Helping Pets Behave

I’ve been meaning to write this review for a while, to express our extremely positive experience with Mary and her training. I had to start going back into the office a few days at a time, and was not sure how I would make it work. It was super stressful leaving our dog who suffered from really bad separation anxiety when we’d leave him, and I can say if it was not for Mary we would not be where we are today. Without getting into too much detail, we learned how to make alone time for our dog fun. We continue to do the enrichment training sessions daily, and he looks forward to it now too! We managed to modify what Mary taught us and developed a great routine for leaving him. It worked for us because we were open to all the tools/training and followed through (it is a lot of work, but worth it). We are immensely grateful for all the knowledge we gained through experience. Our dog is much happier because of it. Her training is holistic, positive, and science-based. Thank you so much Mary.

Mary's work with our 2 y.o. chocolate Lab has been nothing short of transformational. Bento was developing fear aggression (possibly anxious due to heredity, possibly one bad experience with another dog when a puppy) and attacked another dog on a hike. He was snarling at some strangers on walks and even friends coming to our house. My husband and I knew we had to do something or he was only going to get worse. And then what? The thing is, we had already worked fairly extensively with two trainers who had given conflicting recommendations. If I could do it all over again, I would have saved a lot of money and time and worked with Mary from the start! Bento is now walking on a leash and head halter, passing dogs and people while paying attention to me. We have a method for keeping him calm with visitors that actually works. Pretty much any question I have, she knows what we can do to solve it. And she's super responsive! We are very grateful that our veterinarian recommended Mary to us. She understands animals and their people. She doesn't scold you or criticize like some trainers, or give you repetitive advice that doesn't work. You will understand at a fundamental level why your pet does what they do, and what you can do to shape their behavior so you can live happily together.

We had been seeing an escalation in aggressive behavior with our one and a half year old Wheaten Terrier, Finn, and weren't sure what to do. We had socialized him very well, taken him all the way through advanced training at Petsmart, gotten him Canine Good Citizen certified, and thought he was a happy, well-adjusted puppy. After his first birthday, we began to notice increasingly aggressive behavior on walks, to the point where he would immediately lunge and snarl at any dog he saw that was bigger than him. We tried everything we could think of as experienced dog owners: redirection, treats, a full-body harness, and none of it seemed to be helping. In July 2021, we met with Mary for one hour and it changed our lives -- she explained the science behind his behavior, how we were misreading some cues he was giving us (when a dog lies down, it doesn't mean they are anchoring to the spot so they can say hi to another dog they see down the street!), and gave us the equipment, advice, and confidence we needed to get Finn back on track. Within days of working with him using the tools Mary had given us, Finn's behavior was noticeably improved. When we came back for a followup session 3 months later, even Mary noted that he was markedly better. Seeing a professional dog behaviorist is not cheap, and I admit that I was initially put off by the price tag. But Mary does not waste your time, she explains everything clearly, and can answer every question you have. After just one session we had the tools we needed to help Finn. The results have been worth every penny. If you have an issue with your dog that you aren't sure how to handle, I can't recommend her highly enough.

My dog, Rhett, and I started working with Mary in April 2021. I had tried dog trainers, but Rhett was still fearful of people and reactive. I was at a point where I didn't think anyone could help. Due to COVID and distance, I opted for virtual meetings with Mary. Even though virtual, she provided great guidance and instruction and answered all my questions. She was able to demonstrate her instructions with her dogs so I was able to understand. She also set realistic expectations (i.e., don't expect results overnight). Understanding that sometimes it would be two steps forward and one step back really helped me from getting discouraged and to keep persevering. We've been putting in the work, and Rhett has made amazing progress. He no longer reacts to every person he sees on our walks. And if he starts exhibiting signs that he may react, I am able to recognize it and quickly redirect him, avoiding any reaction. Even my neighbors have commented on how much Rhett has improved. We can go on neighborhood walks and nature hikes and actually enjoy them! I am so thankful a friend recommended Mary because without her, Rhett would not be where he is today. I highly recommend Mary and Helping Pets Behave.