Eleasha Gall, CPDT-KA APDT, IAABC, IPDTA 
Eleasha started her training career in South New Jersey at the Ocean City Humane Society in the mid-1980’s. Volunteering every day of the week all summer long it became apparent that this was her natural calling. After learning some training techniques she continued to assist with any trainer she could find. After a few years she also tried out dog grooming but found training was her passion. In the early 1990’s she started volunteering with various pet rescue groups and started the Bucks County chapter of the English Bulldog Rescue. After moving to North New Jersey Eleasha found numerous rescue groups to volunteer with. She fostered over 100 dogs and 30 cats with Animal Allies, People for Animals and Mid-Atlantic Great Dane Rescue. Raising 2 litters of puppies was not enough, Eleasha housetrained and and taught them basic commands by the time they went to their new homes at 8 weeks old. This is around the time she started realizing how early learning could impact a dog for the rest of their lives. In 2003 Eleasha opened Sit. Stay. Play! Dog Training and Day Care in Union,NJ. This was Union County's first dog training and day care facility. The day care was quickly booked to capacity and there were 10 weekly group training classes. Over 50 dog attained their Canine Good Citizen award, over 30 dogs went on to be Therapy Dogs. Hundreds of puppies and adult dog attended training classes learning to be great pets. Many pets who would have been given up or put down were given a new lease on life. Eleasha's own dog, Gunner a rescue Rottweiler, became a Therapy dog working with autistic children.
She attends at least 100 hours of seminars and training classes every year in order to keep up with new methods and techniques. A traditional trainer originally, Eleasha switched over to the clicker method in about 2000. Amazed with the speed and reliability it provided she had to relearn dog training but is glad she did. She also visited the Chicago Shedd Aquarium and had a chance to interact with their beluga whales.
Eleasha is currently at the PSPCA in the position of Train to Adopt Specialist. She is one of only 4 in the US chosen for this position. Over the next year she will be training shelter dogs important behaviors necessary to keep them in the new homes when they get adopted.
The story of Monster
In January of 2009 I went to my volunteer job at Bucks County SPCA in Lahaska, PA. Little did I know that this day there would be something different to see. A little Australian Cattle Dog puppy name Reggie. He had been sitting at the shelter for 3 weeks. Upon getting to the shelter I went down the row of kennels and looked for the first dog I would work with. That's when I saw the dog I did not want to work with. A Cattle Dog puppy given up by his owners right before Christmas. I had two Cattle dogs and they both passed away suddenly within 9 months of each other. Quite an awful thing to go through and I never wanted to see another Cattle Dog.
So I convinced one of the other volunteers to take him out while I took out other dogs. All was well until the other volunteer had some questions to ask about his behavior. We went in the interview room and I fell in love. I couldn't touch him because he just bit my hands if they came close to him. He didn't want to be cuddled(obviously) and went after the door any time another dog walked by. What's not to like, right?
I went home that day and tried to talk myself into forgetting about this little bundle. It was January, he had dog issues, it was not a good time to housetrain or socialize, I was pet sitting for a friend...I went 4 days later and put in my adoption application.
So it took a day to find out if I was approved so I only one person. No one at work or any of my other friends had a clue. Saturday came, I found out I was approved and I picked him up on Sunday! We immediately went to a shelter sponsored puppy class and with much relief to the rest of the class I kept him away from the other puppies. I was sure he would at the very least scare them so I kept everyone safe.
On the ride home I couldn't get him into the crate so I just put him in the back seat where he proceeded to go to the bathroom. Once we were home he went after the other dogs and when I did put him in the crate he would potty, bark and cry. He drank all of the water every time it was put down and could jump over all gates(yes up to 4 feet high). He was an untrained puppy and this was a lot to take in but because people had failed him up to this point, what did I expect?
So the first order of business was to get him loving being crated. I used the video Crate Games and within an hour this little guy was running into any open crate and hanging out. Not calmly because that just wasn't in his vocabulary yet. But he did enjoy being in the crate. Slowly but surely I worked up to being able to shut the crate and then leave the house. Being able to have him in a crate would make all the difference in his life. He could now travel safely in the car, visit friends houses and go on vacations and stay in hotels.
I started using the Manners Minder to get him loving being left in the crate for a few hours. I would leave the house and stand outside(yes it was freezing) and remotely drop treats into the crate. I had to wait until he stopped crying which sometimes could take a bit. But over and over I would put him in the crate with stuffed kongs, bones and toys, go outside and start the car, drive to the neighbors and then walk home and treat him inside while I sat outside. Fun! Within a few days he could actually relax and enter the crate when asked, settle down chewing on his bones and kongs and not care that I left.
