Dorner Canine Training

We brought our mini poodle mix, Winnie, home over Christmas of 2016. We had never had a dog before, so we knew we needed help with basic training. Jen was referred to us by a neighbor of ours who had used her services and spoke very highly of her business. Jen began helping us right away with potty training, crate training, discipline, and even helped the girls’ teach Winnie some tricks. But more than that, she taught us the ins and outs of how to successfully bring a dog into our family and home. No question we asked was too simple or too silly. Because of this, we were able to better understand what was behind Winnie’s actions and we could respond accordingly. Winnie proved to be a bit stubborn in training, so Jen would adjust her techniques to best fit Winnie’s personality. She was very patient with her and with us, making sure everyone in the family was doing the corrections consistently and correctly. Jen was always reliable, punctual and easy to communicate with. We found it very helpful that she came right to the house and trained Winnie in her own surroundings. We also used Jen as a boarder when we went on vacations. Winnie was always very happy to be in her home and loved the attention and care she received there. We knew she was well cared for and was also getting consistent training and discipline while we were away. We highly recommend Jen Dorner as a trainer and boarder. We couldn’t be happier with the service we received and the training and care Winnie was given.

I first met Jennifer at the recommendation of my brother. He had used her with their puppy. We’ve had a few puppies but I think most people like a well behaved puppy/dog especially- with company. We had an older dog at the same time with the puppy who was easily trained in his youth. Our new guy needed a little more structure. The 1st time I met Jennifer and our puppy met Jennifer there was a connection. She had total control of the situation and he was listening and obeying her 10 minutes after their meeting. her demeanor and control is subtle but refreshing. Best decision I ever made with a new dog. We’ll miss her.

We hired Jennifer to help with our 6 month old Goldendoodle puppy, Lucy. While we were over the moon about adding Lucy to our family, we were a bit stressed about her “puppy” behavior of chewing, jumping, coming when called, and possession issues. Jennifer helped by providing us realistic tools and behaviors that we could do as a family to help give Lucy boundaries that would keep her safe and happy. Jennifer was honest and confident and helped give us confidence in utilizing the tools she taught us. She was always super responsive in between sessions too when we had a question and needed support. Lucy is now a happy almost two year old and while she still has her “puppy ways” at times, we still incorporate good training techniques we were taught by Jennifer and are so grateful for her help and guidance!

There aren't enough good words to say about Jennifer and the wonderful work she did with Wilson, our 5-year old German Shepherd. Our family had just recently rescued Wilson from a local shelter and, while he had some endearing, loving qualities, it was obvious that there would be a lot to work through. His past was sketchy at best, and left a lot of behavioral "baggage" to try to better understand and improve. Jennifer came to us via a referral. We had been looking for a trainer that could work with our busy schedules and also was comfortable with German Shepherds. And we also wanted a trainer that would match up well with our goals and preferred methods. For example, we were not looking for a "treat training" approach, as many trainers we spoke with were proposing. When Jennifer first arrived at our house, we were immediately comfortable with her, as she assessed Wilson's temperament and listened to us talk about our wishes for him. She asked all the right questions and was flexible in her approach, offering her experiences and expertise, and worked out a training plan that we could start immediately, with tasks to work on independently as well. The changes in Wilson were quick. But we also kept uncovering more and more interesting facets in his personality -- not unusual in a rescue, especially one that was getting more and more comfortable in his new home. Wilson demonstrated a high level of intelligence, but also a lot of neurotic behavior. Haha. Through the process, Jennifer picked up on all of the new "surprises" and revamped her plan accordingly, with much success! With Wilson fully comfortable in his home -- and with our training goals attained -- it was sad to have to say goodbye to Jennifer. She is a fun, personable trainer and extremely good at what she does. She has so much knowledge and also understands the psychology behind dog behavior. We looked forward to her showing up on training days, and even Wilson loved seeing her, before he remembered that he'd have to work that day. 🙂 We highly recommend Jennifer!

We have two Standard Poodles who are very nice dogs, but were unruly. Our walks were nightmares - they walked us. When our grandchildren came over, they would be over-whelmed by them. They would jump on them and sometimes knock them down. We needed help. We needed some obedience training. We found Jennifer Buchman's name in the paper and hired her With just one hour of training, she's made new dogs out of our Poodles. She has taught us so much and gave us so many good tips, that our dogs are a joy to walk and be around our grandchildren. We highly recommend Jennifer to anyone who's in need of dog obedience training.

I would like you to know that Tom and I would gladly recommend your dog training services. I would hope that at some point we would meet someone who would be very impressed with the good manners that our dog, Matea, displays and would want to know how we trained her. I would be sure to tell them that we had excellent guidance from you and that we couldn't have managed her without your excellent advice. Too many dogs are given away because people don't realize what a commitment of time and training it takes to have a well behaved dog and one that will be a valuable member of the family. Tom and I both thank you for all your help and especially for being available to return our calls when we needed to ask questions or advice. You are very professional and your relaxed manner with Matea helped us to overcome some of our initial fears of failure. Thank you for your help and be assured that we will highly recommend you to other dog owners that we meet.

We engaged the services of Jennifer Buchman to train our 16-month-old cocker spaniel, Lady Girl. From the first meeting we were impressed with her professionalism. She always arrived at our home promptly at the agreed upon time. At our first session, she was prepared with a questionnaire to ascertain what training Lady required and what aspects of Lady's behavior we wanted to concentrate on. Before leaving, she gave us a few tips to start working on behavior corrections. During the subsequent training sessions, she was enthusiastic, diligent, and patient. She quickly earned our confidence that we have made the right decision in hiring her. Jennifer is one that we can recomend with complete confidence.

My husband and I have used the services of Jennifer Buchman to train our Rhodesian Ridgeback, Sammy. Jennifer has been working with us for about 5 months. Our dog was about 8 months old when Jennifer came to help us and Sammy was very strong-willed and hard to handle. Especially for me as she listened to my husband better than to me. The change is unbelieveable and has made the experience of training a puppy much more pleasant. Sammy is now well-mannered, listens most of the time and is starting to follow some of the more difficult commands such as "place" and "down."

Jennifer is patient and extremely knowledgeable in how to train a dog, or really how to train us to train the dog. That is what we like about her services. We go at our own pace and she works with the dog and us, so it is us who are training the dog. Jennifer is punctual and extremely professional and I would recommend her highly.

Jennifer has been working with our family to train our dog since about March. She has taught us as a family the skills we needed to be able to guide/control our Doberman. When Jennifer first started with us, our dog wouldn't so much as sit when we commanded. Now, not only does he sit, we are able to walk with him without a leash through our neighborhood, and other places. Jennifer's training techniques are patient and consistent. She also has been flexible with us for our schedule. I am not very good with putting things into a letter, but in a word Jennifer has been "Awesome" for my dog and our family.

I wanted to take this opportunity to praise the work you have done with our dog Paws. As you know, Paws had attended three group obedience classes prior to me finding you. Paws being a Dalmatian and almost three years old we thought we would never be able to walk her on a leash. I was embarrassed every time someone would knock on our door because she would lose control. We would scurry to lock her in a room and would have to leave her until the guests were gone. You provided me the knowledge and skill to work with her and control her unacceptable behavior. My only regret is I didn't find you sooner. I think of all the frustrating years and how we almost gave up on her. Thanks for giving us the dog we always wanted. I no longer dread a knock at the door and I can even walk her at the park. She developed to the point I can have her off leash in our unfenced yard and she will come to me and not run off. I can't think you enough. If you ever need recommendation please don't hesitate to have someone call me.

Our family highly recommends Jennifer Buchman for the training of your dog. She has been working with us in the training of our eighteen month old Rottweiler and with her guidance we have had great success. She had instilled in us the need that this becomes a way of life for our dog and in doing so we have broken many bad habits. This has made living with our dog a pleasure. Jennifer is very professional. She answers all of our questions and directs the member of our family in the proper training. We have found working with her to be a wonderful experience and plan to continue until we are comfortable that we have learned all that we can learn. Again, we recommend her to anyone who is serious about having a well-behaved dog.

I have known Jennifer Buchman since May of 2001. She has been my "in home" dog trainer. I found her service in the yellow pages and called her for an appointment for an evaluation of my dog. Jennifer was prompt in returning my call and scheduling a time to meet with me and evaluate my dog's needs.

When we met, Jennifer was great with my dog. I have a black miniature Schnauzer who was about seven months old at the time. We discussed various manners I would like to see my dog have. We also discussed other necessities such as potty training, excessive barking, walking/heeling on a leash, chewing, and commands such as and "sit", "down" and "stay". Each lesson was intense and very productive. It was extra nice to train at my house because we could discuss particular things I wanted my dog to do and what I didn't want her to do in and around the house. We had five lessons, each about two weeks apart. Jennifer worked with my dog and me during each lesson. She was confident about her dog training and working with humans as well! Jennifer was efficient, prompt, and knowledgeable. I highly recommend her to train your dog and YOU.

I am writing this letter of recommendation to Jennifer Dorner as an excellent dog trainer. Our personal experience has changed the stress level of our home.

We are new at being dog owners. We have had only cats for over 20 years. We decided it was time to get our girls a puppy. We decided to adopt a puppy that needed a home. We found Libby (a black lab mix) at Pet Helpers near Folly. She was a typical puppy. She wasn't potty trained, had tons of energy, loved to dig in the yard, ate her own waste, tugged and pulled us when trying to walk her. She would also jump on people and almost knocked my great aunt and mom over. We needed help with making Libby fit into our family. When we met with Jennifer we told her how frustrated we were with these behaviors and that we loved her but she was causing a huge amount of stress in the home. Jennifer never acted intimidated by the challenge. She told us Libby's behavior was typical and she was fully capable of fitting into our lives versus us fitting into her life. I was skeptical because we had interviewed a different trainer and took Libby to all three training classes at our local pet store. Nothing was working. We got started with Jennifer immediately. Within the first hour of training we were amazed at the fact that Libby quickly understood what was being commanded by Jennifer. In other words, Libby had been playing us and knew she had the upper hand in our home. By the end of the hour, Libby was staying in position and was obedient and fully capable of not jumping. My husband (was not a dog person) started telling people at work about how impressed he was and that she was a completely different dog. He has passed her name along to a few there.

Jennifer is supportive and encouraging to work with. She doesn't make you feel stupid. She takes her job seriously but makes it fun. She is very knowledgeable about the different breeds and their unique personalities. She has helped us so much and I cannot say enough about how our home is at peace again. We always loved our Libby but it was difficult to like her sometimes until Jennifer came into our lives.