Zen Dog Training

Alexis is an incredible dog trainer and human being. We contacted her because our puppy is fairly shy and fearful and she's given us the structure needed for us to make our puppy more confident. She's super knowledgable and gave us both the practical support but also explained how to read his body language, how to work with him in different environments. I totally recommend her to anyone who is looking for an expert and honest dog trainer.

Alexis of Zen Dog Training has literally changed our lives. Two weeks after we adopted our pit bull Freya we were honestly thinking about giving her back. She was a 70 lb, two-year-old dog with zero training and zero self control. Not only were her bad manners really difficult to live with, but she was even dangerous as she barked, lunged and growled at every dog on the street and even broke my boyfriend’s arm. We were on our last legs with her, about to give up on her, and called Alexis as our last hope. She came in and immediately gave us hope and made us feel like change was possible and doable. She broke down the training in ways that we could easily understand and explained things in step-by-step instructions that were easy to implement. We also did a mix of mostly day training, where Alexis came to train Freya while we were at work, and some sessions where we were present, so Freya could make the most progress, and she really did. Now her obedience skills are pretty impressive - she can down-stay and come when called like the best of them. In certain situations, she will still bark at dogs on the street. But my boyfriend and I can both easily manage her now and 9 times out of 10 she is absolutely fine. We are so grateful that Alexis came to us when she did, because now we can't imagine our lives without Freya in it.

I apologize in advance for the lengthy review but I want to fully convey our appreciation for Zen Dog Training. I was at the end of my rope when we hired Alexis. I live with my two young daughters, 4 and 8, my husband and our 4-year-old pit bull rescue, Bella. We love Bella more than anything, but we'd been having major problems ever since we adopted her two years ago. From the beginning she would totally lose it when she heard anything at our door - the doorbell, the mailman, a knock, a gust of wind. Alone, that's enough to make a person insane. Another one of her lovely habits was to terrorize our old cat by barking and chasing him whenever she would see him, to the extent that he had to be confined to the top floor of our house. The last straw was when she took to chasing my youngest daughter around nipping at her heels and even growling at visitors. We tried a few other trainers over the years, but none were able to give us results. We were so upset when Bella's behavior actually started to get worse rather than better. Then we found Zen Dog Training on the trainers listing on the Association for Pet Dog Trainers website. Alexis immediately gave us hope - she was empathetic and sensitive to our situation, and treated Bella in a way that showed how much she truly does love dogs. She did a full assessment of Bella's behavior and planned a training program for us. Everything she explained about Bella's behavior and how we should deal with it just made total sense to us. With every visit from Alexis, we noticed Bella not only behaving better, but she was also a happier dog - and she LOVED Alexis. We never thought it would be possible, but Alexis helped us achieve our most important goals. Bella now goes to her bed every time she hears the doorbell ring and stays there until we release her to greet our guests, which she does politely and without drama. And most impressive is the fact that Alexis was able to help us get Bella to a point where she no longer chases the cat! Amazing, honestly. I would encourage anyone looking for a highly capable dog trainer to contact Alexis.