Lara's Canine Solutions

Excellent. We can't say enough good things about Lara’s canine solution. Lara's experience and knowledge are impressive; she is known for her work rehabilitating "damaged" dogs, training dogs that work in institutional settings, and her fantastic techniques working with pet dogs and owners. Lara and her staff really know how to look at things from a dog's point of view; the techniques they use are not only easy for owners to learn, but make sense and help you stay tuned to your dog. Whether you opt for a series of owner-pet lessons, or the board and train, Lara and her staff have a way of making a solid imprint on your dog so they remain responsive to your commands over time. Lara worked with us on basic commands as well as more challenging things like staying close when off-leash; she even helped us to teach our deaf dog sign language. Re regular boarding: Our dogs were trained by both Lara and Lindsey and they love going board at Lara's because they know the staff and the routine is consistent; they also get lots of reinforcement on their training. Unlike a lot of "kennels" where the staff are "attendants" and not necessarily trained dog handlers, the entire staff at Lara's is extremely knowledgeable and knows how to handle dogs of all temperaments and needs. As far as fees go, Lara's are easily competitive with other kennels, and yet she does it without housing droves of dogs. And unlike other kennels, Lara’s is peaceful – no uncontrolled non-stop barking. Finally, after we discovered staff at our vet was hitting our deaf dog and causing him to be fearful, we immediately got in touch with Lara. She was incredibly helpful and guided us on how to get him re-oriented and cooperative with our new vet. The best thing about Lara, Lindsey and other staff is that they really understand a dog's point of view as well as how to explain that point of view to us humans; we always end up feeling more confident about working with our dogs after lessons and/or boarding at Lara’s.

Brought home a whole new dog! He is able to stay in the house with me now. He follows directions and we can now go on walks without me worrying about controlling a 85 lb puppy.

unknown

She was wonderful trainer. We have hands free driving requirement here so.  She is very reasonable in cost. She is excellent. We took our dog. We boarded our dog. When she boarded him her staff was with our dog who is a girl and so when we picked up our dog, our dog was so much more well behaved. They also gave us some tips about what we could do and she was happy and so I feel like more of a wonderful trainer.  She is reasonable for what dog trainers charge.  I would use her again.

unknown

Amazing transformation of my two rescue (street) dogs! Lara's service was recommended by my vet @ Lincoln Heights Animal Hospital. Finne and Dag spent 2 weeks with Lara and it was so worth every penny spent. Her training site is perfect for dogs.
Lara has this incredible insight and knowledge about my dog's behavior and her methods to correct/train them match each dog's personality and issue(s). One of the hallmark's of her training is that she helped me become comfortable and confident in sustaining the training at home. Finne and Dag are returning for boarding and will start and quot;off leashand quot; training in a couple of months. I'm extremely satisfied with Lara's Canine Solutions and HIGHLY recommend her to anyone who loves their animal and wants them to be a well rounded and adapted member of the family .

When we brought Bella home from the shelter we discovered that she is very cat aggressive, but we didn't want to give up on her or on our cat. After reading several dog training and behavior books and talking to dozens of trainers on the phone, I decided to give Lara a try. This lady knows dogs. She conducted a full assessment of the dog's temperament and tailored a 6-session training program for us and Bella. Lara empowered us to work with the dog, who is now not just very respectful of the cat, but also just the best dog we've ever had. Lara has also been great with follow-up. Sometimes issues come up, and I know I can call or e-mail and get a prompt answer to my questions.
I grew up with dogs and thought of myself as a pretty dog-literate person, but I didn't know just how good a dog could be until I saw how real training works. It has opened my eyes to all the AVOIDABLE bad behavior I see in dogs everywhere. Every dog can be great and DESERVES to be great with the right training! We can't wait to rescue another dog and work with Lara to make him the best, happiest critter he can be!

We use, and have been using, Lara's Canine Solutions for a number of years now. We love boarding our dogs there. She has also trained our three dogs, one of which was a German Shepherd puppy we purchased from Lara. Her German Shepherds are fabulous!
Lara loves the dogs and evaluates them for their individual training needs. She and her staff are kind, considerate and will go above and beyond the call of duty when necessary.
We can't say enough good things about Lara's Canine Solutions. Suffice it to say that we are loyal customers and major fans!!

Do what Lara says. Follow through with her homework assignment tw. Be patient and open minded

I like the way they take care of my dogs. I like that fact that my dog is very happy when they go there, and they're happy when I pick them up, because they are well cared for. They follow my instructions. I think their prices are almost the same as other places, it's comparable to what they are charging. I would use them in future and this is the only place that I would take my dogs to.

I think I pretty much covered it in the above paragraph. As long as Lara is in business, I won't be taking my dogs anywhere else.

I was a bit sceptical about taking my dog to Lara's after reading one review here that made me worry that Lara's would use rough training methods. However, because friends had good experiences and other reviews were positive, we decided to try Lara's. I took the dog for an evaluation, and Lara talked to me about her assessment of what would work best with my dog's personality. She advised me not to even yell at my dog and definitely not to hit her, so do not think that Lara will advocate rough treatment. (To oversimplify, she thought yelling would stop misbehavior in the short term, but make her sneaky and not truly motivated to want to listen to us.) Anyway because we wanted her trained quickly, we opted to leave the dog for 2 weeks for in-kennel training. When we came to pick her up, we were given a handout and lessons about how to continue reinforcing the training. I took her on a walk shortly after getting her home, and I was blown away at how nicely she walked. Her down-stay was a bit shakier, but she did a pretty impressive job there, too (getting up once or twice during a 30 minute period). It's been a couple months now, and the dog still walks well but does get a bit too far ahead of us. That is our fault for letting an untrained person walk her frequently right after her training (family member that we thought knew the drill, but not so much). Even though she was not specifically trained on not chewing and not barking for attention, she has not barked at us once to get attention since her training and she hardly ever chews on things she should not. We slacked on our down-stay practice, but she still is pretty good. The $600 includes food and lodging.

My dog is a large, mixed breed (100 lbs.). Very friendly, but at 9 mo wanted to be the alpha. My wife was having trouble controlling the dog. Joined Lara's basic class and was told that the dog would lay quietly, for 30 min. with other dogs around. I didn't believe it would happen. After 6 weeks of training (once a week) our dog was calm, obedient, and controllable. We then enrolled him in off-leash training. We now walk him without a leash, he is very controllable and minds all our commands. He does not run off, heals on command and when we stop at the side of the road he sits, without command. He will lay down and stay on command, even with strangers around. My wife feels very secure with workmen coming to the house now. Her big dog is lying there, not acting aggressive, but watching every move the workman makes. People always ask us why our dog is well behaved when theirs is "uncontrollable." Proper training makes all the difference. Lara is very firm with the dogs, but gets excellent results. The dogs are never abused, but if you can't stand firm techniques being used to correct your dog's behavior then go elsewhere. Lara raises German Shepherds, so she knows how to handle large breeds.

I ran out of room. Basically after an evaluation and two lessons, it was clear that my dog was NOT responding. I would never seek her advice again unless all other techniques failed! The kennel is fairly well run and my dog did stay their once but got some sort of abdominal virus and was quite a bit thinner when I got back.

Lara's taught me how to work with my dog so I can get the behavior I wish, it is clear that she loves animals and has a way with them. She loves animals and they respond to her amazingly well.