Meet “Tito” and his parents Mike and Michele Mezzo. They rescued Tito through Rescue Ridge several months ago. Tito had some big issues, but through the devotion of Mike and Michele he graduated with honors April 26th. So very proud of them all. I wish every rescue dog could find a family like the Mezzo’s. They saved his life! Not really experienced with dogs, especially Aussies, they never blinked and followed the rehab program to the letter. I’ve had Aussies for most of my adult life and told them of the challenges. They NEVER wavered in their support of Tito and believed in the dog I said he could be. They took a crash course in Aussies and rose to the task. Tito is still a work in progress and they will be taking him next to agility. These wonderful people are the perfect example of FAITH and hard work.

Here’s their story in their words:

Where do we even begin?? In order to understand the full story, it’s important to know the background first. My wife and I adopted a 1 Year Old Australian Shepherd about 5 months ago. After about a week with our new pup, we started experiencing some major issues, which led to multiple biting incidents in our house. We were honestly just so distraught when all of this started happening. With the history of his behavior, we knew that if we gave up on him his chances for re-adoption would be slim. We really felt like we were his only hope, and we just couldn’t give up on him… But we really didn’t know where to begin since we had never experienced issues like this with our other dogs.

This is where Kindred Souls came in…. I honestly cannot say enough about our experience with Pete. We started with a private session and Pete went through everything with us in such detail. We really didn’t realize how the smallest little details can make such a big difference to the dog! I think that the one word that best describes Pete’s approach is passion. He has such a love for the dogs that he works with, and is ALWAYS willing to help. During our worst stretch of weeks with Tito, I was calling Pete 2 and 3 times a week with questions and updates on our dog’s progress, and I cannot remember a single occasion where Pete didn’t have time for us. Pete even stayed after class with us on multiple occasions to do some one on one work with our dog and to make sure that he was continuing to progress.

The other important thing to note is that this man knows what he’s doing when it comes to dogs! We just completed the Basic Obedience class at Kindred Souls, and our dog graduated with honors! We literally went from not knowing if we would be able to keep our new dog, to now having him graduate obedience 1 with honors. I can’t say it enough, Pete knows what he is doing when it comes to dogs. All being said, our dog still has a long road ahead of him.. but the most important thing is that my wife and I now have the confidence that we can work through this. If you listen in on the instruction at class, and practice the homework at home in between classes, there is no doubt that you and your dog will see results.

Pete’s training methods are fair and easy to replicate in your own home. Our dog had a pretty significant set of issues going into the training, and Pete was still able to give us plan tailored to our specific situation. To the team at Kindred Souls, we cannot thank you enough. We fell in love with Tito right from the start and were heartbroken when we realized that we may have to give him up. After meeting with Pete, he gave us a lot of comfort and confidence that we would be able to work through this if we stuck to the training. Because of your team, we are now finally getting to a point where we are able to start enjoying our dog and are really building a strong bond with Tito. I would definitely recommend this Company to anyone looking to get involved with their dog. We are already booked to begin agility classes at Kindred Souls, and know that that won’t be our last class there!