Dog Expert Cyd!

My experience with dog trainers / training prior to meeting Cyd was your typical private 1:1 hourly sessions with trainers and hourly group classes. What that means is I only had one hour per week to learn and absorb what was taught in class, while trying to get a reactive pup to focus on me during that one hour and hoping I would be able to perfect what was taught the other 167 hours of the week with zero feedbacks. Until I found Cyd….. Cyd not only tailored our training to our needs, she helped me understand training for any pup is not about hurdling through individual obstacles but to help our pups gain wholesome positive experiences. Her training techniques are easy to follow and works! She would help me make adjustments during sessions, as well as outside sessions. Cyd occasionally would reach out to me to check on our home training during the week. I would share successful and not so successful experiences with her and she would dissect the situations and give me feedbacks. What I love Cyd the most is her transparency and realism. Her training is based on what is possible, rather than on hopes for things that are unlikely to happen. She is real and will not make impossible goals for my pups. Cyd is flexible and easy to work with. I never felt any pressure to be tied to a set weekly training schedule. She has helped my anxious GSD from tucking his body like a shrimp and getting terrified by strollers and skateboards to enjoying being a dog growing into feeling safe and confident enough to have fun with new dog and human friends at parks. Ask our pups what they want for themselves and not what we want of them

I can’t say enough positive things about True Training 101. We adopted a puppy named Ruger in 2022 and did not anticipate him having severe anxiety and reactive, fearful behaviors. I thought I knew how to train a puppy, but never had experience with a fearful, anxious pup. He would be so scared of everything (the wind blowing, people, noises, signs, almost everything) he would just run and pull while we were walking, and he is a big, strong boy (70 lb puppy and 130 lb 2 year old) I felt like failure I was frustrated and hopeless. I had no idea what to do. That’s when I found Cyd. From day one she was professional, patient and really understood Ruger’s fearfulness and what we needed to do to help build his confidence. She really helped train me too, So Ruger could feel that I was a confident leader as well. Her behavioral training techniques truly helped on walks, and introduced him to new things and noises. Fast forward a year and Ruger is still a unique boy, but a complete gentleman on the leash, he even walks right by my side without pulling. He does not become fearful and want to run and pull when something scares him. I know that if we did not have Cyd’s help our life would be unmanageable. Thank you Cyd for all your knowledge and training help. We now have a well trained dog who is not reactive! I highly recommend Cyd!

Cyd seems nice but was not a fit for us. Adding an extra star because I believe she cares and wants the best for my dog. Unfortunately despite me following her advice and listening to her, it seems there were still misunderstandings. We had our initial consultation, during this time I specified to her that I’d like for her to see how my dog’s behavior changes when she is outside, but too much time was spent in other places and we never really made it outside. At times, Cyd felt confrontational. When we had a misunderstanding where I was trying to clarify if/how she adapts to things that I find the dog is responsive to along the way. She felt like I was being stubborn and attached to a specific use (in this case we were talking about how my dog finds a leash can help her learn to get into position when treats aren’t doing it for her once we’re outside). She later apologized for the confusion. We resolved it and I felt as though we moved on. I listened to her advice and cut the leash usage. After the consultation, Cyd was very responsive and wanted to immediately lock in a 4-week plan ($390). I felt that she had given me a lot of good insight and she cares about my dog, I wanted to spend a little bit of time with her homework from the session to determine if it would work long term. The failure on my side here was that I should have let her know I needed some time. She followed up later and when I responded, I voiced my only question mark that I still had. I noted that I had been a little disappointed that she didn’t have time to see my dog when she’s outside and how her perspective of treat training changes, and I wanted to make sure she felt confident about taking on the task despite not having seen the behavior for herself. She responded that she adapts as the training goes on and we all continue to get to know each other. In addition, she added that she was tired of trying to sell me on her services and that she had other people waiting on her. Fair enough, I told her that I felt like we were good to go and I’d be game to do more training. Her website mentions payment plans for her services so I inquired if we’d be able to do biweekly payments and she then told me that she only does it for “larger packages” and that she felt I wasn’t committed and confident back to her. This felt out of left field so I tried to ask her for a call to clarify and get on the same page, but she told me that she couldn’t make time for it (although she had time to type out a long text?). She went on to tell me for a second time that I wasn’t confident in her and her methods. She seems nice, she seems knowledgeable, and I’m disappointed that she was so quick to judge and wouldn’t just call so we could work it out rather than her placing words in my mouth over text and acting as though I couldn’t understand that this is her career. Better luck next time I suppose. Edit: see what I mean about the confrontations? Life moves on!

Cyd is amazing. We tried Bark Busters first and then were desperate for help in teaching our puppy pugs to sit, recall, answer to their names, potty training, down stay, get their toys, to stop watch dog barking at the cat meows, truck noises, to not beg at the table, and now swimming in their life jackets. She trains both at once and is willing to do whatever it takes from zoom video calls (when they won't misbehave in front of her LOL) to in pool training. She is a compassionate animal lover and really knows her science and when something stumps her which isn't often she researches her network to find answers. She doesn't use punishment techniques just rewards with treats, verbal and hand signals depending on the situation. She works patiently with her humans and keeps in contact, sends videos of sessions and will work with you 1:1 or with your partner and you and your beloved furry pal. Highly recommend her.