North Star Canine Connection

Liz Beaulieu is the best dog trainer we have ever worked with, both in a group setting and for one-on-one sessions. As boarding school teachers, we have moved around a bit and have used five different dog trainers over the past 35 years, all of whom were good, but Liz stands out as particularly excellent. The “positive reinforcement only”methods that she teaches are exactly the kind of thing we were looking for to train our latest beagle puppy. Her ability to work with puppies and dogs in a way that captures and reinforces positive behaviors while interacting in a relaxed and natural way makes training fun and enjoyable for dog and owner alike, and it is stunningly effective. While all of the great trainers we’ve worked with over the years have helped us train our beagles with similar results, there is an enormous difference between a dog who complies because they fear a correction and a dog who complies because they understand what you need and want to please you. While we expect that Maggie will ultimately have similar skills to our previous beagles, it’s already clear that she will be happier and more relaxed while performing them, which gives our relationships with Maggie a special quality that wasn’t as present in our other four beagles, all of whom were fantastic, well-trained dogs that we loved very much. If you’re looking for a dog trainer, you can stop looking; Liz is the best we have seen in decades of group classes and private sessions. We cannot recommend her highly enough.

I have been very satisfied with Northstar Canine Connections. My young dog could be sweet and attentive with people and other dogs, or timid with people and aggressive with other animals. My vet suggested I contact NCC to learn how to handle this split personality. I took two classes, both of which gave me confidence in handling my dog. It also helped her to trust me. I learned that a working breed needs a job to do to keep occupied and focused. So training needs to be a daily activity. I believe I will continue to take classes there whenever the dog or I need a refresher. It’s a very good positive training school. Safe and effective for the dog and me.

Liz is hands down the best trainer I have ever had the pleasure of working with. She is a wealth of knowledge, nonjudgemental, incredibly patient and highly effective at what she does. Otis has been attending both private and group classes since he was a puppy and he's always excited to "Go see Liz!". No matter the issue, Liz has a recommendation of something to try (and often a detailed worksheet with step by step instructions and additional resources to help).