More Than Just Commands, We Help Dogs To Listen

We recently moved to PSL and wanted to get some training for our two dogs as it was a rough transition on them. Cathy immediately bonded with both of our dogs and provided us with many tips to better our dogs behavior. Would recommend Cathy over and over again!

Cathy has done the impossible with our 1 year yellow lab. I have had and trained my own labs since I was young. I figured my 5 year old is one of the best I’ve ever had, a new puppy, would be easy. I was humbled finding the contrary and I getting frustrated that my prior ways were NOT correlating to our pup. We had to do something quickly and decided to research who to hire. We have made the best decision as dog owners to work with Cathy and FDT. After 3 weeks, we now have dogs we can take on walks in busy areas and they follow our command and lead. If you are considering professional training, look no further than Cathy to get your dogs where you

Cathy is a an experienced and professional dog trainer. She is patient, works with you and your dog to ensure her training last long after she is done with her sessions. Cathy customizes the training to meet you and your dog’s needs.

Cathy is a great trainer and coach. She spends time training the human and the dog. I’ve done both board and train and individual sessions with her. I have a 1.5 yr old lab mix and 9 month old Malinois. Cathy’s experience with working dogs was very valuable for our first Malinois. Of course I spend many hours training the dogs per week, but Cathy gave me a kick start and ongoing advice and tips. As an example, our dogs were recently alone for about 9 hours. The Mal had pent up energy like you’d expect from a 9 month old Malinois. As we were unloading the car, she took a shoe, ran out like 10 houses down (nearly out of sight) because she followed a kid on a bike, then went and played with another dog. She has never done this. I was fairly nervous about getting her back because of how over threshold she was and it was dark. I made sure no cars were coming and then yelled her name and “COME”. She turned around and came back to my feet like a freaking missile. Never seen her move so fast. We still have plenty to go with both dogs, but it was great to see the hard work and Cathy’s advice pay off when it mattered. Working with Cathy never feels like a business transaction. I highly recommend working with her.

Cathy is a great trainer! She trained both our puppy and us! She listens to your needs and tailors her training to those specific needs. We would highly recommend her!

My 1 year 4month year old pom was trained by Cathy. She was very scared and barked at everyone. With Cathy working with her she no longer barks at other dogs or people. She is like night and day. I thank Cathy for doing such a good job. Ann

Trying to find a quality dog trainer for our Rottweiler, ridge back mix puppy was a challenge. We have used others in the past with our 2 small dogs with not much success. We couldn’t be happier choosing family dog training. Cathy was wonderful and we enjoyed every session. Nova would run to the door when she saw Cathy walking up and knew she was getting all kinds of rewards. Nova is a very focused puppy and locks onto things but Cathy was fantastic in snapping her out of her focus point and bringing her back into her training. I highly recommend allowing Cathy to help with training your new family member. She is wonderful and truly cares about her clients and what she does!

If I could give 10 stars, I would!
My husband and I have tried several training venues over the last 10 months for our puppy with no success and were ready to give up until a friend suggested we try Family Dog Training in Port Saint Lucie, FL. Having wasted a good bit of monies on both individual and group classes with local pet supply chain stores’ lessons, we were apprehensive about attempting any further training. At this point, our stubborn Yorkshire Terrier puppy, Callie, had not even mastered simple basic commands and we were starting to believe that we had an untrainable dog. Although Callie is a bright, energetic puppy, she simply was not successful with the cookie cutter programs that we were presented with. This is why we were so excited when Cathy, our trainer, offered to come to our home for gratis to meet with us so that we could jointly evaluate the situation and explore our options. My husband and I had gotten to the point where we did not even want to walk our dog, take her anywhere, and even have people over because of how hard she was to control, and she had become quite the escape artist (slipping out the door despite a special gate we had installed every chance she got). Family Dog Training offers a wide variety of training options and, when comparing their rates with other local training facilities, we found their fees to be very reasonable. My husband and I feel in our situation, though, we cannot put a price on peace of mind or the outstanding results we have accomplished through their expertise. Unfortunately, due to health and employment issues, we have presented Cathy with scheduling challenges, and she has gone above and beyond in her efforts to adjust her calendar to accommodate our needs. Cathy is a rare breed herself. She is an unyieldingly hard worker, always pleasant and friendly, never late, honest, and a keen observer and creative problem-server. She is very astute when it comes to “speaking” or reading the body language of dog and has been able to quickly render an accurate assessment of Callie’s behavioral issues and properly recommend specific modification therapies to correct them. Before Cathy had finished our initial meeting, she had started building a trusting relationship with Calle through positive motivational training and for the first time, Callie responded to basic commands. Since then, Cathy has been successfully working on modifying her bad behaviors without intimidation, coercion, or pain (which was not the case with the previous instructors we had used). What we learned from Cathy in just one session helped us to understand why it was happening and what to do to correct it. With Cathy’s guidance we have been able to very quickly change the situation, correct the behavior and we have already progressed from a wild, leash pulling “terror terrier” to a dog who now walks peacefully by our side and obeys basic commands – sit/stay, drop it, leave it, and come when called. Cathy is excellent at teaching Callie (and my husband and I) proper techniques and providing us with the tools we need to stimulate and unleash her abilities so we can live harmoniously with our well-behaved, furry friend. Additionally, she has provided us with some indispensable training options such as a very effective, gentle leader for anti-leash pulling (rather than e-collars and spiked collars as previous instructors had insisted we use), and even offered to bring one of her own dogs to help socialize Callie. In summary, Family Dog Training’s instructor, Cathy, exemplifies the must have qualities in a Dog Trainer: knowledge, patience, positivity, clear communication, great listener, and a love of dogs. We still have a couple of private lessons to go, but I’m already looking forward to continuing training with our amazing Dog Whisperer and highly encourage every pet owner seeking training to look no further than Family Dog Training of Port Saint Lucie, Florida.

Cathy, is incredibly knowledgeable and skilled. She worked wonders with our 14 week old puppy, Louie. Her exceptional patience and dedication shine through as she collaborates with you to teach the most effective ways to nurture a well-mannered canine companion. Cathy takes the time to thoroughly address all your questions and provide valuable insights. We learned a great deal from her, and Louie our puppy loved her! He got so excited when she arrived and greeted her with wiggles and kisses. Cathy was kind but firm when corrections were needed. Louie passed his AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy certification after six weeks of sessions with Cathy. If you’re seeking positive balanced dog training, we highly recommend reaching out to Cathy at Family Dog Training. Her guidance and techniques are invaluable for correctly training your puppy or adult dog. Thank you, Cathy!