“First of all, Ariel is phenomenal. I never thought there would be hope for one of our dogs. We have one Pomeranian Mix (Hachi) and 1 American Eskimo Mix (Peanuts), both adopted. Ever since we got Peanuts, he has barked at everything — doorbell/knocking, sounds on television, shampoo bottle falling in the upstairs bathroom while we were upstairs, birds and many outside noises. We’ve tried shock collars, pet correctors, yelling, high ultrasonic sound devices and those did absolutely nothing. We have a home business so we have USPS, FedEx and UPS knocking on our door regularly, 6 days a week…which drives Peanuts crazy and as a result, stresses out Hachi. One day, Peanuts nipped our FedEx guy and we knew we needed to properly train them.”

“After a few sessions, my husband and I were truly amazed at how quickly and effectively things were progressing. Ariel emphasized the importance of positive reinforcement and I think that makes a huge difference.”
- KATHLEEN W.

Some Canine Coach clients had a friend over today. Meet Kerry! After being blown away by their dogs new behaviors, after just a handful of sessions, she felt inspired to share her experience. Thanks for sharing, Kerry! Excited for these positive changes. More to come!

“Ariel is impressive. She conducts herself with professionalism and poise that really translates to results with us and our dog. We have a 100lb German Shepherd who has a lot of reactivity while on leashed walks. He is so hard to manage that we've called in Ariel's help. On the first day, she managed to train our dog and get him to follow her basic commands. I think the most impressive part of her approach was that she narrated all of his thoughts and actions so that we could gain some insight into how he might be feeling. We still are in the midst of training him but I'm very happy with Ariel's work and I would highly recommend her.”

”As an aside and almost irrelevant to dog training, I believe Ariel imparts important leadership skills to her clients, too. I can tell you that Ariel's training (on us) has led to good outcomes in our workplace, too!”

- MICHAEL M.

“Chip is a rescue and we don’t know too much about his life. He has separation anxiety, among a few things, and he escaped from the house in a panic to look for us and was found miles away (after crossing many busy streets). He also did a lot of damage to our home a few time we were gone for just a few hours. He has also nipped people (including Ariel!) that he didn’t know when they came to our house or approached us. It was difficult for us because he is the sweetest boy in the world, and we knew he was struggling with something.

We really couldn’t have solved these issues without Ariel’s help. Every time she came over for one of our sessions, she amazed us with her knowledge and taught us sooo much. I feel like I know how to communicate with my dog now and that’s huge. She helped train us and him and boost his confidence, which was the missing link for Chip.

He is much more confident on walks, around people and strangers, and totally loves to show off and perform his new tricks for us.”

“She made a world of difference.”
- ANGIE J.

“SHE IS AWESOME. She took the time to not only show us how to train, but also explained why our Goldendoodle puppy will respond to certain things and not others.”
- JASON W.

“Ariel is super good and knows her stuff! The girls loved training with her and we all learned so much! Her methods are kind and they work.”

“We never used to be able to have a lot of people over for barbecues because the dogs would bark at everyone but recently we had 10 friends over with their kids and the girls were perfect little angels!”
- JENN L.

“She’s like an octopus goalie.”
- JOEL B.

Orson has nerve-based reactivity towards humans and frustration based reactivity towards other dogs. During the evaluation at Julianas home, Orson lunged at me a few times with intent to bite. It was clear that Orson was willing to do some serious damage if he was given the opportunity. First thing I did was suggest a muzzle. Why? For 3 reasons: 1) So that I can handle Orson without getting bit. 2) To ensure no one else gets bit while we begin to work on his behaviors. And 3) To give Juliana peace of mind so she can begin to handle him with a calmer and more confident energy.

This was an even tougher situation considering Juliana’s husband/partner was currently working overseas. They plan to move out of state, right away, when he returns. She felt like she was going to have to do it all on her own and on top of it, pressed for time. She was able to keep her husband in the loop during the training process and we planned to catch him up once he was back home.

First text message after the In-Home Behavioral Evaluation:

“Thank you so much for everything! I definitely look forward to working with you. I love the way you train so far. It totally all makes sense. I feel like I have failed as a dog owner - which is a horrible feeling….but now its time to change things around and learn. Thanks again! I’ll get that muzzle and get back to you in regards to getting our next appointment scheduled. Thank you thank you thank you.”

In early January, we got to work!

“I was SO impressed. This definitely gave me a confident booster.” - Juliana

I cant begin to stress how important it is that clients are able to handle their own dog. You are the key component in your dogs life and therefore, you have the biggest influence of all. That is why Canine Coach coaches humans.

What Juliana had to say:

“Ariel is so amazing!!! She’s been the trainer for myself and my dog Orson. He’s a really reactive dog on leash and she’s definitely helped him get calmer. She has taught me how to be more calm in situations, and taught me how to read my dogs body language. Highly recommend her!”

Her husband soon returned home, and as planned, he was caught up on what to do. Shortly after, Juliana and her husband moved out of state.

Update: July 20, 2019

“Hi!!!! Everything has gone great since our move. Orson is awesome and loves the backyard. Our neighbor has a dog who was barking through the fence and he didn’t even bark, he just sniffed. We have taken him to the beach with lots of people swimming and he does great. We even had a whole family next to us at the beach and he did fine.

Update: October 26, 2019

“Just wanted to share, my husband convinced me to get a puppy. We have had him a little while now and he and Orson are BEST friends. Orson kind of huffed at him at first but did nothing! Just wanted to share that he has a buddy!! “

“She was wonderful to work with! Our dog is seven and we were new to the area but having trouble taking Lili in public places, even after having worked with other trainers where we lived before. Ariel came out and gave us and Lili a refresher on the basics. Getting Lili to listen and want to follow instructions was the most helpful. She was never a dog with behavior problems but just getting her to decide whether to listen to instruction or not was key. Ariel taught us so much about how Lili’s mind works and how to work with her in a positive way. And she LOVED Ariel!”

“Our first trip to the park we were surprised to see so many dogs on chokers and pronged collars and how many people felt so strongly about that painful way to control their dogs, which didn’t work by the way. Watching Ariel train Lili without those methods made so much more sense and actually was effective.”
- JODI C.

“We are incredibly appreciative of everything Ariel did to help us. When we got Mango, our eight week Bernedoodle we realized we were in way over our heads and had no way to control her. Ariel helped give us not only a foundation for training but also a method for handling our crazy puppy. Without her help, we may have sent her back to the breeder but she is now becoming an awesome (but still crazy) part of our family.”

- RICHARD M.

“I had 5 sessions with Ariel and she was just great!! She was so good with my pup, and I learned some great methods on how to reinforce good behavior from my stereotypically stubborn French Bulldog. We worked a lot of simple obedience and loose leash walking. I have been incredibly impressed with the progress many dog has made on our walks since I was shown some simple techniques.

Ariel explained everything clearly and made sure to show me the correct way if I didn’t fully grasp a technique (consistency is key when training your dogs). My Frenchie has already shows great improvement in a couple of weeks, thanks to Ariel.”
- ERIC S.

“Ariel is much a people trainer as she is a dog trainer. She was great about pointing out (gently) how some of our behaviors would affect our pup’s development (at times we were not firm enough, diligent enough, etc.) Her training methods are positive reinforcement based, which is what we were looking for. We did not want our pup’s spirit broken with harsh methods.” We did several sessions over 4 months time. Our pup was quickly walking well on leash, sitting, staying and doing a few ‘trick’ commands on cue. Some days he was just not into having a training session, and Ariel was always able to switch gears and get his attention and engage him. We highly recommend connecting with Ariel for training your furry family member.”

- RO B.

“There definitely were times where we wished Ariel would simply take Buddy away, work her magic and then return him to us all trained. Obviously that didn’t happen. What did happen is that Ariel trained us so that we, in turn, could train Buddy.”
“Every one of Ariel’s strategies and techniques has worked. Without her help and advice his transition into our family would have been much more difficult. Buddy has come so far in such a short period and that is all due to Ariel and her expertise.”

“We anticipate continuing to have Ariel as our trainer because there are just so many challenging and fun things left for Buddy (and us) to learn.”

-JUDY S.

“I was very fortunate to have Ariel train me and Harley, my Am Staff (pit bull) mix. It was obvious that Ariel has a strong psychology background (both human and dog) which enhances the effectiveness of her training since “dog training” is as much or more about training people to learn canine language in order to improve the dog/human relationship. Ariel Emphasized the importance of leadership and introduced a lot of techniques that worked incredibly well within just a few short sessions. I am amazed at hoe well Ariel was able to modify the behavior of my often “feisty” Pitt mix and me.

“Ariel has fantastic energy and dedication. She is truly interested in her work and it shows.”

-ERIC L.

“Ariel Santa Maria was punctual and ready to work as soon as she arrived. She listened to what we wanted to accomplish and helped us succeed in basic obedience, calming our dogs anxiety and we also learned fun tricks later like roll over, shake, dance, bang and others! The first session was great and each session after was just as successful.”

“Loose leash walking was a big concern for us because our dog was always pulling and fighting to get sweaty while walking. Ariel helped us address several bad behaviors, and indoor and outdoor manners.”

“Ariel seemed to know how to speak to our dog and our dog really loved working with her. She also knows how to change her approach based on the mood of the dog, its surroundings and the goals. This is what I was most impressed with! if my dog dog distracted one stopped progressing she immediately changed tactics and every time she was able to regain focus and attention from Keira.”

“Ariel trained our dog but she also was able to train us to be better owners.”
- SARAH B.

“Our last session was yesterday, and we fell much more confident than we did 8 weeks ago. Ariel is extremely knowledgeable, and has a friendly yet firm presence that worked well for our dog (and gave his something to model). She seems to intuitively grasp what is behind each dog’s (and even human’s) behavior. We appreciate the promise reinforcement, clear boundaries, and reasonable expectations for our still-developing puppy. Our dog loves learning new commands and has become a better listener, calmer companion, and more grounded little guy because of the tools and strategies Ariel shared with us. We highly recommend her!”
- CAMERON S.

“We just completed our basic training with our 4 month old German Shepherd puppy. Ariel was our trainer and she was FANTASTIC! The communication was great right off the bat.”

“Ariel is very knowledgeable with training. She is quick, efficient and effective. You can tell she loves what she does. Thank you Ariel! You are WONDERful!”

- FRANK E.

“Ariel is awesome. She really helped me understand my dog (5 year old Maltese) so I could learn how to help him be more confident. She is great to work with.”

- HEATHER S.

“We were set up with Ariel and from our first meeting I knew she would help change our lives with our new dog. She has been amazing training both me and our dog. She helped me understand Shadow's behaviors and how to reduce her anxiety in the world. Not only has Shadow learned basic manners and commands but she knows more intermediate commands such as "stay", "high five", "leave it" and she even taught her how to play hide and seek with my kids which they LOVE.  We look forward to our sessions every week. I would highly recommend Ariel to anyone.”

- DENISE P.

Shadow learning “spin” with the Coach.

“I just finished my 7 session training with Ariel. I have quite a peculiar mini doxie who loves to challenge me. I think this will be a forever part of her personality, but with Ariel's help, I don't feel that Penny runs the show anymore. I have the confidence and skills now to understand my dog and know how to be an effective leader. Her barking has greatly reduced so now the home is much more livable, and her obedience grows everyday.”

Update:

“We have done an additional 5 training sessions with Ariel! We wanted to work on some more specific commands, and were having issues with our dog's anxiety. Ariel helped give more commands to help reinforce me as my dog's alpha. We have since changed our living situation to help Penny with her anxiety. That coupled with the training from Ariel has made all the difference. I have never seen her this calm and happy :)”
- LISA J.

“We have a two year old shepherd mix that is afraid of everything and is also aggressive towards other dogs.  Ariel came into our home and has truly worked miracles with him!  I can finally take our dog Bear out without being afraid of him pulling me down.  Ariel worked with me to address his issues with positive reinforcement and better training techniques.  She was honest with her assessment of our dog, she is attentive to what your are concerned with and works her sessions around what you want and need to accomplish.  Bear has transformed from a very needy dog to a well behaved dog in literally three sessions.”
- TINA R.

“Our puppy Timmy was 4 months old when we started working with Ariel. After just one session we saw an improvement in his behavior and attention. Ariel taught us how to be good owners by helping us understand how to train and more importantly for me how to be the pack leader my dog needed. Timmy loves training and seeing Ariel.”

- MIA W.

“Ariel came highly recommended to us by our son, whom Ariel helped with his dog. She did not disappoint. We appreciated her insight  into how dogs think, communicate and interact. That insight helped us in working with our German Shepherd/Lab mix Gunny. She was also patient and effective during the learning process!”
- SANDRA J.

“Ariel was really great. She really helped us understand why our dog Maya was acting a certain way and what we needed to do to help and train her. Maya has made some huge improvements thanks to Ariel and we will be forever grateful. Thank you!”

- KARINA M.