Helping Pets Behave

We started working with Mary about 3 months ago with our newly adopted dog from Kuwait that had very significant fear aggression and trust issues. Mary recognized this through a detailed questionnaire we completed and an in-person evaluation/session. We reached out to Mary, because about 2 months past adoption, we had very troubling, escalating issues with our dog, Asha, in which we were unable to take her on walks without her lunging, snarling, growling and pulling us with great force toward other dogs. We were gentle and patient with her, noticing she loved people and children, however, we feared this aggression toward other dogs was beyond our ability to handle and would have to be addressed, especially since she was new to us, we have a young daughter, we didn't know Asha's full history, and we are dog owners for life. None of this behavior appeared at first at all as said before, however, when Asha settled in to our home in just those few short months, this behavior started to float to the surface, and Mary stated Asha probably felt comfortable with us enough to be reactive outside of our home, since she was settling into her new life. We also live in the city, which is FULL of dog-loving owners, so we needed to address this due to our environment, so Asha could truly be integrated into our family and community. After a thorough education in our session from Mary about physiological, psychological and emotional reactions we experienced with Asha, she reported Asha had "fear aggression", which was new to us. We learned in one session a valuable toolbox of information that would aid in our daily walks with her. Even in the session, after much practice with Mary, Asha responded positively, although we needed consistent effort on our part to keep the momentum. When returning home, we set new routes for walks that would be less intimidating for Asha with a smaller population of dogs while we implemented our tools with her, and we have seen a 180 degree turnaround in not only how she reacts on walks but her affection toward us. I feel the understanding we learned from Mary, tools of how to walk her and be proactive vs. reactive, created an unbreakable bond with us and our new dog. My 10yo daughter has even walked her on occasion with us and feels very confident using what we've learned as well. I feel as if Asha thinks "they get me now!" and I know we feel the same. As the follow-up emails have proven with questions from us to Mary (and I can get wordy!), she has continued to enthusiastically support us in furthering progress of integrating other dogs into Asha's life in a controlled way, and its shown to be a winner. Our fear aggressive dog who snarled and barked and lunged has now made 3 new dog-neighbor friends that we have carefully interacted with. This is HUGE for us and Asha. We have no doubt that Mary was the key to our and Asha's success, and we are eager to keep working with her to continue Asha's progress. In only a few months of consistent work with Mary's tools, education and ongoing support, we have seen an irreplaceable transformation. We highly recommend Mary.

I unfortunately had a bad experience with this trainer about a year ago. I don't take writing bad reviews lightly so I held off on this one for awhile but decided to write it since my dog has progressed well with the help of another trainer. Overall I feel that Mary oversold her services on the phone and did a poor job with my dog in the one session I had with her. She did not interact with my dog, although I will give her credit for asking lots of questions and giving me a lot of instructions. That said, i've since learned that my dog was likely getting triggered by her training method yet the trainer was not tuned into my dog's reactions - instead she seemed transactionally focused on tasks. I did not feel that she listened to my input or my own observations regarding how my dog was reacting during the session. Also, the room was not air conditioned - and it was hot, not comfortable. In addition, my dog had an accident during the training session and the trainer reacted by getting visibly upset and saying " I thought you said she was housetrained"...she then abruptly handed me the paper towels and cleaning solution and told me to go back and clean it twice because she didn't think I cleaned it well enough the first time. Of course I have no problem cleaning up after my dog, but i have honestly never encountered this type of visible irritation with an animal professional when one of my dogs has had an accident in a stressful situation (just not a nice way to talk to a customer). Also, the session was unfortunately not well-focused by the trainer hence she ran over the time she had allotted by at least 45 minutes. I was on a tight schedule for work that day but I remained flexible and stayed nonetheless when she ran the session over because I was committed to my dog. I was, however, quite taken aback when at the end of the session she suddenly realized she had run over and then told me I owed her more money as a result. She said she would "give me a break" and only charge me for 15 minutes extra....really?? Her lack of focus cost me an hour of lost work and yet she added money to my bill. I should have said something about this but at that point I was hot and was running late for a work call - and my dog was literally so stressed that she was standing in a corner facing the wall (which did not seem to register with or interest the trainer). So i just paid the money and left. For days after the session my dog went back into her shell and I lost all ground I had built with her in the few months I had had her. She was very abused before we got her which I explained in detail to the trainer - but she just never seemed tuned into my dog's reactions and was instead obsessed with parading a large baby doll in front of the dog as if the dog would recognize this doll as a real person. My dog eventually recovered emotionally (she would cry and squeal during the training when the training leash was around her nose but the trainer told me not to acknowledge this because it wasn't hurting her). It didn't occur to her that, although her training method is generally sound, perhaps my dog was having a unique PTSD type reaction due to previously brutal training she may have experienced with her first owner. A subsequent trainer I hired suggested that this could have been the case and said that a reaction such as this from my dog should not have been ignored. This new trainer focused on building my dog's confidence and was a partner with me rather than barking instructions at me. My dog is doing much better now with the help of an understanding and thoughtful trainer. I am sure that Mary is talented and has helped many dogs - that said, my experience sadly was like throwing hundreds of dollars away which I can not afford to do. I think it all depends on what type of trainer one is looking for as I see from some of her reviews that she has helped others which I applaud - I just felt like her approach was cookie cutter when my dog is special needs.

Mary is, quite literally, a lifesaver. When my partner and I adopted Sigma, a 4 y/o wheaten terrier, he was beyond fearful. He bit me our first night home, and I was so scared but really wanted to help him. He was so sweet, but just extremely scared and anxious. We brought Sigma to Mary thanks to a recommendation from a friend, and we have been eternally grateful ever since. She was able to diagnose and understand him almost immediately. She pointed out behaviors we didn’t realize he was showing us, and she patiently explained where those behaviors were coming from. Even though he bit me, she didn’t try to convince us that he was a dangerous or bad dog—she just needed us to understand him and help change his behavior through trust, repetition, structure, and patience. Thanks to her expert work with us and Sigma, we can say that a year later he is an incredibly loving, affectionate, kind, attentive, playful, happy puppy and we’ve never had another scary incident with him. We owe all of that to Mary and her amazing ability to understand exactly what dogs need from humans, and how humans can help. Her patience and kindness with us and Sigma during a stressful time is something we will always remember and cherish. We can’t recommend her enough!!

Our dog had some behavioral issues we needed to work through with her, and I wanted to do everything I could to help my dog. My husband and I decided to take her to Mary, and with just three months of working with her we've noticed HUGE changes. Mary creates really great steps and plans for working with each individual pet, and because we followed them we've noticed huge improvements with our dog. We can't thank Mary enough and will continue to work with her!!

I have taken my 2 pomeranians to Mary twice now over the past 3 years and had nothing but positive outcomes. She takes the time to listen to all of your concerns, checks in with you numerous times throughout the session to make sure you feel comfortable with the exercises you are doing, and makes sure you don't have any questions. She gives you multiple options on how to deal with certain behaviors and allows you to weigh in to determine which option may be best for your pet in particular. She is also very easy to work with, never judgmental or condescending. I would highly recommend her for any behavioral issues you and your pet are dealing with.