Devoted Dog Training

Originally posted on Yelp and wanted to post here too: Courtney’s experience and wisdom has been so invaluable in helping our fearful dog, and even more than that, it’s helped US become more understanding, patient, and knowledgable dog parents. Before we reached out to Courtney, our 2 year old pitbull mix had been showing increasing amounts of stress for several weeks, and we couldn’t figure out why. Naturally wary of strangers (although very sweet and loving with friends), our pup would growl or bark at people more often than she used to, and even occasionally lunge. It wasn’t until after our dog gave a good scare to a child on a scooter that we realized we needed a trainer to help us manage and understand. From the get-go Courtney was able to give us answers and insights to the onslaught of questions we had for her. Along with her many years of practical experience training dogs, she was also able to talk about some of the common understandings of how dogs’ minds work and develop, and reasons they may react poorly in certain situations. It certainly helped us be more patient and less anxious when taking our dog out, which in turn reduced our dog’s stress. Courtney’s positive reinforcement training methods helped us build a stronger relationship with our pup, and our dog quickly learned to love every visit with Courtney. Now, our dog trusts us more to handle the situations she finds scary (instead of feeling a need to take care of it herself by barking), and we in turn know what signs to look out for if she’s feeling uncomfortable so we can give her the distance she needs as soon as she needs it. On top of all this, Courtney’s professionalism is amazing. She’s communicative and patient even when we ask the same type of question multiple times. Somehow she remembers everything we’d done in prior lessons (even if it’s been over a month since we’d last seen her) so that we feel like we’re making steps forward every time. Her partner Diana is super responsive and helpful every time we’ve needed to shift meetings. It’s just been a really great experience. The training takes time, and our dog is still wary, but there’s no such thing as miracle quick fixes when it comes to effective behavior training. Our dog has progressed so far within just a few months, and while I know there will be set-backs, Courtney’s training is making real lasting impressions, and it’s empowered us to no end. We plan to continue training with Courtney and would recommend her in a heartbeat.

My elderly father moved to Oakland from rural Maine with his 3 year-old Vizsla, Cooper who is a very sensitive dog who was not used to walking on lead or living in the city. Courtney helped us learn to read Cooper’s nervous cues and respond with positive reinforcement. She taught us specific lessons to do with Cooper that worked very well. Both my father and Cooper are adjusting well and we are so grateful to Courtney for all her talent and insight.

Courtney is the best! When we first met Courtney I really wanted to believe positive reinforcement only training would work but was skeptical at first. Now 4 months later we are SO HAPPY we stuck with Courtney. She helped us understand how our dog thinks and completely reshaped the way we interact with our dog (and all dogs). We have seen incredible results in our dogs confidence, happiness and obedience. I am so relieved we did not choose another trainer and stuck with Courtney! SHE IS WORTH EVERY PENNY! You are going to get long-lasting results for your investment!

Courtney is incredibly good at teaching skills without making you feel like a failure or like you're doing things wrong. My dog LOVES her and she loves him, even though he growled and jumped at her the first time we walked in which speaks to our progress! She has laid down on the street corner in West Oakland to get my dog to feel comfortable. I highly recommend Courtney for positive reinforcement based training, especially for our hard to deal with bullies/pitbulls.