Wonder Dog Training

Jenna has been a fabulous asset in helping us choose a dog that is right for our family, as well as the training itself. After an in-home interview that helped us to understand how a dog would fit into our life and what breeds we might want to consider, she answered numerous follow up questions. She was available when we were meeting dogs to help us get a great match between the dog and our family. When we finally did select a dog from a rescue that was a few hours away she was available to review videos and reassure us that the very shy dog in the video had potential. She met us when the dog came home and helped us plan for the next several days until we could meet again which really helped us to know what to expect. One thing I greatly appreciated about Jenna was her very balanced and moderate approach to dog ownership. While she has tremendous respect and consideration for...

Alexa is fabulous! She boarded and trained our 12 week old Goldendoodle and she came a new puppy! It is hard to believe she was able to get rid so many impulsive puppy behaviors in just 2 weeks! She uses compassionate, yet structured trechniques and it was obvious that our puppy was loved while there. Alexa also teaches the owner how to continue the training and techniques at home. I would definitely recommend her to anyone!!

Kim Feinberg helped us a lot with our 6 year old reactive dog. She really helped us understand her better and find ways to improve her behavior. It showed us that you can train an older dog. Our dog's behavior has really improved with training and it was also a fun experience for us and the dog. Thank Kim!

My 6 month toy Pom Kona, was a wild child, I contacted Wonder Dog Training for both of us. Sharon is patient, upbeat and great trainer. Kona would bark at people & other dogs when walked, Kona was also skittish about cars on the road.
Kona is full of confidence now, no barking or acting out with cars passing. Kona is calm also at home, no longer barking at vehicles, people, dogs that pass by living room window.
Kona also learned the basics, sit, down, stay, go to bed, leave it. She is much calmer & happier. Thank you Sharon.

As a busy family of 5, finding time for all of us to attend puppy classes together was impossible. Jen came to our home so we could learn how to best teach our cute puppy together. I’m so happy we did it that way, and that we found Wonderdog!

Jen is genuine in her love and understanding of dogs. She taught our pup manners and confidence... but best of all, she taught us how to better know and understand our dog. ❤️ She is now a treasured resource.

Sharon was great! She came in and instantly built a rapport with Lola and we saw results immediately. She not only came in and demonstrated tips and tricks for us, she also helped us practice what we learned, provided reinforcement tools and ensured each visit that we got to cover all that we wanted. Lola is still a puppy and has a long way to go but she is definitely well on her way to being the obedient dog we hoped for thanks to Sharon. I definitely think the service was worth the money we paid. Thank you Sharon.

Our trainer, Jenna, gave me the tools and the confidence to read the signs that my anxiety-reactive dog was exhibiting and gave my dog the ability to trust me to acknowledge and relieve her feelings of anxiety. I got a better, more relaxed dog and my dog got a confident and dependable owner. Jenna is a wonderful person and an amazing trainer - kind, thorough and extremely knowledgeable. I highly recommend her and Wonder Dog Training - we're so happy with the results!

"Who Rescued Who?" the oft-seen bumper sticker asks. In August, we rescued Lacey, a year-and-a-half old Boxer/Rottweiler mix. In October, Sharon Westervelt rescued us. Lacey is a strong-willed, high energy handful-and-a-half. And strong as an ox. We needed help.

Sharon has been more than just a great teacher to us. She has been like a concerned aunt to Lacey, frequently following up by phone or text to be sure we had all questions answered and offering additional suggestions. It is clear that she wants us to be comfortable with our dog and that she cares deeply for Lacey's future.

I am happy to recommend Sharon to anyone who wants a caring, professional, knowledgeable trainer who goes the "extra mile" in all her dealings with her clients.

We cannot say enough about how much Wendy helped us. Our dog was an easily overstimulated puppy and could not control himself. He bit everybody and everything! She helped us calm him through training, and completely saved our sanity. Two years later we have gotten a second dog, who is a rescue with separation anxiety, and have called Wendy to help us with the adjustment. I have complete confidence that she will help us and our dogs become a calm, confident family once again. So thankful we found Wendy!

Working with Ariel was an amazing experience. She is so passionate about working with dogs and had such positive energy every time she showed up to work. The advice and knowledge she shared with us will keep us working with our dog for years to come. Thanks again for everything.

We have been using Wonder Dog for training our Puppy German Shepherd and our Older Chihuahua. Rachelle has been great as trainer providing us with useful behavioral information on how to best train and Stetson has been fantastic in helping to walk and train our dogs while giving them plenty of love!

Jen, from Wonder Dog training came to our rescue when we adopted Jasper, a dog-reactive Jack Russell mix. Although our family had raised 6 puppies for a working dog group, we had never encountered this type of problem, and it seemed like we were just going to have to accept that this was the way our life was going to be. Walks were awful with pulling, barking and snarling at other dogs. No fun for either of us.

Our veterinarian recommended Jen and told us how she had helped his family with their dog. We bought the personal training package, so that we could work in our neighborhood where Jasper was going to be walking each day. .Jen’s quiet, calm handling of Jasper and patience in teaching me how to work with him was a life saver. She was able to teach me how to handle him on walks, so that we could enjoy them together rather than constantly having to fight the leash...

Robin is so amazing!! A complete natural, a puppy whisperer!! She is so gentle and soft spoken yet in complete charge of our puppy. Daisy responded to her immediately without a doubt of who was the boss. Our Daisy is full of energy and pretty stubborn but Robin always knew how to handle her and how to teach us to do the same. She has given us so many helpful tips and solutions that made the transition of having no pets to being a happy puppy owner with a happy puppy. If you only do one thing for your self and your pet - Do training with Robin you will not regret it!

In January we adopted 15 month old Buddy - an adorable, short-legged, mixed breed. He was untrained and a somewhat fearful boy.  We realized we needed help - so in comes our trainer Ariel of Wonder Dog Training.
We opted for the 7 lesson package and, to be honest, as far as basic obedience goes, Buddy learned a lot in 5 lessons.  We trained with him every day reinforcing the techniques Ariel taught us. The last couple of lessons Ariel helped us with his issue of pulling hard on the leash on walks and different things on Buddy’s ‘to do’ list - beginning agility exercises, pool safety, fun training games…

There definitely were times when we wished Ariel would simply take Buddy away, work her magic and then return him to us all trained.   Obviously that didn’t happen.  What did happen is that Ariel trained us so that we, in turn, could train Buddy.   We learned from...

I want to thank Robin for her excellent training with my new puppy Harley. She did a wonderful job showing little guy how to behave. On our last session we were able to go to the park and have him off leash! It was so much fun. I highly recommend this group!

Our newly-rescued dog was freaking out on-leash when she saw other dogs. We purchased a 12 session package for help with leash-reactivity. Wonder Dog provided us with excellent trainers who clearly cared about my dog. They not only helped my dog, but taught me what I needed to know to continue reinforcing the training. Excellent customer service as well. Would use again.

We had Lauren as our trainer for our dog River and she was absolutely incredible to work with. She is always positive and interactive throughout. She does a great job at making you feel comfortable and confident, even when you get a little frustrated.
We bought the 7 private in-home sessions and are so glad we did. It was nice to be in the comfort of our own home and have that one-on-one training. Our last session, we went to a local park to help with focus and decrease distractions. We adopted River from a shelter and he had no manners and knew no commands. Now, he is much better and knows all the basics! Though training is all about consistency, River has greatly improved on focus and leash training. We really enjoyed training through positive reinforcement.
We had such a great experience we are using Lauren again for our new puppy. My husband and I definitely...

We had Lauren as our trainer for our dog River and she was absolutely incredible to work with. She is always positive and interactive throughout. She does a great job at making you feel comfortable and confident, even when you get a little frustrated.
We bought the 7 private in-home sessions and are so glad we did. It was nice to be in the comfort of our own home and have that one-on-one training. Our last session, we went to a local park to help with focus and decrease distractions. We adopted River from a shelter and he had no manners and knew no commands. Now, he is much better and knows all the basics! Though training is all about consistency, River has greatly improved on focus and leash training. We really enjoyed training through positive reinforcement.
We had such a great experience we are using Lauren again for our new puppy. My wife and I definitely recommend...

Thank you Courtney for helping us train our Maltese puppy, Zoe. You are a natural with dogs and we are grateful for your skill and knowledge. Zoe is now a well mannered and delightful puppy. :)

Sonja visited our home seven times, spending 1:30 - 2:00 on each visit.
She takes careful notes of the dogs behavior.
She also remembers human behavior.

Our two adopted pets were a challenge. Since working with Sonja, we now have two lively pets who understand what we expect.

Our dogs do not crowd the front door and bolt.
They sleep quietly through the night tucked up in their own beds.
They walk by our side, not out in front dragging us down the street.

They still alert bark, but stop when we indicate our awareness of their concern.

When someone visits our home, our dogs have learned to, "Say hello," without showing aggression.

As for us? We have also learned a lot from Sonja.
We have learned how to play with our pets in ways that support their happiness and increase our...

We love Wendy from Wonder Dog! She helped us with two...then three dogs at once (adopted a foster pup while we were working with Wendy and she helped us get him assimilated into the pack!) She provided options for changing behaviors that were always positive and effective.

We highly recommend Wendy! She is the right combination of love and persistence. We had two big dogs when we started and one is pretty protective of our environment. She helped us with options to minimize the behaviors we don't want. During our work with Wendy, we adopted a dog we were fostering so she easily trained him within our pack.

I found Wonder Dog Training via Yelp and chose to hire them based on their overall rating and reviews. I am so glad I did because the trainer we were paired with is fantastic. We opted for the 7 in-home session package and definitely got our money's worth. Ariel Santa Maria was punctual and ready to work as soon as she arrived. She listened to what we wanted to accomplish and helped us succeed in basic obedience, calming our dogs anxiety and we also learned fun tricks later like roll over, shake, dance, bang and others! The first session was great and each session after the first was just as successful.
Loose leash walking was another concern for us because our dog was always pulling and fighting to get away while walking. Ariel helped us address several bad behaviors, and indoor and outdoor manners.
Ariel seemed to know how to speak to our dog & our dog really loved...

Jen La Bar is an amazing trainer! I credit her and my friend who recommended Jen for saving my dog Keeva's life! I was at my wit's end, when we had her a little less than a year, thinking I had to give her up because she had been aggressive and nipped at a couple of strangers, one of them a child! I had a 10 year old boy and his younger friends coming over, I wasn't going to take any risks with children's or people's lives. But, I feared if I took her to a shelter, she would be put down. My friend, Kathy suggested I call Jen and give her a try. I didn't want to spend any more $$ on training as I had done basic training and had hired another trainer to work with her. So, I called her. Jen observed Keeva and us with her, asked questions about our experience. Then she presented us with her evaluation, explaining how Keeva is "fear aggressive", not crazy. Also, she is...

We are so grateful to have found Jen at Wonder Dog Training.
Our sweet little Ozzy dog is a very intelligent; slightly ornery pup and we had no idea how to start training him. Well, we did our research and found Jen. She came to our house and handed us all the tools we needed to make sure we were communicating with Ozzy in a concise and consistent manner. We saw remarkable results in just a few sessions. By the end of the course we realized that Jen really trains us humans and our pets respond in happy obedience.
Thank you, Jen! You are a very special woman and we are so thankful to you.
Lori

Our dog Soshee is such a beautiful, affectionate, well-mannered dog you would never know that she’d had such a terrible start in life.

Soshee was being kept in a concrete enclosure, no shelter from the elements, sparse food, water polluted by urine, and was repeatedly abused physically.

We brought her home after receiving an email from a local dog rescue organization that had learned of her situation, and was searching for anyone that would be able to take her in. She was so weak from her poor conditions; she couldn’t walk and had to be carried to the car and into our house.

My husband and I primarily rescue kitties, so neither of us had any idea how to help a dog whose spirit had been absolutely crushed. She was terrified of people, going outside, cars, loud noises… basically, afraid of life. We knew how to help her feel safe in our home, but...

We had a 5 month old puppy who was very loving, but undisciplined to the point that we were going to find him a new home. We hired a trainer who was completely ineffectual. Them we hired Courtney from Wonder Dogs. After the first lesson we experienced an 180 degree change in our puppies demeanor. He was calmer and receptive to training. In a few sessions with Coutney's guidance our dog learned to stay off the furniture, stop jumping on people, sit and stay, come when called and many other behaviors. He has made great strides in loose-leash walking. Of course we were much happier but so was our loving puppy. We now cannot imagine our home without our adorable Maxie. Courtney is a great trainer who uses only dog-friendly training methods. Of course Maxie's schooling will continue now that the training sessions with Courtney have ended, but she has supplied us with all the tools we need...

We have a stubborn malamute and Wendy was our trainer. Our Willow responded so well to Wendy and she taught us how to train Willow, which is usually the best because you learn to get the dog to respond to you. Our dog is better, but of course we are still working on exercises. I highly recommend Wendy for stubborn large breeds that need extra work.