Pet Profile: Mooby
You see Mooby’s Mom
was rescued herself by a
dog, a black lab actually.
So I scooped up Mooby,
we had him neutered
through the coalition and
he and Phoenix are best
buds.
To Whom It May Concern:
It gives me great pleasure to write this letter of
recommendation for Elizabeth Quinlan.
Ms. Quinlan has taught the dog obedience non-credit
course through the Center for Community Education at
Onondaga Community College. Student evaluations
consistently report that Liz has excellent knowledge of this
subject and presents it in organized fashion to make it
understandable to everyone. The course’s comprehensive
content provides useful information that incorporates
students’ experiences and opinions. Ms. Quinlan is always
responsive to questions relating new ideas to familiar
concepts, and her enthusiasm enhances the learning
environment. Students always comment that they would
be quick to register for another course taught by Ms.
Quinlan.
Ms. Quinlan’s positive appraisal does not end in the
classroom. From an administrative perspective she is
delightful to work with, always attentive to logistical
details from pooper scoopers to college bureaucratic
paperwork. She is flexible and is able to deal well with all
kinds of people from maintenance workers to the Dean.
In summary, I would not hesitate to say that anyone’s
program or services would be enhanced with Liz Quinlan
as an employee.
Sincerely,
Patricia Q. Pirro, Dean (1996)
Center for Community Education
Onondaga Community College
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Dear Liz,
Wow, I did not know how little I knew about dogs until I
met you last summer. I was ready to bring back our
puppy to the ASPCA and declare her demented, or at least
incorrigible. I want to thank you for showing us the way a
dog thinks, and how it would be treated by other dogs,
not hit with a newspaper etc., for growling or biting.
Sadie has turned into a great little dog, and the lessons
that she learned at your “Dog School” as my son calls it,
stayed with her, although I wish I had time to work with
her more.
Liz, you truly have a gift with animals that becomes
obvious within a few minutes after you begin working with
them. I was impressed the first day and right on through
the end of the classes. Keep up the good work. I just
wish you were around 20 years ago when we got our first
dog. You would have saved me a lot of frustration.
Thank you and take care,
Paul Dantoni
Manlius, NY
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Dear Liz,
I would first like to thank you for your time and follow-up
of our “problem” dog Barney. Your suggestions helped us
end our problem this summer. I hope that continuing with
this we will have successful summers from now on.
Barney was always destructive. We never knew what
we’d come home to but you expect those things from a
puppy. When we return home we find that he has chewed
through doors and moldings, which appears to be an
attempt to get out of the house. There is always a large
puddle of drool on the floor mixed with wood chips.
Thinking he wanted to be outside we would leave him in
the backyard. But he would only bark and annoy the
neighbors. We had also given him tranquilizers hoping
that he would sleep while we were out. That only had
limited success. Finally we couldn’t handle it anymore and
our vet referred us to you.
Let me just describe the damage to my house. He limited
his destruction to doors leading to the outside and our
picture window that looks out at the front yard. Our front
and back doors have no moldings from the door knob
down. Barney has chewed and broken off all the wood.
My front door has a window that runs almost to the
bottom. He chewed the trim around that window off. Our
garage door is a hollow core door. He tore two big holes
in it, as well as chewing the molding. One day I came
home to find that he had attacked the picture window. He
had torn all the trim off in the center where the two
windows come together. This large piece of wood was
lying in the middle of my living room. We couldn’t live like
this any longer.
I contacted the vet looking for a solution, but I wasn’t
very hopeful. He recommended that I talk to you. You
came to my house right away and met Barney and saw
the damage fist hand. You gave us a list of suggestions
including the vet prescribed medication. Of all the things
on the list, luckily the first one I tried had success.
Luckily I never had to resort to medication and we
controlled the problem right off the bat. But Barney
beware, I still have a long list of tricks up my sleeve that
You have armed me with.
I am hoping that next summer is as peaceful as this one.
Thank you.
Constance
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To Whom It May Concern:
Lolo spent her first year in the kennel training to be a
show dog. She was sold to an elderly couple in their 80’s.
Her male owner loved her and they had a good
relationship. The male owner died after 4 years and the
female owner only tolerated her. She kept her on a leash,
tied to door handles in the kitchen, bedroom and living
room. Lolo had no socialization with people or other
animals. As a result she frequently trembled when near
people. Several years later, the female owner being 88
years old went to a nursing home, and this sweet little dog
was adopted by me.
After adoption she was checked out by my vet. He
determined she was older than 8 years, had only 2 teeth,
knee dysplasia and could only hear very loud noises.
Having adopted Lolo, I needed help in dealing with her
situation. I called Liz Quinlan. She was just beginning a
new obedience training class in which we enrolled. LoLo
did not fit in. She was not used to being with other dogs
or people, so she just shook with fright during the first
class. Liz recognized LoLo’s problem and treated her
differently. My daughter and I joked about LoLo’s auditing
the class since she didn’t have to perform or do what the
other dogs were expected to do. The information from
each class was customized for LoLo (hand signals instead
of voice commands, etc.) Liz also worked with LoLo and I
with “trial and error” types of instructions. This was above
and beyond what was expected. After 5 weeks LoLo could
sit and stay but best of all she could hold her own with the
other dogs. We also noticed her trembling had stopped.
Additionally, LoLo and I Did “Walk in the Park” with Liz.
This dog who couldn’t tolerate being touched could now
spend an hour each week being held and pet by strangers.
Liz gave the advice and instruction; I followed it and it
worked.
In the classes Liz had a special rapport with the dogs
(which some of the owners needed to model). If people
followed her instructions, they found success.
Liz is highly motivated, energetic, and enthusiastic about
dogs. She’s also an extremely intelligent and articulate
person who is willing to share her knowledge and
experience with others. I personally can’t say enough
about how wonderful a person Liz is. She’s a person you
can count on. She’s there when you need her.
Sincerely,
Margaret E. Gorman
Gig Harbor, WA
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To Whom It May Concern:
If my husband and I had not met Liz Quinlan, life with
Coco, our cavalier king Charles spaniel, would not have
been the same. With her help, it has been great. We
were determined not to repeat the mistakes we had made
with our cocker spaniel year ago. His behavior left much
to be desired. Liz uses the “kind, but firm“ approach. She
is impressive. Everything we learned was effective, with
practice. It is our pleasure to recommend Liz Quinlan.
We had such a positive experience; we hope many pet
owners will benefit from her expertise.
Sincerely,
Marilyn Berkman
Syracuse, NY.
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To Whom It May Concern:
We have a 2 year old German shepherd named Lucy Bean.
At first she was a wonderful dog. She was quickly
housebroken, generally well-behaved, and obedient. She
never engaged in the customary puppy mischief like
eating garbage or chewing books. However she
developed one major distressing problem.
We live in a very isolated area. For that reason, I think
she became fearful of people coming to the door. Her
behavior was frighteningly ferocious. She would bark and
growl and show her teeth, jump at the door and the hair
on the back of her neck stood up. This usually obedient
dog, who responded to all commands, turned into a wild
beast whenever a visitor appeared. We could not get her
to listen to us or to respond to her usual commands.
Once someone was inside the house, she calmed down
and became her usual well-behaved self. But people were
terrified to come in.
The last straw came when she broke through a screen on
our porch trying to get to our weekend visitors. I called
Liz Quinlan and we made an appointment for her to come
to our house on the following Saturday.
As soon as Liz met Lucy Bean she said “This is not an
aggressive dog.” We knew that, but the UPS man didn’t.
Liz worked with Lucy, my husband, and myself for 30
minutes and since then she’s been a different dog. Liz
prescribed a few simple exercises that we were to use
with the dog several times a day. To us, the results were
miraculous. Within three days we had a dog that was
under our control no matter the circumstances.
She is still protective of the house, as we want her to be
but she is quickly quieted and in a down position until our
guests have entered the house. We had our house
painted, and our second floor rooms re-decorated this
summer, so people were coming in and going out all day
long. None of this disturbed her once she knew that they
were here with our permission. We have been able to hire
pet sitters when we are away rather than putting her in a
kennel because we are now confident that she will behave
reliably.
In my view, Liz Quinlan works miracles with animals.
Jo Anne Pagano
Madison, NY
Testimonials / Success Stories
