Diana Simonsen Dog Training

In 2020, well into the pandemic, I was looking for virtual rally classes for our 16 month old puppy, Jazz. I came across Diana's website. What luck! Diana is a top-notch dog instructor. She is very friendly, articulate, clear with her positive training methods, incredibly organized, and always has more than enough exercises for the virtual rally classes. She provides handouts ahead of time so that you can prepare, and she stays current on AKC rules and regulations. Six months after joining rally classes, our puppy was well into adolescence. After being in lockdown and away from other dogs for nearly a year, she was exhibiting some dog-on-dog reactivity while we were in public spaces. I turned to Diana for assistance and opted for private virtual training sessions. She helped us right away with the reactivity and since then, I have relied on her for help with everything from basic dog manners such as heeling to having your dog be polite while you answer the door. We are now working on nail trimming, and I feel certain that I’ll continue to seek Diana's advice and guidance whenever we encounter any challenging issues. Diana is very supportive, encouraging, and positive. Her approach is to educate so that you can better communicate with your pup. I greatly appreciate this since better communication means a stronger bond with my dog.

In August 2019, we rescued a 2-year old Golden Retriever, Great Pyrenees mix named Brady. He had been adopted as an 8-week puppy and later relinquished when the family had a newborn child. Brady was 18 months old at that time and his energy and excessive alerting were not manageable for his first family. We understood his challenges and were committed to figuring it out. Brady is good natured, funny, sweet and friendly. He bonded very quickly with me my husband. When he's not at our home, he's pretty chill - we've taken him to dog friendly cafes, brewpubs, stores, dog parks, etc. and he's a delight - quiet, happy, friendly to people and other dogs. But at home, he is very much on guard. He “alerts” (aka barks) at various noises in the neighborhood: car doors, dogs or people walking by, doorbells for sure, garbage trucks. The frequency and duration of his barking improved dramatically during the first 3 months as he became accustomed to what are "normal" sounds. But we continued to struggle with visitors, particularly any overnight guests (including our 20-something sons). While he was never vicious or aggressive, Brady would bark at anyone coming into the house, was visibly stressed and had difficulty relaxing. We began working with Diana in November 2019, in our home, with private lessons. She gave us the tools, materials, practice and confidence to work with Brady to overcome his stress and alerting behaviors – all using positive professional training techniques. Between sessions, Diana would follow up via email with additional resources and suggestions, as well as provide a summary of what we worked on during our session. She also video recorded part of our sessions (with my permission of course) and shared those with me via Drop Box. I found this immensely helpful and always felt like I could reach out with questions for additional support. After only 4 private lessons, our youngest son came home from college and was able to connect and bond with Brady using Diana’s guidance with great success. After a total of 8 private lessons, Brady now no longer alerts at neighborhood noises or visitors and is visibly more relaxed and comfortable even with visitors in the house. During our 8th lesson, Brady greeted Diana quietly and laid comfortably at her feet while we talked at the kitchen table – it was truly a WINNING moment! Just recently, our older son moved home during the COVID-19 pandemic and using Diana's tried and true techniques, Brady adjusted quickly to having another member of the “pack” living in our home. It’s important for us to stay consistent and we still have a little work to do with the doorbell and off leash recall. But thanks to Diana, we are ALL relaxed and happy! We will definitely continue our training journey through group classes. Thanks Diana!