Mia & Chai

My Australian Shepherd had always been skittish around strangers, but when he was a year old, he bit one of my friends. I immediately signed him up for training with a local trainer. We learned basic commands in their garage, but his reactivity toward strangers was never really addressed.

Unfortunately, less than a year after completing that training, my Aussie bit someone else.

I signed up with another local trainer for private lessons and group classes. The trainer never really interacted with my dog and instead threw treats to him from a distance. My dog never warmed up to the trainer.

Next, I tried online training with a private trainer across the country. Without any hands-on training, it was difficult, and the trainer was often inconsistent with communication.

After three years and three different trainers, I finally found Serena.

For the first time, we actually started addressing my dog’s reactivity toward people. Our training sessions were personalized around our day-to-day interactions and the specific concerns I had with my dog. We went to public places, set up real-life scenarios in my home, went on hikes, and participated in group training to help build his confidence. None of my previous training experiences had included that kind of real-world work.

Serena is also quick to help and correct me when I’m not following through with the training properly. She has built a great relationship with my Aussie—he loves training with her and is very responsive to her.

What stands out most is the effort Serena has put into understanding my dog, building a relationship with him, and helping us work through the issues we were actually struggling with. That was something I hadn’t found with any of the three trainers we worked with before.