Drea is a FANTASTIC dog trainer and person and we truly don't know where we'd be without her!…read more We rescued our dog Otis in September 2019 from hurricane Dorian. He's a 2 year old American Staffie/Basset Hound/Chow/Terrier mix from Florida--a sweet, cuddly, goofy, hunk. Otis was SO ready to be loved and properly cared for, but as he settled into his new home it became clear he had never been socialized, showed physical and emotional signs of severe abuse, and had major anxiety/fear of strangers. We felt in over our heads, and worried Otis might harm someone out of fear (no fault of his own) but felt committed to giving Otis every chance we could to thrive. We found Drea on Yelp and were drawn to her experience with rescue dogs in particular. We contacted her right away and had an appointment set up within days. Drea came to our apartment to meet us and Otis and it instantly felt like the stars had aligned. She had total confidence upon meeting him-- no fear, and a great openness and connection with him and us. The first thing she said when she met Otis was "ok, you guys got yourself a real southern hound!" We knew we had found the right person. Drea observed right from the start that Otis is a pack dog and how important it was going to be for us to grow his pack and take steps to build both his and our confidence. Drea's training method focuses on the role that both owner and pet play and how those roles need to be established and reinforced through commitment, repetition, and positive motivation as the key drivers of success. Over the last 10 months we've learned how to use our voices, bodies and body language to do everything from solidifying Otis' basic obedience skills to being able to take Otis and ourselves out of our comfort zones and introduce new people, places and experiences into our lives. The results are tangible--a traumatized rescue who used to cower and tuck his tail between his legs on walks now barks with enthusiasm to go outside and wags his upright tail like a helicopter. Otis' behavior with, and fear of strangers is also noticeably different. His default reaction used to be aggression, but he's learned to control those urges, be calm and put his trust in us that all is okay. While we and Otis still have work ahead of us, the tools Drea has and continues to give us have provided invaluable confidence, patience, and a keen understanding of what it means, and what's needed to own and love a rescue pup. We couldn't love our Otis more and we are so grateful to Drea and know she will be a part of our pack for the long haul.

I can't say enough great things about Drea, both as a person and as a professional dog trainer…read more I adopted my dog, Max, earlier this year - he was a cute and friendly little guy and I knew immediately that he was the right dog for me. Max was described as a high-energy but friendly dog by the shelter. He was high-energy for sure, but one by one, the other problems started to come out. Hyperactivity, separation anxiety, chewing, barking, biting - you name it, Max was doing it! I found I was quickly in over my head with this dog. Drea was recommended to me without hesitation by both my vet and one of my girlfriend's good friends. That she was immediately mentioned by two unrelated people said a lot to me about her reputation. Though she is a busy and well-known trainer in the Bed-Stuy area, she listened carefully when I called her and found time to meet with me right away. Drea's "intake" is thorough. My GF joined us so that we could take turns demonstrating how we handled Max and describing his history, steps we'd taken with him and what we hoped to accomplish. The advice came right away, in the form of adjustments to his daily schedule and some exercises we would complete as "homework" before the next session. Drea worked with the both of us to make sure we understood both the how and the why, and to make sure we could properly execute the commands to improve consistency for Max. The advice was simple but had a huge impact on Max's wellbeing. Drea sought to teach him that indoors is a place of relaxation and self-control, and following our instructions led to safety, fun and rewards. Within 2 weeks I had a completely different dog - the sassy, goofy, yet sweet and loving companion I knew Max could be. Drea's methods were positive, with rewards tailored to the dog's individual preferences (treats, toys, or whatever they like best). Communicating with a dog is a physical skill, and she teaches you how to use your voice, hands, expressions and body language to help the dog understand you. She was always available via text whenever we had questions or needed some help. In the end, I got 2 great things from Drea - the perfectly-behaved Max I had dreamed of, and the great sense of confidence that I know how to fix anything that might come up with him. The only other thing I wish for is that I had hired her sooner! I recommend Drea to anyone looking to solve behavior or obedience issues in their dog, and to anyone looking to get their first dog or puppy and wanting to start on the right foot. You can't go wrong with her!

We recently rescued a two year old dog and we're looking to teach them some basic manners and cues…read more Jen has been awesome from the start! We started with a 20 minute consultation over the phone where she walked through her training process and the specific areas she could help us. Jen meets us in our home for sessions which have been structured specifically for our dog's needs. Every area we've worked on (leash walking, sit, stay, leave it...) we've seen major improvements and she has also helped boost our confidence as dog owners. She's always providing helpful tips and insights. After every sessions she sends us detailed recaps so that we can practice on our own! Highly recommend her services and she's a pleasure to work with. Plus, she may just be our dog's favorite person on the planet!

Jen is great and will be missed! I got my Beagle at 3 months and she's now 6 months. She has…read moredefinitely come such a long way! So grateful to have found Jen because it was difficult to locate someone, specifically in the 11233 area. So if you're also having issues, Jen is the way to go. I highly recommend her.

Thank you Renee for being such an outstanding trainer. I learned so much…read more Bobby loves you and has benefitted greatly from your help. He is a much more confident dog and really listens now. He had a lot of fun working with you. Other dogs would be very lucky to work with you. I appreciated your in-depth knowledge of dog behavior and your extensive training experience. I think your background in agility was key in helping to raise Bobby's confidence. Your love for dogs really comes through in your work! Best wishes, Michelle and Bobby

Yuruani is extremely experienced and professional. She is almost always on time. She has a plan and…read morefollows up with email instructions after each session. With about six weeks of training, our puppy can sit, lay down, settle, "leave" things , paw and ring a bell in prep for letting us when he wants to potty, let us clean and touch him, and not jump up immediately on guests. Our puppy still needs work on "leave it". The pup has very good leash etiquette, again with Yuruani showing us how to walk the dog. Most importantly the dog LOVES her.

At almost 4 years old, our Portuguese Water Dog developed some reactive behavior that was…read moreunproductive. We turned to Yuruani Olguin Dog Training and started working with Angela Meglio, the Certified Dog Behaviour Consultant at YODT. We are delighted with the progress Lila has made and are most grateful to Angela for helping us with the reactivity. She has made a huge difference for all of us .

We had an amazing experience with Natasha, and cannot recommend her enough!! If you're looking for…read morea dog trainer that is super comfortable with animals, very knowledgeable, takes on a positive reinforcement training style, and gives you concrete steps to implement to help change your dog's behavior issues, Natasha is the one! We found Urban K-9 through a neighbor, who couldn't recommend Natasha enough. Our neighbor has a dog who was scared around kids, and Natasha helped the dog go from reactive to calm in difficult situations with kids. We had a similar issue with our dog, so we reached out. Natasha helped us with a few different things, including our dog's reactivity around kids/strangers, our dog's tendency to bark at the door and jump on strangers to greet them. Natasha helped us understand our dogs psychology, and was able to help us see where our dogs behavior was coming from. For instance, we didn't realize that barking at kids was a sign of the dog being scared, rather than being angry/aggressive. The main take-away was that the more our dog feels like she can rely on her owners to take her through a difficult situation safely (aka not let a random stranger pet her, but be her leader/protector), the less our dog would feel like she needed to take care of the situation herself (aka bark/lunge/etc.). Natasha shared a lot of concrete steps and methods to implement in order to create a more clear dynamic between us and our dog. We learned a number of things, including how to get out of a difficult situation, how to desensitize our dog to her fears, how to train patience, how to show stronger leadership with leash walking, and so on. Our dog has become less reactive around kids since seeing her. I highly recommend you check out their website and book a session with Natasha if you're looking for a really great dog trainer!!

Rachel at Leash and Learn was absolutely fantastic. Leash and Learn was recommended to us by our…read morevet directly, and we were specifically looking to work on better boundaries/strategies/positive interactions between our (quite old) dog and (quite young) toddler. Rachel was patient and professional, and our training process was very effective and really put us at ease - I can't say enough good things. I feel like she trained my kid as much as my dog! I also really appreciated that the relationship began with a very thorough assessment of our unique situation and needs, and the training package that was ultimately presented was not an oversell/upsell in any way, but rather, just what we needed.

Working with Rachel enabled us to keep Quinn. We hired her to help our newly rescued dog from…read morelunging and barking at other dogs on the street. She did that in 2 sessions. Only after our neighbors and building manager complained did we realize that he had a more severe problem - acute separation anxiety. He would howl for the duration of the time that we left him. Over 5 months Rachel worked with us and Quinn and our vet, who also prescribed medication. We can now leave Quinn alone for as long as four hours without a howl or a whine. Without Rachel's help we would have had to rehome Quinn and, instead, we are now a happy family.

What a thoughtful and flexible cat sitter! Lauren was the first cat sitter we hired for our seven…read moremonth cat, so we were nervous (and likely annoying re our questions and concerns), but she quickly put us at ease. We found UWS Cat Sitting via its instagram, which shows how fun and caring Lauren is with the cats she visits-- you should check it out. Within one day of requesting her services on the website, we had a covid-conscious meet and greet where Lauren came to our apartment in the upper EAST side to meet our cat and learn about our cat care routine (e.g., feeding, litter box, playing, the building and keys). Lauren made sure to cover all the bases and always promptly replied to our last minute requests/questions. Lauren provided two thirty minute visits for $30 each over two days (total $60) and reported back each day w photos and a narrative of the visit via email. Our cat is shy so requires some patience if you want to get her to come out of hiding, but Lauren cat whispered her way into playing with our cat, which we're so grateful for (cats need affection even if they act too cool for school!). After her first visit, our cat even got a goodie bag, which is a nice touch. Don't see how you could go wrong w supporting this small business that ensures your cat's needs are met!

Lauren is so great! She's taken amazing care of our cat a few different times. She is super…read morecommunicative and reliable, and sends adorable updates and photos during each visit. We'll definitely use UWS Cats again!

EJ is a life-saver!! I was in need of pet-sitting after the planned boarding situation was not…read moreideal for my dog's personality. He was able to accommodate me last minute (literally the day before) and watched Mocha for 4 days while I was out of the country. Not only was my dog super comfortable with him, but EJ sent me multiple updates on his pees, poos and some pictures to show how much fun he was having. As someone who has never used a pet-sitter before, I would highly recommend New York Dog Lovers. The peace of mind in knowing Mocha was well taken care of made me enjoy my vacation even more!

They did a good job with Starkovich, my 80 lb Lab, feeding and walking. Ilan is very communicative…read moreand straightforward. Starko can be a real pain with new people, barking nonstop, like never shuts the hell up sometimes, but on first meeting Ilan was patient and you could tell he genuinely likes and understands dogs so I felt comfortable handing over the reins. Everything I needed, very reliable.