we learned SOOOOO much from these folks while they worked with our very reactive little dog! Tyler and Lisa both worked with us and both are exceptional! we would highly recommend them both as trainers, teaching us about dog behavior and getting the dog trained gently as well! read more

Cannot recommend Lisa enough. We had about 10 private lessons with our dog Stella and Stella has completely transformed into a well behaved dog. Lisa is a behaviorist as well so she absolutely knows what she is doing. read more

I reached out to Lisa to address some simple leash walking and reactivity while on walks with my pup. Her response stated that they weren't the trainers for me due to my lack having the time to dedicate to training him myself. I found the response to be quite unprofessional. Proof reading her email to assure it was free of typos would have been recommended as well. I'll be happy to take my business elsewhere. read more

I searched online for a good, reputable puppy trainer and we could not be more pleased with Tyler and Lisa! Our puppy was aggressive and fearful and just plain stubborn! Tyler worked with Toby Mac and by the end of our package sessions, they were like the best of friends! Lisa came once to observe Toby's behavior and they both were very knowledgeable, worked with our vet about issues and were great to work with us. You can tell they love dogs and what they are doing every day. I really love that they came to our home to see the surroundings and how they affect behavior and it was so convenient for us. It's well worth what we paid to have a "new puppy "! I highly recommended Pawsitive Practice Training and Behavior! read more

We have only had a couple of sessions with Lisa, and she has already helped our furry family so much! She has taught us so much during each visit. I don't have experience with all of Lisa's team, but I'm sure if they are Lisa-approved that they are all just as wonderful! I highly, highly recommend if you are searching for a trainer with great problem behavior expertise. read more

We adopted a black lab mix from a shelter and he is about 2 years old- going on 6 months! I was really beginning to question what we had done when our vet referred us to Lisa Matthews. She saved our lives. She is the most pleasant person to work with and you can see how much she truly loves dogs. In the first lesson, our adhd dog had already learned how to sit and lay down- in the first 10 minutes! She teaches the dogs with all positive praise and she gave us so much helpful advice. We had 6 lessons with her and she truly made a difference not only in our dogs life- but ours as well. I wouldn't recommend anyone else. She will train at her house (amazing facility) or she will come to you. Call now! read more

We purchased a puppy package for our rescue pup and Lisa trained our entire family in our home. We learned dozens of brain games to play with our pup and our dog was an eager learner. The subtle commands "look," "stay," "wait" and "get it" turned out to be so useful! We learned recipes and still refer to the "100 ways to pack a kong" resource we used. We ended up with an amazing pup! Training the family how to relate to the dog was the best gift we could give ourselves too! Later, when our dog had some anxiety issues after getting his tail caught in a car door - Lisa came again and truly changed his attitude about the car through fun games and learning methods. We consider Pawsitive Practice to be absolutely the best way to make a great family dog because the family is involved every step of the way. If I could give ten starts I would. The expertise available to us through Pawsitive Practice has given our family lifelong skills for which we will always be grateful! Thank you! read more

My three-year-old hound had been having some behavioral issues; specifically jumping, humping, and barking, and had started to become aggressive with our other dogs. I found Lisa and gave her a call and she came by my house to meet him. She saw many of the behaviors and wrote an amazing behavioral report detailing what was going on, what the triggers were, and how to help him. She worked with his vet to get him on the proper medication for his anxiety and, within a matter of week, had helped him to work through those behaviors and had him following new commands like he'd known them for years. As she has continued working with him, he has learned so much! Lisa is absolutely amazing! read more

I sought assistance from Lisa to help with my senior dog who was having some increasing behavioral issues in the form of anxiety, barrier frustration, and aggression towards unknown dogs and strangers who did not acknowledge him and stepped in his path. We began training within one week of contact and I noticed a change just in the first meeting/assessment. Now after three weeks I can see a huge transition. My dog no longer pulls on the leash (new front clip harness) and is able to easily be redirected when facing situations that give him anxiety and frustration. He actually looks forward to training daily, which is usually only 20 minutes twice per day. Prior to seeking help from Lisa, I did not understand how I would change the behavior and would have gone about the situation in the wrong manner by continuing to expose him to those situations until the behavior changed (wrong). For right now we have only had two sessions and any future sessions will be if needed. Lisa was transparent and didn't try to upsell more lessons as she didn't feel were necessary at this time. The investment in the services of Pawsitive Practice Training was 100% worth it. Lisa even taught him a new trick so to those who say you can't teach an old dog new tricks I say, you must don't know Lisa! read more

April did a fantastic job with our miniature dachshund Rudy. I was surprised by how much of the training he has retained and we are relieved to have a dog who knows where to use the bathroom. She was very professional during our 3 training sessions and would highly recommend her to anyone looking to have their dog professionally trained. read more

I contacted Lisa to help with our adopted adult Boxer who was very reactive, snapped at us multiple times, had horrible greeting skills, barked too much, etc. She did a thorough behavioral evaluation at our house & emailed the 7 page letter to me & my vet. My vet was impressed with her knowledge/plan & agreed with the medication she recommended. We had 5 training sessions at her house, where she used a life size fake dog & both of her dogs to reduce his reactivity. We've been working on our own a few months & he is transformed. No more snapping, rides well in the car, good greeting skills, barks less & he even calmly walks by other dogs, joggers, squirrels & geese. I even get compliments at the park about how well behaved he is. I've used other trainers in the past with my previous dogs & none have compared to Lisa. Her positive training methods are easy to understand/implement, fun, humane & they work. I highly recommend Pawsitive Practice, the results are simply amazing. read more

I emailed Lisa in a fit of panic the first night home with my family's standard poodle puppy. She talked me off the ledge and was at my house a few days later to start training. I cannot say enough good things about Lisa and Pawsitive Practice. My puppy, Tucker, is doing so well thanks to the things Lisa has taught us. She was kind and patient with both Tucker and me. She not only helped with basic good manner training but was also in touch via email with helpful puppy tips and articles. She gave us potty training advice and helped with puppy mouthing. During out last session we met at a shopping center to practice loose leash walking with distractions and that training session really brought everything together for us. I was also able to meet one of Lisa's trainers. Liz came to our training session at the shopping center to help be a distraction. I could tell that if she was teaching a class I signed up for she'd be just as good of a trainer as Lisa. Lisa is so great, you can't go wrong using her or her company read more

Met Lisa by chance at the park when my golden retriever was 8 wks old. He was a handful and I was an inexperienced dog owner not sure at all about how best to train an excitable puppy. She came to my house and trained him on exactly what HE needed (not a standard repertoire of skills...he already knew some very well). Stopping the jumping on people who came in our house was the 1st priority. Within 15 minutes of her being inside on the 1st visit, she had him keeping "4 on the floor" when someone came in the house! Then she taught ME how to teach him to stay in a special spot when the doorbell rang. Not only is she a true "dog whisperer," but she's gifted at working with owners, too, to teach them how to respond, body language, tone of voice, etc. that are all key in getting great results. And I love that she does it all with positive reinforcement. My dog WANTED to please her (I did, too!) and she taught ME how to have that approach when training him. Absolutely amazing results that boosted my confidence tremendously. read more