Here's what our clients are saying:

One year ago we lost our dog, Buddy.  The grief we experienced around the death of our pet convinced us that we would never have another dog.

Buddy was a magnificent animal, bright, enthusiastic and affectionate.  He enjoyed people and other dogs. He took pleasure in jumping up to greet people.  We walked together for thirteen years.  Buddy would be on a leash pulling me for two miles, twice a day.  Although he understood the command “Come!” when he was off leash; at times he would accommodate me, but more often than not I found myself yelling numerous times for him to return.  Eventually he would arrive home.  As he approached I would say, “Where were you?” in a frustrated, angry tone of voice.  He never did tell me, but I kept asking.  Buddy loved to play Frisbee.  I would toss it into the air until Buddy decided he was no longer interested, which seemed like hours later.  Yes, he was a wonderful pet. However, I came to the realization that Buddy was not given the opportunity to be all that he could be due to my lack of understanding regarding leadership and teamwork.

Four months following Buddy’s death, a seven week old yellow Labrador retriever puppy we named Bentley, entered our lives.  Shortly after his homecoming I met our Canine Coach, Sharon.  By chance I had read a newspaper article about Sharon’s expertise in training owners and their canine kids.  I contacted her and our training began when Bentley was 10 weeks old.

 Bentley turned 10 months old on January 1, 2007.  He follows a number of commands both on and off leash.  Not once have I raise my voice or asked Bentley a question.  Once he understands the command, he has become accustomed to responding as long as I follow through with consistency remaining composed and assertive.  Training is weaved into our daily lives.  Sharon has taught me that distractions are opportunities for Bentley and me to practice teamwork.

If I were to acknowledge the countless ways that Sharon has enhanced our lives I could easily write a book.  She will remain an essential part our lives for many years to come.  With Sharon’s proficiency, Bentley and I are becoming the team we were meant to be.

 Patricia Robinson Trapp and Bentley

I am the owner of several well-loved dogs. These dogs need to be groomed on a regular basis. It was always a challenge to take them to be groomed. They would be so anxious from the time we left the house right up to the time we reached our destination. It was hard to attempt to get them out of the car. I could only open the door a bit and make sure I had them by the leash. Then the "Grand March" to get them inside as they pulled and ran around me. That one small task of taking my dogs out was a Dreaded Event!

One day I saw the flyer for the Canine Coach. What a Godsend! One visit to my home; I could not believe my dogs! They could sit, wait, listen. It took work on my part, but Sharon gave me the directions and tools I needed. I was amazed at how quickly they learned. How easy it was! Going out with my dogs is a whole new experience. I am proud to take them and know they will behave.

Over the past ten years Sharon has been there for help and any concerns I've had. She is a dedicated pet person. She is more than a great Canine Coach, she is a friend.

  -Cindi Vozka with Abby, Bailey, and Libby

In December my husband and I became new proud owners of a Lab puppy, Delta. We were both looking forward with anticipation and apprehension as to what this new bundle of joy was to bring into our life. Now, having a 13 and 9 year Lab with health issues, a new, healthy puppy was sure to be a breath of fresh air. As a co-worker of Sharon’s, I was able to pick her brain daily with questions of what to expect, how to train, and even borrowed books to freshen up my training skills.  My husband and I knew we wanted Sharon’s help to train Delta with an electronic collar. We had seen how well her client’s canines took to the collar and were well behaved.

 We started Delta out young wearing the collar around to get used to the feeling. She soon learned sit, come, stay, wait, and off. She progressed quickly and was a quick learner, although she was strong willed at times. Best of all, she was a happy puppy and never seemed afraid to learn or try anything new.

 All of a sudden we were thrown a curve ball!! At 13 weeks old, Delta developed a tear of her ACL in her left knee while playing with our 9 year old Lab. It took us a couple weeks and a visit to a specialist to get her final diagnosis. What to do with a puppy on exercise restrictions for weeks and a full orthopedic surgery soon to come?

 Thank goodness she had already started her training program. We were able to control her actions with the collar and it came in so handy! She knew to listen to us with out us yelling at her and getting blue in the face. She was good on a leash (sometimes it was tough!) and we were able to stop her actions when she was getting rowdy with the simple command “off”. I am sure that if she had not started her training, she would have been an uncontrollable handful of a puppy that was on house confinement for 4 weeks after surgery!! We were able to work her mind to tire her out in the house. 

With Sharon’s help, we have a wonderful Lab puppy that is happy go lucky, loves to learn and is eager to please.  What an asset Sharon is to the training community!

Jody  & Brett McKinney with Delta

We were a family of four with one very old dog.  Our cat of 16 years passed away in the fall.  We had room in our home for one more pet.  So, we thought it would be nice to have a puppy.   Well, let us tell you about that decision.  We adopted the sweetest, cutest border collie puppy and named him Benny.  We were ready for this puppy!  We read lots of books on dogs and puppies.  We read about border collies.  We talked extensively to people who owned border collies and others who had raised dogs from puppies.  We watched puppy videos.  Heck, we started taping Caesar Milan’s “Dog Whisperer” program every Friday night!   We did all the appropriate puppy tests to make sure that we were going to have a wonderful family dog.  And at first, we did.  We fell in love with Benny.  He was so little, so cute, so smart. 

Then he got bigger.  He started jumping on people as they entered the door.  He was very rude to people and sometimes to dogs.  He threw his food all about when we fed him.  He didn’t respect the kids (ages 14 and 11) in our family.  It was no fun at all trying to take him for walk.  His attention was on anything and everything except us.  He pretty much thought he ruled the roost.  Sometimes we did, too.  As prepared as we thought we were, we knew that we needed help.  (The dog books and videos would have been more useful if Benny would have read and watched them, too.)   

We called the Canine Coach, aka Sharon Larson, dog whisperer #2.  She rocked Benny’s world and made ours a lot more enjoyable.  After evaluating Benny, Sharon introduced us all to the training collar.  It didn’t take long before we were playing Frisbee and ball outside with Benny, who was OFF LEAD!  Benny can sit, go down, and wait.  He eats his food like any other dog now.  Walking him around the neighborhood has become a lot more fun.  We know that we still have a long way to go.  Currently we’re working on “place” and “wait”.   

When Sharon came to our house for the third session, we commented on how happy Benny was to see her.  She simply told us that, of course, he was.  She had taught him language. 

We can’t thank you enough, Sharon.  Benny is becoming a great member of our family!

The Kotarba Family with Benny

We met Sharon because we had bought an electronic collar and now we were hiring someone to train us on it? She was very calm when she arrived. She is the only new visitor we had had who did not elicit Tootsie peeing upon greeting. Sharon certainly knows how to greet a strange dog and how to command authority with her quiet, but firm voice. Tootsie had been displaying very dominant and independent behavior. Sharon put the collar on Tootsie and in less than 5 minutes she had become more obedient. As time passed, and we have learned how to use the collar, we are much happier parents and Tootsie Roll is a much happier dog. She knows she has her freedom and we are willing to give it to her knowing that we can call her back at any moment. She has now turned into a dog we can really enjoy.

Being trained by Sharon was a real learning experience. She was very patient with us, and very very patient with the dog. Or is that the other way around? She was always calm and very professional. She was also very persuasive and assured us we were doing the right thing. We achieved another level of obedience by using the electronic collar and we could not have done it without Sharon's expertise.

Jim & Jane Hoover with Tootsie

Bentley

Bailey, Abby and Libby

Delta

Benny with his kids