Out N' About Dog Training

It's taken me a couple of months to write this review because life got crazy busy, but I had to come back to write it because we had such a great experience with Out N' About Dog Training. We did puppy preschool and kindergarten. I was a bit uncertain at how much we would get out of an online format at first, but after our first class, I was hooked. Julie was so attentive to what was happening at home and she gave feedback and instruction to each dog that was very specific and helpful. Then we would go practice social skills in drop in play. Our previous dog, had been a year old and had been fearful from the moment we got her and would lash out or put herself in danger constantly. We had gone to a different trainer who said she was a hopeless case, so we could never take her places and had to be careful when we had anyone over. When we got our new Havanese puppy, I wanted to start him off correctly because we wanted to be able to have him with us. Julie helped us to work on essential obedience, and she also helped us to make sure we helped him grown into a happy, social dog. I'd definitely go back to Out N' About with another dog, and we will recommend Julie to family and friends too.

We needed help with our 1.5yr old shy, scared but aggressive MX street rescue that we adopted at 5months old named Bella. We have no idea of her history on the streets but she clearly has residual issues with people and huge issues with other dogs. We had already done one round of dog training with another company which involved more negative reinforcement - that did not work very well in the long run with our scared little dog. We were getting frustrated with our progress with her and decided we needed to do another round of private training with a whole different skill set, approach and experience. We found Julie and Out N' About dog training and it sounded the right next step for us. Julie is all about positive reinforcement style training and this went very well with our shy Bella. We did the initial consultation via zoom, then decided to do another session in person with Julie. Julie was able get Bella to respond to her techniques very quickly, so we signed up for multiple training package. Our biggest challenge with Bella is approaching other dogs while out for a walk and getting past them in as controlled a way as possible. Julie taught us some positive ways to do this which really help. Bella has some odd social behaviors when trying to actually meet other calm dogs, and though we are still working on this, we now know what is happening and how to work through things in a positive way for both Bella and the other dog. Julie really is a very knowledgeable and a pleasure to work with.

Initially signed my puppy up for basic puppy classes -- love that socialization was a component of them! Super important for puppies developmentally and really a lot of 'bang for your buck'. After a few traumatic vet visits, my little guy had started to be scared of vets AND new people in general so we started doing 'puppy Montessori' (day training where my dog got to stay with Julie and learn in FUN and HUMANE ways that the world isn't so scary!) He had a vet visit today at a new hospital... and it went so well! I wanted to cry at how well it went! I was so nervous because it ended up being a "curbside" visit since we were running a bit late, but for sure all the work he put in with Julie paid off because when the vet called me he was shocked to learn that I had been worried about how he'd feel about the vet. Absolutely recommend reaching out to Julie if you need support with your dog's confidence and general development!

I cannot emphasize enough how much I recommend Julie. If you're looking at the plethora of dog trainers out there, it can be overwhelming, but Julie is truly so special. She is not only invested our puppy's growth and improvement (and our puppy's happiness and safety as well), but she is also just as invested in us as owners. She goes above and beyond, taking time outside of classes to check in and provide guidance. And on top of all of this, she's of course a phenomenal dog trainer. Julie also recently started a Zoom class. Admittedly, I was skeptical of the class at first, as I didn't think our puppy would benefit from training at home. We gave it a shot, though, because we really like Julie's method of training. We are SO glad we did. The Zoom class is teaching us how to have a happy, balanced, calm home. The class covers so much more than just basic commands. Each class Julie adapts the lesson as she goes to cater to the issues and challenges owners and their dogs are facing. Even with other attendees, it feels very personalized. We wouldn't be able to get this kind of attention or direct feedback from an in-person group class. And, with drop in play sessions, Julie still gets to see our dog in person (those sessions are more than just play, too! training happening all the time) and see her progress. We are so grateful for Julie and all she has helped and is continuing to help with. Highly, highly, highly recommend!