Odo’s Story: A Pit Bull Who Could Not Go Anywhere, Until He Could

At home Odo was a good student. In public he pulled, jumped and bit at the leash until his family stopped taking him anywhere.

Odo · Two-year-old pit bull · Trained by Carissa · Two week board and train

Where Odo started

Odo is a two-year-old pit bull, and his family had already put in the work. They trained him at home, and it held up, as Erin put it, “as long as we were in our house or yard.” In public it fell apart. They could not get him to engage with them at all.

He pulled constantly on the leash. When he got overwhelmed he would jump and bite at the leash. It reached the point where, in Erin’s words, “we couldn’t take him anywhere.”

The training journey

Odo’s family brought him to Off Leash K9 Training Columbus for a two week board and train with Carissa. A dog who behaves at home and loses it in public does not need more practice in the living room. He needs to practice in the places that overwhelm him, with someone who can keep him thinking instead of reacting. That is what two weeks of daily work makes possible.

Carissa also knew what the family was going through. Erin wrote that she “was so patient knowing how hard it was to give up our dog for two weeks”, and that she checked in every night with a text or a video of Odo’s day.

What actually changed

• Odo goes for walks again. In Erin’s words, “we can walk him again, take him to public places, he’s a different dog!”
• A stranger noticed. The first public place they took him, someone told Erin: “that’s a well trained dog!”
• The family has a foundation to build on. Erin is clear that training continues at home. What changed is that they now have the base they could not get to on their own.

★★★★★

“We had tried training at home, that worked as long as we were in our house or yard, in public, we could not get him to engage with us. He constantly pulled on the leash and would jump and bite at the leash when he was overwhelmed, it got to the point that we couldn’t take him anywhere! After working with Carissa, we can walk him again, take him to public places, he’s a different dog! There needs to be continued training at home, but Carissa gave us the foundation we couldn’t seem to achieve on our own.”

Erin Beavers, Google review, October 2025

Read the review this story was written from, on Google

What it changed for the family

Odo’s family did not want a different dog. They wanted to take the dog they had out into the world. Two weeks later they could, and the first compliment from a stranger told them it was not only in their heads.

Why Odo’s story matters to us

We like how honest this review is. Board and train is not a finish line, and Erin says so. Carissa built the foundation; Odo’s family keeps it going at home. That is how lasting training works, and it is why every board and train ends with a hands-on session where we teach you everything your dog learned.

Odo went through our board and train. The program his family describes is the 2 Week Board and Train. Every program and price is on our pricing page.