Sam knows what you’re going through
Sam has lived with two difficult dogs in her life, both being adopted at their teenage phase. Here’s how that went . . .
Sam’s first dog Nola she adopted without knowing a lot about her. When she brought her home she was five months old and didn’t have an “off button” — this girl was ready to go, go, go! On top of that she would bark, lunge, and scream at other dogs at far distances on walks, and destroyed her apartment every time she left for short errands.
Without any resources at the time, Sam was stuck googling for hours trying to find solutions. However, she didn’t know what information to trust because a lot of what she saw on the internet involved shock collars and spikey collars that Sam did NOT want to use on her already sensitive dog.
Once Sam realized what type of relationship she wanted to have with her dog and discovered some key exercises to try, she started to see progress snowball into where Nola is today. Nola is able to walk by other dogs as close as 10-15ft without the need for a close heel on a shock collar. Nola chooses to walk by other dogs, no reaction required.
Remember, Sam had two difficult dogs . . .
After having Nola for 3 years, Sam decided to integrate a 2nd dog into her family unit. This dog’s name was JB (short for Jelly Bones. That’s right. Jelly Bones). He was 3 months old when he came into Sam’s home and boy did he leave a mark. Once he hit the shark tornado phase of his adolescence (5 months old), he turned into a completely different dog. He constantly sought out Sam to chew on, and would start to chew on Nola as well.
Everything Sam did with Nola, she tried on JB to get him to calm down. He would either get bored with these activities or frustrated to the point where he would go back to hanging off arms. The physical exercise that helped Nola, he had no interest in, which would send Sam spiraling back to square one.
It was only when Sam started learning to become a dog trainer that she understood that his needs could not be met in the same way as Nola’s. And the answer to his “bad behavior” could not be found in the history Sam had with Nola who was difficult in a different way.
Unfortunately because the relationship between JB and Nola had deteriorated to the point of JB having to be rehomed. Sam has taken her personal experience to help other dog parents having a really difficult time with their dogs. She doesn’t want anyone to go through what she went through with the dogs that they’ve brought into their home and fallen head over heels in love with.
Caring for another being wasn’t made to be easy, but it certainly shouldn’t be heart-wrenchingly difficult either.
Meet Your Trainer
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Sam Wolfman, KPA CTP, CPDT-KA
Owner, Trainer, Consultant
Sam specializes in reactivity, and adolescent dogs. Her dog, Nola, is highly dog reactive. As Sam’s first dog, there was a lot for her to learn — and she had no clue where to start.
On Sam and Nola’s training journey, there were a lot of mistakes made along the way. Once Sam discovered the power of positive reinforcement paired with empathy and some pharmaceutical help (prescribed by her veterinarian), Nola began to progress in a way that Sam never thought would be possible.
Leaving her career in visual merchandising, Sam has changed her path entirely to help dogs and their guardians find a better understanding. Her experiences in sheltering and in private training have been invaluable to Sam starting her own business.
Sam is a Karen Pryor Certified Training Partner and a Certified Professional Dog Trainer. She is the former Director of Behavior and Pathway Planning at the Animal Welfare League of Arlington where she played a role in assessing and placing the Envigo beagles as well as many other difficult dogs. She also worked at JW Dog Training & Consulting. Sam was also featured in the Washington Post in an interview about one of the Envigo beagles and where they were at that point in time.
Sam is currently serving the Alexandria, Arlington, and Fairfax areas in Northern VA
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In-Home Training
No more adding to your commute
Day training allows the trainer to train your dog. We don’t expect guardians to become dog trainers too, so we set you up with skills to help you manage and guide your dog in times of stress or excitement. Once we get the troubleshooting out of the way, you get a dog with more life skills — while you learn how to keep those skills sharp. What gets reinforced, gets repeated, and we will be reinforcing a lot of new skills!
Training your dog should be based off of trust, communication, and empathy. These are principles that are really important to success. While helping dogs adjust into their new homes post-adoption, and working as a private trainer, Sam realized these were the key ingredients to building a healthy relationship with your dog. Because a lot of dog guardians seek out trainers once their bonds have been chipped away at, Sam wants to help rebuild their bond quickly and efficiently.
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Shelter Experience
Case Consulting
Have a tough case that you are dealing with as a shelter or rescue worker? Sam has many years of experience assessing and placing dogs into her local community. With her years working at a local shelter, she has placed dogs and cats labeled as “behavior” with appropriate protocols and restrictions. Sam has been a speaker at Maddie’s Fund foster events, and is currently developing a class for Maddie’s Fund that is based in placing behavior animals in foster. She has also consulted with shelter professionals on cases and held handling workshops and behavior workshops!
Sam continues her close relationship with her local shelter to keep her skills sharp and familiarize herself with the animals in the community. All different types of animals come into the shelter, all with different behavioral needs. From basic life skills, to severe behavior issues, Sam loves working with them all!