About

The Full Story

My name is Tessa Gorissen. I’m originally from the Netherlands, where I grew up in a family with a love for dogs. At first at my grandparents, uncles and aunts, but later also at my parents’ house. Our first dog was a Flatcoated Retriever, Maedl. From the beginning I was involved in the training. Not because I had too, I was too young to take on that responsibility on my own, but because I wanted to. I went to trainings whenever school let me, was walking and playing the dog and building a bond. When Maedl got sick, she slept in my room all the time till the end.

After Maedl we’ve got a new dog. An Australian Shepherd, Macho. Macho was a completely different dog than the Flatcoated Retriever. He was stubborn, had way more energy and behavior issues in his own way. It was a good learning experience, especially during his puberty. Even after moving out and starting a life of my own, Macho came over for sleepovers and walks in the forest. But I was missing a dog around 24/7.  

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Dogs of my own

That’s where Darka came in the picture. She’s a rescue from Greece, with an unknown history. She was around 9 months old when she came to the Netherlands, which was right in her ‘teenage phase’. The first year she was with me, there was no trust at all. Every time I came closer, she’ll bite out of self-defense. This made training her hard. Only those few moments she trusted me enough; I could try to make her do some commands. After a year there was a switch. She started trusting me to a certain point. This was the moment I started with basic commands. Sit, down, heel and stay were just some examples. I also did a DNA test to see what breeds were in her, so I could focus more on what she would need. Let’s just say it’s an interesting mix, with a lot of shepherds and mountain dogs and sizes ranging between ‘Chihuahua’ and ‘Great Dane’.

While Darka was doing way better and picking up on commands, I adopted another female, Isabela. Unfortunately, it turned out she had to be the only dog in the house due to her past, so I had to rehome her. Not long after, a 1-year-old Pomsky named Aatu had to be rehomed. We did a meet&greet to see if it would be a good fit with Darka and they started playing right away! Within that same month, Aatu moved in. A Pomsky is a mix between a Husky and Pomeranian. This mix gave a lot of challenges when it came to training. Like the typical ‘runaway games’ of a Husky and the stubbornness. It was another good learning experience!

Gaining training experience

In the meantime, I also started training a Malinois, Ernie, at a dog school. It’s the Malinois of the dog trainer and he could use those extra trainings to get used to other dogs and people around him. Ofcourse, she was training him too. But she couldn’t walk him in a group class, since she had to teach other people too. A Malinois always fascinated me, but I never had one myself due to lack of space and time at that moment. Training Ernie was an amazing learning experience and building a bond with a dog that’s so focused on its owner gives enough challenges to overcome.

I also helped with training classes on Saturdays. With the puppy classes I helped owners and puppies do commands, getting used to noises and overcome obstacles that were on the training field.  

New dogs bring new experiences

In 2023 I moved to Louisiana with Darka and Aatu, because of my husband living here.  I kept training them, but it was different than being on a training field with other dogs and a mentor to guide me. But we made it work. Especially Aatu made a big progress, to the point where he could walk offleash!

After moving over I’ve also got my first Malinois, Gator. He was not your typical Malinois puppy that you see in videos and what people warned you for. He slept through the night, was pretty calm in and around the house and was potty trained in 2 weeks. We were lucky. I started training him the day that we’ve got him. His basics and offleash training were going really fast. We also started doing explosives detection, planning on getting him certified and use him for games, concerts and wherever they need us. Right now, he’s in his puberty, where he ignores some commands. He definitely needs some extra work!

In August 2024 another Malinois came in our live. Raven is completely the opposite of Gator. She’s high energy, won’t take any rest outside of the crate and was ‘problem solving’ from day one. Everything she can climb on, she’s trying. We’re in the middle of basic obedience with her, but also trying some advanced commands already. Her journey just begun, but it’s going to be a big one for sure!

Involved with rescues

While doing all trainings I also got involved with rescues. First in the Netherlands. I helped rescues place dogs and cats with families, went to Greece a few times to pick up animals so they could be with their new families and fostered dogs. In Louisiana I started doing that right away too. I’m taking pictures at the shelter in Kaplan and foster dogs when needed. Now we have an amazing foster in our house, that I found on the side of a country road. He’s starting his obedience training, and we’ll help him overcome some of his fears before he gets rehomed, just to make sure he’s ready to be with someone forever.

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