Onward Bound Incredible Dog Training and Grooming

Aly was able to help us with a pretty difficult dog. She was quickly able to handle our dog and assess his issues. She taught us how to be more capable dog parents and give him the tools necessary to provide him with some much needed structure and security. Through the whole process Aly was always easy to reach out to and able to come up with creative solutions to implement training into our everyday lives. Happy to say we’ve had our formerly “difficult” dog in our lives for over three years now and he’s not only unrecognizable, but Aly also showed us how incredible and smart he is.

A first-time puppy owner, I didn’t meet Ally until my dog was about a year old. By then, we had already been through Puppy Class, Basic Obedience, and Advanced Obedience classes at another facility, and we had signed up for an Agility Fundamentals class that Ally happened to be teaching. In all those other classes, I had asked repeatedly for help with the barking, leash lunging, and counter surfing that were developing...but with little success. I arrived at the first Agility Fundamentals class early and selected a chair far from the door, excited about the class but nervous about how my young dog would react to the others. Sure enough, as others started to arrive, my dog became increasingly excited, and the barking and pulling began. Embarrassed, I was at a loss how to handle it. Talking to him, tightening the leash, and trying to distract him with known cues as others had suggested proved useless, as usual. And then Ally calmly walked by and scattered a few treats on the floor by my dog, and the barking and pulling stopped as he eagerly investigated the treasures that had magically appeared. So simple and so effective…and yet no one had suggested this approach. After class, I looked her up on the internet, perused her website thoroughly, and signed up for sessions with her. I highly recommend Ally to anyone who wants their dog (puppy or older) to develop into a fun companion. There are a lot of dog trainers out there, and they all “love dogs” and a lot of them do fine with most dogs, but what sets Ally apart is not only her positive training methods but her understanding of dog behavior and her ability to “read” a dog and apply positive methods to a spectrum of dog personalities. You won’t regret hiring her!

We adopted Megan 2+ years ago and then realized we had a dog with issues. After trying other trainers, with no permanent behavior change, I saw the ad for Onward Bound Incredible Dog Training which posed some questions and stated, “if you answered yes to any of them, then Onward Bound can help!” I answered YES to all seven! Ally gave us a name for Megan’s issue, “reactive”, taught us about our dog, this issue, and how to deal with it. During our weekly training sessions, Ally’s words of instruction and encouragement gave me the tools and confidence to make a difference in Megan’s and our life. Ally’s focus was on “success” and finding the right methods to achieve it. Megan (and I) have come a long way due to Ally’s incredible patience and knowledge!

I had friends that were scared to come into my home because of my 2 year old rescue’s lunging and nipping. Someone used the word “untrainable.” Ally met with my dog twice and by the end of the second meeting, Walnut was running around off leash playing with Ally. She taught me how to handle Walnut’s anxiety and gave me tools to keep Walnut calm and happy. I can read Walnut’s body language a lot better too. Friends visit more and both Walnut and I remain relaxed. What a huge relief. Thanks Ally!

I've been taking my German Shepherd puppy (<5 months) to Ally's (owner) group obedience class level 1 sessions. It's helped significantly with training of my pup and has also helped me create that training bond with my dog to keep training beyond class. Ally has been great in class and even though it's a group class the small size allows Ally one on one time during the session to help make sure you're training right and even offers tips catered to your dog's behaviors. Would recommend her group classes to anyone who has a new pup and wants to teach them general obedience.