Kaleidoscope Dog Services

Update 2024: We have continued to work with Julie throughout Bodhi's adolescent years! I truly don't know how we would get through without her! We have done 2 private training packages and 2 group classes with her! This last private training package was to help address some reactivity we were experiencing around the neighborhood. We started back at the basics and in 6 weeks - we have a totally different dog! He has learned to settle and focus better, we can quickly recall him and get him to settle when he is excited! I look forward to continuing our training journey together! 2023: I can’t say enough positive things to do Julie justice. What started as a desperate cry for help from new puppy parents who forgot just how tough the puppy stage is after 7 years has turned into a great relationship with a knowledgeable trainer that goes above and beyond to help. Not to mention my dog absolutely adores and respects her. Everyone comments how well behaved our puppy is for his age. But he is not SO disciplined that we can still laugh and enjoy the fun puppy stage. We started with private training in our home as our puppy wasn’t fully vaccinated when we started lessons but we will absolutely continue training with Julie’s group classes in the future!

I have had several dogs over the years but after adopting Cody I realized something was not quite right. Even after a few weeks with us he was still very shy, scared of people, actually scared of everything. He didn’t seem to want any physical attention. We were told that Cody had been born in a shelter and spent his first year in one. I wondered if Cody was irrevocably broken. My wife and I talked about getting some training and checked out a couple of places, but they seemed to be big on teaching “sit”, “stay”, “come” but I didn’t think this was the important issue for Cody. Signing up with Julie at “Kaleidoscope Dog Training’ was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Basically, she said Cody had no self confidence and so in addition to basic commands we worked on that. She understood Cody and helped me to understand the world as he was seeing it. I realized that much of what I was doing was not helping. Once I began to understand I was able to begin socializing Cody. I could only go at Cody’s pace, and she could point out where I was pushing too hard or confusing him. I needed as much training as he did. We had 8 weeks with Julie and that was enough to get me and Cody moving on the right track. When I first walked with Cody he would be terrified of other people, noises and basically anything new. Riding in the car was scary, going into a store was impossible. Even going to the park involved a lot of nervousness as Cody looked for danger everywhere. We started on a long course of socialization in very small increments. We still have a way to go but a few days ago we went to a nursery and then a Lowe's Garden Center and walked around. Once he stops being fearful, he is very interested in everything. Today the park is no longer a scary place. He also comes to me for affection and reminds me when it is dinner time or walk time. Julie can see the world as our dog is seeing it and that made all the difference for us.