Aggressive Shelter Dog Turns into Sweetheart Thanks to Trainer

A homeless Belgian Malinois thought to be aggressive has found a happy home thanks to a dog trainer who refused to give up on her.

Shelter staff couldn’t approach a Belgian Malinois in their care. Every time they tried, the homeless dog would bark aggressively at them. They wanted to give the young dog named Magnolia a chance so reached out to Sahari Salazar with Wolf Mother K9.

Sahari, a canine aggression and fear specialist, came out to the shelter armed with her favorite tool – chicken nuggets.

Sahari says she is known as the chicken nugget trainer. That’s because she starts with trying to win a fearful dog’s trust by feeding them treats first. She often works with dogs who are misunderstood, their reactive fear-based behaviors mistaken for aggression.

Magnolia began to approach Sahari and by day three she was coming out of her kennel and bringing her the toys. Sahari could tell that Magnolia desperately wanted to bond with her. So it didn’t take long for Sahari to be able to bring Magnolia outside. Magnolia soon met Sahari’s fiancé, Nathaniel and bonded with him too. It didn’t take long for Magnolia to be excited and affectionate with every new person she would meet.

Over the next couple of weeks Magnolia went out hiking, camping and more with Sahari. Magnolia had completely transformed into a happy, active dog. The next step? Driving her 800 miles to meet with her adopters. And from the moment Magnolia met her new family, Sahari knew the dog had found her home.