Testimonials

Sophie was so incredibly helpful when I got my new puppy. I was struggling with training and had the puppy blues. Sophie came in and was not only helpful as a trainer but also just as a friend who assured me that I was not going crazy and that puppies are just hard work! She has given me a ton of helpful tips that I use daily. She also is fear-free certified and works at the dogs pace. She always makes sure that your dog is comfortable and happy while training. Would absolutely recommend Sophie!

My wife and I are empty nesters and nearing retirement, so we thought the time was right to bring a dog into our family. Willow, an 8 week-old whippet, came to us on December 26, 2023. Since I work from home, I was never away from her. I took her everywhere and she did fine being left alone in the car; however, we noticed after a few months that she went into a panic whenever she was left alone at home. At the end of August, when Willow was just 10 months old, we reached out to Sophie for a consultation... At that time, Willow was unable to be left for even 1 second without panicking. She whined, scratched at the door, barked, etc. Sophie was very professional and supportive as we worked through Willow's separation anxiety. She provided an app for us to use for exercises and tracked our progress daily and provided feedback. We met weekly with Sophie when she would watch Willow, provided guidance and answer our questions. Sophie also provided us with additional resources for a few other issues we were having with Willow. The process required a fair amount of effort on our part (as with any training), but the rewards came almost immediately. Now, after just two months working with Sophie, we were able to attend a family event this past weekend and leave Willow alone for 3 hours! We checked in with Willow via webcam about every 15 minues, and every time we did, she was asleep in her bed - just the way we left her! No panic. No whining. No barking. No looking out the door and windows for us. I can't say enough how happy we are with the process and progress and my wife and I highly recommend Sophie. We have our life back. Thanks Sophie!

Sophie is amazing and a magician with dogs! She cares so deeply about all dogs and it shows! She was able to work with us to help our pup, who would experience anxiety at times, to a confident pup that is excited to go out and explore and live his best life. She also taught him how to drop in less than a minute, my wife and I are still speechless about that. I recommend Sophie to anyone I know with a dog that wants to make sure their pup is living their best life!

We loved working with Sophie! Sophie helped us train our Chow Chow dog to be better behaved when guests come to our house. We were really impressed by how patiently and diligently Sophie interviewed us at the first meeting to get to know our dog before she even started to do anything with our dog. Sophie then thoughtfully taught us how to train our dog to correct her unwanted behaviors. If some approaches turned out to not be too effective, Sophie creatively thought of better ones, drawing on her experience of training her own Chow Chow mix. We always admired how warm and welcoming she was to our dog when she came to our house for lessons. Through our sessions with Sophie, we learned a lot about how we could be better dog owners to keep our dog happy and entertained. The training techniques we implemented have helped us achieve our goals with our dog, making us proud owners of a well-behaved dog. Sophie led us to a fresh start with our dog, which we had hoped would happen when we first read the name of her company!

Sophie is just the best!!!! Our sweet Bernese mountain dog puppy, Brunello, not only loved Sophie from the minute he met her but she helped train the pup SO well, giving great pointers in our earliest days with him that will last a lifetime! We could not recommend Sophie enough, her puppy program was just amazing and so is she! Truly the kindest, most genuine human and not to mention dog whisperer around! We are so grateful for finding Sophie! Thank you for everything!!Sophie has been a lifesaver - we could not recommend her enough!

We are first-time dog owners and hired Sophie at Fresh Start Canine Behavior to help us train our puppy. Sophie was awesome! Sophie knows dogs and knows people. She is patient, kind, prompt, and wise beyond her years. She had many great ideas to make our puppy's days and nights better. Highly recommended!

Sophie has been an amazing! She is always positive and patient, training the grown-ups and kids in our family as well as our little pup! She is extremely knowledgable and insightful. We get so many compliments on our puppy's behavior thanks to all we have learned from her.

Sophie @ Fresh Start Canine Behavior is terrific! She has been extremely helpful is teaching us how best to manage our leash aggressive dog. She is easy going, she really listened to our concerns and delivered a plan that met our needs and has been effective! In a short time, we have already seen improvement with our pup! We look forward to continuing training with her!!

It's been a few months since our last session with Sophie, and I figured that it's about due for me to write this review.

I have a very smart, very sensitive large dog who spent the first four years of his life in a much quieter city. We previously worked with a trainer about his leash reactivity and impulse control. Since moving to the east coast, he developed some anxiety and the leash reactivity came back due to some loud barkers in the neighborhood. Walks were getting worse where he would get spooked over everything or be on constant alert. After an incident where he escaped the yard when there were dogs passing by (everyone was okay), we decided that we needed to get him back in training.

I met with Sophie. She was incredibly understanding of my dog and his needs. She recommended 3 sessions to start and training tips to work on. Even just those three sessions alone helped tremendously, and most importantly the extra training tricks helped so much.

Walks are enjoyable again. He is no longer "on alert" while he's out on his walk. He is far more engaged with us and looks to us for a cue when there is a loud barker or a trigger dog. He can pass by and ignore dogs again, and he can settle/calm down after getting spooked by a loud noise during the walk. Even storms are less of an issue where he used to shake and hide. Now he just wants to be near us and is actually okay with going out to potty after hearing thunder.

You do need to put in the work, but she will give you the tools for you and your pup to succeed. I wish I could give her ten stars for how much she helped us.

The best! I have had 4 dogs and thought I knew the basics of dog training but Sophie added so many tools to our tool kit for training our yellow lab puppy. She brings so much calm, positive energy that the dogs respond to quickly, and the sessions were fun for humans and canines... it didn't feel like "training" as I've experienced it before. We are so impressed by her and grateful that we're taking away very tactical easy things to work on with our rambunctious guy. Highly recommend.

Sophie at Fresh Start Canine Behavior changed my dog's life! My dog Penny used to be so scared on the walk and whenever strangers came over, she was never relaxed enough to play very much and wouldn't even eat treats outside the house. Sophie taught me everything I needed to know about having a nervous dog from the ground up. She was kind and patient with me and my dog, she was flexible with what me and Penny were capable of, and in such a short period of time not only improved Penny's life but gave me the tools to keep on improving it outside our lessons. I wish I could give more than five stars!

Sophie has been a lifesaver - we could not recommend her enough!
 

Sophie is amazing and very encouraging. I love how she is able to understand and cater towards environments that work for my dog as he is very anxious. As a first time dog parent I have learned so much from Sophie. My dog has shown great improvement with the positive reinforcement methods. I’d highly recommend Sophie as a trainer!

Sophie is great! She came over to meet with us and our three children before we went to pick up our puppy. She told us what to expect, gave us suggestions for how to pick a puppy from the litter, and helped the kids get prepared to welcome our new furry friend. Then she returned each week after we got our pup and helped us with socializing, basic obedience, and answered all of our (many) questions about puppy life. She is always prompt, responsive, and helpful. She worked well with children, adults, and (of course) dogs! We are very grateful for Ms. Sophie and definitely recommend her to others!

Sophie has been a lifesaver - we could not recommend her enough!
 

We don’t know where we’d be without Sophie!! We got Ella when she was 12 weeks and while we thought we were prepared, we quickly realized we needed help. We were connected with Sophie and things have been on the up ever since. Sophie is so encouraging and direct and her positive reinforcement makes every training session a blast for both us and Ella. Ella has made tremendous progress since we started and we feel so much more equipped thanks to Sophie‘s personal attention and coaching. We started off doing virtual 1-1 lessons (focused on basic commands) and have since moved on to in-person outside training (focused on leash walking and coming when called).

Sophie has been a lifesaver - we could not recommend her enough!
 

We don’t know where we’d be without Sophie!! We got Ella when she was 12 weeks and while we thought we were prepared, we quickly realized we needed help. We were connected with Sophie and things have been on the up ever since. Sophie is so encouraging and direct and her positive reinforcement makes every training session a blast for both us and Ella. Ella has made tremendous progress since we started and we feel so much more equipped thanks to Sophie‘s personal attention and coaching. We started off doing virtual 1-1 lessons (focused on basic commands) and have since moved on to in-person outside training (focused on leash walking and coming when called).

Sophie has been a lifesaver - we could not recommend her enough!
 

Put simply, Sophie is great at her job! After our first consultation, she created a thorough report for us based on our goals and behaviors which we want to see. This report has been so helpful in terms of tracking our progress and also serving as a reference source. At each session, Sophie has consistently demonstrated feedback in the moment which is both helpful and tailored towards Franklin. Somewhat related, she's a pleasure to be around and will share a laugh with you over the quirks of your furry friend! We've really appreciate how she's gotten to know our basset (stubborn and all!) and curated a training plan fit just for us. Above all, Sophie bases her training on positive reinforcement, which is a good change of pace from other training facilities and trainers in the Boston area.

When we started training with Sophie we had an adorable 6 month old Blue Heeler mix named Blue that barked for attention, barked and chased people when they walked by the house, jumped up on everyone, had selective hearing when deciding when to come to us if called, pulled on the leash while walking and went crazy when people came to the door such as the mail carrier.

After only 3 training sessions, we still have an adorable Blue Heeler who is one month older and years wiser. Blue no longer reacts when people walk by the house. She calmly watches as they go by and does not try to follow or bark at them.  While coming when called is a work in progress, she is so much better and seemingly runs to us with enthusiasm and a smile. Blue often self corrects when pulling on the leash which has made our walks so much more enjoyable for both of us. She still barks for attention, but we now know how we should react and she is doing it less and less. We are also working on how to calmly greet people when they come to the house, but it is already less chaotic and not as noisy.

Sophie’s approach is gentle, patient and rewards using positive reinforcement when training. Blue has responded beautifully to this approach and happily does things again and again. Sophie is intuitive and applies solutions to our problems in a way that seem tailor made for our puppy. I look forward to our visits with Sophie knowing that another hour spent with her will result in behavioral changes in our puppy that will make our lives together calmer, easier and more enjoyable. I cannot express enough how pleased we are with the results that we have had with Blue since we started working with Sophie.

After having been dog owners before, we thought we were prepared for our 5 month old puppy Copper. Although we had some basics down, we decided to work with a trainer, connected with Sophie and we have not looked back since! Sophie's positive manner with dogs, her problem solving approach, and personal attention have been invaluable. We have learned about so many ways to deal with problem behaviors (like excessive barking), appropriate socialization expectations with other dogs, and so many puppy manners that have helped us have a respectful pup. I can't say enough how much her expertise has helped us have a productive and joyful experience with our dog!

Today was graduation day with Miss Sophie. In just a few short months I learned:  sit, down, touch, leave it, drop it, stay, and many, many more commands. Most importantly I now know where to pee, and where not to! Most of my meetings were via Zoom and only 5 were in person. 

Miss Sophie is a miracle worker.
 

We started working with Sophie as part of her virtual puppy program for our 13 week old Lab Lola. Doing it online, Sophie uses her own dog to demonstrate and gives very clear directions so that you know exactly what you are supposed to be doing and can continue working in the comfort of your own home between sessions.

We have loved training with Sophie and she's made us feel very confident in our abilities to train and handle our pup. She is also extremely responsive to any and all questions both in sessions and via email in-between sessions as things come up. After finishing the puppy program our dog Lola knows Sit, Down, Stay, Come, Roll Over, Paw, Bed, Crate and we are well equipped to handle behavioral issues like barking, biting, teething and jumping. Sophie has been a wealth of knowledge for us from what treats to buy, what to expect from vet visits and grooming, to walking your dog and making sure she walks well with no pulling.

If you are getting a puppy or have just gotten one, we HIGHLY recommend training with Sophie!

Sophie’s training has been hugely helpful for our pup Keira and for us. Keira was struggling with reactive behavior after being bit by another dog, and we were feeling so overwhelmed. But Sophie gave us clear instruction, helping us feel more confident, and followed up to check on progress between sessions which was great for those small questions that come up. Keira used to not be able to walk past another dog without reacting and now she can approach, sniff, and even wags her tail, and it’s all thanks to Sophie’s help!

We are so grateful to have found Sophie shortly after bringing home our new puppy, Clover.  Having done our research (including the infamous “Top 10 Reasons NOT to Get a Toller”) we knew we were going to have our share of challenges. 

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Sophie’s ability to gently transform the zoomies into productive training time is simply astounding.  Clover bonded with Sophie from the very first “sit.”  She is professional, patient, knowledgeable, and gave useful feedback every step of the way.  Clover is doing exceptionally well and we couldn't be happier as puppy parents.  Thank you!

Our newest rescue,  a hound mix we call Sugar, lived 8 months in a pack with her sibs, is very people-shy, and was not at all acquainted with a leash. She spent her first week with us hiding in an overgrown shrub.
With Sophie’s help, Sugar will now accompany us on walks, snuggle on the couch (our choice!), and eat with gusto at mealtime without being hand fed. Sugar is not treat-motivated, which knocks out the obvious training strategies. Sophie’s patience and ingenuity are remarkable! Together, we are working on simple behaviors, and making consistent progress with our very shy girl.
I’d also note that our last dog was a 70+ lb pit-bull mix with a serious seizure disorder. Sophie loved that big guy, and was not intimidated by his size, his overwhelming displays of affection, or his medical needs. Sophie had no trouble working with Benny. He sensed that she calm, and that soothed him.

I rescued a 20 pound terrier mix reported to be 2 years old, but when she arrived she was more like a 7 or 8 month old. I inherited a handful. I had a jumper and a chewer on my hands. My neighbor who works at a local pet store had been raving about the trainer there.  That trainer was Sophie and she was terrific.  Somewhat desperate, I signed up for a beginner class, found it so helpful that I continued with a second adult class. After just a few sessions, heeling had improved dramatically and we’d mastered sit and down. Knowledgeable, calm, direct, Sophie taught us basic commands with only positive reinforcement. 

Then later when Sophie went out on her own, she met with a friend and me at our homes. She tailored the class to our needs. Sophie is approachable, warm-hearted, and just great at what she does.  All her techniques are clear, manageable, and effective.  And my dog adores her!

I want to write to tell you how grateful I am for Sophie's Puppy course. Her course was what I knew I wanted and what I didn't know I needed: informative, practical, compassionate approach, supportive, kind, low-stress, fun, and MOST of all very successful.
Sophie welcomed us and our 2 Golden doodles for a visit and then to the class, always taking care that the “Boys” and the other dogs were safe and having fun. She helped us communicate better and by the end of the class not only had we learned basic behaviors but how much Julius & Caesar had improved. More compliments on both Julius & Caesar’s behavior from family, friends and strangers than you can imagine!
I love the way Sophie is able to break down complicated behavior principles into everyday examples and strategies. She was always available to answer any of our questions whether during class or outside of class.
Sophie coaches her “human students” to be more successful dog caregivers and clearly love watching people and dogs learn together. She has truly given Julius & Caesar and my husband & I a strong, healthy, happy foundation.