Amanda Gagnon Dog Training

My vet recommended Amanda Gagnon Dog Training for classes for my puppy & I'm so happy she did. My goldendoodle spent a few weeks with a trainer before I got him, so he was pretty much housebroken & knew the basics, but I definitely didn't & was overwhelmed when I brought him home. Going to class with my dog has been empowering as a new dog owner & encouraging to see his progress week to week. I've done both puppy kindergarten levels with Amanda, day school most often with Gwen, socialization on Saturdays, & private sessions with Gwen to deal with some separation issues. The way Gwen has spent the time with me to explain why you should do something a certain way, tell me how special my dog is, & give us reasonable goals with ways to level up has truly changed the way I live with my dog. It's a lot of work to train a puppy & the investment in training classes with professionals has been totally worth it to me. When it comes to running the business side, the admin team is super responsive & polite with questions & booking. Update: Past puppy life, my dog & I have continued to take fun classes with Gwen. For me, it's bonding & a way to focus my dog's energy which remained very high until about 18 months. We've done agility & nose work. Both classes have been fun & challenging for my high energy & eager to please pup. Gwen had great tips to practicing weaving & jumping without the agility prop course set up & people always get a kick out of the little circus tricks I often have my dog doing while waiting for a light to cross the street. Nose work was trickier, but if your dog is like mine & likes to sniff trash bags on your walks, it's fun to try to focus that skill. I cannot wait to see what fun class comes next, the AGDT crew knows I'll be the first one to sign up. We also took the recall workshop with Denver which was AMAZING. Great tips for how to call, how to treat, what kinds of high value treats to use, & how to build up the skill. We practiced at the dog park between classes & in three weeks I went from knowing he'll probably come when I call him to he'll drop a toy & run away from play with other dogs to rush to me across the park when I call him 98% of the time. Off leash walking is now a comfortable reality for us.

“That woman is a Druid! She cast “speak with animals!” and it worked,” said our child after Gwen Moyer left. I would say that Gwen saved our vacation. Our dog Phoebe is very anxious and extremely defensive. In AGDT-speak, she is a “reactive” dog. So we put her through the “Anger Management” class and we’re amazed by what Amanda and Gwen were able to teach Phoebe, as well as my wife and me, about how to keep her calm and lessen her triggers. Phoebe doesn’t like other dogs and is scared of most people. She exhibits this by snarling, barking, and acting like the hound from hell. But after two and a half years of this dreadful pandemic, my wife and I wanted to take a vacation and leave Phoebe home. After two months of working with our super, Phoebe has accepted him into her circle. But time was running short, and she wouldn’t let him put her leash on. So I booked Gwen for a private hour. She came over to our apartment and got down on the floor with Phoebe, calmed her, and showed us all how to get her to be ok with a new person leashing and unleashing her. It was like magic. I cannot thank her enough for showing us how to help Phoebe be less of a menace. We feel we no longer need to choose between our dog and our lives.

I can’t say enough good things about Trainer Gwen! When working through some difficult behavioral issues with my pup, Gwen was extremely helpful, patient, and positive even just through virtual/phone consultations. She always recommended the best training tools and force-free methods, making me feel more confident in managing my pup’s fear-based reactivity. I’ve worked with many trainers, but Gwen’s advice has been the most impactful and I would recommend Gwen and Amanda Gagnon Training to anyone looking for experts who truly care about your pup’s success and wellbeing. Thank you!

I cannot recommend AGDT highly enough. I did two private sessions with Gwen Moyer which addressed leash walking, recall, dog parks, and fear of riding in cars. Gwen is an expert on all these topics and more, and she is a skilled communicator with both people and dogs—my rescue pup Eli adores her! After each session, Gwen shared thorough and thoughtful notes about what we had covered and recommendations for continuing to build on his training. Eli also attended one session of adolescent day school, and he will definitely be going back for more. Thank you, Gwen and AGDT!