Testimonials

I cannot say enough about Heather Beck and her work with dogs! She has made all the difference in the world in the relationship I have with my dog, Gladys. I adopted Gladys, a retired research dog about six months ago. She is a four year old black lab mix. When I selected her, she seemed calmer than the younger dogs there.

Once I got her home, I walked her in the neighborhood and she tried to go after every dog behind a fence. This escalated to other dogs out in the neighborhood. I tried choke collars and then a pinch collar, but there was little improvement. This went on until my leg got between her and another dog when I was trying to pull her back. I was sick about it, but I called Linda from the adoption program at the university and said I could not keep her. She called back and asked if I would talk to Heather and give it one last shot. The three of us met the next day at a dog park. Heather put a halti on Gladys and worked with her to get used to it. Then she worked with me, and showed me how to walk her and correct her. By the end of two hours, we were walking along the dog park fence with lots of dogs running by the fence, and Gladys did not react. At one point she was laying by the fence not caring that other dogs were around. It was an incredible difference, and as a result, I kept her. This is all due to Heather.

Our work is still not done, and Gladys still will react badly to other dogs, but Heather showed me how to control her and correct her, and we are improving all the time. I definitely have to giver her credit for saving this dog, and helping me become a better dog owner. Loving your dog is not enough, they need exercise and discipline!

Heather continues to work with Gladys and me. I participated in her first dog psychology workshop recently, and saw the difference she made with all the dogs there. If you want a calm submissive dog, she can do it by showing you how to be a better pack leader!

Heather, thank you so much!

Camille Wintch

I want to thank you for all the help and effort you did in finding us the right puppy. She is now a year and 3 months and is happy and healthy. I also appreciate all the helpful advice you give us and always willing to answer any questions. We were so happy with Jersey, we went and got another pooch!! I called the vet you recommended and they are wonderful. Keep up the great work and I wish you the best with making families and their beloved pets happy!

Rebbecca Turnville

I COULD KISS EACH AND EVERYONE ONE OF YOU RIGHT NOW!!!! I just came back from our first vet visit with e-touch. Diesel has never gone through a vet visit without being muzzled and wrestled to the ground for taking blood etc. I tapped and turned outside and inside the office. (this is a new vet for us). Entered the examining room….very uneventful. The tech took Diesel back for weighing and taking blood. Exactly 90 seconds later she came back to the examining room and said they needed my assistance with taking blood. On Heather’s suggestion, I had introduced Diesel to the Halti during the past week. I put his halti on and when the vet approached he turned into a bucking bronco. With halti in left hand controlling his head and 500 in my right hand (1 continuous), I instructed him to sit and handed his left leg to the vet. With a “stay” & tap and controlling his head with the halti, the blood draw was smoothly completed. I repeated the same procedure for each phase of the exam and he was great!! He still attempted to protest, but the tap calmed him immediately and he held still as required to be properly examined. The vet was entirely amazed as she had never seen a remote collar and commented that it was a wonderful tool. Again, I can’t thank you enough just not to dread going to the vet with him…..

Christine

I just wanted to thank you so much for all that you did for Jesse. We haven’t given him the medicine since we saw you and he is back to himself *completely*, maybe a little bit better because we are communicating with him better now. We love the Halti, he walks so perfect on it, and after using the tips that you gave us about keeping him in a calm state he is just completely perfect. He was startled the next day (after you guys came) when I ran the dishes, but I practiced like you showed us and he was over it in just a minute or so. Also, before when we would see kids on our walks he would get super excited and be really hard to bring back to a ‘heel’, but with the Halti on he just glances at them and keeps on walking next to us. We had a very nice compliment when someone told us that she wishes her dog was as well behaved on a walk as he is :o).

So thanks so much!! We gave your name to our vet when she called to check up on Jesse, she was very impressed with his quick behavior return.

We are probably moving mid- May, so we were thinking of having the follow-up at the beginning of May, but I will give you a call when we know for sure.

UPDATE:

Thank you again for your help with our Lab Jesse.  Our daughter is now 5 months old and he is just wonderful with her.  It was like you said, when we brought her home he wasn’t curious at all, he was just like “yup, there she is”.  All the tips and advice you gave us have been so helpful.  We still love the Haltie and he does great walking next to the stroller.

Joel, Bonnie, Jesse and baby Lydia

Heather, thanks again to you and your hubby. I appreciate it very much. The following is basically, probably word for word, what I am going to say to people who ask, “So, how did the dog training session go?”

So, in two short training sessions-I actually was the one that needed the training-my dogs and I have been able to “read” each other! Basically, the communication lines are open. I was amazed how straight forward and essentially BASIC the skills are…both to teach and to reinforce. For example, Heather and her husband worked with us on long-line and e-collar skills. After 15 minutes my dog was walking along my side, and when I would stop, he would stop and sit! Then, once we were back home, he followed me from room to room, laying down when I was in one place for awhile…this was the dog that would basically go the OPPOSITE direction of me when we would walk. THIS IS AMAZING!!! I would not have believed it if I hadn’t seen it for myself…and actually was able to “instruct” the dog myself after a bit of practice. DON’T WASTE ANY MORE TIME!!! CALL THIS GIRL! Toss your conventional wisdom in the trash. No longer will you have to yell, be yanked on a leash, repeat yourself time and time again with no response…it is with “calm assertiveness”-direct quote-that I encourage you to take two hours out of your day and let Heather teach you that you are worth following…and how easy it is to convince your dogs to do so!!!

Erin Ferguson

We adopted our dog, Milo, a 7 ½ year old German Shepherd/Collie mix from the Humane Society. We brought him into our home that has 3 existing cats and we were not sure what to expect. This was an adult dog with a personality and behaviors we did not know, a big concern for us. As much as we tried to integrate Milo and the cats together on our own we were unsuccessful; we felt professional advic…e would go a long way to ensure our critter family could all get along. When we asked our vet for suggestions she highly recommended Heather as she has used Heather with her own dogs. The in-home consultation suited us best and we got so much more than we could have possibly imagined. Within 20 minutes of working with Milo he went from an attention-demanding, anxious dog to a mellow one and we could not believe our eyes. Heather trained us in dog behavior (yes, we needed training!!) and had us participate every step of the way, and she helped us with many things:

  • Changing Milo’s attention-demanding behavior to a mellow, relaxed dog
  • Crate-training
  • Walking on the leash without Milo pulling the leash
  • Bark management for such things as the doorbell ringing
  • Identification of Milo’s degree of Prey Instinct, allowing us to know we could safely integrate him with the cats and how to do the integration gently, respectfully, and safely
  • Changing Milo’s bone-burying behavior (she did this in less than 5 minutes)

Heather has saved our family, allowing Milo to become a permanent member of our home and proving that any dog at any age can be trained. The cats are even beginning to play a bit with him! Going forward we intend to have Heather participate in helping us with any new dog we bring home. We highly recommend Heather for any and every challenge you may be facing with one or more of your dogs.

Wendy

What can I say about Heather other than she is a miracle worker with dogs! I was desperate for help with my 5 year old Pit Bull/Lab Mix, Chance, when I found Heather’s site and decided to set up an appointment. I’d been struggling for years with Chance’s possessive behaviors of me and of our home. I wanted to go to someone that understood Pit Bulls and just had a passion for dogs in general. I… could tell right away on the phone that Heather was going to be the trainer for Chance and I, and this belief was affirmed when we went in for our consultation. She had him walking by her side and calm in mere minutes of working with him. By the end of our consultation, Heather had Chance doing things I never thought he would be able to do! Heather just seems to understand dogs and know exactly what they need to bring out that wonderful dog that they really are!

I couldn’t believe my dog at our first social after working with him intensely on the skills Heather had taught me. It was like a completely different dog! Normally when Chance was in situations with large groups of dogs, he’d harass all the other dogs until they’d just had enough. Heather worked with him for FIVE minutes and the rest of the social he was a perfect angel! I can truly say that Heather has changed Chance and I’s life. Now everyone else finally gets to see the dog that I always saw when he was alone with me, and it’s a fabulous feeling!

I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Heather to anyone who is having problems with their dogs! She is extremely knowledgeable and very easy to talk to about your concerns. You can tell she is listening and taking all of it to heart, so that she can better help you and your dog. Not to mention her skills with dogs in general! I couldn’t believe how fast Chance responded to Heather! The great thing is, is that she can show you just as easily how to get your dog to respond to you in the exact same manner!

Thank you Heather you have truly changed our lives!

Sarah