I highly recommend Michelle. I arranged for a session with Michelle to help me tame my two golden retriever 10-mo-old puppies. She arrived just as I got home from work, which was great because the homecoming has been my biggest frustration. She came in and within a couple of minutes she had the girls sitting and laying down on command. Over the course of the hour, she taught them several very useful commands and had me do the same things to practice. I really liked her calm demeanor and her philosophy of being very clear and concise about what you ask them to do, giving them a firm "NO" when they don't, and just as strong positive "YES" or "GOOD" when they do. One of my pups is a rescue who had a rough start - lots of neglect and scolding. She has been extremely needy and insecure since coming to live with us. Michelle explained that because of how she started out, she doesn't have a sense of who she is or how she fits in, and that she needs more than anything to have structure and rules. In the three days I've worked with her, the change is really amazing - she is so much more easy-going, doesn't need to be right near me all the time, still jumps a lot, but now gets it when I say NO, and knows how to get the YES and a good rub. The thing that has helped me the most is the Leadership Tips Michelle talked about, and left a hard copy for me to review. I thought I had been the pack leader before, but I realize now that I was really more of a tyrant - YOU WILL DO WHAT I SAY, rather than an effective leader - one who is calm, in control, assertive. I'm finding it easier to be even-tempered - firm when I need to be, but ready with the positive when they earn it. It works - it really works! And the dogs are incredibly smart and eager to work and get the reward. Michelle is great. I appreciated that she followed up with an email to ask how things were going. I'll be calling on her for more of our training. read more

I worked at Pender Pet Retreat for about 6 years from high school to college. Michelle used to bring dogs into our lobby to get them familiar with other dogs and strangers walking in and out just like a home. The dogs that went to the retreat and got trained over the course of their stay were night and day when the week was done! I took my 1 year old husky, Cheyenne, to the beginner class at Pender Vet. It was an 8 week course that covered EVERYTHING! The class was small with plenty of room for my crazy puppy to get excited when she saw other puppies. I cannot tell you how well my Cheyenne listens now! Huskies are NOT known for their listening skills. The course was $175 for sit, stay (with food and a front door situation), off, quiet, walking/heeling, getting familiar with strange objects, dog interaction, leave it, tricks like dead doggy, bow, and roll over, combinations of sit, stay, lay down, stand, etc., calming the dog down, going from treat rewards to toy rewards, tooth brushing, nail clipping, and so much more! Michelle loves dogs and has been working with them for years! She knows what she is doing and will work with you individually in class! MICHELLE IS THE BEST! I signed Cheyenne up for Michelle's intermediate class because I want to take Cheyenne to nursing homes and military hospitals. Michelle and I were confident at the end of beginner obedience that Cheyenne is highly qualified to spread love to those experiencing hard times. read more

We highly recommend Michelle, who is the most talented and patient dog trainer we've worked with. Michelle has been working with us and our rescue puppy for about 8 weeks, and the progress is astounding. Our puppy previously suffered from separation anxiety and overall "poor manners," both of which Michelle helped us work through. She has a detailed training syllabus, but completely customized its delivery based on our needs. She is also very generous with her time, patiently listening to us detail the issues we were having with our pup, and helping us problem solve practical strategies to address them (sometimes the problem was us, not the puppy!) Beyond her skills, Michelle is a pleasure to work with personally and professionally. She has a great demeanor and made the sessions enjoyable. She always followed up our sessions with very detailed and helpful recaps by e-mail, so we could continue to practice our new skills at home. The costs of private training with Michelle are more than worth the investment. We were able to pack so much into our time together. We are now participating in group classes, but mostly for socialization and to practice what we have learned with Michelle. We are so thrilled with the results that we will continue to work with Michelle privately as well on more advance concepts. If you are considering private training, look no further than Michelle! read more

Michelle is simply amazing! She came and took our older puppy, who repeatedly found a way out of our fence, and trained him to respect the boundary and no longer escape. She took a dog that would drag us on the leash and turned him into a respectful walker. Michelle loves dogs but is firmly set on dogs learning that they are not equal to their owners. Her training philosophy revolves around that mindset. As a parent with five children, this was very important to us. She has given us the tools to train our dog to see his proper place and obey the commands our children give. And she was great with our kids, involving them in all aspects of the training sessions. Not only is Michelle extremely qualified working with dogs but she is highly administrative. She is prompt in responding to emails. She confirms appointments. Michelle follows up every lesson with a lengthy email on topics covered and the to do's to work on with the dog. Any question I had on what to do with certain behaviors, Michelle always had an answer. Michelle was readily available when questions arose between sessions. In my opinion, she goes above and beyond what she is hired to do. And this is rooted in her love for your dog as well as desire to foster a healthy relationship between owner and dog. read more

The first and last dog trainer your will ever need!!! Michelle did 5 in-home sessions for my 6 month old Boston Terrier, covering everything from basic sit/stay/come/off type commands, to potty training, brushing teeth, leash walking, socialization, tricks, and a whole lot more! The best part is that due to the 1-on-1 attention at home, we covered 7-8 weeks worth of training in just 5 one-hour sessions...and at an unexpectedly reasonable cost. For anyone who has owned a terrier, you know that they have more energy than the Energizer Bunny, and can often be the jumping/barking/snapping dog that makes people not want to come into your house. My Boston Terrier, after just a couple of sessions with Michelle, would sit and stay by the door and wait to greet visitors until I released him. Michelle truly has a way with dogs, and uses only positive reinforcement techniques, so that your dog does not become afraid or submissive, but rather enjoys obeying your commands. So much so, that after the 5 sessions, our dog passed the "AKC Star Puppy" test!!! Thanks Michelle -- you are a master trainer! read more

Michelle Jackson provided a first class service for us from beginning to end. She made and confirmed appointments well in advance, always arrived at our home on time, listened to our concerns and taught us how to work with our dog, first by demonstration and then by encouraging each of us to try the techniques. She has a friendly, but firm and confident manner and it was wonderful to see her training our dog and then being enabled by her to put it into action ourselves. We completed three sessions, for a total of a little over 3 .5 hours with Michelle. I believe we covered the six week beginner syllabus in that time. In addition to visiting our home, Michelle always followed with prompt emails, reviewing what we had covered and providing other useful information. We would like to take group classes with Michelle in the future and highly recommend her. We adopted our 1 year old dog from the FOHA Shelter and had no experience of dog owning in our adult lives. Working with Michelle has truly enabled us to be good owners. read more

We have been so impressed with Michelle's dog training in every way! Our Cockapoo puppy has made so much progress due to her puppy training class. Michelle goes above and beyond to make the training a successful experience. Her 30 years of experience is evident. Not only is the training excellent, but she does a written email summary that is so informative and nice to refer to when things aren't working. We had some specific problematic issues as well so we hired her for some one on one training and she unlocked so many issues in one session. We have signed onto the intermediate group class and we know it will be well worth the investment. In addition, Michelle is very friendly and flexible so she is a delight to have as a trainer and a neighbor. I could not recommend her highly enough. read more

Michelle is the best! Thanks to her, our dog can now handle visitors, which used to drive him crazy. He's more confident, less aggressive, and better behaved over all. Chandler is doing pretty My father came to visit last month. Usually the dog barks and is very aggressive to my Dad, at least for the first few hours. He just doesn't visit us often enough for Chandler to really get used to him. But this time, I used all the strategies that Michelle taught us to help Chandler accept a new person in the house. Within half an hour, that dog was following my Dad around, letting him pet him, and basically treating him like an old friend? By the second day, my Dad had Chandler on his lap, rolled over on his back and getting belly rubs like a big ol' love sponge. read more

My family just wrapped up a 5 week session of puppy training for our 9 weeks old Golden Retriever. Our experience with Michelle was AMAZING! She is very organized both prior to the appointments and with follow up after the appointments. She comes prepared with a weekly list of items to cover. She spends time explaining the command or the behavior we want to achieve, then demonstrates it, then hands it to us to practice and be sure we are getting it right. Our dog responded immediately to her. She has a lot of patience for both human and canine. At the last session, we met her lovely dog Lilly who came to help socialize our puppy. They had so much fun. I highly recommend Michelle for all your training needs. read more

We contacted Michelle when we adopted our rescue dog, who was 4 months old and full of anxiety. We never had a dog with those issues before. Michelle helped all of us tremendously with our private sessions. Not only did she teach our dog but helped us to understand why she was doing what she was doing! She even brought her own dog one time so we could socialize and help our dog. She followed up each session with an extensive, helpful email as a recap. We still refer to these emails as we continue training our dog. We plan on using Michelle again, hopefully in a puppy class. We would recommend Michelle as she was wonderful with our dog and us as owners!! read more

Terrific experience! We had Michelle come over for a 1 1/2 hour session with our young, newly adopted pup. It was a great investment. We were able to cover all our problem behaviors quite thoroughly, and Michelle's suggestions for training techniques were very practical and very positive for our dog. Within a week, working with our newly acquired methods, we've seen an enormous improvement in Katie's behavior. An excellent feature: Michelle follows up with a very detailed e-mail going through all the details covered in your lesson. This is wonderful--a thorough reminder of the techniques, just what you need to feel confident about going forward. read more

We got our first puppy (Yokie poo) in October 2020 and Michelle has been of tremendous help in terms of potty training, diet, exercise, correcting excessive chewing habits and also providing advise on vaccinations and neutering. It was very easy to schedule training sessions in our backyard with Michelle and her prompt responses via email when our puppy felt sick or swallowed a foreign object helped put our minds at ease. Michelle also got her pets along to some of the training sessions to help social interaction amongst other dogs. We will definitely be requesting her help for our next puppy. read more

I just completed a six week session with Michelle and my now 4 month old puppy. I am thrilled with the results. She covered everything from health and safety to playing dead. As a first time pet owner, I was at a loss when it came to training my puppy. I was not sure what to expect from him or what he expected from me. After training with Michelle, I am am full of confidence. I know what to do, how to set limits, and and correct bad behaviors. As a result, I have a happy dog who understands my commands and loves training. I could not be more pleased. Michelle is excellent! read more

I couldn't be more pleased with Michelle and the help she provided me and my puppy. Michelle came highly recommended to me by two coworkers who used her in the past. Michelle helped me with six weeks of personal training for my 8 week old (8 weeks at the start) puppy to learn puppy basics. She traveled to my house, educated me and then showed me how to teach my pup. It was a rewarding experience. Once I master the puppy training I have learned, I look forward to working with Michelle again on intermediate dog training! Thanks, Michelle!! read more

Michelle came out for 2 hours to help with our 1.5 year old rescue dog whose main issues are leash reactivity and barking/lunging at the front door when the doorbell rings. With one session she has completely fixed the doorbell issue and the leash pulling and reactivity is so much better after 3 days of me working with my dog with Michelle's advise. Not only is she a great trainer, but she is super nice and her training methods are firm but kind/positive. If you are in need of a trainer I would look no further! read more

My wife and I have had Michelle help train our golden retriever three times now and I know we will go to her in the future for any training or questions. She is amazing at what she does and we have nothing but praises for her. She is quick to respond to emails and even provides long training session recap emails after the session so that you can look back in detail of what you went over. I would recommend her to anyone that needs dog training regardless of the level of training needed or type of dog. read more

I am so glad we found Michelle! We had Michelle over for a 1 1/2 hour session to help us with our new rescue that was afraid of everything. Michelle was thorough and touched upon all of her behavioral issues such as barking and separation anxiety. She gave us tools that we were able to implement immediately and I am so happy that we now have the tools to work with our pup. She is gaining confidence and her behavior is improving daily! We highly recommend Michelle. read more

I am happy to recommend Michelle Jackson Dog Training. I needed some behavior modification work for my dog when she's on a leash. Michelle arrived on time, took charge of the situation, and our hour concluded with a more confident owner and a better behaved dog. While I know that I need to continue to train on my own, Michelle gave me the tools I need to turn my dog into a well-behaved dog. Highly recommend! read more

Max is a 100 lb male German Shepherd with a lot of energy and goofy curiosity. Initially we thought we had to go to a german shepherd specialist trainer, luckily we found Michelle and have done several in house and group sessions at Pender with her. She knows what she is doing and her training methods and advice are spot on. We highly recommend Michelle Jackson for training any breed of dog. read more