I am really grateful that I was able to meet Caryl through a vet I just had jumped in. I think I was longing to meet someone like Caryl for such a long time. She has made my life much easier and I believe my dog’s life, too.

We moved to Los Angeles from Tokyo with our dog for my husband to attend business school. He getting accepted to school and we moving to the States were very exciting news, but at the same time my dog had become the biggest problem of my life.

My dog, 7 years old and a male Maltese, has had many behavior problems. I had brought him up like a spoiled child. I believed that if you gave as much love as you can, he would just turn out to be perfect, in another words a well behaved dog. But he proved me wrong and his dominant behavior escalated as the years went by. He growled or barked at us whenever he didn’t get his way, and he would not do anything I wanted him to do.

But my biggest concern was that he had the worst separation anxiety and I wasn’t able to leave the house. It seemed like my dog was running my life and I was tolerating it. I had knocked the doors on every dog training schools, but all gave me the same answer saying that it was impossible to retrain him at his age. I was hopeless and clueless.

Then I was introduced to Caryl and I was thankful just after our first session because he was obeying my command for the first time. The first session, he kept on barking to get his way with Caryl and it was very embarrassing for me and at the same time I felt very sorry for my dog. I had brought him up wrong and I was all to blame for, and the dog didn’t know what was happening. But with Caryl’s patience and her experience, she and my dog were able to get to a point where she was able to communicate with my dog. I guess that my dog probably feels very secure with Caryl and trusts her, so he does what he is expected.

One thing we tried to do so hard when knowing we had to put my dog on the plane was to get him inside a crate. We tried everything, but he seemed to be so scared in the situation of confinement and darkness. The most he would do was to put his two forehands in and reach very hard to get the treats in the back corner. Till the last day of our flight we were not successful in getting him in the crate. So we were left with the only option of giving him tranquilizers and shoving him in. The medicine did not work at all and he was whining all through his flight. But Caryl gave him a treat and said “IN” and the next moment he was in the crate and through our session he stayed in there. Now he takes his naps inside the crate. What did Caryl do that was so different from my training? I haven’t figured it out, but that’s how good she is with dogs.

Another great thing about Caryl is that she counsels you. She is ready to hear your problems out and she has so many advice. I think this is very important because training your dog can be a lot easier when you understand your dog’s point of view.

It is so hard to put into words, but she does miracles with my dog. Usually when you try to force a dog to do something or raise your voice, a dog can get scared and avoid you the next time. But Caryl just has this warmth and tenderness that dogs relate to. By following her basic command training daily, my dog’s separation anxiety is starting to fade away. I regret myself in being too ignorant towards my dog, and I just wish I had met someone like Caryl a lot earlier. She is not only an animal behaviorist, but also a great dog owner counselor. Thanks to Caryl, I am able to enjoy my stay in the States without feeling guilty in leaving my dog home alone.

Ai and Yoshihide Azuma

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