SmartyPaws

I will echo all of the other reviews here. Helen is a dedicated and wonderful teacher. She doesn’t train the dog for you – she trains you to work with your own dog. She uses basic principles of behavioral psychology and positive reinforcement. Like anything else, you need to practice between sessions to achieve your (and your dog’s) full potential, but she gives you the tools. She frequently spends more time than the allotted class time, and will always answer questions. The group classes give the additional benefit of socializing your dog around other dogs, humans, and distractions. My puppy was always excited to go to his classes!
A wonderful experience which I highly recommend to pups and their humans!

I have been meaning to write this for a while now but after our family vacation last week with our little «angel» Prissy, I knew I had to make it my priority. I got Prissy from NorthShore in January as a puppy and was told she would be no more than 50 pounds full grown; seven months later she’s already 64 pounds and I don’t think she’s done growing yet, but she’s precious and healthy so it’s all good. I’ve always had dogs but like most in my generation, you just had them; we never thought about training. Well, at 52 years old, I knew if I didn’t start a good training program with Priss right away, I would regret it.
I visited the local franchise pet stores but I didn’t feel very confident in their abilities. As soon as I met Helen I knew she was the «one». We began with a Basic class and I immediately saw the possibilities. When Prissy started to actually do what I was telling her to do, it blew me away; what blew me away even more was that I was learning more than she was at a time when I thought my «learnin» days were over (the nest had just become empty and I guess I was feeling it more than I let on). Helen made me look at almost everything in a new way which in turn helped Prissy. She is all about confidence and praise which really, really works. Don’t get me wrong, Prissy is most definitely a bull in a china shop but when I tell her to sit or lie down or leave it (just to name a few), she does it (she really does it)!
Which brings me to the vacation. We drove to Lake George and stayed at a beautiful rental home for the week before dropping my wonderful son off at college. I was sure I would never see that security deposit again but I was not going to let that hold me back. However, Prissy was so well behaved and listened and didn’t jump and walked beautifully on leash and didn’t ruin the house… thanks to Helen! Granted I was the one caring for and training and «monitoring» Priss, but without the confidence Helen instilled in me, it would not have been possible. What you need to know most of all is that every bit of the information and training Helen gave me was all done almost without me even knowing it; she’s never boastful or condescending or any of the bad things you might associate with learning. I don’t know how she does it, but she does it. We often talk about the need for a class for just the owners because we really are the ones being trained; something I didn’t believe before I started.
I’m sorry this was sooooo long, but I am always blown away when I realize I’m in command of this big, loving, precious, doofy animal and it’s always done with love and compassion, again, thanks to Helen’s guidance. If you just brought a new angel into your home or if you’ve had an angel with you for a while, you owe it to yourself to at the very least meet with Helen; I’m sure you will see what I saw. It’s never too early or too late to be the pack leader… you just need to learn from the best leader in town. Thank you Helen; for everything. Oh yeah, you will have so much fun with Helen you will not believe you’re learning anything at all, BUT YOU ARE!