Helping Pets Behave

Let me start by saying - I don’t often write reviews. Mary is absolutely wonderful to work with. I was looking for someone to really give focused attention to my 6 month old goldendoodle puppy with loose leash walking. I knew he would respond well to training but it was also more for me to learn to get his attention while outside on his leash. Mary really focused on the issue and was thorough and an absolute joy to work with. Seeing her work with my pup (and me) with her kind, sweet demeanor is exactly what I was looking for in terms of individual training. I’ve been telling all my friends how much my stress level has decreased now that my pup walks like an angel when we’re outside. Don’t hesitate to contact Mary...she’s thorough, professional, and a real joy to work with!

I've had two interactions with this business over the years and both have been negative. I've been hesitant to share my review, as I know bad reviews hurt business, but in reading other reviews, my experience was not an isolated incident. I decided to write it now because I have a behavior question and ordinarily would use someone I've worked with before as a resource. I first communicated with Mary in 2016, after my dog went after and killed another dog. When I was on the phone with her, she was very condescending, saying things like "how could you let this happen?" and "if I were that other dog owner I would not be happy with you." Seeing as I had just had a major trauma, as well as was obviously trying to fix the situation, those comments really rubbed me the wrong way. I did not need to be guilt tripped further, and I did not hire her for her services. A few years later, our dog had gotten aggressive with my husband. Having forgotten I had reached out to her before, I contacted her again. We set up an appointment, and went to her home for evaluation. The entire time, she was acting like she was scared of our dog. She didn't seem to really hear what we were explaining to her, and even insinuated that we were "abusing" the dog by not feeding it enough (even though we had been instructed to put him on a diet as he had gained weight). She did the same training that every other instructor has done (putting him on a leash and seeing if he can ignore stimuli as he walks past it). The room was VERY small, and our dog was VERY anxious. Despite it not working numerous times, she kept trying to make me lead him, even though it was clear that the technique combined with his temperament and my petite frame was not working. She yelled at me a few times to not tug him and not yell at him, but didn't offer me any other alternatives. She also made a comment about "well at this point, most dogs would go outside but he's not ready for that" again emphasizing that it was a fault of ours and his that he was not doing well. We left feeling defeated, but was assured that she would "check in" to see his progress. Her check in was one email, sent at the required six month mark, to which I did not respond. She is not cheap (I think we spent around $400) and all it resulted in was finding a different trainer, that was cheaper and more effective. I cannot speak to her methods overall, but I can say that they did not work for our dog. Her manner and her condescending tone was very "holier than thou" and she acted like she did not give a hoot about our dog. Not to mention that she, a literal certified behavioralist, was afraid of him, which even I know does not create a trusting environment for an already nervous dog. 0/10 would not recommend.

Mary has truly helped me turn my dog's behavior around! She is not perfectly behaved (we still need to work on interacting with kids), but I'm no longer on edge when I take her out in public. My dog was about a year old when I adopted her in May 2020 and I know nothing about what she experienced as a puppy. After I got her, she had some intense medical issues that caused a lot of stress. My dog had a very low reactivity threshold towards small animals, some other dogs, and some people. Usually that reactivity led to growling, lunging, and sometimes snapping. Over the last ~8 months I've had three virtual or in-person training sessions with Mary, and several follow up emails. With Mary's training plan, lots of patience, and countless training treats, my dog has gone from highly reactive to calmly walking past other dogs and politely sniffing strangers (sometimes letting them pet her!). We can also get within 10-15' of a rabbit or squirrel without my dog losing her mind trying to catch it. Even though we weren't specifically working on this, my dog's loose-leash walking skills have also greatly improved. She used to dart and lunge everywhere, now she spends most of the walk happily trotting next to me. Finally, my dog was happily accepted to a dog daycare/boarding kennel. I will be honest, at first I was frustrated with Mary's training plan. This is my first dog, and I didn't realize that Mary was actually teaching me how to handle my dog. The ultimate goal is to get my dog to focus on me instead of what she's reacting to. Once I understood those techniques, she showed me how I can apply them in different situations to help my dog behave calmly. The training is very versatile, and so far I haven't come across a situation where it wasn't helpful. For first time clients, I have several suggestions. Mary's intake paperwork is very detailed. be accurate and honest, she's here to help, not judge. I would recommend planning on 60 minutes for the first session. My follow-up sessions were about 30 minutes long. If it's a virtual session, you'll probably want to clear some floor space so you can walk around with your dog. Finally, if you upload any pictures or videos, be sure to put you or your pet's name in the filename. The pictures show my dog's progress. Her self-control has greatly improved, She got muddy on a hike, but was still calm enough to sit and watch a squirrel instead of lunging at it. When she first met my parents, she growled, snapped, and even nipped at them. Now, she's calm enough to give and receive love.

Mary was recommended by our vet to help us manage our dog's reactivity and separation anxiety and I feel so lucky to have found her! She's thorough, responsive and encouraging and works so well with dogs and dog parents. Following her advice, we've seen major improvement in our dog's reactivity, and his separation anxiety is essentially eliminated. Now we're working on calmly greeting visitors -- it takes some effort, but Mary created a wonderful plan for that, as she can for just about any dog issue. Plus, Mary is upbeat and friendly and a pleasure to work with -- I'd recommend her to anyone!

Mary is fantastic! She is well educated on animal behavior. Our rescue dog was afraid of his own shadow and had severe urination problems. The first time I spoke with Mary on the phone, after describing our issues, she said she wouldn't feel comfortable taking our money until we spoke with a veterinary specialist about a possible medical condition for our dog. She was so open and honest right up front. Amazing! Once we got the medical issues worked out, she did a great job helping build confidence in our dog.