Cervantes Dog Training & Rehabilitation

Francisco Cervantes, Amia, and their children have been a huge gift to me and especially to my fearful reactive dog, Rainy. I was aware from the initial consultation that Francisco was talking to me as if I was the one being trained.....and I was! He was certainly aware of Rainy's behavior while we talked, but he was letting me know that the bulk of the work was changing my awareness & understanding, and clarifying my communication with my dog. He said something that stays with me constantly: the problem is CONFUSION. I've learned that repetition and consistency is everything to lessen the confusion my dog was experiencing. I put a lot of time into our in-home practice sessions until she was absolutely certain of her task. She looked forward to these practices and then we took it all outside. I am so happy that all of this work has transformed Rainy. Francisco's approach is no-nonsense ... and effective. I've been able to train her on my own for things that matter to our walks. I know she's nervous about strangers, so I can say 'wait' if she's ahead of me and she'll happily stop and wait until I'm by her side. If I say 'come' she'll run back to me. She'll make eye contact with me and wait until I either put her leash on or say 'ok' before she saunters off again. She's happy on leash, but off leash, we have a proven routine of encountering other people and dogs. I've gained confidence and comfort knowing that Rainy and I are a good team now and she has transformed into a tail-wagging, happy-eyed calm dog. On my own, I couldn't have understood all of what I've learned through Franciso and I highly recommend Cervantes Dog Training.

When we adopted our Labrador retriever, Lola, from a rescue she was about 1 year old, and almost impossible to walk on the leash because her pulling was out of control. She was unpredictable when meeting people and dogs -- sometimes she would be extremely submissive, other times she’d growl, bark and snap. We knew we needed help to figure out how to help her be the best dog she could be, and had several friends recommend Cervantes. We’re SO glad we reached out! We had a (COVID-safe) private 2 hour session at the facility in Northfield that gave us so much insight into how Lola’s insecurities were driving her behaviors, and how we could increase her confidence while making our expectations clear. Even after one session, we immediately saw an improvement in her behaviors, and best of all we knew what *we* had to do! After that session, we started bringing her to pack walks on Sundays, did a 4 week obedience class, and most recently, she’s been attending doggie day care -- every exposure to Francisco, Amia and the rest of the Cervantes family is so good for her! She’s become a much more secure and happy dog, and we’ve become much more secure and happy dog-owners -- and we all love going on leashed walks now! We are so grateful!