Hi, I’m Alexandra Bassett and I’m the owner and lead trainer at Dog Savvy Los Angeles, a private dog training company that specializes in game-based dog training and solving problem dog behaviors.

A few months ago, Dogs Without Borders reached out to me to ask me if I could help them with Crackers, a 1 ½ year old, female Staffordshire Terrier/Boxer mix whom they found as a stray when she was 6 months old, wandering in a field in Bakersfield, California. 

Even though they are a small dog rescue, they were kind enough to take her in, but after a year of looking after her, they were having a lot of trouble placing her in a home because she had a variety of behavioral problems that made her difficult to live with. They reached out to me because they felt strongly that she needed a positive approach to training in order to get better and wanted to know if I could take her for boarding and training.

TO DONATE TO THE NEW CRACKERS FUND, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

At first, I said no because I’m a private dog trainer, meaning that I visit with clients in their homes to help them train their dogs - my business model is just not set up for board and train services (which requires taking several dogs at once in order to be profitable) - but after seeing her picture, for some reason, I kept thinking about Crackers. Who was going to help this dog? 

As a former shelter volunteer, I knew her prospects were grim being that she was a Bully breed mix and had issues with aggression, and the picture of Crackers that Dogs With Border shared with me had really caught my attention. I’m a bully breed lover who has owned two pit bulls in the past, and I was fascinated by her sleek, almost panther-like appearance. So, after a week of mulling it over, I finally said yes and agreed to take Crackers into my home for training.

When I first got Crackers, her behavioral issues ranged from mild - such as a tendency to counter surf or jump on furniture - to moderate - like jumping like crazy and being really mouthy when greeting people, which albeit out of love would hurt people  - to more severe - like guarding aggression and near constant barking - which made living with her difficult.

Honestly, inviting her into my home turned my life upside down!

On walks, she was a nightmare, as well! t was impossible to walk her down the street without being dragged in a million different directions towards anything that caught her attention, whether via sight or scent, and if she saw or smelled another dog or cat, she would go nuts trying to get to them. She would also growl and lunge towards anyone walking towards us or who came within 15-20 ft of us, and did go after one passerby, nearly tearing their pants leg completely off before I realized just how serious her guarding aggression was.

The good news is that, after 3 months of training, she no longer tries to jump on the furniture and will choose her own bed when spending time in the living room, and her near constant barking has subsided considerably. She will accept being put behind a gate without trying to escape and will come to heel whenever a guest stops by, waiting for a release cue before being allowed to say hi - so she knows the difference between friend or foe now, based on this new training protocol that I taught her.

The biggest win is that she can be walked on a loose leash now and has learned to slow her pace of walking down to match her handlers. The only caveat is that her triggers - cats, dogs, and people - must be on the other side of the street or she will still get charged up and aggress towards them.

Honestly, we thought that Crackers was ready to be adopted out to a new home with the promise of continued private training with me, but then there was an incident where my landlord caught us unawares and Crackers went after his friend on the front steps of my rental. Luckily, I had an ex-pen set up at the top of the stairs, otherwise Crackers might have bitten his friend and done some serious damage.

So, though she has made great strides in training, she still has a ways to go. And this is why I’m reaching out to all of you for help - Dogs Without Borders can no longer afford to keep paying for Cracker’s car and training and still no one has come forward to adopt or foster her. But, I’ve seen so much progress in Crackers that I feel it would be a waste of time and money to give up on her now, and I would like to be able to continue with her training in order to get her to the point where she can become a truly great pet to someone one day.

Due to the way my business is set up, it’s impossible for me to completely devote all of my time to both training Crackers and film her rehabilitation process , but with your help, we can make that happen! 

As long as we can raise the necessary funds, my promise to all of you is that I continue to board and train Crackers until she gets better and has found her forever home. Plus, I will film her entire rehabilitation process so that anyone facing similar issues such as over-arousal on walks (also known as leash reactivity) and guarding aggression towards people and other dogs can have a resource for helping their dog.

These are some of the video programs for both common and extreme behavioral issues that I will create with the funds and send as updates to all of our donors:

• How to train a dog to stay off the furniture

• How to stop a dog from counter surfing

• How to modify guarding aggression

• How to solve leash reactivity

All of your donations will go towards paying for Crackers training and the filming of her rehabilitation, plus a portion of the proceeds will also go to Dogs Without Borders for all they have done for her.

We hope you’ve fallen in love with Crackers the same way we have! Thank you so much for reading this post, watching our GoFundMe video, and continuing to support Cracker’s rehabilitation and journey to finding her forever home.

To donate to the new fundraiser for Crackers, please go to The New Crackers Fund at GoFundMe.