Pawsitive Play Dog Training

Michele has a great ability to hone in on the issues and provide practical, effective strategies to help understand your dog. She gave us so many tools to help us work with our dog to reduce her anxiety. Michele helped us better understand our dog and learn how to effectively train and encourage her. We have a better understanding of our dog's behaviors and had fun learning - Michele patiently answered our questions and encouraged us. We highly recommend her to anyone needing support and encouragement training their dog!

Michele was an excellent trainer. She was funny, gave us plenty of handouts, and worked with us as pet owners. I was impressed from day 1 when I got the initial email with all of the puppy information. I already notice a difference in our pup's behavior and the way we as owners handle her behaviors too. I would recommend Michele to anyone with a dog, puppy or needing to work on some additional training.

When we were preparing to bring home our German Shepherd puppy (Ryder), we knew it would be in our best interests to seek out professional training from the beginning. Having owned a shepherd in the past, we knew how intelligent and energetic they can be. When they’re properly trained and socialized, especially as puppies, they can be wonderful members of the family. On the flip side, if you don’t know what you’re doing, don’t properly socialize them when they’re young, or don’t seek out training and guidance, then they can be problematic at best. With a toddler at home, we wanted to set Ryder and ourselves up for success as much as possible. Our previous shepherd recently passed, and it had been a decade since I worked/trained with a puppy. I quickly began to realize how much I had forgotten from those days and how much work it really was – it can be a full-time job for the first few months! A week before we picked up Ryder in early October, I found Michele at Pawsitive Play Dog Training and submitted an inquiry on her website. She got back to me quickly, we had a 10-15 minute chat on the phone and decided to move forward with a consultation. Ryder was 9 weeks old at our first session. Training takes place at Michele’s home in Columbia Station. She has a large outdoor space and a heated barn, and the latter is where we spent our time due to the colder weather. At the initial consult, it was obvious Michele knew her stuff – she trains exclusively using Positive Reinforcement and is well-versed in addressing all types of behavior. She was a professional educator and it shows; she can clearly and easily explain the how and the why behind what you’re doing. Whether it’s biting, pulling on the leash, frustration, crazies/zoomies, acquiring focus, capturing calm, or simply getting your dog to respond to their name, she has an answer or exercise to address it. We decided to sign up for a package of 4 classes and hit the ground running. You will learn how to prevent, mitigate, and redirect unwanted behaviors while building a foundation for the behaviors you want to see. You will receive a lot of information and paperwork to accompany you after each session, so you can continue working and applying each concept or exercise beyond the classroom. Really, this training is more for you than your dog – this is the type of thing where you get out what you put in. A dog, let alone a puppy, is only going to learn so much in a 45-60 minute period. What’s crucial is learning how to properly interact and work with your dog, to understand their cues and body language so you can transition from training into everyday life. We recently finished up our 4 training sessions and have seen a lot of progress and potential in Ryder, who is 15 weeks old now. We’re now signed up for puppy training classes at Petsmart and recently had our first class. Our goal isn’t to necessarily learn anything at the Petsmart courses, but to work on the commands and concepts we learned from Michele in a more distracting environment. After attending our first Petsmart class, I’m incredibly grateful we went to Michele for our initial training. The quality of instruction, attention and detail we received from Michele far surpasses what we’ve experienced at Petsmart so far. If our goal was to learn rather than train in a new and distracting environment, then Petsmart would have been a waste of money. Thanks to Michele, Ryder is the star of his class and leaps ahead of the others. In summary, I highly recommend Michele and Pawsitive Play Dog Training. We will likely return for additional training when Ryder is older and we want to go for his Canine Good Citizen cert. Whether you have a young puppy or an older dog, she’ll be able to help you reach your goals and get the best out of your companion. If you have a puppy or are thinking about getting one, do yourself a favor and set your family up for success – at a minimum, contact Michele and get a consultation lined up.

It is customary to enter a training environment with concern for the pet, as well as, a concern that the owner can learn what was best to do to help the pet. Michele is a superstar trainer. She has an amazing positive spirit about life that transfers easily to the training environment. She creates a non-threatening, safe place for both the pet and the owner to grow and learn. When working with Michele, she takes the time to get to know the pet/owner and then customizes a training plan that will optimize success for both. She is patient with both the owner and pet. Additionally, Michele wants the pet to learn through play and when she invents the games, she utilizes everyday items in the play rather than costly commercial items. My traumatized, scared of her shadow, puppy is a new dog because of the training partnership we have with Michele. I know we will continue to employ all the techniques Michele introduced us to and if we hit a roadblock Michele is only a text away. Thank you Michele for your patience and loving care of my pet.