Customer experiences with Doggylanguage:

Margreet Homan (Voorschoten, Holland), owner of Devil & Perro:

"Experiences of a fan of the dog listener from Condom, France:
Recently, well since a few week ago, I am rapidly becoming the pack leader in my own home. For my surroundings this is often a strange experience, but to my 2 anxious dogs, it is the only way to give them a safe and peaceful environment. Despite all the dog trainings and obedience courses I did so far!

My two dogs come from abroad and they both had some traumatic years in the beginning of their lives.  They both have their own story. My do ‘Devil’ spend his young years prisoned to a chain. She can really totally into a total panic situation, where she will be blind and deaf to everything around her. Even acquaintances she no longer recognizes. My other dog ‘Perro’ was severely  influenced by the post-natal depression from his previous owner. Perro is continuously very stressed . Of course you hope a good obedience training will solve all of their (and my) problems. Actually in these dog trainings you will focus on the many commands, but you will not pay attention to their fears and the stress situations your dogs experience. You’ll try to give your dogs a happy life nice by walking a lot with them and participate in dog sports, etc. I actually took the social behavior problems of my 2 dogs for granted, because they had such a bad life before they came to me.

Only after it became clear to me that it was too much to handle for my dog Devil (he even started to attack in several situations) I contacted Pieke for help. The theory (Amichien Bonding) seems simple in the beginning, but after 2 books by Jan Fennell, Piekes consultation and the DVD’s, it is now very clear to me where I made clear mistakes in creating a safe environment for my dogs. Every day I learn new things, sometimes by trial and error.

I have a sort of lifeline by email with Pieke, therefore she is well aware of everything happening in my life, more than anyone else. All dog calming signals that we humans can apply, I know them now in theory and I do my best to put them into practice. It is a big challenge to get everybody in my environment to work with me in this new method.

For me it is important to see the effect this method has on my dogs. I enjoy the peace and quiet at home and the positive attitude of my dogs when walking with them outdoors. Of course it is a ongoing process with many ups and some downs, but every day using the Amichien Bonding method is a better day!"

Margreet Homan
Devil & Perro

Dani and Jose Akkerwij, Waddinxveen, Holland 

"We are very fond of our dog Rover. We would do anything for him, but at a certain moment he was really controlling our daily life. We couldnt leave him alone for a second. It drove us mad. I couldnt even go out to do my groceries. So I needed to do that as soon as my husband came home. Luckily supermarkets are open now until late at night. My social life disappeared because I couldnt go anywhere during the day. I just couldnt leave the dog alone. If I would, he would bark the whole time and tear apart the pillows of my couch or something else he could find. The neighbours started to complain, which caused a lot of stress for us, and so also for the dog. It became a vicious circle and we didnt see a way out anymore. Luckely a friend advised us to read Jan's book. That was a big eyeopener for us. We definitely treated our dogs too much as a human being. That is for sure! Dogs think so different than we do. They have their own language. We thought we probably wouldnt make it with only the book and wanted to do it thoroughly and started looking for a Dog Listener in our neighbourhood. Through the office of Jan Fennell we found Pieke. She visited us within a few days. She explained us everything in about 4 hours and promised us to help us lifelong with free advise and help. After the consultation, we had a lot of contact with her, but finally we understood how it works and now we hardly need any help anymore. Actually it is all very simple. But you really need to change your habits. We must learn not to think as humans but as dogs and behave like an alpha-leader in nature. In that way the dog will trust and respect us as their alpha-leader and it wont feel the need to fulfill that role itself. After a short while we saw things getting better. But it is a proces, so be patient. It definitely works! It is such a difference now. I can do my groceries without the dog getting stressed! Even get a cup of coffee with a friend. Before the consultation we were getting annoyed with the dog sometimes but now we are really enjoying him again. Because things are so much better now but also because we understand him much better now. But dont forget, it is not a quick fix. It took us some time but it works. And you need to keep doing it otherwise things will change again. Rover is much calmer and happier. That is really a relief. Pieke was very patient with us and Rover and explained everything very clear over and over again. Pieke, again, thank you very much, also from Rover!"

Best wishes, Dani en Jose