Any Breed Training

So far I have taken my 6.5 month golden retriever girl, Rainie, to 5 1-hour training sessions and every single one has been worth it. I started her out when she was around 3 months old and did a session every 2-4 weeks with enough time in between to practice everything. Currently my pup is able to walk on a leash right next to me without pulling, understands when it’s ok to approach a dog and say hi and when to “leave it”, understands “stop” when walking, able to do the simple commands of “sit” “stay” “come” “down” “drop it” vs. “give it”. She is 75% there with the command “heel” vs. “go ahead” (usually she just stays right next to me). She is transitioning to walking without a leash and learning the difference between her left vs right for hiking! To be honest, I am not drilling her with all of these commands every day, and she still remembers them. Best part is, no treats are used! Nikki does a great job explaining to you why your dog is behaving the way they are and is even able to predict how she thinks they will react with certain exercises after meeting them (I’m pretty sure she has been right every single time with Rainie). She takes the time to understand your dog and how he/she likes to push your buttons, what type of learner they are, etc. At first I was a little skeptical about Rainie being able to do all of these commands, but it’s crazy how much she has improved over those 3-4 months in just 5 sessions. She provides handouts with specific instructions on what she went over during that session (which is very helpful because I do forget the specific important details). She is very good at responding to questions over emails. At first, I wanted to sign up Rainie for puppy classes at Riverdog but all the classes kept filling up and the times weren’t convenient with my work schedule. I am so happy she didn’t get into those classes because she gets to work for a full hour with a trainer who specializes in animal behavior and has her whole focus on her. I just made sure to socialize Rainie with my friend’s dogs. To me the sessions are worth every penny.

I have an older dog (13.5 years) who was not used to being around children and has not been friendly to new people. She was a shelter dog, so she had some issues. I reached out to Nikki to see if she could help me introduce my dog to children, and her training (Nikki's training of me!) helped tremendously! The dog that barked at a child is now being walked by the same child. I still can't believe it. I wish I had met Nikki when I first got my dog years ago. My dog has missed out! Better late than never.