Reviews and Testimonials

“Karen is a wonderful dog trainer. My dog immediately loved her, and so did I. I was making things complicated, she made them simple. She helped me understand my dog’s behavior and how I needed to fix my own. In one week I have a new dog. It has been a wonderful experience. She goes above and beyond. She even brought over a new crate, pen, Kong, stuffed toy, dinner and breakfast for my dog to get me started. Went out of her way and comes to your own home. She’s a blessing. Highly recommend her as your trainer, too.” – Mary S

“Even before getting our Goldendoodle, Aunt Karen was available to answer many questions, recommended books and videos etc to help us prepare. Our first meet and great went great and we are excited to work with Aunt Karen and raising our Shiloh with manners and a great deal of love.” – Marilyn B

“Karen is the difference between absolutely loving your dog and thinking you made a mistake by bringing one into your family. We have a 3 month old female English Labrador Retriever who will grow to about 70 lbs in weight, so it was imperative we set the ground rules early. One of the best things we ever have done is call Aunt Karen. Positive reinforcement training means our pup isn’t cringing but eagerly awaiting what we need her to do next.”  –Jim V

“I have a 4 month old Lab puppy that I really needed to understand how to help achieve a happy life. Karen was very knowledgeable, professional and educational. Karen recommended we met first at her home where by the time we left she had provided the appropriate harness, assessed my puppy and developed a working plan for both puppy and I. By the end of 4 sessions I was well on my way to understanding my actions with my puppies responses in order to get the right behaviors from the puppy. I am a better handler with Karen’s help.” – Mary A

“Karen is terrific. She truly understands dogs, and her training methods, using no force, choke collars, etc, get solid results quickly. In less that 5 minutes she taught our highly food-motivated Great Pyrenees to leave food alone until released, then taught us how to do it. In class, she completely turned around an aggressive and frightened young shepherd and had it playing happily in a group, again in less than 5 minutes. Karen has an off-beat sense of humor and laughs easily, making the sessions fun, but she is deadly serious about making your dog the best dog and companion it can be. More importantly, she trains the owner. Once you understand her approach, you can apply it to all sorts of situations. Highly recommended!” – Jack S

“Very positive. Knows a lot about dog behavior. Gives lots of information to help train the owner as well as the dog. Will recommend to anyone wanting to learn how to train their pets.” – Robin K

“Karen gives usable methods of training your dog, while retraining your thinking about dogs. Knows her stuff, very personable and incredibly helpful, even answering emails promptly. She goes out of her way to support you, even after the training session :)” – Susan W

“Karen helped me tremendously with my new puppy. She clarified issues that were personal to me and put things in a much needed perspective. She’s hands on and explained things clearly. We are indebted. I highly recommend Karen for anyone who needs help with their puppy.” – Elaine T

“It had been 20 years since we had a puppy and my knowledge of training a pup was minimal even then. With our new puppy, I wanted to start her right, hoping for later involvement in therapy work. Enrolling in ‘Aunt Karen’s’ start right puppy program has not only challenged me, it has taught me foundational aspects to go forward in any path of dog training. Whether I choose to have a well trained house companion, a therapy dog or a trickster with great agility, I am now aware of the dynamics needed. Karen’s knowledge of dog behavior and human interactions enlightened me to the positive behavior approach in training. Most importantly, my Sadie loved Aunt Karen. It was amazing to see the resulting behavior of positive training.” – Patty B

“This was without doubt the BEST call we made since getting our new puppy! We are first time owners and was uneducated to say the least! Within 24 hours we saw the changes in our pup that we had hoped for! He slept quietly through the night the very first night we did her program!…. therefore so did we!!!! He didn’t have an accident with her program! Aunt Karen took the time (and trust me to explain everything we needed to know it was quality time) to share with us her knowledge with a free consultation and followed up with us without even asking! We will be absolutely be hiring her consultation throughout the growth of our puppy!! Everything that she advised us to do to make the changes we needed happened!! She knows her stuff!! Check out all her certifications and qualifications because we have learned there are only a handful in NC that have received the same education she has. I cannot say enough good or give enough stars! I would hate to think of what we would have put our puppy through without making the call to Aunt Karen!! She was a blessing! THANK YOU AUNT KAREN!” – Rebecca B

“My husband and I recently adopted liter mates a male and female Rottweiler. At 12 weeks we knew we were going to need some help with these two puppies. I made the call to Aunt Karen and she gave me much needed information over the phone and sent me many e-mails appropriate for puppy training. After our first session we were “hooked”, our pups were so excited and reacted so positive to Aunt Karen’s commands and gestures and loved her treats. We are now into our 5th week and we are so delighted with our progress, we take them to stores, car rides and meet many people. Our pups are relaxed and now socialized to many external environment distractions. It is a commitment on our part as humans to try and communicate with our fur babies. We could not have done this without Aunt Karen’s knowledge and patience. If you make the decision to adopt a dog please call Aunt Karen to help you all adjust to this new family member.” – Kathy K

“Before using Karen as a trainer I was having basic obedience issues with my dog, as well as dealing with food aggression. Karen offered to come to my house and do an analysis of my dog Louie and then offered her thoughts and how she could help me deal with his issues. Over several weeks Karen came to my house as well as met us at dog parks to work on social interactions with Louie. She always took her time and each lesson she would give me exercise to practice with my dog in order to continue advancing his obedience. She was very invested in helping me deal with Louie’s food aggression and even helped me get in touch with a holistic vet who prescribed some natural meds that have definitely made a positive change in my dog. Me and my pup have a great relationship thanks to Karen who helped teach me to teach Louie the right way. Karen still will text or email me once in a while checking in on us to make sure things are well! Definitely recommend her as a trainer!! –Emily R

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