Testimonials
 Tom and Brittany Cimmento (dog: Marty, terrier) :
1. Â When you hired Madeline, what did she offer that made her dog training services stand out from others you may have contacted? Â Can you mention what those were?
*I needed to hire a dog trainer because I was worried about my dog Marty who growled at my niece and was becoming aggressive with other dogs as well. I called around to a few people and no one really seemed to think they could help. When I spoke with Madeline she started to ask me a bunch of questions and seemed very knowledgeable about how to train dogs and how to specifically deal with behavioral problems. I felt very comfortable right away just talking to her.
2. Â Having met and worked with Madeline, rate the following by providing a couple of sentences after thinking about your answers:
a. Madeline’s preparedness for your lessons:
*Madeline was on time, she brought everything necessary for the training session, and remembered everything I had spoken to her about over the phone about Marty.
b. How Madeline addressed your specific concerns and priorities for Marty and for your situation:
*As soon as she walked in the door she started evaluating how Marty was behaving and acting. She focused on things that would get his attention and distract him during difficult situations, which is exactly what we needed.
c. Madeline’s ability to articulate and convey training and behavior concepts to you and your dog, using examples:
*Us not knowing much about how to help dogs with behavioral issues, she was able to explain things in layman’s terms for us. We understood everything she was telling and showing us. For example; one of the distraction techniques she showed us was “find it†and she first explained it to us and then showed us with Marty. After a few times she let us try and critiqued us when we did it which helped us learn exactly how to do it.
d. Â Madeline’s knowledge of dogs and training:
*We had a 2 hour session with Madeline and she was very knowledgeable about dogs and training. She was able to teach us a lot of techniques and trainings such as the name game, open bar, find it, and many more in such a short amount of time. She was also able to recommend multiple books and works by authors that would further help explain the techniques that we learned as well as other topics we were interested in learning.
e. Madeline’s knowledge of and ability to work with people:
*I felt very comfortable with Madeline. I was able to talk and work with her easily. She was very attentive to everything my fiancé and me had to say. I would say she has the ability to work very well with people.
3. What would you say are Madeline’s best assets as a trainer and educator, and why?
*I would say her best attributes would be
-her knowledge of dogs and training
-her ability to explain and show how to do things with ease
-her methods of teaching and getting us to actively participate
4. Â Is there anything you would change,or anything you didn’t like, and why?
*I honestly think she did a phenomenal job especially considering the limited amount of time we were able to spend with her. I would not change anything.
5. Â Can you name a couple of “aha moments” or epiphanies that occurred as a result of Madeline’s training which occurred either during training or in between training appointments with Marty?
*We had noticed when we took Marty for walks he would always flip out if he saw another dog, cat, or even certain people. He would start to do this scream and act as if we were not even there like that was all he could focus on. I definitely had an aha moment when she asked me if when that happened I pulled on the leash and I said yes I did. She explained to me that pulling on the leash would sometimes make him more aggressive and that technique was used in police dog training to do so.
6. Â What were the most important concepts you learned that apply to Marty which you feel have helped you most?
*I think the most important thing she taught was actually the name game. We had never really did that with him before and he caught on very quickly to it. It has definitely helped us the most because now when we are in difficult situations, such as walking him when another animal is present, he will look at us when we say his name and it distracts him long enough for us to turn around or get away from the situation. It is also very helpful in almost all the other techniques she taught especially when we want him to come to us.
7. Â What were the most important concepts you learned during the lesson that you feel will help you or have helped you already down the road?
*Some other concepts that she taught us that have really helped is Up & Off, Drop it, and Leave it. He now will go off the couch or bed etc when we say off. He always had a problem with grabbing our shoes when he gets excited and drop it has really helped. We are still working on leave it, but I know that will definitely help us down the road in case there is something poisonous or harmful that I wouldn’t want him to eat.
8. Â Would you hire Madeline again if you needed a trainer down the road, if you could?
Why, or why not?
*I would definitely hire Madeline again if I could because I was very comfortable with her, she was very knowledgeable and professional.
9. Â Did you feel the pricing was fair for the services you received? Please explain why:
*At first I thought her prices were a little high, but after working with her and seeing the job that she does I think she is worth every penny.
10. Do you feel that Madeline covered all the important aspects of raising a puppy? Â Â Â What was most important? Â Â Â What was least important? Â Â Â Would you eliminate anything? Â Â Would you add anything you feel should have been addressed?
*I think she covered everything she could in the amount of time she had. I would not eliminate anything because I think everything she showed us has benefited us.
Any other comments?
*I would highly recommend Madeline to anyone who needs a trainer. We only had the pleasure of working with Madeline for a 2 hour session but I definitely learned more than I thought I would. What I really liked and appreciated was that she had us take notes so that we would remember what was said and how to continue to train our dog. One thing that I did learn from this experience is training a dog is not an overnight thing. It takes a lot of time and patience. We have to continue to practice with him and the notes really come in handy.
 Karen Riesenberg, Parkland, FL, wrote (March, 2010):
“Rocky is doing fine. He is an adorable, loving dog, and has calmed down a lot since you saw him. (Trainer’s note: I met with Karen and Rocky for one almost-three-hour training session). I did put him on medication (Trainer’s note: Karen visited her veterinarian as I suggested, who put Rocky on the medication I suggested) and worked with him on getting used to me leaving him. I’ve chosen not to crate him or gate him in since he doesn’t seem to be interested in destroying anything anymore. He only liked the window treatments, and now I just raise them so he can’t get to them. He does respond to the treats and now gives me his paw, his “other paw” and does do “down” the way you taught him. (Trainer’s note: The rescue organizaation for which I volunteer and from which Rocky was adopted told me, before I met with Karen, that Karen had called them after adopting Rocky, and that it was likely that Rocky would be returned because of his separation distress issues. They referred Karen to me, and I feel very gratified that my work with Karen and Rocky has resulted in Rocky’s staying in his Forever Home. He has been there almost three months now!)”
 Teresa and Mike Kostecki of Fort Lee write (March, 2011):
“Madeline treated our dog with gentle understanding and care so that he trusted her. Bailey was not a trusting dog and we took (another trainer’s) advice which was making Bailey’s aggression problems worse before we hired Madeline. After paying bad money (for a trainer) that made our dog’s problems worse, Madeline’s rates are very reasonable…she gave us the humane tools we needed to have everyone interact safely with our dog in a reasonable amount of time. Madeline always has explanations about why something will be gentle and appropriate for Bailey and how it will also be effective. She peppers our training with interesting anecdotes of stories about her own dogs, other clients’ dogs, and science studies which explain why she would want to do things a certain way with our dog and what outcomes we can expect. She was only right on the money to the point where we thought she could predict the future for Bailey! Some stories were surprising and very entertaining. Our biggest ‘epiphany’ of training were the laughs we would have during training for a serious problem. Madeline’s honesty and optimism lightened the whole atmosphere up and put us at ease, even when she was being “brutally honest.” The training was customized to our needs and if we felt we needed to be shown an alternative way to do something Madeline always had other suggestions. Madeline is a creative thinker and problem solver, very communicative, explains everything, upbeat and optimistic. Great personality, funny and serious, and you can see she really loves dogs AND people. Bailey loves her and so do we! 10+ out of 10 rating for Madeline!”
 Robert Andersen of Jersey City writes (July, 2010):
“Madeline, Thank you so much for contacting me. I’ve been very busy in an effort to get all my ducks in order before the puppy’s arrival. I simply cannot thank you enough for helping me to select the puppy. Not only am I much more comfortable and secure with my choice, I learned a ton about dog and puppy behavior in the process. I am looking forward to all the hard work and commitment that will go into raising a wonderful dog. We bring home the puppy (we’ll likely give her a different name) this Friday. I’ve been reading up on Ian Dunbar and getting the necessary supplies. Melissa and I will certainly be in touch about training…We’d love to keep up on not only training, but also socialization, in a safe and puppy-filled environment. Thank you again and talk to you soon, Robert and Melissa”
 Carina G., Branchburg, NJ, writes (July, 2010):
“Hiya Madeline! Five years ago you trekked all the way to our home in Hamilton, NJ to train our standard poodle, Zen. To this day Zen remains the most obedient and polite dog any of our friends and family have ever met. In fact, two people that I know that are AFRAID of dogs, are not only comfortable around Zen, but they will even dog-sit him for us. So, for what its worth, thanks again for all of your amazing teaching. Anyway, the reason why I contact you is because we have a second dog…”