Poodles to Pit Bulls Dog Training

Ettel was great! Our dog was having aggression problems and would become scared with people. There were two incidents where he bit, and others where he seemed afraid and wanted to bite but luckily he was not able to. We were considering trying to find him a new home. We looked up trainers that had experience with dogs like ours and that’s how we found Ettel. When we first met Ettel we discussed our problems and concerns with her. It wasn’t until the last five minutes that she met our dog. Our dog wanted to attack her when we brought him out, it was not pretty. We had six sessions with Ettel. At each session Ettel not only taught our dog she taught us. She helped us understand what his triggers were and signs that he was uncomfortable. She helped us understand that importance of choice for him. At our third session our dog was happy to see Ettel and was super friendly with her. We now know the correct way of introducing our dog to people. On walks our dog would hurd us and with Ettel‘ s help we now understand that he was showing us his anxiety through this herding. We are happy to say, that since our second session with Ettel our dog has not herded us. Not only was Ettel great with our dog she was great with us. She gave us the confidence we needed to help our dog. We would recommend Ettel to anyone.

Ettel is truly a find! I had worked with several other trainers in the past and Ettel is in a league of her own. First of all, she has an obvious love for dogs and really gets and appreciates my dog's unique personality. As a result, she has helped me understand my dog and read her signals so much better, which has been a complete game changer (and I was already fairly versed in dogs and dog body language before I started working with Ettel). For example, in our first session, she pointed out that my dog didn't actually seem to like being petted on most of her body, which I hadn't picked up on, but which I quickly saw to be true once she pointed it out. Ettel is very mindful of getting dogs' consent and buy-in for anything people are asking them to do and it is so refreshing. In my experience, even so-called "force free" or "positive" trainers sometimes resort to pushing or pulling a dog around when they don't catch on or cooperate. That is 100% NOT Ettel. She finds ways to get your dog to WANT to do what you are asking. This is not only much safer, in my opinion, but also so much more fun for human and dog alike! Ettel is extremely safety conscious and thoughtful about how she works with you and your dog. She is very responsive and flexible in her work with two- and four-legged clients, focusing sessions on the areas you want and need to work on rather than adhering to some rigid notion of what dog behavior should be. For example, I don't really mind my dog pulling on leash a bit, so we didn't spend time working on "heel" just for the sake of it, as I have with other trainers. Ettel is also very knowledgeable about dogs, dog behavior, and many related topics and she's very adept at thinking on her feet. Because she knows her stuff so thoroughly, she's really to flexibly tailor techniques and teachings to you and your dog. If my dog (or I!) wasn't catching on one way, she would shift gears and figure out another way to make things more intuitive or natural for us. She also helped us to put in place several routines that have solved or prevented issues I hadn't even considered. For example, she trained me to reward my dog every time she checked in with me on walks. To be honest, I thought it was a bit much at first, but then the warm weather came, and the first time a scooter went whizzing by and my dog prepared to chase, then instinctively paused and checked in with me instead, I was amazed and really grateful for Ettel's foresight. This is one example of many in which an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and after having my dog for 18 months, I can really see so many ways in which the routines and skills Ettel has given us have made a huge difference. Ettel has helped me to give my dog the structure and clear communication she needs so she knows what to expect from me and what I expect from her. My dog is SO much more relaxed, calm, and confident as a result. So in a nutshell, Ettel is worth every penny. She has improved my quality of life, my dog's, and our relationship immensely. She is easy to work with: respectful, punctual, patient, accessible. I cannot recommend her highly enough!

Ettel is a knowledgeable, highly experienced trainer who gave us the right tools to help our adopted Boston Terrier with several behavioral issues. Not only is Ettel super professional, she is kind and patient and clearly has a lot of love for dogs. Her assessment of our dog was thorough and accurate and her explanation of the training exercises was clear and easy to follow with a bit of practice. Our dog has made great progress with a separation anxiety issue and he no longer pulls on his leash but walks calmly by my side. Our biggest challenge has been leash reactivity. Ettel gave us several methods for helping our dog through his fear of other dogs while on-leash and we've incorporated all of these techniques. By giving us more than one way to help him through these anxious moments, we were ready to try different techniques for different situations. It helped me be more confident and feel better equipped to stay calm and make my dog feel safe and confident, too. We've also used Ettel's boarding service and our dog loves staying with her! He gets so excited when he sees her car coming to pick him up. The pick up/drop off service she provides is so convenient and helps take some of the stress out of travel and boarding. She also sends photos and updates during his stay, which helps us feel connected even if we're far away.