SigMT

Glee Greenwood brought her dog, Ready, to Overfield. Ready was a one-year-old rescue dog. Aer a year of working with Ready, Greenwood read Overfield's book, Saturday Dogs, and knew this was worth a try. Greenwood says, "We spent 8 hours with Susan, and when I le, I had the dog of my dreams. Susan helped me teach Ready to be a good member of the family. He was the perfect member of our family because he knew what was expected of him." Dena Warr has brought eight dogs to Overfield over the years. Most recently, it's Marley, a 2-year-old French bulldog. Warr says, "Marley was very neglected. He had lost an eye, and he is very fearful. We took classes with Susan to learn manners. It was like reading a recipe, and it worked!" Laura Lee McElhinney is the former assistant director of the Great Falls Animal Shelter. Guch was a 2-year-old pit bull from the streets. "Guch always ended up fighting other dogs. At the shelter, he was basically banished. We didn't have the know-how to work with him. Susan said he was savable. I credit her with saving his life." Guch made such impressive progress that Overfield's strategies were implemented facility-wide. e shelter began training volunteers based on her work. And Guch? He visited senior centers for 2 ½ years before geing adopted. en, he became a full-fledged service dog. Overfield grew up surrounded by dogs. She distinctly remembers this: None of the family dogs ever went to obedience training. "My family always turned out well-behaved dogs. All we had to do was look at them. ey didn't scale walls, jump fences, or bite people. If we told them to be quiet, they did it. If we told them to come, they did," she says. Overfield quickly admits there are many people who are beer dog handlers than she is. But there IS a difference. "Many people cannot tell you what they are doing with a dog. ey cannot tell you why it works. ey cannot stop a person and say, 'Whoa, whoa, this is what's going to happen if you continue handling your dog that way." at's precisely where Overfield shines. By the time dog owners contact her for help, many of them are overwhelmed with a sense of failure. ey have fallen out of love with their dog. e dogs might be living outside or even in isolation. With a 2-hour consultation, Overfield shows owners what their dog CAN do and CAN understand. She says, for dogs, it all comes down to three things: association, pressure on, and pressure off. Obedience trainers teach dogs how to sit. Overfield says, "Dogs know how to sit. You don't teach that. Instead, you teach them NOT to get up." When dogs begin to associate spoken words with actions, tone becomes important. "I say, SIT DOWN. I don't ask. My voice does not go up at the end. I CLIENT CONVERSATIONS Other trainers came to the shelter to work with Guch, but as McElhinney says, "A treat was not going to fix the problem." McElhinney says Overfield worked with Guch over several visits, but the total time was about only 3 hours. Overfield works with dogs of all ages, all breeds, and all temperaments. But she says it is easier to start with pups because they have no bad habits. 68 | SIGNATURE MONTANA

• Cover