Sadie's Story

Sadie is a Border Terrier, now 7 months old. I had a Border Terrier for 15 years until she passed away in Dec 2018. I swore I'd never get another since I was heartbroken. However, I missed her and decided to take the plunge. I live primarily in Hong Kong (and have for 26 years); my last Border I sourced from a breeder in the UK. For a lot of reasons, this was not practical this time so I wanted to find a breeder in the US. I had made myself familiar with these US breeders but the issue is that there are very few breeders in the US and they all end up breeding with each other dogs; consequently there have been some issues that arise because of inbreeding. I was able to find a breeder in TN who recognized this problem and he brings in dogs from the UK so Sadie's mother is American (with an English father) and her father is from Wales.

I initially had her at my home on Long Island but then brought her into the city for a few weeks prior to her flying to Hong Kong. My son was at a dog park in Riverside Park and met Maggie who very kindly advised him that Sadie was really too small to have to interact with a pack of larger dogs. My son really liked Maggie and asked for her card. I contacted her since I wanted to have her with a good trainer for a couple of issues: re-acclimating her from the country to the city, teaching her to walk on a leash properly, obey commands, etc.

We were lucky enough to have some sessions with Maggie and while I thought I had a good knowledge base about dogs, I was able to learn a LOT from Maggie. She is really gifted in dealing with animals; she is kind but firm. That applies to the owner as well!

If you think your dog needs training, e.g. a puppy or is an adult dog that has some behavior that needs to be changed, I would urge you to call Maggie. But I would add a caveat: don't expect Maggie to come and whisk your dog away and deliver it back trained. You, the owner, needs to be committed to training with the dog. Maggie's training is as much teaching the owners how to best engage with their pet to get the desired outcome.

-Christine Houston