Testimonials
“Fran brings to dog training a special combination of deep knowledge and skilled teaching. She is not only an accomplished, science-based trainer, but also makes training fun and accessible, for us and our dog. She worked with us at just the right pace, teaching what the evidence shows about how dogs learn and think, and appropriately dispensing with counter-productive myths like those about “dominance.”
Our 80 pound, almost one-year-old pure-bred German Shepherd Dog, Sarge, happily works for every member of our family — including four small children ages 4, 4, 7, and 9. He sits, stays, lays down, comes when called, and performs tricks, without leash corrections, yelling, or other behavior on our part that would undermine our relationship with Sarge. Sarge has been house trained since about age three months. And I can say with satisfaction that he’s never eaten a sneaker, guarded an object, or raided the trash.
Fran gave us the tools to get there, and has made our lives, and Sarge’s, happier all along the way!”
— Brian and Amy
“Bella is doing great! We definitely learned a lot while you were here and are excited to work further with Bella.
We just got home from a 20 minute walk together. She was so excited that Steven, her and I were in our pack, and she didn’t even flinch at the heavy traffic on Ridge.
I feel like she trusts both of us so much more since your visit and she definitely feels more relaxed. Thank you for teaching us how to help Bella overcome her fears of city life.
You made all of our lives so much easier. :-)”
— Gregg & Steven
“We can’t say enough about our dog trainer Fran and her effective methods in helping us with our recently adopted 14 month old canine. Her positive training techniques show us how to better interact with our dog. Fran’s many teaching examples seem to almost show instant results. Her well thought out handouts help us with remembering and practicing the better and more calm ways to enjoy our newest fury family member.”
— Jutta M.
“We were so grateful for Fran's help when our little tuxie cat, Devereaux, joined our family in January of last year. Devs was a very rambunctious 6-month old, full of energy and desperate for attention at all hours of the day. He also exhibited some not-so-great behaviors like biting and scratching during play with his humans. Fran shared helpful tips to both curb some of Devs' bad habits as well as channel his energy for positive playtime. We practiced "click and treat," which were stimulating exercises that taught him useful skills while helping him develop caretaker boundaries. Fran also shared tricks for using treats to ease his anxiety during stressful activities like nail trimming and veterinary visits. We're so glad we had Fran's help to ease Devs' transition from foster care to forever home, and from untruly kitten to a fun-loving adult cat.”
— Sarah K.
I brought home a new puppy in July 2020. I asked my veterinarian who would be a good dog trainer to assist me with my Molly who is a Mini Golden-Doodle. I go to Blum’s Animal Hospital and they are well known to be excellent veterinarians. And they recommended Fran Berry to me, and I am so grateful. Fran assists us in understanding our puppy’s needs, and she so gently shows the puppy or dog the way.
We learn how to do this ourselves. She uses a wrist clicker and healthy treats. She has taught me that the “new way” is to reinforce positive behaviors in our puppies/dogs. So it is about us becoming the trainer too..
Molly is now turning seven months. She loves her training (Like school.), and I continue to practice a couple lessons everyday with her. Our puppies want to work for the treat.
Molly was potty trained by four months, slept through the night, sits, goes down, waits, touches, kisses, stays, walks nicely outside to name a few things… She is still a learning puppy, and I understand it takes going over and over these lessons and time.
I Love working with Fran!!
— Susan Stern, LCSW (Child therapist.)
“Fran is an expert in positive-reinforcement training! She is very enthusiastic about dog training and provides excellent feedback after each session. Our puppy Kona benefited tremendously from the 5 puppy training sessions with Fran and we enjoyed working with Fran as well.”
— Vivian S.