“I would like to thank you Melanie for all your hard work with me and my Yorkshire Terrier Ruby. What is great about your training approach is your flexibility to applying different tools and techniques that work for the individual dog , within their family and lifestyle,  not a ‘one size fits all’ approach.

As a first time dog owner, I was pretty clueless of how to deal with puppy problems such as temper tantrums and mouthing, but with Melanie’s patient and consistent approach,  they were quickly dealt with and being able to have my dog come to me when called,  sit and stay and walk off leash are things I never believed in the early days I’d ever be able to master. Thanks to Melanie showing me how to be a confident owner, these are part of every day life with my dog now.
I’d highly recommend Melanie Benware as a dog trainer. She is a wonderful, kind person with a great understanding of our canine friends, and if you ever have the pleasure of meeting her own wonderful pack you’ll know how good she is!”
Jacinta Farrell
Ireland
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“My dear dog, Dooley, is 9 years old and we’ve been together since the Border Collie Rescue found him for me when he was 6 months old. He was in a “kill shelter.” He had mega anxiety left over from the horrors he was subjected to as a tiny puppy. And frankly, I still have occasional thoughts about what I would like to do to punish whoever it was that put those cigarette burns on his far-too-skinny, sweet puppy neck.

I learned that I could not use any kind of correction with him that he could possibly think of as punishment. He would just turn inward, tighten up, start shaking all over, and cease to be responsive. I needed help with his training, his socialization, his rehabilitation, and I didn’t even know how to name what I needed help with. I just knew I needed help.

Melanie came to Dooley’s rescue and to my rescue too, because at about that same time, my health went downhill and I could not be as actively involved with Dooley as I had been. Thankfully, that bad time for me is behind us, and now my Dooley dog has become a happy, upbeat, sweet old guy. Melanie took care of that. I am the ‘alpha’ dog in our pack. Melanie took care of that, too. I can say without reservation that Melanie is a competent, thoughtful, and thorough trainer. You can trust her like I did.

Dooley and I are fine. Thank you, Melanie.”

Bobbie Bennett

Glen Allen, Virginia

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