The Pack Portal Blog

THE PACK PORTAL BLOG

NEW YEAR, NEW BLOG

1/1/26

Helloooooooooo pack!

Elizabeth here, revamping the old Canine Perspective blog! Outside of the Pack Portal and Jesse’s YouTube, this will be a great resource for all things training and wellness. Jesse and I hope to post once a week but as small business owners, parents, and of course pawrents, I don’t want to over-promise! ; )

For the inaugural post, I thought I’d talk about my personal journey. Our clients already know how I got here but if you’re new, it is a pretty cool story if I do say so myself. How did a crazy dog mom end up co-running Chicago’s favorite structured dog training and daycare facility? Read on, dear friends. Read on.

Like most little girls, I grew up wanting to be a vet and having dogs was the best part of my childhood. The old joke about dying and coming back as a family Golden in the burbs? Yep. Those were our dogs. Unfortunately as privileged as their lives were, their bodies weren’t as fortunate. The short story of it is that Penny was diagnosed with a debilitating brain disease called Idiopathic Tremor Syndrome as a puppy and wasn’t supposed to live past two years old. She survived twelve years. Sweet Indy was a sturdier farm Golden who while healthy her entire life, beat (a crazy fast and crazy fatal fungal disease) Blastomycosis only to die of heart failure from Dilated Cardio Myopia weeks later at the young age of ten.

Having not one but two amazing dogs end up in medical case studies was enough for me. I figured as an adult, I’d get some kind of mutt and hopefully do better with genetics and he or she would live forever. After college I was crushing the work scene but travelling a lot so rather than get a dog, I began volunteering at PAWS, the local shelter which was conveniently right down the street. I had my eyes peeled for a small, 15-20lb short haired black mutt. This dog would be my best friend, travel buddy, service companion, most epic dog ever.

Then Luna was quite literally handed to me off a truck one day during my volunteer shift. The guy looked me in the eye and said “she won’t walk so we didn’t bother leashing her; you’ll have to just carry her inside”.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME, UNIVERSE?!

Already 40ish pounds at six months old, a thick white coat of long, dense fur…this was not quite the petite black dog of my dreams. But there was something about her. She had the sweetest, saddest eyes. Her posture indicated she was frightened of everything and everyone – except for some reason me.

I put her inside with the rest of the transfers and went about my shift, trying not to think about her. Eventually though, I couldn’t avoid her. All my other tasks were completed and she was due for a walk. So I took her around the block. We made it maybe out of the back alley before I realized she was coming home with me. I had worked with rescues in college so I thought I could handle a dog that needed a bit more than your average suburban Golden. Boy was I wrong.

After about a week at home with Luna, she made me cry for the first time. Not because she didn’t love me. In fact, she loved me a bit too much and didn’t love anything else. Everything scared her. EV-ER-Y-THING.

I’d coax her out of the condo to walk and she’d be fine until a car door would slam two blocks away then she’d drag me home.

My kind neighbor Jim would pick us up at the front door with his two (awesome) dogs for a pack walk and while Luna made fast friends with them, she soon tried to bite another dog for coming to close to “her pack”.

I’d struggle to get her into the car for a hike or adventure and then have to drag her out at an awesome destination any “normal” dog would drool over (pun intended).

A month or so went by and while Luna had made some improvements getting out of the house, she was beginning to show what I now know are huge warning signs of reactivity and resource guarding. Oh and she bit my sister in the meantime for walking unannounced into my parent’s house – sorry Jill!

Fortunately for me, a few of the dogs Luna had vibed with all had the same dog trainer: Jesse the Chicago Dog Whisperer. But he used e-collars and I wasn’t comfortable shocking my sweet Luna. She needed more love, not discipline, right? So while booking a consultation with Jesse, I also reached out to a competitor with amazing reviews.

Now I’m petty (and I love my husband) but when I tell you the number of five-star reviews of this other training facility and HOW POORLY THEIR PLAN WAS FOR LUNA, you will explode. Okay I won’t name names but they’re very popular in Chicago and they wanted to enroll Luna in a puppy class using treats and loose leashes. I mean…she would have said chomp chomp to the other students, not to the treats!

Thank goodness I didn’t let my (uneducated) opinions about aversive training tools prevent me from training with Jesse. After ONE WEEK implementing the collar and his direction, Luna was enjoying walks again. Two weeks later and she wasn’t popping off at other dogs from across the street. Three weeks later and as my worries for Luna decreased, I allowed myself to absolutely schoolgirl crush on this man who was changing mine and my dog’s lives.

I was so, so nervous as Luna’s nine week training program progressed because I was fairly certain Jesse was flirting back at me when I’d cast a line out. But not just at potentially being rejected. What if he DID like me too and I inevitably ruined a great relationship (big time track record of commitment issues over here) and then my poor dog would have no daycare to go to because she is a dickhead? And her mom is a dickhead for trying to date her trainer, break his heart, and now Luna and I have to flee the country?!

Fortunately it all worked out. After Luna’s program ended I did try enrolling her in daycare at which point I’ll never forget Jesse saying “Oh, um, I didn’t think you were going to be a client anymore BECAUSE I LOVE YOU AND WANT TO MARRY YOU AND FOR YOU TO GIVE BIRTH TO A BURRITO IN A FEW YEARS”….or something like that. The memory is hazy but you guys get the gist.

So that’s why I’m here. I’m just a crazy dog mom who fell in love with her dog trainer. I hope you guys enjoyed the story and can join our pack. For me, it was truly life changing.

Elizabeth, aka Pack Momma