Your Dog's Friend

Anyone with a dog needs to know about this outstanding non-profit! We have an extremely challenging 9 month old puppy and would be lost without Your Dog's Friend. The puppy socials saved us during COVID lock-down. The webinars are excellent. The on-line classes and in-person classes are safe, fun and very well-run. The staff is dedicated to helping you and your dog become a better team. The trainers are all excellent, devoted professionals who are knowledgable and only using positive training methods. Our dogs favorite thing in the world is to go to the puppy socials to have positive interactions with other dogs. The puppy socials are small, well-managed and transform shy dogs and help socialize all dogs. We did an online puppy K (which I thought might be difficult or awkward) with Sarah Stoycos and it was fun and extremely worthwhile...and the opposite of difficult and awkward! It was fun, easy and we learned a lot. Sarah has a great way of bringing the group together and using other trainers and break-out rooms to provide excellent coaching and training. We just completed in-person first grade with Melissa Dilla and that was another excellent course. Melissa works hard to make every class positive, fun and educational. Her follow-up instructions and review are always helpful and valuable. If you are looking for a knowledgeable and wonderful trainer I highly recommend Melissa. I think our dog loves Melissa more than she loves me! The Training Coordinator, Nicole Wright needs to run our US government....she would fixed it in 48 hours.Nicole is the most organized, on-top of it person ever!! She keeps the place running smoothly allowing the amazing trainers to do their work! The DMV is lucky to have a resourse like Your Dog's Friend.

Adopting a puppy was easy; coming up with a plan for training during a global pandemic was not. I came across Your Dog’s Friend through my searches, and from the first few things I found on their site, I knew I had found a great resource. None of their advice sounded gimmicky or “too good to be true.” The online/remote puppy kindergarten class I took with Sarah Stoycos (Laughing Dog Academy) was something I looked forward to every week. It was so structured, yet so fun, and my puppy and I learned so much. Sarah is the type of trainer who truly has a passion for helping every person and every animal. She has an inexhaustible energy, and such a warm and kind approach. She is an enthusiastic and talented instructor, and she adapted her extensive knowledge to make the class a personal experience for every family and their puppy. I also took the reactive dog class that she and Marnie Montgomery (Joyful Dog) teach, and their insights and guidance have been instrumental in working with my reactive pup. Your Dog’s Friend is such a great organization, I couldn’t have asked for a better experience. Look no further, you’re in good hands!