I rescued two young dogs in the Fall of 2023. They were sweet and rambunctious with a penchant for cuddling and kisses and also for pulling on the leash and barking like crazy at the fence as people walked by. We hired a trainer that a friend recommended and he charged me hundreds of dollars for a one-afternoon marathon session where he belittled and ignored me, hurt both of my dogs, and left me feeling very jaded about dog trainers.

 

Then one morning, as I prepared to leave for work, my dogs were having a grand old time barking wildly at a woman and her two dogs. I watched the woman as she focused on her dogs, keeping their attention while my darling beasts were having their loudest go at chasing away anything that came too close to their territory. I was seriously impressed by her composure and her ability to keep her dogs calm when all that ruckus was going on, so a couple houses down, I stopped her and asked "Can you recommend a trainer? As you can tell, my doggos need some help and your dogs are darn near perfect."

 

Imagine my joy when she smiled and said "I'm so honored that you said that - I am a trainer!"

 

We scheduled a phone call, she came over a few days later to meet Ciabatta, my little blonde monster-love, and the rest, as they say, is history. The trainer spent an hour getting to know Ciabatta (who was very afraid of new people), talked me through the different jargon and strategies of training, and gave me tons of insights into ways I could limit reactivity, improve my bonds with the doggos, and make their lives (and mine) better and easier.

 

We've worked on loose-leash walking, mitigating fence-guarding, long-leash ball throws at the park, and meeting other people and dogs. I also hired her to work with my other dog, Taz, a.k.a. Mr. Mellow - except when he sees a new friend a few blocks away and needs to greet him absolutely as soon as possible. There, we worked on redirection, redirection, redirection. Ariel even introduced me to an agility trainer and now Ciabatta and I do weekly agility classes, which is an absolute blast!

 

It's a work in progress for both of my pups, but my goodness they have come so far and I credit so much of that to Heart Mutt Dog Training. They've been a helpful, calming, reassuring, problem-solving support for me and I cannot recommend them highly enough!