RETIRED: PAWSitive Approach L.L.C. Dog Training

My Golden Retriever, Hazy, is an energetic but ill mannered 2 year old. She had specific issues that needed to be addressed. Pulling in her lead, excessive barking, impulsive behavior, plus other behaviors that I needed help with. Kathy at PAWSitive Approach worked with us, and I have to say she not only helped me help Hazy, but was very informed and patient. Not all our issues are completely cured but I now have the basics to continue to help Hazy be a better, more behaved, and sociable dog.

Kathy is just what I was looking for in a positive only trainer for my Luna, a Border Collie/Aussie mix. She has wonderful knowledge and experience in training using purely positive reinforcement and takes the time to come up with appropriate plans and techniques catered to your dog's individual needs. Luna is a very fast learner but it was still like seeing magic happen when Kathy used her skills in teaching me how to work with my pup. Luna will definitely miss seeing her come around! If I need any more help in the future, I now know exactly who I can trust to go to again. Thank you so much!

Kathy was great to work with. She was patient, answered all our questions, and adjusted the training to deal with the problems most immediate to us, including how to stop our puppy from jumping and biting us when playing; how to keep her calm when people approach; how to draw her attention; how to wait her out when she appeared to ignore us; how to reward for the puppy behaviors we want rather than to lure her, and how to gently get her to move away from the icky things outside that she wants to eat. Kathy made training convenient by coming to our home so we could train our puppy in our own environment. She broke down the training into steps that our dog could learn quickly and made training rewarding for us as well as for our puppy. We never felt rushed or judged, and Kathy was generous with her time. She followed up every training session with written instructions and additional information. She encouraged us to email her with questions, and always responded quickly and clearly. In addition, if occasionally we were not quite finished with a particular training activity at the end of our session, Kathy gave us the time we needed. We were inspired to become proficient at positive reinforcement training by watching Kathy immediately get our dog to do something that we wanted to train—for example, to go into her kennel. We realized what was possible if we became proficient in the PAWSitive Approach training methods. We have taken two driving trips from Colorado with our puppy, one to California, and one to North Carolina. Due to Kathy’s training, we’ve received numerous compliments about how well behaved our puppy is, and people notice that we don’t yell at or punish our dog to get her to do what we want her to do. We’re very grateful to Kathy. Her PAWSitive Approach enabled us to help our puppy become a courteous, affectionate, and beloved member of our family. Kathy’s training is both kind and effective, and makes us wish that our own parents had used positive reinforcement training to raise us.

We have a very nervous dog who was not well-behaved (understatement!). The problems were bad enough that we felt that we had made a big mistake by getting this dog. Kathy went above and beyond...truly! She was patient and understanding. When I needed her most, she patiently explained how we could overcome the issues. She gave me hope. She gave us just enough to work on each week so that we were not overwhelmed, but we could see progress each time. She explained the "why" of each step. She wasn't critical and didn't ask us to change the entire house and schedule like another trainer had asked. She was gentle and kind to me and our dog. She worked with our reality and made it better for the dog and for us. We have seen remarkable progress and we now have a sweet dog who is still learning, but we are very able to manage. I extended our lessons and will use her again! I highly recommend her! Totally worth the money we spent!