In 2014, when Max Blum went to the SPCA to look for a dog, a skinny, sickly puppy caught his eye.
The dog had been found on the side of the road, neglected and abandoned, but friendly. Max filled out an application, not thinking he’d be approved for the Irish Setter. “They need a yard and a place to play,” Max said. “I live in town and don’t have a yard. They gave me a call and said, ‘You can pick him up on Thursday.’”
Max brought his new dog home, knowing nothing about where he came from or what he’d been through. Issues surfaced quickly — Moses bit the back of Max’s arms, refused to recall, barked incessantly, and never ran out of energy.
Max emailed Dana at Philly Unleashed the next day. “I was like, I can’t do this,” Max said. “Someone has to come and help me.”
Max and Moses took private sessions with Dana, completed Level 1 classes and experienced Recall Bootcamp. “He was not an easy puppy and thank goodness Dana responded to me when she did,” said Max. “I didn’t know what to do.”
Dana even joined Max and Moses at the office for a private session. “The Philly Unleashed team gave me all of the tools and steps I needed in order to train and work with Moses in the right way,” Max shared. “Dana helped build structure and stability and go over what we needed to work on at the office. Which is way above and beyond.”
With Dana’s guidance, Max decided to send Moses to daycare a few days a week. Even though Moses is able to join Max at work, adding in daycare allowed Max to accomplish more at work while Moses burned more energy. “Dana helped me through every single step of how to resolve every single issue with both Moses’s behavior and how I needed to change my behavior,” Max said.
In 2015, when Farm Camp started, Moses was one of the first dogs at Rammytime Farm. Even three years later, Moses continues to spend a total of 30 days a year at the farm. While Dana responded to that first email, Max and Moses have also received a lot of training from Nicole as well, along with the rest of the Philly Unleashed trainers. “Nicole has become a bit of a surrogate mom to Moses,” said Max. “She and the whole team were really instrumental in shaping him. Farmcamp is an awesome experience for Moses, and I trust Nicole and her staff completely with my dog. I also love looking at the Instagram updates, and getting the report card on how he did during his stay.”
With the issues under control, Max is able to enjoy Moses and particularly loves when Moses has managed to fit two tennis balls in his mouth, or when Moses joins Max on the couch. “He comes next to me and he’ll put his paw on my arm and nuzzle his head into me and roll onto his belly,” Max shared. “He has to be touching me all the time. I really like how he interacts with little kids. He’s really delicate with them for being such a big dog. He’ll just go up to little kids and put his face in theirs around town. He’s always up to play. Doesn’t matter if he’s been at Farmcamp or daycare all day. All he wants to do is play.”
And then there are all the other benefits of having a dog–getting outside even during the winter, meeting new friends, and even stronger relationships with family. “I got a dog to give me a purpose as well,” Max said. “Having a dog forces me to go out and do things. We meet great people who have dogs. I have stronger relationships with people in my family. People in the office really love him being here. They bring him treats and toys and just love having a dog here. He’s just so happy and gets along with everyone. All he wants to do is play. If you have a tennis ball, he’s your best friend.”
As for advice to other dog owners, Max shared that training built a relationship with Moses that is unique. “We have that kind of bond,” said Max. “Don’t expect your dog to listen to everyone the way they listen to you.”
And ultimately, through working with Philly Unleashed, Max discovered that training was more about working on his own confidence and behaviors than working on Moses. “Dogs will mold to whatever shape you want them to be,” Max explained. “You have to have confidence in yourself, in what you’re doing and enough patience and self-assurance to work on the problems you’re having. They’ll eventually respond to you. Then that moment comes when you’re laying in bed and you’ll be like, this is perfect. I have no problems. Everything is great.”
