Golden Standard Canine Training

I am local to St. Louis but have family in Southern Illinois, so I spent a couple of months doing extensive research in both areas for my (almost) 2 year old aussie, Ollie. He is my absolute pride and joy, but I needed a trainer that was up to the challenge. The problem with Ollie was that, while he was incredibly affectionate towards me, that wasn't the case towards anyone else. He is full of energy, so requires a lot of exercise. Since he would get aggressive towards other people/dogs it was nearly impossible to take him on walks since I live in the city. My only other option was to play a loooot of fetch, but this would result in him getting so excited that the exercise would have a reverse effect and make him even more hyper than before we went outside to play. After reading reviews and speaking with Carissa on the phone, I decided to send him to Golden Standard. He attended the 2 week session and I honestly have to say it was the best decision of my (and his) life. Carissa sent daily updates with pictures and videos of his progress. His progress was almost instant and I knew he was in great hands. After the 2 weeks, she dropped him off at my house and spend an extra 3 hours with me to ensure that I was up to speed on everything he had learned. I have had him back for exactly one week and he is a completely different dog (in the best way possible). He is calm, obedient, and has exceeded my expectations. He now walks on a leash with no problem, he will ignore disturbances with the "leave it" command, willingly gets in his kennel to hang out, and just relaxes on his "place" next to me while I work all day. No more stress whining, no more barking at the leaves, and most importantly he is LISTENING. I am so grateful for my experience with Golden Standard and would HIGHLY recommend them to anyone.

Carissa of Golden Standard did a fantastic job training my dog. She taught me how to take charge of the situation, she added new commands to my dog's arsenal, and she made me feel comfortable and confident that I could have a quality relationship with my dog. My 5 month old (super energetic) yellow lab was all paws and teeth before taking her to Golden Standard. She couldn't walk on a leash without turning into a yo-yo and wasn't listening to anything I said. It was as if she didn't know her name and I was speaking a foreign language when I tried to get her to stop jumping on people and pulling against her leash. Walks were dreadful because it was like being attached to a sled dog who was just going to pull me in whichever direction she wanted to go. Carissa quickly had Atley heeling and walking nicely beside me, sitting on command, going into the down position on command, doing sit-stays and down-stays, and magically turned my strong-willed pup into a dog who listened. Now I can comfortably take my dog on walks in/around other dogs and people and I can even take her hiking. I highly recommend Carissa and the training she gives you and your dog. It was a wonderful experience and I will definitely work with her again in the future!

Carissa is an amazing trainer. We have an 8 month old boxer with that puppy/boxer energy. Carissa has helped us to keep our puppies wonderful personality and use her high intellect to begin to develop good habits for our puppy and for us. She is knowledgeable, kind and encouraging. And in this time of Covid 19 she found ways to pick up our lessons that had been disrupted and has shown generosity of spirit in caring for us.

We went to two different trainers before a co-worker recommended Carissa. Ellie was so easily excitable I couldn’t even pet her. Every day when I came home from work she repeatedly lunged at me and attacked me. I couldn’t do anything around the house Ellie attacked everything from the swifter to the dishwasher. Our first lesson Ellie could barely walk five feet on leash without attacking me or the leash. Thanks to Carissa Ellie is now able to calm herself and enjoy being part of the family. She can enjoy Sunday dinner lying close to everyone (before I had to crate her). She can walk with me off leash and I can trust her to come when called. Most importantly she no longer greets me by attacking me. She greets me with her feet on the floor, wagging tail, and loving kisses. She is still uniquely Ellie but now we can enjoy our time together. Carissa I cant thank you enough for giving us the tools and the lessons to get us to this point.