Country Life K9 Training

My family had a great and rewarding experience with Lauren and Sarah from Country Life K9 Training. Our puppy Arya was just a year old and she joined our family during the COVID-19 pandemic. She didn’t have much socialization at all and was very difficult to take her for walks without her dragging you down the street. She also wasn’t very polite and would jump on everyone, take the kids socks and hide under the bed, and counter surf and steal food. Overall, she was a very reactive dog to other people and animals resulting in constant barking and lunging. I happened to see Lauren out training two other dogs that were so well behaved and got her information and filled out the questionnaire. We enrolled Arya in the board and train program and she came back home a completely different dog. We as a family had to work hard to follow the same training regimen that was provided in our follow-up lesson. As with anything when they come home back in their old environment they try their luck with falling back into old habits. As Lauren and Sarah say, consistency is key and making sure the entire family is implementing the skills the same way every time. We are so grateful to Country Life K9 training. ☺️ This whole experience has really improved our family dynamic and quality of life with our dog Arya. Now we can walk her off leash with her ecollar, we can take her more places with us when we’re out and about with our kids, she reliably responds to commands, and she is well behaved with proper manners in and outside of the house. Lauren and Sarah have also helped to equip me with the skills to be more confidant when I walk her so she knows I’m the leader and feels comfortable that I have everything handled. If you’re considering an excellent dog training program this one is definitely a winner! It’s been life changing.

Our two year old fully intact golden retriever Ziggy had some issues we really wanted to get resolved and didn't really know what to do. He is like our son and we didn't really want to send him away to some training facility that didn't give you updates and just basically waited for three weeks to hear about our dog/son. We would have dealt with the issues before sending him somewhere like that. I have known Lauren for quite some time (I think 15 years now) and she has always been great with any kind of animal. I mostly knew her around horses and I figured if she can handle those huge animals, Ziggy would be a breeze for her. Having known her made it easy for me to send him away to her, but for my girlfriend that was a different story. She was uncertain about it AT FIRST. Once we got to Lauren's house with the pup and talked about the program, the girlfriend knew the pup was in great hands. It took away most of the worry for both of us. The only other worry was that we would want to know if he was doing good in the training. From the first day that Lauren got him she was posting videos and pictures of him and his progress. It was obvious within the first video that Ziggy was now under control and he showed Lauren a lot of respect. WITHIN A DAY! We were thrilled. And for the next two weeks we would constantly get video and picture updates. Man, that was the best part, watching our kid showing off his skills and being awesome. Ziggy was one of her last two week sessions and she is now doing three week sessions, which would have been great for Ziggy but I couldn't wait to see him after the two weeks. Basic rundown of the main issues we brought Ziggy to training for- He was awful at walking on a leash, didn't know how to heel, and was always pulling us and when using a neck collar he would choke himself. If we would take him somewhere in the car and he thought we were going somewhere such as the dog park, he would bark as loud as he could until we got there. HE IS LOUD!!!! The sound would make my ears ring. His recall skills were bad, we have a lot of land for him to run around on but if he got too far away he wouldn't come back. We bring Ziggy to work with us and he would often jump up on people, not a good look for us at work. SO now after the training this is what we have got- Walking on leash- went from a strong pull to him walking in heel right behind our back left leg- even when we don't put him in heel. Wow what a difference. He will still try to pull sometimes but is quickly reminded that he is not supposed to do that. When going to any place that we are going to walk- he is a complete different dog, doesn't get side tracked from other animals or people and when we let him "Break" you can really tell it makes him so happy to be with us. Car rides, turned a loud bark into a tiny whimper, still annoying but if we spend more time with him before the car ride and get him into the calm state of mind that Lauren taught us about, he usually will stay silent and calm in the back seat. Recall- most times we don't need the controller anymore, as long as he is within view he will come back to us after calling him once. He enjoys his wide open roaming but he understands when we tell him to come, he comes. This is fantastic. Not even seeing a squirrel will stop him from coming back to us now. Jumping on people- now he will sit down and let people come up to him. Amazing difference. So to conclude- Ziggy's personality has not changed. He is still the fun loving golden that we sent him to training like. Now he is in control and he loves it. He is now up for the challenges and he gets rewarded when he is doing good. We have to use the stem button very seldom now and he is a very well behaved fully intact two year old golden retriever. We fully intend on bringing the next family member to Country Life K9 Training when they arrive one day. Thank you Lauren and Maeve for all of the great work with Ziggy!!!

Lauren trained our English bulldog puppy, Dumplin. Before her training Dumplin absolutely REFUSED to walk on a leash and was always begging for food when we ate. I’m able to take her places on her leash now without her doing her alligator roll. She stays in her place when the little ones are eating and she no longer begs and go to her place. She has a stubborn personality as most bulldogs do but thanks to Lauren she is a great listener now! If you are able to get your pups train i will recommend Lauren 100 times over. It’s worth it! Thanks Lauren!!

Lauren is the best. Prior to her training, my labs were dangerous to walk. Pulled me down. Totally distracted. I was avoiding other dogs on the few walks I did take them on. I have had them home for a little over a week. I feel very comfortable walking each of them now. I do not avoid passing other dogs on the street. My labs are much more calm and have learned to feel secure with me. Calm. Its been a life changer for me. AND my dogs. They were/are overweight due to lack of exercise. We are able to get out together now. Lauren really cares and is very responsive if I have questions after her training them. Honestly the best thing I have done for myself and my pups ever.

I found out about Lauren through my cousin, who had her own dog in Laurens training program, so I reached out and put my 1 1/2 year old Bernedoodle, Gracie on her schedule. Gracie is a super friendly, high energy, very intelligent dog, but lacked self control when out for walks and in public settings. She pulled on the leash, would get overly excited when passing other dogs and kids, would only come when she felt like it, and had a strong herding instinct that would scare small children. Gracie stayed with Lauren for 2 weeks and when I picked her up and had my hour “learning lesson” with them, I was so excited at Gracie’s transformation. I have kept up with commands and as a result, I can walk her off lead, recall her and always have her come when I call her. She does still have her herding instinct, but because of her training, I can now recall her, put her in a down and let her take a break when she gets out of control. I am so grateful that I found out about Lauren and enrolled Gracie with her for training.