“Regan was surrendered by a family in Georgia and spent 2 months in a shelter before Atlanta Lab Rescue pulled him from the shelter. He was vetted, neutered, and placed with a foster home for a few weeks when we met him and immediately decided to adopt him.
He was a calm and gentle Labrador Retriever, except when we took him out to walk and he saw other dogs. Not every dog, but most dogs elicited a negative reaction from Regan. He would jump straight up in the air, spin, snarl, and growl. Quite frightening to me and the other owners and dogs.
I contacted a trainer who told me you cannot train that out of a dog and to just realize that Regan would not have any “doggy” friends. When I told my veterinarian about this, he referred me to Dr. Lisa Radosta, a veterinary behaviorist. She came to our house and spent several hours with us and with Regan and taught us how to deal with his reactiveness. We worked with him and did what she suggested and in a very short time, Regan turned around and became calm and friendly around other dogs. He also reacted to golf carts and we were able to correct that behavior as well.
Recently, I took Regan to an orientation for Share-A-Pet, a pet therapy organization. The room was full of people with their DOGS! He was fine with all of them. He was so well-behaved that they suggested he take the test to be a therapy dog and see how he did and HE PASSED on the first try! Regan is now a therapy dog at Broward Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. He visits the residents at least once a week and brings joy to a lot of people. I am grateful to Dr. Radosta because Regan now has the confidence to go anywhere and it is a pleasure to be able to take him with us and know that he is well behaved!”