Christina saved our dog's life. We rescued a 70 pound pit mix with massive behavior issues including biting, lunging randomly, pulling on walks and leash aggression. The leash aggression was so bad that we could spend 10 minutes trying to wrest the leash from his mouth, and would frequently get bitten in the process. Expecting a baby in months, we gave him only a few months to shape up or ship out. Christina was not our first trainer / behaviorist. We started with Petco (nice people but not prepared for our dog), then a team who put him on the eCollar, and another behaviorist from Upstate. All had helped a little but he was still unpredictable and unmanageable. I can't say that the results when we met Christina were instant (although she could instantly handle him!) But when he and I put into practice the completely manageable lessons that Christina taught us he has transformed from a dog who pulls and bites to a dog capable of walking with me, paying attention and not flipping out on every walk. Her calming techniques and insights into our dog's actions were remarkable and effective. Now, one year and lots of practice later, we completely trust our dog around our newborn. If your dog seems hopeless, there is no Cesar Milan out there - that's TV magic. Christina is clearly the path to success and is worth her (somewhat expensive) fee. read more

I beg you not to use this woman. My dog, a Cavapoochon went from being so sweet and affectionate for about 6 months and then would unexpectedly start growling and try to bite me. I was desperate to resolve this behavior. I loved him. After spending about 20 minutes with him (and he showed absolutely no aggression) Christine told me that he was "damaged" and I should euthanize him or put him in a shelter. Or keep using her to train him (her first visit I believe was $600). She told me I needed to get some sort of pad for my couch with prong type things that would keep him off the couch. I was not allowed to have him on the bed or get on the floor with him. No interaction. Still, her recco at not even 1 year old was euthanize or shelter. There was clearly a problem but she had not even witnessed that behavior. I told her I was going through a very traumatic time and didn't take him out enough or exercise him enough and he only displayed that behavior with me. I rehomed him to a wonderful family in my building who had another dog and they are obsessed with each other. In fact, the other dog is a Chihuahua and he's in charge! They take them out all the time. In fact, they took both dogs to Greece for two weeks to see family. They could have left the dogs with friends or boarded them. Instead they got all the paperwork done in advance and paid extra to have the dogs sit on their laps the whole way. He is SO happy.My doormen see him often and they tell me he's always happy. When I see him he gets excited and comes over but wants to go off with his new mommy and brother. I've spoken to them. It's been about 9 months and not one incident. It was clearly not the right fit at this time in my life. I could not give him what he needed.. Had I listened to her, he'd be in a tiny cage in a shelter or not alive any more. She spent 10 minutes on praising herself that very few people do what she does. That they claim they do but she has all of these degrees. I still love him and miss him. But it all worked out and he's one well-behaved, very loved pup. And THAT is what matters. I very very rarely write a review and they have been positive. I am not writing this to bash her. I'm writing this to make sure you do not use her to assess or train your dog, for your dog's sake and yours. Please. I love dogs so much. It kills me to think of her telling someone else that their dog is "damaged" and listening to her advice. read more

My wife and I adopted a beautiful fourteen-month-old mixed breed (Staffordshire Terrier likely), the first week of April and named him Dylan. We decided that we needed a trainer quickly. Dylan has obvious behavioral issues as well as a very affectionate side and we committed to helping him. Upon research, we decided to try Christina Shusterich of NY Clever K9 based on what we had seen of her professional education, certifications and experience found on-line. Her consultation fee was $399.00 plus a $225.00 security deposit (per 1.25 hrs. sessions) if cancelling the scheduled appointment closer than forty-eight hours (+Tx). My wife had spoken with Christina who then suggested email would be the best method of communication. The first step was to complete her questionnaire and schedule and assessment. The first flag was that we quickly discovered her time to be very tightly metered. Our thoughts was to show Christina the major triggers causing hyperactivity and aggressive behavior that occurs during walks. Those triggers were most evident during busy periods of the day (excited kids, joggers, bicyclists and so on). Christina made clear that her weekly schedule is developed on Sundays and distributed to her clients. For the consultation, our first meeting was given to us as Friday evening at 7:00 PM (had we proceeded following the consultation, the second visit would have been 7:45 PM). Upon arrival we opened our door to Christina who proceeded to instruct us (to hold Dlyan back on a short leash, and how she'll be doing some strange things like sticking out her tongue). The entire visit I was asked to hold back Dylan on the leash which I personally found a bit unusual for seasoned trainer but complied. Christina made clear that payment must be made immediately in cash or through Zelle at completion of each session. During the consultation meeting Christina provided a number of white-papers (reading dogs postures and other), and discussed potential behavioral reasons and a few points of regarding her "system". I was filled with questions and Christina stated that asking these questions only takes away from the time she can instruct us. I really didn't hear much during that meeting that left me feeling confident and felt the questions were necessary. Christina's time outside with Dylan was the extent of walking her to her car, and still on the leash. Following that meeting my wife and I were left feeling a bit baffled about what Christina would be doing and whether to proceed or not. I then emailed Christina stating that I would setup a shared-directory and deposit phone videos and log demonstrating our concerns, since questions seemed to be too time consuming. Christina's response was that she would not have time to review any such information that we send between session. My wife and decided that despite all her credentials this was not going to work and cancelled our relationship. Christina did return our security deposit of $225.00 (+Tx.). read more

NY Clever K9 Inc. - Our new boy Dylan. - Pet Training Near Me - New York, New York

NY Clever K9 has been a gift to our family. Their knowledge and expertise helped us manage the complexities of dog ownership, rescue, and rehabilitation. Christina developed a personalized training plan to help us circumvent triggers and adjust negative behavioral issues. She is positive, passionate, caring and enthusiastic. But most of all, she is a natural teacher and gifted behaviorist. We are incredibly appreciative of NY Clever K9 and highly recommend their expert services and compassionate care. read more

We hired Christina at NY Clever K9 to assist us with our puppy's resource guarding and aggression. Christina is incredibly patient, kind, and helpful and gave us tools to build a relationship with our puppy based on mutual respect and not fear. Her no nonsense approach will give you - and your puppy - a figurative kick in the pants to get you on track and moving in the right direction. After a few months of sessions, our puppy was transformed from guarding her food bowl and growling and biting as we approached it to finishing her meal and running over to us to play or get a belly rub. Christina will help you develop tools to work with your pet to overcome aggression based obstacles. She is an absolute pleasure to work with and worth every (not cheap) penny. read more

I contacted Christina to work with my terrier who showed aggressive behavior. She charged me $150 for to come to my home for a 1-hour evaluation (no training, just meeting and discussing). She agreed to work with him and made me pay in advance for the next session. A couple of days later she e-mailed me saying my dog had to wear a muzzle. I argued that it wasn't necessary, but agreed to buy one. During our e-mail conversations, she informed me that she didn't want to work with my dog. She refunded the next session fee, but not the $150. I eventually found another trainer who did a great job with my dog (and no muzzle!). I have no doubt that she is a good trainer. I am just sharing my experience. It was her decision to not work with us and I was out $150. UPDATE: I WAS her client. I sent Christina a copy of the e-mail she wrote to me declining to work with me and my dog. Correction: it was an 1.5 hour evaluation and the cost was $155. read more

I could not say enough great things about Christina, the behaviorist who owns this business - she is INCREDIBLE. Our 1 year old lab puppy was suffering from severe separation anxiety and after going from trainer to trainer with minimal results that didn't last and included confining her to a crate. We kept listening because we felt helpless, exhausted and had been told this was the "only way" to treat separation anxiety. Thankfully, due to a wonderful vet tech that we knew, we were informed about the difference between a "trainer" and a "behaviorist" and that we needed to be working with an animal behaviorist, someone truly qualified, educated and specialized to work with behavior problems in dogs. Not only did we love working with Christina, our dog loved her, and we all learned so much from the experience. She is beyond gifted and truly loves her work which shows through and through in her dedication and commitment. Separation anxiety is a very difficult thing to deal with in a dog and it can be expensive and exhausting and push you to the limit... but if you find someone as great as Christina and follow the plan - you will get your life back. I cannot say enough great things about Christina and her work - meeting her changed our lives and gave us back our freedom. We can actually leave our apt. now and not worry about our pup barking or panicking... we never thought we would get here.. but we did with the right help. read more

Christina is amazing and it is because of her that my husband and I were able to keep the 11-month old black lab mix that we adopted. Our dog was terrified to be on the leash in the city and was nearly impossible to control on leash. Even worse, although incredibly loving and friendly normally, he became aggressive to both dogs and people when leashed. We went through two other trainers before meeting Christina, and had nearly given up hope. But Christiana turned the entire picture around in only a few sessions. She taught him to walk next to us on the leash (something I never thought was possible with our dog) and worked with us to change his emotions while on leash. Now, he rarely ever barks at other dogs and never at people. She is a true expert in the field, smart, kind and utterly professional. I would recommend Christina to anyone who has a dog with behavioral issues. read more

My rescued terrier had a number of serious issues including biting and aggressive resource guarding. Two dog walkers had understandably refused to work with him and I was reluctantly considering returning him to the rescue group. My vet referred me to a trainer who turned us away as too risky. Thankfully, she suggested I contact Christina. It was literally a life-saver. She worked with us for several months and things began to improve almost right away. Three years later, my dog and I have an incredibly close relationship and his aggressive behavior is completely gone. He is still a quirky little guy but I can read his mood and know exactly how to manage him. Thanks to Christina, we are together for life. read more

Since moving to NYC, our dog Blue became very frightened and skittish on walks but worse she soon became very anxious when left alone, something that had never happened before. She would completely panic, circling us when we tried ti leave and barking non stop when we were gone. This became a huge problem as several neighbors complained and we got a warning from the Board and were new to the building. We tried a trainer who put a citronella collar on her which she just barded through and told us to crate her - she injured he mouth (a vet trip) trying to chew through the crate. A coworker recommended NY Clever K9 and Christina Shusterich, (the owner) who immediately started working on both problem, making changes almost as soon as she walked in - no crate! It seems miraculous but over sessions and with practice we can now leave Blue alone and she is so much calmer on walks. Christina was also very compassionate, not just to Blue but us too as we were extremely stressed. We really can't thank her enough. read more