BlueDog

I have been so impressed by all of the trainers at Bluedog. There are so many different classes and offerings (i.e. 1-1, group, socialization with other dogs) that anyone is bound to find what they need. I have seen a major improvement in my dog and they've taught me a lot, too. I've looked at other places and haven't seen anyone else offer unlimited classes per month as well which is a major plus.

We are so grateful for the incredible support Nicole has given us with our Irish Setter, Clark. When we started, he was recovering from a major injury, managing food allergies, and a new baby at home. Nicole gave us the tools and confidence to help Clark thrive during this chaotic year. Clark is very high-energy, and through training he has learned calming exercises, patterns, and focus techniques. We’ve learned how to make play more productive and how to build his confidence, trust and safe spaces for him and our family. We can’t recommend Nicole & Bluedog enough for their support through all of this!

I cannot say enough good things about the training we have been receiving at Blue Dog! We have a three year old, female, Scottish Terrier whose reactivity was becoming more and more of a problem. Our trainer Jess suggested we use Control Unleashed games to engage her mind and redirect her energies. I've had Scotties for 35 years and anyone who knows and loves a Scottie has encountered their supreme skill for 'selective listening'! I was willing, if skeptical! At our second private training session, Jess taught us "Whiplash Turns" and "Touch". Our girl, Purl, responded to the new games and mastered them with ease! In all honesty, learning those two foundation elements saved two of my dogs within 24 hours of class. The following evening, at the end of the workday we had workmen close, but not fully latch, one of the gates to our backyard. Unaware of that fact, after having checked to see that the gate was closed, I walked to the opposite end of our house and released our three Scotties into the yard. By the time I crossed back to the offending gate, it had swung open and two of my most prey driven Scotties were on the OUTSIDE of the fence. We live on a double width, very busy street . The big wide thoroughfare entices drivers to speed ... regularly and mercilessly. Calming my own rising panic, I simply called out Purl's name ... WHIPTURN! Showing her my clenched fist, I said Touch. She responded immediately: coming on the fly with her brother in tow! I didn't even have my bait bag on nor did I have any treats to reward her PERFECT recall! I honestly have no idea what might have transpired without those two new skills, but many of the possible scenarios were the thing of pet parent nightmares. Thank you Blue Dog ... weeks later our recall (now across the entire pack!) Is close to 100% perfect using our Whipturn and Touch skills! (Bunnies and excited dogs are still touch and go TBH) The BEST outcome, for training, EVER!!!

My dog and I have had 4 private training sessions with Nicole so far and I cannot recommend her enough. I adopted my pup ~9 months ago, he is a 6y/o chow mix with significant reactivity to people, other dogs and cars. Our first session took place on site at the training facility which was difficult for him so we started doing at home sessions. I was honestly so surprised to see how quickly he took to the training and how much his reactivity has improved - prior to working with Nicole our average walk experience was a 10/10 on the reactivity scale and now we are at 5-6/10 (for reference I live in a large apartment complex with MANY other dogs, people and constant car traffic). As a first time dog owner the relationship and confidence Nicole has helped me build with my dog is really something special and I can’t wait to keep working together!

Highly recommend BlueDog! Our 10-month-old beagle, Lucky, has been going there for a little over 6 months and I would honestly be lost without bluedog’s training staff. Every trainer that Lucky has worked with in the classes have been great. We’ve recently been working a lot with Nicole and Kim for private training and socialization. Nicole has helped me learn Lucky’s behavioral patterns and which activities trigger certain behaviors. She’s been teaching us some awesome pattern games and scent games, and also has great advice on handling any situation we’ve come across. Combining that with what I learned from Kim’s dog body language class, I can now confidently identify situations like when Lucky is uncomfortable and asking for my support, or when her energy is about to skyrocket so that I can catch her before she’s over her arousal threshold. The games that we’ve learned keep her happy and help maintain a healthy energy level. The classes offer great techniques for learning commands, desensitizing, walking, etc. Also, I never knew what a snuffle was, but now that I do I think it’s something every dog owner would benefit from having. Like most things, what you put into something determines what you get out of it. If you don't do the work, it's hard to get results. The results that I’ve seen with Lucky’s progress make it easy for me to be motivated to continue putting in the time practicing everything we’ve learned, and Lucky continues to amaze me with the behavioral improvements that she gets out of it.