I learned a lot working with Sharon, and highly recommend her as a consultant for trainers taking on service dog cases.
An invaluable resource, she’s highly experienced and very knowledgeable, and will help you avoid common pitfalls while exceeding your training expectations. Not only do I appreciate that she is a serious and skilled trainer steeped in evidence-based training methodology, but I loved that she’s aware, thoughtful and caring and has an eye out for the emotional and physical welfare of both the human and the dog.
I can’t say enough good things about my experience working with her, and am so glad I reached out for her expertise. I look forward to working again with her in the future, and am glad to know that I now have another fabulous resource to enhance the training experiences and outcomes of my clients.
Sara Munro, CPDT-KA, KPA-CTP, CSAT
Melissa is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer in the Boston area and author of Considerations for the City Dog. She got in touch with questions about a service-dog-in-training she’s been working with. After I recently sent her some requested materials and answered more questions, she followed up with the email below. When I asked if I could post it on my website, she added further comments about working with me.
Sharon? You are amazing. You truly are a dog-send.
I’ll talk with her about the pre adoption consult, and we can talk on the phone about the rest of it but anything at all I can do to help, I’m happy to… Thanks so much for just being amazing.-M3As a dog trainer who works with clients for various reasons, I often get inquiries about service dog work. In speaking with Sharon, it’s clear what she does is specifically catered to clients and the dogs they are priming for serious work, something that goes beyond my scope as a pet dog trainer. She knows what challenges lie ahead for a team in training, what situations they may run into, and how emotionally difficult this journey can be. The good news is with Sharon on board, my clients have reported how great it is to have someone in their corner guiding them along the way. I was nervous working with SD clients because I don’t have a frame of reference in working with these specific challenges, and yet Sharon not only gave me the confidence to help these teams work together on the basics, but I could look behind the curtain. The work Sharon does is built off the very foundation of positive reinforcement, science-based theory that I lay as a pet dog trainer. Sharon always takes my call or answers my emails if I have concerns or questions regarding a SDiT client and she is always ready to guide me through whatever circumstance arises with a SDiT team.You CAN teach a service dog without fear and intimidation. Sharon is a dog-send for people, pet dog trainers and handlers alike.
Tamir traveled quite a distance to meet with me (upstate New York, about 2 hours each way) about her German Shepherd Dog service-dog-in-training, Merlin.Your information and guidance at our meeting was fantastic and I felt charged up to proceed on our partnered canine/human journey. The handouts are a wonderful resource. Also I read your story and was deeply moved by your courage and exploratory spirit.My goodness Sharon, you are so very, very generous with your reply. I did read all the handouts you gave me and will follow up on all the links you just sent as well. You are right to slow me down, sometimes though I feel I need to do more, but as a 15 months old puppy he is entitled to being just that.Thank you again for all your detailed guidance and advice.
Sharon,Thank you so much for your time yesterday, and I hope Barnum’s appointment with the surgeon went well. My dad and I were both so impressed by you and deeply appreciate the way you took us through everything. As you know, Storm will never be a service dog; she will however be able to have a happy life and I’ve decided that she will remain with me as a pet for the rest of it. I’m planning on reaching out to the trainer you recommended in Somerville after Thanksgiving, and working with my vet to investigate potential allergies she might have and get a full thyroid panel, try to get her feeling as much better as possible. I truly appreciate all of the information you gave me and am enjoying reading through the prints and digital information both.As a quick aside, would you be able to remind me of the name of the toy you showed us that looks like a giant cat toy, the thing with the dangling toy on a string attached to the stick? Storm would absolutely love playing with one of those, I’m getting her one for Hanukkah, and I cannot for the life of me remember what you called it. Thanks so much! She’s going to be SO happy to have that, especially since I’ll be able to bring it when we are visiting my parents and play with it in their fenced in yard in the snow soon enough.Again, thank you for your time and your kindness taking me through a difficult discussion I needed to have. I would like to work with you in the future on finding and training a service dog; for right now, I just wanted to reach out and say thank you for the meeting and for sharing your knowledge.All the best,Meg
Summer is doing so good!!! We brought the pug home 3 weeks ago now and they have become inseparable big sister and little brother!! They have been awesome! Summer has calmed down so so much with having the puppy, I think it tires her out a little bit! She’s not jumping on guests anymore, only occasionally, but she gets down and goes back to what she was doing. She’s not mouthing at all anymore! She mouths with the puppy occasionally and if she was a little too rough the puppy will yelp and summer immediately stops and goes and lays down, I think she knows she was too rough and feels bad. The puppy will then go lick her and kiss her and they go back to playing! I’ve had so many compliments lately about how she’s improved in her socialization! Thank you so so so much!! You really helped to turn things around for us!!
WhitneyP.S. Please enjoy the pictures of them together, it’s so adorable!
This is a fantastic resource. Thank you so much Sharon. I did some more desensitization with the “lotsa treats” approach this morning and she was actually wagging her tail when I showed it to her! Still got ears back on the putting it on part but she shook it off immediately once it was on and we went out to play so I have hope that being consistent with lots of fun and rewards shall help change that attitude. I’m going to work on the new coat training later today. 🙂
In case it wasn’t clear I really loved working with you and look forward to continuing to work with you again in the future. Kyrie is already so much farther along than she was when we started and, more importantly, happier. I hope you have a wonderful holiday season!
Hi Sharon,
I just wanted to say thank you for everything you’ve done so far with me and Nova. Wednesday was the first time we’d ever been in a situation that big and it was definitely scary for me. I was fairly convinced it would be too much for Nova and this would be the end. But she sure proved me wrong! I was amazed with how well she did, it really felt like a turning point for us. That was the first time she performed her pressure task for me (by laying on my legs) in public and it was wonderfully helpful. I ended up really enjoying the class instead of the anxiety fest I was expecting! I’m excited to take her to Montreal now.
Thanks again for everything!
