to add to our testimonials and thank you’s please send me an email through the contact form or simply leave me a comment in the comment section below.
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