Tami and her Daily Dog Romps are the best! She provides a really unique service to SE Portland dogs…read morein the Sellwood-Moreland area, letting them run and play, but still keeping a really close eye on everyone's wellbeing. It's such a treat for Koko to be able to get out to swim, run, chase, fetch, and socialize in a way that works for her...doggie daycare and the dog park used to stress her out, but this is perfect. I highly recommend Tami and her pack to anyone who wants to get their pup out more often to really play hard. (Tami has also house-sat for us, which turned out great.)

My Belgian Malinois--German Shepherd dog and I worked with Poppy for about 6 months. I cannot…read morerecommend Poppy and Instinct enough! My pup has been dealing with reactivity towards strangers and dogs since I rescued her. Since our time spent with Poppy, I have had family and friends tell me she is a completely different dog. Poppy was incredibly patient with us and very attentive (plus my pup absolutely loved her). She aimed to understand our goals, ensured they were realistic for us and and helped us make great strides towards them. I also very much appreciated how empathetic and kind Poppy was when offering feedback. I learned a lot of effective strategies and tactics to help redirect my dog and give her alternative behaviors to choose. Poppy was right there with us celebrating every little milestone along the way. :) We are both now significantly more relaxed when we go out into the world. Poppy truly had an impact on our day-to-day life.

Poppy watched the dog for a bit and based her training on their actions. The dogs responded so well…read moreshe was excited on their progress. I loved the way she treated the dogs and taught me things to improve their barking.

We have been using Valley View since we got our Rottweiler puppy. Her behavior, while challenging,…read moreis much better. Lynette is a very good trainer, she's good with all of the dogs. She's good at explaining what she is doing and why she's doing it. She has a good understanding of dog behavior given that she had over 30 years of training experience. I would highly recommend her to anyone looking for training for their dogs.

Mr. Pinecone has been working with valley view since he was 6 months old. This class has created a…read morewonderful base to support healthy, strong relationship with our pup. Training him (and our family ) so we can have a well behaved pup ! Lynette has been great at supporting us through the bumps and questions as we navigate Mario Pinecone becoming a distinguished gentleman.

I learned a lot of things about dog training that weren't on my list. In the future, I will be…read moreinterviewing trainers. I will have a list of my goals, my desired outcomes, my desired behaviors, my philosophies, my opinions on technique and whether or not I assign any value to that. Personally, I don't think it matters how I hold a leash. Nor am I impressed by anyone who thinks that their ability to get a dog to follow their commands is impressive when they have cheese in their pocket. I also don't think that a two-year-old dog is an " older" dog. I did inform the owner/trainer that the dog I was bringing to her class was a rescue and that she had already been trained to some extent. She did not seem at all inclined to meet with me for 15 minutes to see if an introduction to obedience class was necessary or if we should instead pursue one-on-one classes before going on the canine good citizen. This would have been a better use of my time and money. All that to say that if the AKC route is what you are looking for or you have a puppy that has never been trained, Cheryl may be a good option. But, I would recommend you have a conversation with her first, about what your goals and outcomes look like. This experience has been eye opening.

We have one class left, but I feel I can review the course now. Cheryl Huffman runs the Smart Paws…read moreAcademy. She is the dog whisperer. She can make the very naughty Oola Fandango do anything within seconds. It's magical. Better yet, she can train US to make Oola do anything. That is also magical. We haven't had as much time as we would like to train because of holidays, work and family stuff happening, but I feel I have a solid foundation and we can be successful when we can truly devote the time. Oola is already better behaved and following more commands more reliably. You get a DVD and workbook when you sign up for a course. The first lecture is just with the humans and Cheryl; you bring your dog to class after that. The teaching occurs in an unheated, no air conditioning barn on Cheryl's property, so in the winter dress warm, in the summer bring water. All the dogs are trained at the same time but she is happy to give you a few moments of one on one time, she asks for praises and problems from each owner at the beginning of each session, and is available by phone or email with questions. And it's cheap! Under 100 bucks for the series. She does obedience, agility, all sorts of stuff; we were in the beginning obedience class. Granted it is in Oregon City, so it's a hike for most people, but it is totally worth it. She has evening and weekend classes. Everything Cheryl does makes sense and she only uses positive training methods. There is no yelling, hitting, or pinch collars, and Cheryl is very clear that she expects you to treat your animal with respect and kindness. So, in summary, Cheryl Huffman ROCKS the dog world. In a few short weeks we have Oola off the halter and only using a collar, walking better on leash, sometimes comes when called, can sit and lay down on command, and is learning to stay with some success. Her behavior overall is better and we are less stressed. There is more training to do and we have the tools and the workbook so we can continue to improve when the class is over. Consider Smart Paws for dog training. You and your dog will be good canine citizens when you are finished. http://www.smartpawsacademy.com

My wife and I highly recommend Noble Woof and particularly, Christina and Katrina. We took our…read morelittle pup to work on some skills with Noble Woof and what we learned has been invaluable. The training and methodology with them is superb and surprisingly-beyond our belief-our puppy is listening. Yay, progress! We just want to thank the staff at Noble Woof for their professionalism, understanding, kindness, and skills that they've imparted to my wife and I so we can make our pup be even more perfect :)

I reached out to Noble Woof after receiving a strong recommendation about a year prior from someone…read moreI was chatting with one day. Their dog shared some of the same issues as my dog Loki, including marked difficulty with cooperative care. He was absolutely terrified of just walking into the vet, and was so distressed during physical exams, vaccinations, and labs that he would urinate on himself and attempt to bite staff out of fear. Prior to calling Noble Woof, I had already completed a year of group classes covering multiple other skills at another dog training business. Although these other skills were great and helped with solidifying my bond with Loki through training, I still overall felt defeated and hopeless and like a horrible dog owner, wondering if someone else could do a better job Calling Noble Woof was the best decision I ever made. Brie, who is also the owner, shared that she specialized in cooperative care, and offered to take Loki and I as clients, and so we have had the honor of working with her the last 4 months after signing up for the Ghost Pepper package, which I think now is the Gold Package. Brie is patient, kind, incredibly thorough, and her knowledge of dog behavior and specifically cooperative care training is amazing. It is obvious how much time and thoughtfulness she takes when reviewing the homework videos I submit, and her feedback is always easy to understand. She does a great job of responding to questions I have in a timely manner and does her best to accommodate my schedule when planning tutoring and trainings. One caveat to this is that I'm a huge planner and think we scheduled many of our sessions several months out. With Brie's help and guidance, Loki has made such major improvements, and it is a bonus that he absolutely loves Brie, and you can tell how much Brie loves dogs. Another benefit I wasn't expecting is that as his confidence is improving around the cooperative care, this confidence seems to be rolling over to other areas of working with him, which has been great! If you are feeling overwhelmed, reach out to the amazing team at Noble Woof; I couldn't be more grateful that I did.

By far the best dog/ pet service I've ever used. I trust Zoë and Marie with my pup wholeheartedly--…read moreyour dog will be in good hands. I love receiving pictures of my boy on hikes, at the river, enjoying his friends :D it really reassures me that he is having a good time and is safe. They have both been working with dogs since childhood and have lots of experience navigating different doggy behavior, Zoë even has her BS in canine studies. Highly recommend!

During quarantine, I adopted a sweet little 6 month old Staffy mix that made a long journey from…read moreTexas to the PNW through a Second Chance Dog Rescue Program. I was new to dog ownership on my own (had dogs growing up and had partners with pups in the past) and was looking forward to the training part. I watched lots and lots of videos and felt that I was really finding a method that was going to suit my lifestyle. But alas...there were just some things that I couldn't seem to nail it all on my own. I found Nicole through a quick google search for a dog trainer and was excited to see that she was also based out of NW Portland. I reached out to her through her website and was excited to hear back from her the next day. My pup was struggling with building up confidence on walks. Our first obstacle was getting her down the stairs in the building on her own. I tried all the tricks in the book. I'm not kidding - after one session with Nicole, not only could I get my dog to walk down the stairs without luring her with treats, she could also now walk down the end of the street without freezing to panic as we passed other dogs/people. it seems so simple but this was a huge break through for us! After that first win, I've been working with Nicole to just continue to finesse different things that come up with my dog - i.e: not jumping up to greet new people, staying in the "lay down" command and not popping right back up, etc. I can't say this enough - working with Nicole has been fantastic. She has the right balance of tough love in her training exercises. If anything, I think a lot of the training she has helped me with has been around how I can be a better dog owner! :)

Nicole was so awesome and her training was very efficient and humane. We sent her our 6month old…read morepug puppy for a board and train, she got all the help and knowledge that she needed! Plenty of one on one time with Nicole as well as a ton of socialization with her own dogs! She learned basic commands (sit, stay, lay down, and come) she also got trained on some extras like not jumping on people and children (OFF) as well as minding others personal space (AWAY) We also got almost daily updates from Nicole so we didn't miss our baby too much! We are overall pleased with our dogs growth and would recommend Nicole in a heartbeat!

We recently brought our 8-month-old pup to the adolescent social sessions here and went in really…read morehopeful that it would be a fun, positive experience for him. On the positive side, the staff were consistently friendly, kind, and clearly care about the dogs. They created a welcoming environment, and we appreciated their kindness. Unfortunately, the experience itself didn't quite work out for us. Our dog is an intact male, and he ended up in a group with all females, one of whom had recently gone through a heat cycle. The facility allows females who have recently been in heat, but unfortunately their scent just isn't conducive to a group social setting like this, especially for young intact males. The first week this happened we assumed it was just a temporary challenge and gave it the benefit of the doubt, but the issue continued during our next session. The scent was simply too distracting for him- and even other females were distracted by the scent. Our dog who normally socializes well in other group settings, became too fixated and overstimulated for any type of learning or appropriate social interaction. We really tried to give this facility a fair shot and came back again hoping for a better experience, but ultimately our dog had to remain leashed the entire session time, which completely defeats the purpose of a social/play session. We have now found a facility with stricter guidelines around females in heat.

Before I found out about Sit Stay Fit, I didn't even travel because I worried about some stranger…read morewatching Loki and ive heard negative things about doggy hotels. My baby means the world to me and I would seriously die if anything happens to him. My husbands friend told my husband about how he boards his dog at Sit Stay Fit so we decided to board Loki here as well while we were in Dallas. Jamie took such a good care of him and she sent me updates daily which was why I never worried. Im so happy we found out about Sit Stay Fit because i don't have to worry about where to board him when I travel and I know he'll be in good hands.