Jenna McDonald’s Feathers & Fur

Our baby, Ares, is a four year old vizsla and absolutely the apple of our eye. There is nothing we wouldn’t do for him! When he was a puppy we were looking for a trainer who could help and luckily someone introduced us to Jenna. She’s AMAZING!!! She’s a fantastic trainer and has helped us through many phases of Ares’ development. She’s also a wonderful border. When we leave for vacation we often leave Ares with Jenna because not only do we trust her completely with our baby, but she also trains him while she’s boarding him so he comes back with great manners and new skills every time!
Jenna’s breadth of knowledge is wider than just training. For example, recently I called Jenna when I’d noticed a change in Ares’ behavior. I was expecting her to suggest some additional training but she intuitively knew that there was something else wrong with him and suggested we go get a blood test. Sure enough, she was right. So now he’s getting the medicine he needs and I never would have known without her.
Jenna is an animal lover and one of the most caring people out there. Such a great human being! I can’t recommend her highly enough.

I can confidently tell you Turner has been one of Jenna’s most «difficult» assignments. Turner is my 4 year old lab/​shepard rescue — he was previously abused. He has severe dog aggression and does not warm up easily to new people who come to our house.
From being hostile to Jenna in the beginning, Turner has come around to love her and looks forward to seeing Jenna at the park.
It has been 9 months now since we started — Jenna’s unorthodox methods to distract Turner with cookies (I had no clue Turner was food motivated at all — this was Jenna’ discovery), use a long stick effectively to barricade Turner has worked very well. I have reached a point where I can control my Turner when he sees a dog in the park — this was possible only because of Jenna — thank you. Apart from being an ultimate dog guru — Jenna is a friendly soul with whom you can connect with ease and I look forward to all our sessions. I have seen dog trainers who are more for the money — but Jenna is a true animal lover and for sure I will be a lifelong client. Highly recommended to anyone who has issues understanding their fur –friends.

I usually do not leave reviews however. In this case I feel that I absolutely need to leave a bit of feedback. I recently brought home a 5 year old Border Collie. Sweet as can be but sorely lacking in manners and training. I figured that I would be able to train «Rosie» but it didn’t really work out. She is one stubborn dog. I caved and asked my vet (The Whole Pet Vet) in Los Gatos, if they could recommend a trainer. Without any hesitation They said absolutely! We know the best trainer around! They gave me Jenna’s business card and said call or email her. So. I did and Jenna came out for a two hour very informative session. She worked on several issues that Rosie was having trouble with and low and behold within minutes my very stubborn dog was putty in Jenna’s hands. I was amazed at the connection that Jenna had established in minutes! This incredible trainer was able to watch my dog and come up with a personalized plan for her training. Her expertise was apparent and well appreciated. She was able to get Rosie to go in her crate (which she hated) within minutes. And now Rosie loves to go in there for bedtime. Besides her vast knowledge when it comes to dogs, Jenna was also
a fabulous people trainer. She is patient, calm and most important, a very kind and lovable human being. So if you are looking for the best trainer for your dog, Jenna is the one you want. Email her. You will thank your lucky stars if you do. Believe me. Go for it. Don’t hesitate. Shes awesome.

We recently contacted Jenna to help with our mastiff that has been developing seriously bad fear behavior, especially towards other animals (in the neighborhood or even just on the television). Within our first 2 hour session (1^st hour was an education session for us «parents», and the 2^nd hour was direct dog training), we had our mastiff walking next to horses (which he HATES) and other dogs without barking or trying to attack, and now we can finally watch TV in peace! Jenna was a real treat to work with, provided us with a wealth of information that has really helped us understand and communicate with our dogs, making the training process a lot less stressful and a lot more fun for everyone involved! Her fun and friendly attitude, superior dog knowledge and training advice was worth every penny, thank you Jenna!!!

What an awesome trainer! In one session she got my dog Segen (an almost 3 yo Rotti) and I walking comfortably with no pulling– and he is still walking without pulling the next day! A doggy miracle!
Her training is humane, fun, friendly and easy on the dogs. With many trainers, my dogs got stressed and usually fearful of the trainer. Not with Jenna!
Oh and my dog isn’t food focused, so treat training doesn’t work– which is fine with her style of training. If you want a well behaved, happy dog that has excellent manners and enjoys their life, take him or her to see Jenna. She will have you trained in no time (and the dog almost immediately!).

I contacted Jenna for help with our 1 year old rescue who is severely fearful. Our dog was beginning to show signs of fear based aggression and with two young kids in our household, we were concerned about how to mitigate our dog’s fear.
Let me just say: Jenna is amazing. She met with us on day one and instantly confirmed our assessment and instantly gave us tools to start helping our dog. She even referred us to a different vet since our vet was opposed to trying medications to help mitigate our dog’s fear. We tried the different vet and did end up putting our dog on the medication. It was a complete success. The medication dialed down the fear and Jenna’s reconditioning methods took over and reinforced to our dog that her fear was not needed. We followed Jenna’s instruction and our dog has made significant improvement. Our friends and neighbors have all commented on her progress. We are so pleased and relieved that we have been able to take actionable steps to help our family.
Of course, I am really happy for our dog! I now feel that she is less fearful and more enjoys all of the activities other dogs do: going on walks, playing in the park, meeting new friends, and just having fun. Life is not a constant series of frightening experiences for her and she is really blossoming.
Fearful dogs are a challenge, but don’t give up. If you are in a similar situation, please do not hesitate to contact Jenna. She has turned around our Violet and I am sure she can help you.

Jenna is by far one of the nicest people I have ever met. Always smiling always positive always kind. She does magic with people and their dogs, and I highly recommend her to all of my clients. You guys know who you are, and you need to pick the phone up and call her!

I contacted Jenna based on a referral from Golden Gate Labrador Rescue after our newly adopted 6-​year-​old yellow lab bit two different dogs, relatively unprovoked, and growled at many dogs while on walks.
I was hesitant when I heard the fee especially because I had always had dogs of my own and read books on training dogs. Would I learn enough to make the money worth it?
That was the best money we could have spent. Jenna has an adorable, approachable, down-​to-​earth personality and clear, definitive communication. She was perfectly efficient during our two-​hour consultation, sharing so much helpful information that we really got at least 10 private lessons into that one session. We have used her pointers on all our walks over the month since we met with her and we see daily improvements. In addition, I have called her with updates and follow-​on questions and she’s patiently talked me through those, giving more helpful guidance.
Just like other reviewers said, we noticed remarkable improvements in Sadie’s behavior on the leash (she was formerly a terrible puller and is now a model walker who gets compliments routinely by passers by), responds very promptly to our corrections when she barks, and has not nipped at another dog. We even look her off leash around other dogs yesterday and she was an angel.
I wish more people would get this kind of training for themselves and their dog. It not only makes for a happier owner but also a happier dog. Sadie seems much more relaxed and happy now that she knows what we expect from her and knows that we understand and will respond appropriately to the messages she gives us.

We rescued Marty a beagle mutt ~5 years ago. We knew very little about Marty other than he came from Taiwan and due to no fault of his own he was returned to the rescue by his first adopters which is how we found him. After we adopted him we were pleasantly surprised to find that he had basic command knowledge, was crate trained & was housebroken. There were a few bumps in the very beginning but overall he was well behaved & was a great addition to our young family.
The first few years were fine… Marty’s behavior was never perfect, but it was livable & we all coexisted peacefully. As the newborn grew older, Marty started to act out; he became very protective of our oldest, he would have deliberate «accidents» in the youngest child’s closet, and he would steal food off the kitchen counter. The worst though was when he began to nip & growl at our youngest, who was 4 at the time. We knew we needed to do something, we just didn’t know what.
We tried different things; we bought books on animal behavior, searched online for suggestions & talked with local trainers. Nothing seemed to work… at least nothing worked long term & Marty’s behavior continued to get unpredictably worse. Then friends told us about Jenna… a «miracle worker» for aggressive dogs and they raved about her work with their dog. I read thru Jenna’s website and something about her holistic approach resonated with me. For the last year, we had been trying to fix Marty’s behavior, but we had never stopped to understand they «why» for his behavior. It was so simple & logical… and something we totally overlooked.
Jenna’s first visit to our house was nothing less than amazing. We started by going thru Marty’s history, how his behavior had evolved & our long list of concerns. As we chatted, Jenna listened & watched. She immediately started to point out different things in Marty’s body language & what it all meant, including the small, subtle changes that were occurring based on who he was interacting with. There was no doubt that she understood Marty but most importantly she knew exactly what had to be done. Next, Jenna created a training plan for our family; she broke everything down into simple, easy & achievable steps, demonstrating everything first then watching us to ensure we had the proper technique. As the visit concluded, she left us with notes on everything we covered & told us to contact her if anything came up before our next meeting. We were relieved to know we weren’t on our own.
We started the training plan the next day & within a few days we noticed a positive shift in Marty’s behavior. By the end of the second week, things were even better… he was less protective of our oldest & his aggression towards our youngest was fading. We were thrilled! We still had other issues to tackle but with this noticeable progress we knew we were on the right track.
We met with Jenna a total of 3 times… we wanted to ensure the progress continued & we needed time to rebuild our confidence in Marty. Each visit was relatively the same… chat, watch, identify & next steps. Jenna always left us with a detailed summary of everything we covered & an invitation to contact her with questions or concerns. I’m pretty sure I emailed Jenna monthly for close to a year as little things popped up or for dog related advice.
It’s been over a year now since we first met Jenna & things couldn’t be better. Marty hasn’t had any «accidents», he plays well with both kids, he’s engaged with the family & he just seems happier. In fact, because things with Marty were going so well… we decided we were ready to rescue another dog! I suppose there is never a dull moment in our house… to be continued

I got more out of 1 session with Jenna than with 12 sessions with another trainer. My other trainer only used «give the dog a treat» reinforcement which did not work for my VERY stubborn, VERY protective boxer.
Jenna has been teaching me to get Sassy to pay attention to me and get over her fears… My leash aggressive dog is now OK with being sniffed by other dogs, and just keeps getting better. Jenna’s approach started working with our first session and 6 months later Sassy is a whole new dog!
I have 2 goals with Sassy — 1. get her comfortable running free with other dogs on a beach and 2. pass her AKC canine good citizen test so that she can work with kids in schools & hospitals. With Jenna’s help — we are well on our way!

I can not say enough good things about Jenna. I have an 8 month old boxer who was starting to become aggressive and out of control. I was at a loss as what to do with him. Jenna came out and in one session had him under control. I feel like I have my little baby back. Jenna explained to us how to tell what he is feeling my how he holds his ears, tail, how his spine is and what his brows are doing. She also showed us how to keep him from pulling on the leash and jumping on people. Jenna spent alot of time talking to us about the pack behaviors of dogs and establishing ourselves as the alpha dogs. Her love of dogs was evident and her knowledge and help were invaluable.

I have 3 labs and no idea how to manage them, so with the recommendation of a neighbor, I finally called Jenna and set an appointment. Before she arrived I made a list of all the things I’m most concerned about, simple things, like: (1) I want to walk them peacefully on a leash, separately and together; (2) I would like to be able to answer my front door!; (3) how to feed 3 dogs with 2 hands; (4) how can I manage my new rescue — Annie, a 12 yr old abandoned lab — when I leave the house because she seems to have separation issues, which could be temporary or permanent. Can I crate train her at this late age?
The (positive) changes started immediately, while Jenna was here and the minute she left, with simple steps I could take right away. The next day I swore I was living in a different house with different dogs. My elderly rescue started going into the kennel to sleep (all on her own!) and my 18 month old was so calm, all day, on walks and in the house, I hardly recognized her. I can’t believe the difference.
I know there will be ebbs and flows in this new system, but I’m so encouraged. I can’t believe how calm my household is. My only regret is that I didn’t call Jenna sooner.

Jenna is definitely the ultimate «dog whisperer.» I cannot say enough about how wonderful Jenna is with my rescued boxer, Sachi. Sachi was rescued from a shelter and had been abandoned and neglected and came with a lot of baggage. By recommendation from a friend I had a trainer come to my house for a 2 hour consultation and he basically told me I should return Sachi to the rescue organization. I fell in love with Sachi and I was devastated for a week until I found Jenna’s 5 star reviews on Unilocal.She came to my home and after the first 5 minutes I was so relieved with her positive attitude and calming demeanor. She gets into the dog’s head and can read what they are thinking. Sachi had terrible fear aggression and lunged and barked at any moving object during walks. Also, she was aggressive with anyone visiting my home. In less than a month, Jenna has rehabilitated Sachi where people can enter the house without her attacking them and can now walk on the leash without growling and lunging at passerby’s. Jenna is truly a miracle worker. Now Sachi and I are looking forward to attending Jenna’s socialization classes to continue to develop good manners overcoming her fears. Thanks Jenna, Sachi and I are deeply grateful for all your time and energy and hoping you can continue help us in the rehabilitation process. Diane and Sachi

My husband found Jenna McDonald’s Feathers & Fur information on Unilocal and with the positive reviews he decided to call. After meeting Jenna for an hour we knew she would be our 5 year old dalmations lifesaver. Our dog has barrier agression and after reading numerous training books and working with a dalmation trainer we were scared our dalmation would never get over his agression.
After becoming pregnant I feared our dog would not be accepting of our future baby and that literally made me paranoid. However, after meeting and working with Jenna our dalmation has greatly improved his behavior and accepts our baby girl just like she is part of the family!
We will continue to work with Jenna and highly recommend her dog training abilities to anyone who has pet issues. Jenna to the rescue!

Jenna is awesome, we are very very pleased with her training services. We have a 1 year old English Bulldog rescue (Lucy) that was being VERY aggressive with our 2 kids (11 and 9.) Jenna came in and worked Lucy till she just about passed out. She explained the reasoning behind each piece of information she gave us and was very clear and precise. Everything she said made perfect sense and in no time Lucy seemed whipped into shape. I know that it takes time to really instil a behavior change and it is all up to us now to continue to implement, but even in the couple days that it’s been Lucy has been doing SO WELL. She picked up the «right» way to walk with no hesitation and we haven’t had ANY incidents with the kids at all. I know it seems too good to be true, but even if Lucy does test the waters, Jenna gave us everything we need to really take control of the situation. We are so so happy! We highly recommend Jenna!

Jenna is great. I adopted a 4 year old shepherd mix named Katie. She had been abused by her previous owner and was dog aggressive. She is also unpredictable and gives no warning before attacking. After spending thousands of dollars on trainers, classes and all kinds of collars including an electric collar, I was about to give up when I found Jenna. In a few lessons, Jenna figured out Katie’s body language and my body language and was able to change Katie’s behavior so that she is a completely different dog. I still see Jenna now and then and go to her dog class a couple of times a month to brush up on Katie’s behavior since she is great at finding new ways to defy me. Without Jenna, I think I would not have been able to keep Katie. She also gave me great insights into my and my husband’s behavior that exacerbated Katie’s issues. I love, love, love Jenna and her 2 dogs, Cash and Lily who helped get Katie under control. I am grateful I can keep this wonderful and beautiful dog.

Jenna is a wonderful trainer. We adopted two 3-​year-​old Huskies from a gal who lived less than a mile away, and we wanted to make sure they transitioned well. The previous owners used Gentle Leaders and a 4′ leash, so the girls were accustomed to walking just ahead of their owners. The first time we met with Jenna, she had them on pinch collars and heeling within 3 minutes, and they have walked beautifully right next to us every day since, 2+ years later.
Jenna also did a wonderful job of helping us establish ourselves as pack leaders, including my then 5-​year-​old daughter. Ask Jenna to show you the cereal trick – you won’t believe your eyes.
We have unusually calm Huskies, so we only needed Jenna to help us out a couple of times. She will absolutely help your situation, but will not pressure you or drag sessions out. I cannot recommend her highly enough. If you need help, this is the gal to call.

Hello All,
If you have a dog you need to get with this company…
This dog lover trainer, knows her stuff…
Jenna got my Jack Russell whipped into shape and now he is much simpler to deal with…
But always remeber dogs need to be trained 7 days a week.
I learned this the hard way…
Jenna gives you great tools and is always just a phone call or text away…
So please give her a shot, you will not be disappointed…

We’ve had a rescue dog for 2 years and never been able to walk her around other dogs without her barking and going after the dogs. We had a particularly bad incident about 3 weeks ago and I thought we might have to rehome our dog. A friend recommended Jenna so I gave her a call.
On her first visit, she showed us three simple things to look for in our dog to tell whether she was showing aggression toward other dogs. We practiced walking with Cali and looking for these signs. Jenna worked with my husband and my 12 year old daughter as well.
For the first time, I feel confident walking my dog among other dogs and I know exactly what to do. With just one weeks training, Cali is doing much better. Jenna came out for a second visit yesterday. She brought her own dogs and we practiced walking.
The instructions she gives are simple to follow and very effective.
I highly recommend Jenna as a dog trainer.

Jenna is great. She really helped me with my 5 lb maltepoo. She showed me how to control her barking and ease her anxiety. I would recommend her to help any dogs with aggression or dog anxiety issues.