I came to Michael very skeptical that Lyla could change especially since my dog was 7 at the start of her training and I really didn’t think you could teach an old dog new tricks. She had been in the shelter most of her life and her reactions were likely driven by fear & lack of self confidence or maybe even a bad past experience.
I first talked on the phone with him and liked that he was very thorough in explaining his process. I really felt like he listened and genuinely cared for all the concerns I had.
Upon our first session with him, he had us teach her different little things that honestly seemed very random and when he left I thought to myself, “how are these things going to help her leash reactivity?” But I didn’t know what else to do except to listen to him and I am so thankful I did because at our very last session we met at a dog park and our Lyla didn’t bark at a single dog once!!! This is a drastic improvement that I thought would never change. I was SO SHOCKED! Lyla’s whole demeanor has changed and I seriously cannot believe the improvements she has made- it is all thanks to Michael! I would 100% recommend him to anyone having issues. I would also say that if you are skeptical, just trust him. All the things that he taught me built on each other and the things we learned in session 1 were also things we used in our last session.
Lastly, the thing I appreciated the most was that Michael made sure to tell me he was always available to us in between sessions. I would send him videos of myself training my dog every day and he would be able to critique through that. I think that that aspect is what helped Lyla flourish so quickly!
He also takes the cutest pics of my dog!!!