Professional Dog Training in London, Ontario!
I would like to provide you with feedback regarding our dogs who have attended your classes at CanineLife. The first time that you met Murphy, we attended your facility to have a picture taken with Santa Claus. Murphy is 9 years old and thought nothing of taking her to get her picture done with Santa Claus. Although, she had not taken any formal classes, she had lived with us since she was 8 weeks old, raised in a family environment and we had her older sister as well. We walked into the facility and Murphy, as I found out later, was extremely overwhelmed with the other people, both 2 and 4 legged ones. She snarled at everyone and barked constantly. By this time, I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me up. Fortunately, an understandable person suggested to me to come and talk with you. You could tell that I was so embarrassed and wanted to vbacate the premises but by this time, I was too far into the room and walking back, I wasn't sure that Murphy wouldn't hurt someone. Your calm manner and your explanations of Murphy's behaviour were amazing and constructive to hear. I heard that Murphy's behaviour could be changed. I didn't know that a mature dog like Murphy could be helped. Murphy went through 3 levels of classes. I was so proud of her when she was able to be off leash in her advanced class. It was just 5 months earlier that I thought she was going to attack someone at CanineLife. She has come so much further than I would ever believe it to be possible. Not only has Murphy benefited from your wealth of knowledge and expertise but Dixon and Teddy have also enrolled in your classes. Dixon attended as a puppy and is currently in his advanced off leash training. Teddy came into our home at 2 years of age just over a month ago. He came from an abused home. Through your expertise, Teddy's anxiety level has diminished and he is becoming a more confident dog. I wish to thank you for all you have done for us and for our dogs. We are a much happier and settled family!
In June 2008, my 4 year old daughter and I adopted a dog, a shepherd cross who we named Jake. After Jake had been living with us for a few weeks, he began to show increasingly aggressive and threatening behaviour towards both men and other dogs. He was also aggressive towards bicyclists and people on rollerblades or skateboards. He was very difficult to walk and to control because he would throw himself at the end of his leash trying to physically attack. On one occasion, late last summer and while on the leash, he bit another dog that approached him. Ultimately, last fall, Jake bit my upstairs neighbour in a completely unprovoked attack in our backyard.
I enrolled in training with CanineLife in the hopes that it would help Jake's aggression. We are now in regular group training programs and our third session of classes with CanineLife. I highly recommend both CanineLife’s training program and Sharlene in particular. Sharlene has a wonderful way with people and an extraordinary ability with dogs. Her teaching is clear, easy to understand and she is always ready to offer one-on-one help in class. She is just as proficient at training owners how to deal with their dogs, as she is in training dogs to follow their owners.
Sharlene’s expertise and teaching has resulted in Jake making a 100% turnaround. He no longer exhibits any reaction to men, bicyclists or rollerbladers when we are walking, and 90% of the time does not react to dogs that we encounter on our walks. When he does react, Sharlene’s teaching has given me the tools to recognize the warning signs and properly counter-act them before Jake becomes aggressive. Just this past weekend, for the first time ever, I was able to take Jake to a coffee shop patio and have coffee with a friend while he sat at my side, not reacting to the many dogs that passed us.
Jake is finally a happy and contented dog and, thanks to Sharlene, I have peace of mind and an enjoyable life with him. I cannot recommend Sharlene’s abilities enough. She would be an invaluable addition to any dog training program.
Meredith G., B.A., LL.B.
I'm writing to share my excitement with you!! I took Tess for a walk tonight and she didn't pull me down the street! I'm soooo excited! It was a nice, pleasant, peaceful walk. We then played frisbee for a reward! I was then feeling adventurous so I called our neighbour to come over to ring the doorbell to practice having her act appropriately when people come to the door, Tess did great! Thank you again, and we look forward to continue training with you.
Janine
In December 2008, after 6 months of searching what type of puppy, our family finally decided on a Labradoodle. It had been quite a few years since we had raised a puppy and decided to enroll in obedience classes with Sharlene at CanineLife Training and Consulting. Since then, I thank Sharlene everyday for being here for our family and for our puppy Diamond. Sharlene's training with Diamond and us has been fantastic! Her method on training with words and hand signals and teaching us to be cautious of our body language to have clear communication with Diamond has been the best thing since she was such a hyper-active puppy, we have learned how to channel her energy in a positive way through training and have her settle on one cue. Diamond has learned to respect us and listen; she is always eager to work for us.
When we first started classes with Sharlene, Diamond was a 4 month old overly excited puppy, when she saw anything slightly interesting she would jump 5 feet into the air and could not handle any distractions without becoming overly excited, after our first group session Diamond had calmed right down and learned how to greet both people and other pets in a controlled fashion.
We are now beginning our third group session with Sharlene in the Advanced Obedience Training Program and having just as much fun as we did in the first two levels! Diamond is a totally different puppy at now 9 months old.
Sharlene has also provided us with any additional private lessons we required to help deal with everyday situations occuring in our household, she has been there faithfully for our family and Diamond and it still amazes us on how all of Sharlene's client dogs are so attentive to her.
Without Sharlene we would have had an out of control puppy. Several times a night during classes you will hear 'Sharlene, please come live with us!' Sharlene will always be the first one to reassure you that you can positively train your puppy or dog just as she does and she will walk you through the steps to ensure you have proper understanding and achieve your goals.
Sharlene has great patience for all of us and makes any household with a dog/puppy a happy household through her fun, motivational, and effective training techniques. I will continue through as many levels as possible with Diamond and Sharlene as everyday we see great strides of improvement of skill with Diamond. We are always eager to recommend Sharlene and CanineLife Training and Consulting to anyone who is in need of training or has a new puppy.
Diamond, Angela & Family
Vaughn has been a hundred times better since we started the classes with you! Now that we know how to train her properly wer are having a much easier time with her, thank you so much!
Korie & Vaughn
For the past months our family has been working with Sharlene from CanineLife Training and Consulting. We have attended Puppy Head Start Program, are currently attending Intermediate Obedience Program, and had a personal house visit.
During these times, Sharlene has provided excellent hands on guidance while we ‘learn’ how to train ourselves, our Rottweiler puppy named Hemi, and ensure we train our eight year old son, Aaron how to properly interact with Hemi as well.
Throughout our courses with Sharlene, not only has she taught us proven techniques that have lead to an obedient puppy, we have also learned the importance of body language when raising our puppy. Our son has learned from Sharlene that his body language can speak to a puppy just as easily as words can as well. This has helped us tremendously as Aaron knows that if he’s running and jumping, that it may encourage the same from our puppy. She has also addressed the importance of him being aware of Hemi being playful and to always be careful around a puppy’s teeth; to never let the puppy chew or mouth on any part of him. She educated us on how to read the dog’s body language; when a dog’s tail is up or down, when the dog’s mouth is closed or open, where their ears are, and the reactions each may cause. She taught us how to prevent negative out comes for example when a dog is getting ready to nip or bite how to redirect prior to the nip or bite. She also told us the importance of positive praise and rewarding with touch and play.
Sharlene’s knowledge and expertise have paved the way for our family to learn and grow with our pet. Her techniques and explanations are down to earth; she is able to explain concepts verbally and successfully demonstrate them. We have found her to be thorough, pleasant and compassionate in all her aspects of training.
Since bringing Hemi into our family, we have learned how to properly praise as well as discipline him and have him mold into our family comfortably.
We look forward to our group classes as they are always a lot of fun, educational and Sharlene’s encouragement for socialization with other pets in the classes have helped with our family.
Keep up the outstanding work Sharlene!
Danielle and Joe VandenBerg
We are a household with 3 dogs and 1 cat and it was an out of control house till we called CanineLife Training and Consulting. The oldest dog Nugget is a 3 ½ Chihuahua, and 2 Mini Dachshund x Chihuahua’s, Rhys 5 lbs and Lyndis 10 lbs that are both a little over a year and untrained out and of control. When my daughter’s little dog Rhys started charging, snarling, and attempting to bite people who came near him or us, we were worried we would have to put him down if she wasn’t able to take him to Toronto when she went to school. I couldn’t look after him as well as my own Chihuahua and help with the care of my son’s dog as well. We also couldn’t see how anyone else would be able to adopt him the way he was acting.
None of our dogs walked properly when leashed, they would charge at people that ran past, or try to take off after any squirrel, other pet, or even people they could see in the complex we live in. They pulled constantly on their leashes and were hard to control if they saw another dog. I have been in several car accidents with the last one doing severe damage to my lower back, so I did not enjoy my walks with Nugget even though he is only 14 lbs, he could hurt my back when he charged after other dogs or squirrels and birds. Since receiving training, Nugget walks nicely and pays attention to me and not everything else around him. I can even let go of his leash when we are on our own property and he will come right to the door with me. He waits for me to say ‘okay’ before he enters of leaves the house, so I am not being dragged out the door anymore. All of this is done by redirection when he shows inappropriate body language or is not paying attention to where I am or how fast I am walking.
After one lesson with Sharlene, I walked into the apartment and it was like a totally different place. The 2 young dogs were quieter and calmer than I had ever seen them be, when anyone came to the door. Sharlene had spent most of her first visit just explaining what their behaviour meant and how to redirect them when they did it. She also explained that our own actions were causing the dogs to behave inappropriately. We have finished with the personal training sessions and are looking forward to the obedience training classes.
The biggest bonus of all of this is that Rhys is already showing such great improvement over his aggression that Lindsay’s friend who said she couldn’t share an apartment with her because of Rhys has now agreed to move in with her after all. We have seen such a great improvement.; before the training he would try and bite my dad’s ankles, now he sniffs him and licks him, so a major breakthrough and we are no longer afraid that we will have to put him down.
That you to Sharlene for all her help so far for giving us such great advice and taking the time to explain why the dogs are doing what they are doing and helping to train us and our dogs. We will recommend CanineLife Training and Consulting, to anyone who we know that is having a problem with their dogs. The help has made our lives and our dogs lives so much better.
Sincerely, Lee McLachlan
Thank you for your helpfulness. Without knowing who I was your telephone response to my plea for help in integrating a rescue cat into our home was fabulous. We have a 2 year old Westie, who was very excited about the cat's arrival in our home. We were committed to helping her feel safe and secure. We also did not want our wonderful dog to feel displaced. Sharlene gave some great tips on what to watch for, how to intervene and also reassurance about what we were doing right. We were successful in meeting our goal, namely every one is getting along happily. Your quick response was so appreciated by us. Thanks again. -Lee Anne B
Madi and I just want you to know how much we appreciate all of your help this past year!
We have been taking training classes with CanineLife for almost a year, we started in June 09. My one stipulation when deciding to get a dog was to ensure he/she was a well trained dog. Lily is well on her way. Lily is our first dog and without Sharlene and the training classes we would have been lost, where to start training, the proper way to train etc.
Sharlene has a great ability with dogs, understanding their motives, knowing how they think and react and showing and suggesting how to encourage good behaviour and how to discourage inappropriate behaviour.
Sharlene can sense when we are feeling frustrated and is always there is encourage us.
Sharlene is always readily available. She returns calls and e-mails promptly with effective information I can put to immediate use.
Sharlene is not only teaching us what we need to do to train our dog but she also explains the logic behind the actions with patience and many hands on demonstrations.
We plan to continue our training with Sharlene and are looking forward to seeing the advancements in Lily and ourselves.
Lily, Wendy and Madi.
Just wanted to send you a note to let you know how things are going with Hamilton. It's going quite well, he has calmed down quite a lot, almost instantly which is great. He is doing fantastic on his walks, right at your side, rarely ever trying to pull ahead. As for his possessiveness with items it has decreased dramatically too! Thanks again! -Krista & family
We just wanted to up date you on how Marley is doing, She great! We pretty much have the cat issue done and gone, so I feel much better! Her walking is doing much better also. We took her to the vet and the vet was very impressed with how great she is and said we got very lucky. Thank you so much for your help and we'll keep you updated. -April and Marley
I enjoyed attending your class and I thought well of your methods and skill
with the dogs. -Lori
