Whole Dog University — Local services in Lebanon

I wish I could give Ruth and Whole Dog University 10 or 20 stars! My dog, Toby, was a puppy mill puppy, a pound puppy and I was his third owner after his breeder by his FIRST birthday! He had no socialization at all, was terrified of everything and everybody and had been badly neglected by his last owner (he had urine stains up to his belly). I got obedience training from a professional trainer who uses slip collars and he was "okay" but not great with it - he didn't get much better than he had been except for knowing how to sit. For four years, I worked with him, took him places and used various online trainers' techniques to try to get through to him. I met Ruth at church and she gave me some good tips to use with him. After he ran away from our RV in a restaurant parking lot, I decided I needed Ruth's help to teach him to come reliably. We paid for 4 lessons. Toby was so nervous at her shop, Ruth suggested she come to our house for training. That turned the tide! Toby now goes up to strangers, if still a bit hesitantly, but he will wait for them to squat and pet him, which is huge! He is so much more confident that I've been doing agility training with him on my own (with suggestions from Ruth). Now my timid dog will jump into a dog swimming pool with crackly plastic water bottles in it to search for treats! He jumps obstacles joyfully and is finally getting consistent at the weave poles! Best of all, on a very VERY windy day when the back gate blew open just a little bit and he squeezed through, I happened to see him happily trotting toward the front yard around the side of the house. I called "Toby, come!" and HE DID!!! He ran as hard as he could to that gap in the gate and right up to me! He is now affectionate, comfortable with sitting in our laps or on the couch, greeting people, stops barking when I say "Enough!" . . . The improvement is truly astounding. Ruth understood his problems and taught me how to understand them and address them. She made me a much better dog owner and Toby a TREMENDOUSLY better dog! I can't praise her enough!...

100% recommend Whole Dog University to transform your dog’s behavior!

I took my high energy goldendoodle, and new puppy to Ruth for basic obedience training prior to welcoming our baby boy.

Overall calmness in our home. My parents say it’s night and day coming over to our house once my dogs went through Ruth’s program. They went from jumping up and barking at anyone who would come over, to calmly greeting guests (and us)! After delivering a baby, and bringing home a newborn, this was really important to us for the baby’s safety. I also feel way more comfortable having my grandparents and kids over.

Sense of direction & overall happiness for the dogs. At first we were concerned that our dogs would be upset by the training and sad that they aren’t allowed to do whatever they want anymore, but we found the opposite to be true! The dogs are actually happier and calmer with a routine and more clear hierarchy. They LOVE training, and get so excited to practice the commands. We’ve noticed they sleep better and are calmer too when they are more mentally stimulated with training.

Safety. I waited until 2 weeks after baby’s arrival to write this, so we could see the training in action! The dogs understand to keep a bubble around the baby, and not go in his nursery. They can smell him from a distance, without the need to get closer than we are comfortable! They are also perfectly happy not sleeping in bed with us anymore—which is really important for baby’s safety when breastfeeding during the night. We have been so impressed with how well the dogs have responded to his arrival (and less attention from mom now that baby is here too).

Overall, I would absolutely recommend Whole Dog University to anyone expecting a new baby in the family, or with the need for calmer dogs in general. If my puppy and high energy doodle can become under control in just a couple months, any...

Our experience with Ruth was amazing! We got our dog from the shelter back in April. She was about a year old and definitely had plenty of issues as a result of being a stray + being adopted/given back within a month. We had a consultation with Ruth within a few weeks of adopting Piper. Ruth went through every single issue we were experiencing in heavy detail and we spent several hours talking through everything. During that consultation, she suggested letting Piper adjust to her new environment before starting obedience training, and gave us super helpful knowledge about handling the dog in the meantime.

We eventually started obedience training, and I was so impressed by Ruth's approach each week. We learned how to do all of the basic commands, but she also kept up with all of the other behavioral issues that Piper came with. One of our biggest issues was over-arrousal around other animals, specifically our cat (we've had to separate the two due to him running away and the dog chasing him). After learning about that issue, Ruth brought her dog and cat into several training sessions. This was so helpful for learning about Piper's mental state around other animals. Ruth also taught us so much about how to recognize signs of over-arrousal/fear/etc and how to handle Piper when she's in those tough situations.

I think the thing I'd like to stress the most is that there's no doubt that Ruth is passionate about what she does. She's not just there to teach your dog a couple of tricks and call it a day. She actively kept up with Piper's behavioral issues, health problems, adjustment to us/our home, socialization with other animals/people, and so much more! "Whole Dog University" perfectly describes her approach when training. She really will focus on every aspect of your dog's life. I absolutely recommend Ruth and the amazing service...