We began working with Gina after our 7-year-old rescue dog, Bali, had an extreme, anxious response to our new baby. He exhibited excessive barking, whining, and pacing when around the baby, and could not even stay at home with us. He moved in with family while we sought help. We rescued Bali 3 years before, following a history of being re-homed and experiencing abuse and neglect. We knew his complicated history was contributing to his response to the baby. We also knew that Bali was an important part of our family and we would do everything possible to help him, and to find a way to bring him back home to be with us. Gina worked closely with us to understand Bali’s background and behavior and develop a treatment and intervention plan to address his anxiety. She demonstrated patience, empathy, and commitment to helping us reintegrate Bali into our new family dynamic. We were elated that, after a year of consistent effort and training, Bali moved back home. All of his anxious responding to the baby has been extinguished thanks to the consistent, effective approach and conditioning over time. Bali is calm and content in our home, and even shows affection to the baby. We would not have gotten here without Gina’s support and expertise. We are so grateful for her help on this emotional journey.
– Kory C.
It’s been almost a year since I first contacted Gina for guidance with my 55 lb mixed breed, 5 yr. old anxious dog, Beatrix. I adopted Bea at 5 months of age, following her return to the rescue from her first adoptive family, where she had been frightened by the children. I had asked for guidance with her defensive behavior at home, her aggressive barking and her inability to relax around visitors.
As we implemented the recommended protocols, Beatrix became more relaxed and not “on guard” when visitors arrived. Eventually, I allowed her to approach new guests on her own as she became for confident. Now, she is allowed to manage her interactions on her own and if I see her body language shift reflecting an increase in her anxiety, I simply ask her to go to her place and provide appropriate attention and praise.
When she is uncomfortable, she looks up to me and I assure her that I can manage the situation and I advocate for her constantly now when we are out and about.
You provided the guidance I needed to take my role as leader more seriously to achieve my primary goal for Beatrix, helping her feel safe. She rarely used to sleep in my room at night. If she did, she chose to sleep on the floor in a dog bed. Now she races me at bedtime and is often upside down along my body during the night and pushing her brother out of the way.
Thank you so much for your direct and clear instruction along with encouragement.
– Deni H., Beatrix & Falkor
Working with Gina helped us to better understand and communicate with our anxious dog, Winnie. She knew exactly what Winnie needed and immediately provided us with tools of support. Winnie’s growth would not be where it is today without her. Thank you for all your guidance and support, Gina! We are immensely grateful!
– Sophie R.
Goku is doing great!! This past month was really busy & social for us. He handled everything like a champion! We are really so proud & thrilled with the progress that he has made so far. He & Omar have been playing fetch a lot recently, which is really sweet & heartwarming. He comes up to Omar for love & affection, even rolls over & shows him his belly sometimes!
He’s made such a big transformation, he’s really almost a different dog. I’d say he’s at a 7 compared to where he was initially. I want to rate higher, but I know that he is not at his peak and that we are going to continue to make progress together. I really can’t thank you enough for your guidance, patience, kind words & encouragement. We came to you feeling completely desperate & hopeless and have now been able to achieve a calm, peaceful environment in our home with a comfortable, and -dare I say – confident dog.
– Christina S.
Dear Gina,
It has been about a year since you first started working with Daisy, so I thought you would appreciate an update.
Daisy and I have worked very hard this past year, non-stop. Gradually, Daisy relaxed into our new routine over time, allowing me to relax a little. I tried to be very consistent in my message to her. I am much more aware of reactive triggers and work to avoid them. About a month ago she turned a major corner where all the work we had done fell into place. We are more bonded than ever. Neighbors remark on how much she has changed. She is her best self now.
We continue to practice what we have learned.
Thank you from both of us!
– Marcia and Daisy H.
Ms. Gina Garey was instrumental in helping me understand what was driving my dog’s behavior and, equally important, how to best address it.
“Buddy” is my playful 4-year old yellow lab. He’s a 95-pound ‘lap’ dog. Last year (2017), I noticed that Buddy was becoming increasingly aggressive around other dogs. I was ultimately asked to remove him from the day camp I had been bringing him to. This was devastating because I felt Buddy’s ability to socialize with other dogs was a key aspect to his overall physical and emotional development so I sought Gina’s help.
Gina’s training in the field of animal behavior is extensive and her support was the best! It began with the energy and urgency she applied to investigating the cause behind Buddy’s behavioral change. Her written reports were both detailed and thorough and the one-on-one work she did with us was very effective. Her guidance led me through some very effective changes to my dog’s diet, his behavior on-leash, and, finally my active control over him when engaging other dogs. She tailored a program specifically for me to successfully address Buddy’s behavioral issues and worked with us for several months. I can’t thank her enough!
– Scott F.
My wife and I reached out to Gina for behavioral coaching for our three year old Jack Russell/Fox terrier mix, Rama, as he began to show traits of anxiety, likely stemming from changes to our day to day lifestyle as a result of working from home during the pandemic. We worked with Gina virtually and throughout our three months together she truly got to know Rama and all of his quirks, almost to the point of knowing how he would react in specific situations before they happened. Gina developed a step by step approach to help re develop Rama’s independence and reduce his anxiety levels and worked with us the entire way to implement these changes in both our and Rama’s day to day life. She helped bring more structure and balance into Rama’s life which has led him to be much happier and relaxed, especially around strangers or guests. Gina’s understanding of canine psychology is only rivaled by her kindness. We are so happy we were able to work with Gina to not only help retrain our pup but to also help teach us how to make his life the best it could be!
– Deepak & Michelle P.
I have had numerous rescued dogs over the last 20 years, but none as challenging as Zemi. A hurricane Katrina survivor, Zemi is a 10 year old pointer mix who was flown to Maine from Puerto Rico after spending 6 months in a shelter. Visually impaired, and mostly deaf, Zemi suffered from severe separation anxiety and cognitive dysfunction syndrome. Gina worked with us for several months to help us understand Zemi’s needs and to help him adjust to his new home. She patiently educated us and gave specific instructions which resulted in a steady remarkable improvement in Zemi’s symptoms. As a scientist, I relied heavily on Gina’s formal training, and asked a lot of mechanistic questions about Zemi’s behavior, which Gina addressed very competently.
Most importantly, Gina has worked closely not just with us and Zemi, but has included our veterinarian into Zemi’s plan of rehabilitation and training. These are the elements that I think render Gina uniquely qualified to work with animals exhibiting a range of challenging behaviors. I highly recommend her as a behaviorist and I am so thankful to have been able to work with her to educate us and support Zemi in his transition to his new home.
PS: Zemi really is doing quite well! > 8o% improvement!
– Silvia S.
I was given Gina’s name from our vet last fall when we were becoming increasingly concerned with my 3 year old Black Mouth Cur’s behavior and what appeared to be slight aggression towards my children. Working with a trainer didn’t quite give us the changes we were hoping for so I was concerned I may have to re-home our beloved, and mostly very sweet dog.
After my first conversation with Gina, I felt instant relief that she would be able to help our family. As a result of her intervention plan for Marco, we developed a better understanding of what was causing him distress, resulting in his acting out. Teaching us the boundaries that Marco needed from our family, as well as for our other dog, helped develop a better relationship between Marco Diaz and my children, allowing us to finally be rid of the dog crates and incorporate bringing both of our dogs more into our day to day lives.
Gina is very supportive and interacts with both the dog and the family to ensure a personal connection is made, which truly goes a long way in creating lasting results. She is always available to answer questions and meet with you to ensure you have the best results possible.
– Deb G.
On our vet’s recommendation, we reached out to Gina for help after we rescued our second dog, Mabel. Mabel was a then-3-4 month/old Sato mix from Puerto Rico. Our older dog, Murdock (a then a 7-8year/old coonhound mix we’d rescued at age 4 months), was struggling to accept Mabel into our family, resource guarding Mom, furniture, and general space in the house.
Gina helped us successfully create boundaries and a hierarchy between the two dogs, giving us clear instructions on which dog to remove upon which behaviors. Gina also helped us establish Murdock as the leader/oldest dog in the house by inviting him in from outside first and having him go first in all things (feeding, going outside, getting treats, etc.).
Gina also helped us manage Mabel’s lack of manners. She gave us clear instructions on how to handle Mabel’s incessant pestering during our human meal prep and suppertime. Mabel has had MANY health issues that greatly exacerbated Mabel’s condition, affecting her ability to learn, to be separated from us, and to house-train. However, once Mabel’s health issues were resolved over many months, she was able to learn and is successfully house trained! Most importantly, Murdock and Mabel are now great friends. They play together without our prompting with Murdock now even seeking Mabel out for play routinely. They sleep with us in our bed without issue, and they seem to enjoy each other’s company. Gina helped us get our dogs to be friends, which was our great hope when adopting Mabel. Neither dog is perfect (as no dog or human ever is), but everyone’s happy, and we’re very grateful to have had Gina’s help.
– Hollie P-D.
Thank you so much for all your help. Anna and I are both calmer and smarter. She doesn’t get upset when we meet other people or dogs. We even walk by all the patients at the Covid clinic at Martins Point. A couple of neighbors have even commented on what a good girl she is now.
You are truly a treasure for everything you’ve done for us. I think I’ve added 2 years back to my life. Hope we didn’t take any from yours. Don’t know where I’d be without you, so thank you, thank, you, thank you. I almost forgot to mention that my vet, Dr. Lawrence, was very glad to know you are in the area. I think you are just the person some dogs and people need. Before you, there was really no one who could provide those services. You are one of a kind!
– Brenda and Anna
Stella and Hoagie are doing very well and have been improving since we worked with you to resolve Stella’s obsessive- compulsive behavior as well as Hoagie’s overprotectiveness. Whereas before, Stella would zone out and run around the perimeter of the yard to the point of exhaustion and beyond, walk in circles incessantly and pace in the house constantly, she is now much calmer. Although she is still a hyper dog and very energetic she now knows when to stop running and is easily stopped when we motion to her (she is deaf). She will also stop circling and pacing on command. She does these behaviors when she gets excited, but the difference is we can control her behaviors and stop the cycle. Your instructions to us (as well as the medication that the vet prescribed) have been very helpful.
As for Hoagie, he has become less aggressive since he now knows that he is number one because he was first to join our family. Stella knows not to get in his bed, he eats first, and we try to make sure he knows he is the alpha dog most of the time. He still barks at strangers when they come into the house but he is much quicker to calm down and lay down. Neighbors can pass by on our walks and he usually stands quietly rather than his previous behavior of barking incessantly.
We will always be grateful for your expertise and understanding in “training” us to have better behaved pooches!
– Diane & Nash G.
What we learned from you regarding our own handling methods regarding Bo’s protection against people and elements has been extremely useful. He has calmed down considerably with motorcycles, golf carts, lawn mowers and other equipment and situations where I can comfort him. We would have never known about these measures of protection had it not been for you. I am very grateful for that.
– Louise & Dick H.
Gina was a lifesaver for our family. Our 6 year old Cockapoo, Teddy, was acting very aggressive to other dogs on and off leash. I was concerned for the other dogs and Teddy’s safety so I contacted Gina for help. She came over to our house and did an in-depth evaluation of Teddy, She diagnosed him as having generalized anxiety and proceeded to develop and write up an extensive behavioral treatment plan. Gina worked closely with us for the following three months contacting us weekly. We implemented the plan and the benefits were noticeable within the first week. Not only did Teddy’s aggressive behavior stop, but also, he and my other dog learned that I was the boss and changed other behaviors that made our home-life more pleasant. One example of this is that on a recent three week long vacation both dogs slept in their own beds after having slept in our bed for years. No dog hair on the hosts bedding!
I would highly recommend Gina and her services to anyone looking to help their family and pets.
– Karen C.
We have had a good week. Luna is definitely doing better. The ladies in my meditation group at my house thought something was wrong with her because she was laying calmly! I definitely feel like I can control her now.
Luna has started to stay upstairs in the morning sometimes when she knows I’m going to leave. She has gotten much better in the car and I can make her lay-down and stay for a long time. She will stand up when I turn on the blinker. She still tests me a lot when I have her lay down and wait for her food but I am 100% consistent and making her lay down in the living room and wait until I say “OK”.
I am gaining more confidence.
When she has stayed at the doggie cottage overnight recently, they say she doesn’t exhibit anxiety. In fact, when the manager goes out at 9 o’clock for their final let out, she says many times Luna won’t wake up to go out and stays sleeping on her favorite futon in the group sleepover room.
I’d say things are going in the right direction! Thank you!
– Jen Q.
Professional Recommendations
April 28, 2018
To Whom this May Concern:
- I have had the privilege of working with Gina now for the last two and a half years. Personally, since broadening my focus to include behavior assessments, I have been stunned to find how many people are in need of guidance and help. I am so very thankful to have a colleague in Gina who can work with these families with me! The bond that we vow to uphold as veterinarians is so damaged when behavior problems are not addressed in the home. It is so uplifting to offer help, whether minor or major, for people to understand how to alter the pet’s behavior and gain back the relationship that they crave with that pet.
- I have enlisted Gina’s help on numerous cases to include: separation anxiety, fear and fear aggression, neophobia, food aggression and other issues. In each case, my success rate with the patient increases with Gina’s help. When I have the opportunity to follow up with clients, they tell me that Gina’s directions for home behavioral work are very helpful to achieving the goal of change for the animal. The fear aggression cases are indeed one of the hardest for me as I want people to get immediate help in their homes to keep themselves and others safe. Gina has been ready to meet with my clients when needed and give them the directions they need to provide increased safety for all involved. The success in these aggression cases has been great, the clients reporting that after working with Gina they better understood the mistakes they had been making as the dog’s “leader” and the steps that were needed to decrease bite incidences and increase their dog’s happiness.
- After Gina’s appointments, the reports that she generates on her patient visits are very concise and helpful and provide a touchback for me to discuss with clients when I next see them. She steps through the assessment of issues, the behavioral reason for the pet to be acting in that manner, the steps the client is to take to work on the behavior modification and the future goals for visits she will make over time. My clients definitely feel the power of structure and direction that allow for such an often overwhelming issue to be workable. Where I find people give up if left to do things on their own, I am hearing success stories due to Gina’s help in their home. Gina coordinates with my practice very well and we have a patient file that is complete and appropriate on these behavior cases.
- I strongly recommend that Gina be considered for IAABC certification based on her educational acumen and expertise in the behavior field and her application of behavior change strategies that she clearly applies to families and pets in need.
Sincerely,
Kathryn Erswell, DVM
Pine Point Animal Hospital
12 Pine Point Road
Scarborough, Maine 04074
207.883.3301
April 18, 2018
To Whom It May Concern:
I have known Gina Garey for over 10 years and have witnessed her conscientious progression toward becoming an excellent animal behaviorist. As a veterinarian and practice owner, I have referred several patients to her for various behavioral problems including interspecies aggression, fearfulness, and noise phobias. She is extremely thorough with her evaluation of the dog’s behavioral problem outlining for each client the origins of the unwanted behavior and steps to follow to strengthen the leadership role of the client as well as improving the bond between the pet and the client. She has consistent follow up with the clients and provides them with a thorough written evaluation with logical exercises for the client to follow to help moderate the unwanted behavior. She is extremely positive in her approach to the problem, and clients appreciate her kind direction.
When referring my clients to Gina, I have complete confidence that she can help solve some of our patients most difficult behavioral issues with her advanced expertise. She is the primary veterinary behaviorist we refer to in our practice.
Sincerely,
Ann F. Barksdale, DVM/Owner
Pine Point Animal Hospital
12 Pine Point Rd.
Scarborough, ME. 04074