Helping Howls

I reached out to Helping Howls a few months ago to get help with a few things with my service dog in training. While we’ve only had 1 virtual session, what was relayed to me made a lot of sense and was explained well, and it’s been helpful! While her heeling hasn’t been perfect still, Tala told me it might not work for her still and that she had other things to try for us which is amazing to know there are backups! I am planning on doing more sessions with her in the future, as she seems very knowledgeable about dog training and I would definitely recommend her!

I used Helping Howls to assist with finishing up my service dogs training. I was looking for a force free service dog trainer near me, and a friend recommended Helping Howls- I looked at their website and I knew it was a perfect fit! I reached out to Tala who quickly got back to me and the more we spoke the more I knew I wanted to send my boy to her. When discussing board and train details, I was impressed by Tala's professionalism and very obvious dedication to her clients. The whole month my boy was gone, I recieved detailed summary's about his day-to-day activities, reports on how his training was progressing, and weekly video calls to see and talk to him. She truly cared for him like he was her own! Tala made leaps and bounds with his training in the areas we were struggling in and he came back better than ever. Tala has continued to provide us support in the form of virtual training and she has helped me and my SD form a true partnership. If you're looking for a trainer to help you and your SD become a more cohesive team and someone that can adapt to a dogs individual needs, look no further than Helping Howls!

We first contacted Tala in November 2022 needing basic and impulse training for our 10 month old German Shepard, Nala. A majority of Nala’s ancestors are working line dogs (Therapeutic Service, Richmond Police, etc.), so we knew she had amazing potential when we purchased her, we just did not know how to properly train her outside of the basics. Just a bit about us, my husband and I have 3 children, ages 7, 8, and 9. We also have a 7 month old Pomeranian, and 2 indoor/outdoor cats. We chose Nala primarily for peace of mind as a security dog for our home and children. When we contacted Tala, Nala had horrible separation anxiety when we were not home and world tear up furniture, clothes, etc., would very frequently jump on us to get eye level, would not cooperate with a feeding schedule, would pull on her leash to the point that she has dragged me across the yard, the list goes on. Knowing we were trying to conceive, we felt it was best to enroll in Tala’s board & train program. Although it was difficult being away from her, Tala was very reassuring that Nala was okay and progressing well with daily photos, text conversations, tic tok/instagram posts, emails, progress reports, etc. the entire time she was boarding. From the moment Tala brought Nala home to us, we noticed a significant, positive change in Nala’s behavior. In a short amount of time, she had learned and perfected at least 5-10 commands and was on a perfect feeding schedule that Tala had formed with her, based on our existing day to day life. Since, Tala comes to our home once a week for an hour to follow up. She has taught us, our kids, and Nala how to coexist peacefully to say the least. Aside from training, Tala has been an absolute God sent. We recently found out that our Pomeranian, Benny, unfortunately, is inbred. When I found this out, I called Tala to ask her advice regarding inbred medical conditions and to hopefully find more information on her bloodline. Even though she has not trained Benny, she did not hesitate to offer help and advice as to the next steps we needed to take. I’ve also had a concern about the growth pattern of Benny’s teeth that I expressed to Tala and she was eager to help in that instance as well. In March of this year, we received the news that my first niece would be born within 3 days in Kentucky. Because of this I knew we would be out of town for roughly 5 days. I asked Tala if she would be interested in boarding both dogs for us although it was very short notice and again, she didn’t hesitate. We also received a discount (for both dogs) for being existing training clients. All in all, I can’t speak highly enough about Tala and her training methods. She’s so flexible with our schedule and has the most amazing patience with us, Nala and our kids. We are also very eager to start training for Benny with Tala.