The Fine Canine Dog Training & Boarding

Remember Cujo? Now put the spirit of Cujo into the body of a two year old Yorkshire Terrier, and you'll have a pretty accurate impression of the greeting you'd get if you rang my doorbell in our pre-Fine Canine days. Our little Ella was adopted at about nine months of age from another family, whose other dog didn't take too kindly to having a little puffball around. The two dogs couldn't live together, unless one was caged while the other roamed. Months of being nipped at led her to become very mistrustful of other dogs, and she also developed a dislike of children. She was affectionate towards my four children, but neighborhood kids and school friends seemed to be synonymous with "vermin" in her little mind. She had not yet bitten anyone, but it was becoming rapidly apparent that her aggression was growing, and that if intervention was not sought, she would only get worse. I contacted Fine Canine for help. After describing the situation to Monica in detail, she thought that, in this case, it would be best for Ella to visit Fine Canine for about ten days of boot camp, doggy-style. Monica visited our home to observe Ella in her environment, and was greeted by ten pounds of snarling dog hurling herself into the glass panels on either side of our front door. Monica took a look around our home and yard, and also witnessed Ella's reactions to the frequent bike-riders and dog-walkers that pass by our house. Ella had a clear case of wanting to be in charge of the neighborhood, and she wanted everyone to know it. She was overprotective of her family and proud of being that way, and she definitely needed to be removed from the environment, trained, and returned with brand new, strict guidelines. After about two weeks at Fine Canine, Ella came back home, and we couldn't believe the changes in her. Her schooling was not over yet, however--the boot camp was just the tip of the iceberg. Monica explained some techniques for re-establishing dominance over the dog, from removing her food dish after she eats, to keeping her off the back of the couch to maintain a height dominance. We were to keep her on a hand leash, so we could quickly correct her if she began to channel Cujo again. The immediate differences in her homecoming were stunning, to say the least. The same dog that was in danger of shattering our sidelight windows now stayed in her bed when the doorbell rang, and she laid down quietly upon command when children biked past our yard. Almost a year has passed since Ella received her training at Fine Canine, and she is still a work in progress. We began letting her off the leash in the house, but every now and again she begins to revert back to the way she used to be. We know, when that happens, that we must "tighten the leash" so to speak, and increase our control a bit more. She is still a high-spirited, playful pup, but clearly knows her place in our household. I am thankful that she is not the Dreaded Dog of the Neighborhood anymore, and that neighborhood children don't ask in a panic-stricken voice, "Is your d-d-d-og in her cage?" when they come to play. The words "thank you" don't seem to be enough when it comes to the difference that Fine Canine has made to our family.

I first met Monica when she came to my apartment to give me and my 10 week old puppy our first training session. It had been 14 years since I had trained a puppy, I thought it was great that she made house calls because it cut down on a lot of distractions a puppy can have when put in a new environment like a training room. I didn't want to wait until he was old enough for classes to start with the training. We worked on respect, sit, down, stay, "go mat", and even recalls in the building's hallway. Monica gave me information about his breed and different habits they are known to pick up so that we could properly correct them as early as possible. This early start on great training with Monica made all the difference for my now 86lb 3 year old Schnoodle, Onyx. She left me that day with homework and great tips and said she would see me in puppy class in 7 weeks. Not only did we complete puppy classes but have gone on to get GCC and even therapy dog credentials, and are still members of The Fine Canine Drill Team.

Will start training my 3rd husky with Fine Canine in March - does that say it all? Monica has shown me valuable techniques for dealing with a difficult breed. Huskies need to constantly be working, playing, challenged, stimulated. Monica has taught us how to train a husky to be a respectable member of society while maintaining the traits of the breed that we love. We had a couple of bad experiences at other local training facilities - thank goodness we found Monica in 2008. We have trained Karma and Ginger from basic obedience, Canine Good Citizen, agility as well as becoming registered therapy dogs with Pet Partners AKA Delta. Karma was invited to join Monica's Drill Team when he was a year old. Whenever we encounter an issue, we have a valuable resource in Monica. Thank you Monica. Susan, Karma, Ginger and Lukas Scordato

I love Fine Canine! I enrolled in obedience class with my doberman and we also did agility. The classes were informative and engaging. They used positive reinforcement which worked awesome. My dog had gotten her CGC prior to a year old and went on to become a therapy dog. I had also taken a class that helped assist in training my dog tricks which was a lot of fun. My dog learned, hi five, wave, speak, play dead, spin etc.. If you are looking for a great training facility for your dog this is the place.