Dynamite Doggies! Training & Counseling

Jennifer has successfully helped me over the years with several behavior issues with my dogs. Currently we are working on training my sporadically aggressive terrier mix to love a basket muzzle! She gives me step by baby step directions via email and I send her a short video of our progress every other day. She is incredibly patient and thorough and I have no doubt Georgie will be psyched whenever he sees his muzzle as I will have taken the time to slowly condition him to love it with patience and excellent treats. I highly recommend Jennifer for any behavioural needs. She is very skilled at reading an animal’s behavior and VERY skilled at training the human in proper procedure!

I sought out Jennifer when we were having serious trouble with our dogs. She responded with respect, compassion, humor and grace. Jennifer is one of the good ones. Trust me. Not only is she empathic with dogs and what they need, she understands human behavior, which is even more important. Training the dogs is easy. Training the humans is much harder.
My husband and I had adopted a second dog in April. About a month into it, New Dog started exhibiting signs of stress. He started «acting out» with Resident Dog and with other dogs in public. I’ll skip the ins-​and-​outs but suffice it to say, after two-​and-​a-​half months, I realized we couldn’t handle his aggressive behavior on our own.
Having worked years previously as a professional dog trainer myself, I was pretty picky about who I wanted as our trainer. I gathered recommendations and researched them all. What struck me about Jennifer’s website and emails was how no-​bull-​shit they were. And she sounded smart. Bingo.
Some of Jennifer’s suggestions blew my mind. But I was willing to try them in good faith. Being honest with her (and myself) really helped. New Dog’s behavior started changing immediately. Here’s the thing — Jennifer’s methods are not revolutionary by any means — they were just different from everything I knew up to that point. I learned how my old school training methods were actually subverting our dogs’ confidence and adding to their stress.
Jennifer worked patiently with us over the course of several months as we saw marked improvement in both dogs. As time went on, some situations arose where we had to board Resident Dog which was fortuitous because we realized how much happier, calmer and more confident New Dog was when Resident Dog wasn’t around. As it turns out, neither dog was getting proper attention during these training months because the dogs still had to live separated at all times. This meant that either New Dog or Resident Dog was crated or locked in a bedroom for chunks of the day.
Considering all circumstances and with heavy hearts, we decided, with Jennifer’s support, that the best thing for everyone was to re-​home New Dog. Jennifer was completely supportive and helped us in the process. She went above and beyond anything we expected by answering our concerns, donating her time to evaluate and meet potential adopters, and even going on a home visit with us which was about an hour’s drive away from Portland.
The happy ending to the story is that we did find a good home for New Dog. Resident Dog is back to being happy. And Jennifer is still helping — she’s offered her expertise to New Dog’s new family to help them understand what he needs. She is a rockstar.

The term «dog trainer» does not cover half of what Jennifer Joyce is or does. We call her a dog chaplain. We had a extremely fear-​aggressive dog who was barking, lunging, and snapping at people with hats, backpacks, and canes. Benny also was reactive to other dogs on leash and we lived on a busy city neighborhood street where you can’t walk a block without running into at least one of these things. Benny bit the mailman when our neighbor buzzed him into our shared back courtyard. Things got so bad we even talked about euthanizing him.
We worked with Jennifer Joyce on and off for two years. Jennifer was incredibly compassionate, caring, calm, but also firm and straight-​up with us. Her one basic rule was that we always had to tell her the truth about what we were doing or not doing in terms of training exercises (which she could tell anyways based on what the dog did or didn’t do). I don’t know how she was as patient and non-​judgmental and non-​shaming as she was, given how long it took for us to «get it.»
Jennifer was patient and worked with us to:
1) Grieve the loss of the dog we thought we were going to have (no coffee shop hanging out, no hanging out at dog park)
2) Accept the dog we did have (loving, anxious, playful, fearful and devoted)
3) Understand the world from Benny’s perspective. Benny wasn’t trying to be a jerk– Benny was deeply afraid. And our job as his guardians were to protect him.
Jennifer helped us understand this, as well as give us the tools to increase Benny’s sense of safety and train him to always look to us when he sees something which scares him.
Fast forward to now: We are wonderfully happy family. Walks with Benny around the neighborhood have improved dramatically. Before, it had gotten to the point where we dreaded walking him. Now it is much easier and we feel a lot calmer because now we have the tools from Jennifer. We still have to be aware and make good choices, but working with Jennifer helped us build the skills and the awareness that we needed. Two years ago we couldn’t imagine how we would get through one week (or sometimes even one walk), and here we are now feeling happy and much more comfortable. Now instead of being so resentful or scared about his behavior, we can really enjoy Benny as the wonderful, playful, loving dog that he is.
It was incredible working with Jennifer. It changed our entire relationship with Benny, and reduced massive amounts of stress in our lives.

We recently got a new rescue dog who was 18 months old and pretty wild. He was very hard to get on the same page with.
Enter Jennifer and Dynamite Doggies!
It was a bit of a leap of faith to write a check for the first 4 appointments right off the bat, but Jennifer’s skills and understanding of our dog are literally without price. We have learned so much from her in the past couple of months!
Our little goofy mutt is now well on his way to being the most wonderful dog on EARTH.
Dynamite Doggies is worth every penny. Thank you Jennifer!

My dog Sawyer spends three mornings a week bowling for crows with Jennifer, and we are far better off for it!
A bit of background: My wife and I have a dog-​walking business, and my wife has been in the business for almost a dozen years. When we got Sawyer, it seemed like a no-​brainer that he would get everything he needed from us, and we felt he was so very lucky to be able to go out to the park every day, often all day. What we did not yet realize was that all dogs do not benefit from the same kind of park experiences and the same kind of stimulation. Over a few years, we saw Sawyer’s behavior deteriorate to a point where we were spending a ton of time and attention just managing his behavior when we were out with our groups. It was so confusing and disheartening: he used to love dogs, and still had so many doggie friends! As his scraps became more common, we decided he just could not come out with us anymore.
That’s right, WE FIRED OUR OWN DOG.
In the meantime, my wife has been expanding her skill base and learning more and more about the scientific approach to dog training. It has made a big difference in how we handle the dogs in our business, but we still found it hard to look at OUR dog’s behavior and do anything about that. Typical Cobbler’s Son issues! When we started looking for someone to help us with Sawyer, we literally had a city full of non-​aversive trainers to choose from. My wife knew Jennifer socially, and we trusted her approach.
Jennifer helped us see that the dog park was no place for Sawyer. Her skills are AMAZING. She really SEES what is going on with the dog, and can create a pattern of activity that suits him better and keeps him from «having» to do his naughty business, when he would rather avoid it. He is happier and more relaxed, in addition to thoroughly and properly stimulated, since we started using Jennifer’s service and following her advice. Our time with him is so much more enjoyable.

We had a very negative experience with Jennifer. Her methods are not what we agreed with and she was unable/​unwilling to shift her plan/​method to fit our lifestyle and needs. We were stressed when we signed her contract and should have waited… after one meeting and a few phone calls, we realized she was not the right fit for us. When we tried to part ways she refused to refund even half of our money.
We are choosing to lose the money vs. work with her further. We are upset that Pets Unlimited recommended her and have let them know not to do so.
We have started working with another trainer who is great, flexible and has a better plan for our needs.
I would NOT recommend Dynamite Doggies.

Sounds like my original review disappeared, so here’s an update! Jennifer is still fabulous and knows her stuff. I have referred several people to her and will continue to do so. If we moved back to SF, I would have Jennifer do training walks with Murray in a heartbeat, and hope that he could be part of the Fort Funston gang.
Original posting from ¹²⁄₀₈:
Jennifer definitely deserves all the wet, wiggly kisses she gets from our dog, Murray. He is an Australian Cattle Dog rescued from the SPCA who was having a hard time acclimating to all the skaters and noise of Ocean Beach/​SF. Jennifer has a great handle on what herding dogs are thinking and what makes them tick, which is really necessary for any trainer to work with our lovingly neurotic dogs. Jennifer patiently helped us figure out what was working for our dog and what we could do to help him and is always so great about giving us feedback.
We started with 1:1 training with Jennifer to work on Murray’s stranger (and other) fears in San Francisco, during the summer. In October we moved to Foster City for the doggie to have a calmer environment, and Jennifer was gracious enough to do our last visit down here on the peninsula. We’ve always been excited about joining her Fort Funston group, but we’ll have to wait until we’re back in SF.
Thanks, Jennifer, for all you’ve done with Murray. If anyone out there has a herding dog (or other breeds) who needs help, don’t hesitate to call Jennifer!
In a nutshell, Jennifer is compassionate, knowledgeable, and most importantly, understands how our dogs think. Especially the herding breeds, which not everyone gets! Your dog is in good hands with Jennifer.

We had an amazing dog walker who fired us after five years because, well, our dog went totally nuts. It wasn’t so much that she fired us as she had to make sure that the dogs in her care were safe. And with our pooch jumping over fences and taking off through the streets of San Francisco, well…
Anyway, we took our dog to a behaviorist which was a ginormous waste of money. Then, the old amazing dog walker referred us to Jennifer and … wow. Our minds were blown.
Mingus is a boxer/​aussie mix. He has TONS of energy, some typical herding breed characteristics, and some rescue dog fear issues going on too. Jennifer came over, talked to us for a while, and then met Mingus. They were instant buds. She totally got him and knew how to help us help him. Jennifer gave us a lot of tools to work with and has provided ongoing support. I can’t recommend her services highly enough.

Jennifer helped our very people-​shy dog very much. On Jennifer’s advice we changed her medication and have been using more behavior rewards with treats. Our Howdy has progressed and now had made two new people friends. We know it is a slow process but Jennifer has given us new hope. Thanks so much Jennifer. Brenda and Mike

I emailed Jennifer to see if she could walk our dog Nika, a pit bull lab mix. Nika had knee surgery nine weeks ago, so she can do unlimited leash walks, jogging, hiking, anything. She just can’t play off leash (yet).
Anyway, I never got a reply to my email. How unprofessional is that? Even if she can’t meet Nika’s needs, she should have at least sent a reply saying so, to save us wasted time waiting to hear from her. If I had known she wouldn’t respond, I wouldn’t have wasted my time writing a long email to her, explaining our situation, our dog’s temperament, etc.
The thing is, four and a half weeks from now, Nika *will* be able to do off-​leash walks and crazy playing. So even if Jennifer can’t meet our needs now, she could have been a possibility when Nika is done healing.

Although I only had a few private training sessions with Jennifer, I would highly recommend her services. She is a very professional, knowledgeable and thorough trainer. She worked with me and my two small dogs with mostly on-​leash and walking issues. I learned a lot from our sessions. She explained things very clearly, and we did a lot of practice out around the neighborhood, which really helped me internalize and cement the new techniques.

Jennifer has been helping us with our min-​pin/​terrier shelter dog Jedi since December 2008. He had issues barking at everything that moved — cars, people and especially dogs (and we live near Dolores Park so walking him was a nightmare!). We hired Jennifer over 10 or so other trainers because before she would even let us hire her she sent a full questionnaire to learn more about Jedi and his issues, so she could think about if she could help us or not. Then told me a little about what her approach would be — before we even gave her a check or set a date to meet!
She came in and helped us calm him down at home, which gave him more confidence on walks. She walked with us and showed us all sorts of techniques to help Jedi while on the walks as well. I’ve never had any problem scheduling with Jennifer, and her cancellation policy is very reasonable, so I have no complaints about billing or logistics. We had to reschedule one of our sessions, and we weren’t sure if that would be difficult or not since we had paid half-​way in advance, but Jennifer reorganized her schedule to make it happen as soon as possible after the canceled date.
We love working with her so much we hired her to walk Jedi during the week so that he can get his energy out while getting reinforced in his new, better behavior. Jennifer emails us after each walk and tells us how he did, what worked and any recommendations she has for us to keep up his training. She also helped us find a great boarding situation. She’s in it to help dogs and help owners — She clearly LOVES her job and it shows in the results.

I’ve worked with numerous trainers and dogwalkers in the San Francisco area and I was very disappointed by Jennifer’s unprofessional approach to her business and customer service.
Potential clients should be warned that Jennifer has a very onerous advance payment policy. You must pay for a full month in advance and if things don’t work out, then you are out of luck, even if Jennifer is unable to perform the services arranged for (such as walking your dog).
In addition, my own dog had a very unhappy experience with Jennifer. I hired Jennifer when I got a new dog, Tasha, who had poor recall skills and was not ready to go with a regular dogwalking group. Because my boyfriend was home when Jennifer arrived to walk the new dog, I was able to learn what was happening on her visits. Almost immediately with Jennifer, Tasha began to exhibit extreme fear. Although sometimes hesitant with new people, Tasha is anything but timid — except when Jennifer came over to take her for a walk. Although I’m not a dogtrainer, every book on dogtraining I’ve read has warned owners not to reward fearful behavior, and yet that is what Jennifer did. After a week with Jennifer, Tasha started exhibiting nervous, fearful behaviors that she had not previously exhibited. And, during the first week, Jennifer took Tasha for only one walk. For all these reasons I canceled Jennifer’s services, and Tasha quickly regained her confidence.

Jennifer lives and breathes (but of course, doesn’t eat) doggies. Top notch!

There really is no better way to show your love for someone than to Unilocal them. God, is there anything that can’t be Unilocaled?
I was introduced to Jennifer from a friend of mine, after having a really bad experience with another dog trainer. We were looking for someone for our little chihuahua who was scared of people, especially kids, and well, we were having a kid, so you can understand my concern.
After being burned, we got in touch with Jennifer, who came ALL THE WAY out to the south bay to help us, not once but twice. She transformed our dog and helped us meet our goals. I won’t lie and say that our dog is perfect, but set realistic expectations of what you want out of your dog and Jennifer will go beyond and help you with that, and maybe make it a little bit better. Even after moving cross country, she still answers any questions for us. She truly was a miracle for us.
Jennifer loves dogs, and it’s very obvious when she comes into your home and works with them in a way that works for them, not for you. I recommend her to anyone.

Jennifer has been taking our dog out for almost 5 years now for his daily walks. Every day the little guy heads off to Fort Funston for a few hours and then comes back happy and tired. He loves it! He gets so excited when he hears Jennifer coming up the stairs. He doesn’t even look back when he’s headed out the door. We are so grateful to have Jennifer as our dog walker and we completely trust her with our dog and home.
She also provides great training advice. Plus, she also takes care of our cat when we are out of town. She’s the best!

Recently I needed to enter the world of hiring a dog walker, since my
three little kids are preventing our dogs from getting virtually any off-​leash romp time until the time when all three are in school. But seeing many dog walkers out and about during the day (while most of you are at work, your home lives are monitored by us stay-​at-​home moms and retirees!) I have seen enough dog walking scenarios that were extremely disturbing to me… dogs being kicked, screamed at, ignored, and toted around by a few extremely checked-​out folks… that I was honestly hesitant to navigate the process of sorting the kick-​butt dog walkers from the dog-​butt-​kicking bad dog walkers.
Thank god I bookmarked Jennifer’s site a year ago when I saw a posting on craigslist, because this month I finally contacted her and have been working with her on getting Winky up to speed and ready to be in her off-​leash dog walking group. My ears perked up when I read that her preference and passion is for walking and training herding dogs (we have two corgis) and it was clear even before I met her that she really cares about the dogs’ safety and emotional well-​being.
I adore her. She is an experienced private trainer, SFSPCA schooled,
and specializes in sensitive dogs (corgis, anyone?), and
shy/​fearful/​aggressive dogs as well. So not only is she a kick ass dog
walker, but since she is a trainer, it feels like you are getting a lot
of bang for your walking buck. And being a herding dog lover herself,
she knows why my corgis do what they do and need what they need.
We met with her for some private work, and was the first dog trainer
we have encountered whose (gentle and intuitive) methods are working for Winky. We hadn’t realized how much her previous puppy classes had trained *us* in ways that were freaking her out. Jennifer not only wasn’t phased by Winky’s fearfulness of the clicker we had tried to use but recognized it for the noise sensitivity it was, rather
than dismissing it as «that freaky winky’s oddness» as we had, and
immediately recommended that we switch to clicking the end of a
retractable ballpoint pen instead, which is much quieter but gets the job done, and TA DAAA problem solved!
Anyway, if anyone wants a dog walker/​trainer who not only will put up
with your dog’s sweet oddness but will love them more for it, look
Jennifer up. She really couldn’t «get» her dogs more, and will care for yours as if he/​she is her own. What more could you want than that?

Jennifer is an extremely talented, patient doggy empath. She has helped us with countless doggie issues, even from across the country, by consultation on the web. We have a slightly neurotic ACD/​Border Collie mix (oh my) that, without her, would probably be a raving lunatic right now.
If you are going to hire a trainer for any issue your dog has (or you think they might have), this is the one to get. You won’t be disappointed.

Jennifer has been taking my beagle Speck on his daily walks for close to 3 years now and all I can say is she is FANTASTIC! Dependable, friendly, safety-​conscious, with a great understanding of the dogs in her care.
Also, as a trainer, she’s given me many good tips to help with my anxiety-​riddled, shelter-​rescued little guy… I won’t say he’s not crazy now (he still is and always will be — to me, it’s part of his charm) but it’s a manageable kind.
Can’t say enough good things… highly recommend her!