Bootcamp > Review / report

Bootcamp experience

Have you ever felt like you've tried everything but your dog is still causing problems?

When my dog Max came to live with us, my wife and I were super happy. Max is a beautiful Malinois Shepherd. He is smart, active and very sweet. But after a while, we noticed something strange. Max sometimes became aggressive to people who came to visit us. As a result, we hardly dared to invite people over to our house anymore. We felt alone and worried. We thought: are we doing something wrong?

We searched the Internet for tips and also tried training sessions. But nothing helped. Max just seemed to get more and more nervous. We became tired and insecure. We even thought it was our fault. Maybe we were doing something wrong ourselves while training.

Eventually we understood that we needed professional help. A friend told us about De Sol Casa Bootcamp. That is a training where dogs stay with trainers for a while and are helped with their behavior every day. At first we were apprehensive about leaving Max with just anyone. But we saw that this might be the only solution.

The trainers at De Sol Casa have a lot of experience. They understood why previous trainings at our home had not worked. They told us that aggressive behavior always has a reason. We did not know that at first. During the first meeting we learned a lot. For example, we discovered that you can tell early on when a dog is becoming aggressive. We had never learned that before.

During the stay, we often received messages and pictures of Max. The trainers not only looked at Max, but also at how we handled him. They saw that our own insecurity made Max nervous. By understanding that and working on it, things slowly improved.

What we learned most of all is that aggressive behavior doesn't just happen. Dogs give little signals before they become aggressive. We didn't see those signals before. Now we can pay better attention to those signals and prevent problems.

At De Sol Casa we also learned how important it is to continue training well at home. When Max returned home, we received clear tips. We really liked that. Before, training didn't work out, because we didn't get a good explanation and guidance. But now it went well, because we knew exactly what to do.

The result was great. Max came back as a completely different dog. He was calmer and felt more secure. Now we could finally go for relaxed walks again. And also at home we could invite people over again. That gave us a nice and safe feeling.

The most important lesson for us was that you shouldn't wait too long to seek professional help. If we had sought help earlier, we would have had much less stress. Now we know it's better to seek help right away if things aren't going well. And it's important to look carefully at what training really works.

If your dog has behavior problems, don't wait too long to seek help. It really does help. Our life with Max has become fun again. Thanks to De Sol Casa's training, we understand each other much better now.