Kiwi’s Success Story —

Looking back on this experience, I realize the biggest change from before starting the RRP is that now, all of our training with Kiwi is grounded in gaining & growing her trust in us. 

Before RRP, we were trying to do this too, but we fell for the "just leave your dog alone while you go to the store" and "just leave them with a kong full of peanut butter" methods. People thought that she was like any other dog that just needed the practice and that we were babying her. What was really happening was we were leaving her alone and after 6 seconds, she would howl and bark and cry so horribly that she couldn't even look at the high-value treats in front of her. Basically, every time we "practiced" separation, we were sending her over threshold and she was losing trust in us and in our relationship.

Post-RRP, I understand just how wrong that advice was for our dog, and I also understand that her journey looks different than other dog's training journeys because she does have true separation anxiety. We're confident in how we set her up for success going forward, and moreover, we're training sub-threshold 99.9% of the time (as much as we can feasibly help it), which is allowing Kiwi to learn more effectively and trust us to keep her safe, comfortable, and build her confidence. 

Kiwi's separation anxiety had reached a new level of anxiety / over threshold that I felt so unprepared to handle on my own. I loved that RRP 1) had a social media presence - the YouTube videos and instagram posts gave me confidence that I was putting our trust in the right trainer, and 2) was a longer program and a group setting. I wanted my "hand held" for lack of a better phrase and to be held accountable for what can be a challenging process. The length of the RRP + the group setting did just that. 

How do you feel your relationship, lifestyle, and communication with your dog have improved since the beginning of the program?

They've absolutely grown. I think the two biggest ways are:

1) Looking at her enrichment as a whole each week rather than on a daily basis. Logging Kiwi's enrichment held me accountable for planning ahead for decompression days, prepping for more exciting days, etc. which helped us to make sure we avoided her going over threshold as much as possible. 

2) Trust has really built with us because through RRP, I've learned that in not just reactivity training, but in separation anxiety training, that you need to be training sub-threshold. This means that every separation anxiety mission performed has meant that we're building trust instead of her losing it in us!

What was your biggest takeaway or lesson learned from the RRP?

Biggest takeaway was definitely the formula / guidelines on how to perform missions for each goal. I know that after RRP, I can reference the guides/cheat sheets and work through any goal that we have. 

Would you recommend the RRP to your friends or family? If you would recommend it, what would you say to them?

Absolutely! I've already recommended it to everyone. The things that I highlight to other dog guardians are: 

1. You have a group/community to share wins, tough moments, and learnings with.

2. Lastly, and most importantly, that this program teaches you all the tools you need for after the program is over. I can confidently say that we know how to continue working with Kiwi through her separation anxiety journey. As a human, I learned so much about this process and I know I won't need another trainer or "set of eyes" on this particular part of Kiwi's training. :) 

I 100% feel that we can continue forward in the recovery journey confidently. Understanding how to work through one goal at a time, but knowing the formula for missions, was critical in setting us up for after RRP.