Solana came to us on Valentines Day as a 3 month old puppy. She and her sister were dumped and brought to a shelter in Oregon, USA. They were lucky enough to find a home for her sister, but unfortunately, no one wanted Solana (or Peanut as they called her at the time) so they scheduled her to be euthanized. Luckily, she came to the attention of a rescue group in North Vancouver and they brought her here to Canada. Within four days she had found her home with us.

From the first day it was obvious that our cute little bundle of joy would be a handful. She was already 22 pounds and a headstrong young lady. We started with the exercise of walking her but she decided she didn’t want to so she just sat down and let us drag her down the street. Once she tired of this game then she decided she would take us for walks by dragging us down the street. We were concerned because we knew as she got older, she would became heavier and stronger and we felt if we did not get an early start with some proper training, she was quickly going to become to strong to control very quickly. Also, as a rescue dog, it is not possible to be sure of her breed, but we believe that she is a Boxer/American Staffordshire Terrier cross and we wanted to be sure that with such a strong breed, we were responsible so that she would be a gentle and content dog.

We searched on the internet and found many options, but our first choice was Sit Happens. We e-mailed them and when they called, we set up a meeting to go over their program options. Marilyn came to our house and gave us a demonstration with her dogs and we were very impressed. She said that our puppy could also be this well behaved and that after only one lesson; Solana would come when she was called. We decided to give it a try. We have been thrilled with Solana’s progress so far. The training methods are simple and effective and, as Marilyn promised, Solana absolutely did come when she was called by the end of the first at home session. Her first outdoor class was very overwhelming for her because she was so young, (only 5 months) but with some extra help Solana was able to join the rest of the group before the end of the class.

She is ten months old now and she is growing into a wonderful dog. We took her camping this summer and were able to have her stay in our campsite off leash without wandering off. She will walk nicely on or off leash, she comes when she’s called, she will wait for instructions before eating or entering/leaving the house, she will sit and lay down on command and she has even learned a few fun dog tricks. She has many friends she plays with at the local dog park. She receives many compliments on her good behaviour and most people are amazed when find out how young she still is. Last weekend our 4 year old niece held onto the leash as we walked her and Solana was gentle and obedient. They both had a wonderful time.

We are so grateful to have found Solana and have her become part of our family. She is fun and sweet puppy with a gentle disposition and an absolutely wonderful friend. She loves to be around people, usually under foot. She gets so excited when we have been away from her for an hour, you’d think we’d been gone for a month. She likes to lick and this has definitely given new meaning to a morning bath! She loves the sun and hates the rain. Her favourite activities are going for walks, playing in the dog park and playing “chase the fox on a stick” in the back yard.

We can no longer remember life without her. Thank you to Jeff and everyone at Sit Happens for your help in making our training fun and successful.