Annie Schaffer is amazing. I connected with Annie last August when my husband and I needed help with our rescue Coonhound/Boxer mix, Paisley. Paisley was 2-1/2 when we adopted her. She had spent four months in foster care immediately before we rescued her from the Pet Refuge in South Bend. It was clear to us (and the volunteers at the Refuge as well as Paisley's foster mom) that Paisley had not been properly socialized during her time with her first family. She was skittish of many things, including, but not limited to: walking on grass, going outside after dark, walking on sidewalks, cars and trucks passing by, and meeting strangers. We knew we loved Paisley, and we wanted to give her a wonderful forever home. We also knew we needed some help in order to do just that. Enter Annie. Annie was recommended to us by Pet Refuge. From the moment we first spoke on the phone, it was an easy relationship. Annie listened to my concerns and we quickly set a date for her to come to the house to meet Paisley. For the past year, Annie has been helping us build trust with Paisley. Annie has given us the ability to step back from the entire list of issues, and instead focus on exercises designed to build trust between us and Paisley. As the trust has increased, the fearful behaviors have diminished, and in most cases disappeared altogether. Annie stayed in touch during the spring quarantine, calling periodically to see how things were going and to offer suggestions as needed. She is someone who truly has a passion for working with animals. She sees the animal as an individual and customizes the sessions based on individual needs. Our timeline progressed quickly as we worked on the exercises she gave us. Annie also worked as an accountability partner for us. She would know if Paisley hadn't made any improvements since our last session, so it incentivized us to keep working with Paisley. We have been amazed at how quickly Paisley has progressed in the past year. We wouldn't have come nearly as far without Annie's excellent, knowledgeable guidance.