Life before training was always a real challenge with Archie. On more than one occasion I was hurt during our walks because I had no control of him. At home he jumped on furniture, barked at every knock on the door, and family visits would consist of constantly managing Archies behaviour. Three weeks of board and training with The Conscious Canine has changed our life. Our walks with Archie are relaxing and enjoyable, no longer a tug of war. We have learned how to use the proper tools with Michelle’s guidance and are comfortable taking Archie anywhere. We became empowered and confident with Archie and will be continuing his training.

Michelle at The Conscious Canine has been amazing! Our hyper, misbehaved little puppy has come a long long way! She is now a joy to walk and is becoming a great listener! 

When we planned a week vacation I was so happy to hear that The Conscious Canine offers structured boarding. After all of the work I had been putting in with her I was nervous to leave her with someone who wouldn't keep up with our training.

Nova did so well while we were away and I was so impressed with her behavior when we got back from our vacation.

I will definitely recommend all of my family and friends! 

We highly recommend working with Michelle. She has a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience with training dogs and behavioral situations. She teaches so much more than just sit and stay and educates owners about why your dog does the things they do. Michelle helped us from the early stages with our Frenchie, Emma. She gave us the boundaries and rules we needed to enjoy Emma in our everyday life, and to see the full potential our dog has to offer. It was a pleasure to work with her and will definitely keep up with her refresher classes!

Thank you Michelle for making our relationship with our fur baby an amazing one!

Bianca was quite an anxious dog and walking on a leash was quite a challenge. It was like walking a toddler! She stopped and darted randomly, she pulled and got under foot and despite her very small size was causing considerable neck and shoulder pain for me. I worried constantly that she would escape or get free of the leash and would be lost or hurt. In November we started private, in-person lessons with a balanced trainer (Michelle of The Conscious Canine in Hamilton). We initially used a prong collar and an e-collar but Bianca now uses only the e-collar. We use lots of positive reinforcement as well, but the e-collar has been a great tool for us. Almost immediately we noted a huge improvement of her anxiety and she was calmer in the house as well as out on the leash. She looked to us to set the rules instead of being nervous and anxious all the time. She began to walk calmly beside me during walks and my neck and shoulder pain began to resolve. Walks became enjoyable and I no longer feared for her escaping. As her recall has improved (also thanks to the e-collar training) we have been able to begin some off-leash times and she is able to maintain her good heel leash-free and to explore and run freely. She still displays some anxiety at times, but we have tools and strategies now to help and we continue to see growth. We also now have a relationship with a great trainer and can follow up if we need further support. We would highly recommend Michelle for those in the Hamilton area who are looking for a balanced trainer.