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| Check out some of our students, friends, fun stuff, resources & clients testimonials. |
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12/2009
Left to right: Della, Otter, Sadie, Archie(behind Sadie/True), True,
Jaakko, Roosevelt(behind Jaa), Buddy(behind Roo), Bella, Lucy &
Bug! |
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Jake &
Charlie CGC 4/2010 |
Intro to
Agility Class Graduation! 11/2009 |
Zoey &
Max Power DOGMASF Grads |
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Brad &
Thor CGC
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Nena has perfected Sitting while Wagging! | Foundations
Class Grad's 3/2010
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| DIANNE
IS THE BEST!!!
I just finished my third private session with Dianne. I contacted her in August after getting two beautiful Labrador puppies. I decided to book her for three visits that we spaced out accordingly and I have never been happier with my decision or with my puppies. Dianne is simply the best! Each session focused on a good balance between issues I wanted to work on with my pups and behavior development she thought would be important to initiate. We worked on classic concepts at first: name recognition, attention getting, sit, down and gaining focus from the dogs with distractions all around. Her simple, yet effective, pointers were beyond successful with our puppies. We had them laying down after just one command to do so at just 10 weeks old!!! She taught us the true importance of rewarding the dogs for even the slightest good behavior and she showed us how to pick up on those "good choices" from our puppies. We worked with Dianne to get our dogs super comfortable with us touching them, checking out their ears, their teeth, brushing them, clipping their nails etc... Our puppies now love when we roll them around, get them on their back, or have them calmly sit with us. Dianne also helped us master lease training, which has been particularly difficult for one of our amazing pups. She gave us excellent pointers and showed us to to guide our dogs in the best way during walks. Dianne is so friendly and funny. She is just a lovable, kind, passionate, and---most importantly--- smart person. I always walked away from our meetings with TONS of new info on my dogs and their health. I can't say enough about Dianne. If you have puppies, or want to work on understanding your dog, or change a certain behavior, Dianne is the one to contact. She'll change your way of thinking and the life of your wonderful doggy companion!!! AnneMarie |
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| I enrolled in
Dianne's Beginner Puppy class after reading the Yelp reviews. Originally,
I was going to opt for SF Puppy Prep or the SPCA, but was deterred
by the ridiculous prices. So after much contemplation and weighing
the pros and cons, my husband and I decided to take a chance on DOGMASF.
In one word, Dianne's classes are AWESOME. She is very personable and charming and makes every class fun. Plus, it's so obvious how much she loves what she does, and she brings her amazing pup Royal (and sometimes her "senior citizen" dog Truman) to classes to help train the other dogs. I love that her techniques all revolve around positive reinforcement; she's adamantly opposed to spanking your dog or using a choke collar. As our pup is just four pounds, we don't want to lay a finger on her or use any painful method, so it's nice to learn ways to train her that don't include punishment, but rather rewarding her for all good behavior and ignoring and crating her when she's bad. My family has had Malteses for 30 years and never had any success with training any of them. We were beginning to think, while cute, they were just a dumb breed. But after the first class, we managed to teach our pup to sit and turn left in just one day! And many other tricks following that. I reiterate: Dianne and DOGMASF are amazing, and I doubt this will be the last class we take with her. kristin l. |
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| In just one visit, Dianne saved us and our pup from what could have been a very unhappy ending. I grew up with dogs and thought I fully understood what I was getting into. We bought a lovely purebred miniature poodle(a breed I know well), and we were madly in love with him, but he had a horrible resource guarding problem that resulted in multiple puncture bites to mysself and partner. We were starting to become afraid of our dog, and had to seriously considering having him re-homed through our breeder. In just one visit, Dianne taught us about how to train our dog, and she gave us a strict protocol and written instructions about how to work with him over the next few weeks and months. We haven't had a single issue since, and that was nearly a month ago. I fully expected some kind of back sliding but it hasn't come yet. My dog loves me more than ever, I can see it in his eyes, and my partner and I can relax and enjoy him the way we always wanted. Dianne is a pro; fast responder, smart, and your dog will love and trust her immediately. I wish there were six stars on yelp. Thanks Dianne. Melinda B.
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| I'll keep it short. All the other Yelpers were right, Dianne with DogmaSF is simply the best! She loves her job and the dogs she works with and you can tell! She has a silly and fun personality which makes working with her such a joy. Pennster T. |
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| I recently moved to San Francisco in March 2010 to start a brand new job. I lived in temporary housing in Potrero Hill close to work, but there was no way i was going to be able to get away to take my dog out. I searched high and low, talked to many different dog walkers and was very disappointed until I met Alex and Dianne. They were professional, advised me on how they would handle the walks, and worked with me to set up a daily schedule. They went out of their way to welcome me and my dog to San Francisco. I would still be using Alex's service if I didn't move to the North Bay for my permanent housing situation. "We miss U Alex"!!! Call them today if you want someone to treat your dog like a member of the family. Laura M. |
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| Dianne
is AWESOME! before our first meeting, many many exchanges were made via email which was great because i could really see that dianne was trying to understand my situation and really putting in the work to come up with a game plan that is appropriate for me. i've had two meetings so far with dianne and it's been great. i see how good she is with my puppy and she makes it really easy for me to know what to look for and what to expect from my puppy. she even writes up notes for me to follow, just in case i forget what she tells me during our sessions. there's been definite progress and i'm learning what i've been doing wrong or right and moving forward. dianne is very encouraging and also realistic in her approach. i have a herding dog and a hypersensitive/hyperactive one apparently, so she's teaching me ways to deal with him that are working! she's great! and she comes to my home for the training which makes more sense because that's when my puppy gets the craziest. and her fees are reasonable too! May & Sammy |
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| “I would
highly recommend Dianne to anyone with a puppy, adolescent or adult
dog – whether you are looking to address basic issues or serious
negative behaviors, or if you are interested in moving on to more
advanced obedience or rally training...My dogs Shiloh and Zoe the
sheepdog love her! And that is the best recommendation anyone can
get.” Liz |
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| “Diane came
over to my house for a consultation with my Maltese Zeus. it was actually
pretty fun and we learned a lot. she has a good energy and our dog
loved her (as did we.). She spent a lot of time with us (almost 1
1/2 hours) for the same price and taught us a few tricks to use for
his bad behavior. this gal clearly loves animals and it shows. “
Josie |
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| “My little
rescue graduated from six weeks of training, and I must admit, she's
much better now at some things than she was before. She sits, she
stays, she waits. She leaves it. Diane has a sense of humor - very
much needed when you are surrounded by people yelling 'no!, sit! stay!
Dammit!!' all evening long. She's got tough love, she's fantastic. Take her classes ...“ Shari |
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| “I had so
much fun in Dianne's small dog class. My dog not only learned the
basics of good behavior, but also how to make doggy friends and let
strangers pet her! (Luna was a rescue dog from Grateful Dogs Rescue
who fostered her when the SPCA wouldn't take her because of her shyness.
So she has really come along way!) Dianne also provided me with a
lot of insight into dog behaviors and socializing.” Ana |
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| “I cannot
rave enough about Dianne at Dogma and her doggie training classes.
We have two shy+unruly puppies who now are total social butterflies with a ton of confidence. They actually sit, come, heel, etc now and they totally mind! …..She's totally trained, licensed and the best teacher we've ever met. Our boys had graduation last night--and we can't wait to sign them up for more.“ Amy |
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I have a very high energy bundle of white speeding fur of an American Eskimo dog named Mia that I was looking to get into a class because I was beginning to think that maybe I had done something wrong with her or totally blew it in her training by not taking her to a puppy class or something. She was trying EVERY last nerve my family members' patience w/in the household. She would be circling feet, jumping and barking when they would come in the house ... generally acting the fool, barking, nagging whining crying squealing like a little brat to get her way. (attention.) Her attention span is SO low sometimes (almost all the time even) and she is VERY easily distracted that when there's something exciting going on (ie: family member coming into the house (and lord help them if they had bags), or someone walking by the car while we're out for a ride, or someone else walking by on the street when we would be out for a walk, god forbid there be another animal) that I am basically as good as dead to her and she will pay complete attention to whatever else is going on. This became very irritating when people in the house were coming in and she's squealing around and jumping, trying to get attention from them and would NOT listen to a WORD I said. I mean "sit", "stay", "down"... anything I tried, I was basically talking to a wall. So I contacted Dianne and
she was kind enough to take time out of her day to meet us to evaluate
Mia at my request because I was concerned about which class would
be better for us to sign up for. I was thoroughly impressed
that given the option to tell us to sign up for the Beginner and
THEN the Intermediate class, Dianne told us that we could just go
ahead and skip the Beginner class and go straight for the Intermediate
(but gave the option to take beginner if I wanted). She totally
didn't try to make a buck off of us by telling us to sign up for
the Beginner when we didn't need to based on Mia's skill set. I was also very impressed that Mia didn't bark up a storm and want to run away from Dianne. There was no fear on Mia's part about Dianne, and she was quite fine w/Dianne's vibe to go over and sniff hello. Dianne loves dogs and the dogs can tell that she does. The class was great!! I didn't know what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised. The class was held in the Pet Food Express on Market Street in an enclosed area in the back and Dianne kindly gated off the entrance while we were in class. Each dog (6 'students' and Dianne would bring one of hers, so 7 dogs in the 'classroom') had their own mat to go to. We did a lot of work on leash and also in the store, and for the off leash work we were primarily in the store/aisles. The dogs did great. I was very proud of Mia, she did so well in the class, and I think she totally "GOT IT" that we were in a class and she was to do what we had to do and not mess around. She seemed to get bored and want to work work work and would start whining and fidgeting so I would have to kneel down and do some 'high-five'/'downs'/'stays' or SOMEthing to get her to do things for me so that she was occupied and not whining interrupting the class so that I and everyone else could hear Dianne's explanation of homework or other instruction. Class had a mix of breeds/sizes; Husky, Labradoodle, Pit bull, Yellow Lab,Bichon, and of course my little Eskimo. There were no dog fights, no unruly behavior. (And even when the Lab started up his excitement yapping and then Mia started barking along, we learned a few tricks to distract them to quiet them down and praise the quiet and not be (TOO) disruptive.) Dianne gave us advice/instruction tailored to OUR dogs. Not a generic response that was supposed to go for all dogs. She took the time to get to know each dog and was able to read their body language to tell us what direction or approach we should be using w/OUR dog while training. I thought that was FAN-frickin-TASTIC!! Definitely a happy customer and would definitely take another class or two or three from Dianne. Mia misses her Tuesday evening funtimes with Dianne!! Also impressed that Dianne
has her own dogs in Agility etc., she knows how to train a dog and
isn't just someone trying to make a quick buck, she knows her ish.
We Heart Dogma! |
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DIANNE IS THE BEST! My golden retriever has been a client of Dianne's for 4 years. He's a senior citizen and Dianne takes every precaution with him to ensure his health and safety. She's gentle, caring, and kind. My dog first he was part of her morning field trips to Fort Funstun. He's now 13 1/2 and I credit these daily trip to him aging so well and still being very mobile. We have now moved out of the city and I hated leaving Dianne. However, we do still see her when she dog sits for us. I trust her so much I drive 2 hours round trip to make sure my dog is in her care. I wouldn't leave him with anyone else. Your dog would be lucky to be a client of such a wonderful person and trainer. Suzanne |
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Dianne is truly amazing. I met Dianne about 2 1/2 years ago through a beginning dog training class at the SPCA. I had adopted Finley, an australian cattle dog, a few weeks before when her first owner (my best friend) passed away unexpectedly. Finley and I were both a mess from the loss and Dianne truly took us both under her wing. Finley fell in love with Dianne (and Dianne's dogs) from the first moment they met and Dianne helped me gain confidence and skills that I could take care of Finley and help her have a good life with me. Dianne was patient, kind, encouraging and loving in her work with us. We continued to work with her both at the SPCA for agility and weekly at DogmaSF classes. Finley came to me with almost no training and absolutely no recall. Now she can safely play at dog parks without me being afraid she'll run away and she's even been out with Dianne's dog group at Fort Funston many times and done well. Finley has all her basic manners down and even a few tricks learned. She came to me a very scared, timid dog who spooked easily and is now happy and confident. Dianne taught me how to teach Finley and how to read her needs and has been there for us many times in the last few years when I have questions about Finley's behavior or even her general health care. Dianne is a wealth of knowledge and she is happy to share it. Finley and I met her at a really difficult time in both of our lives and I believe Finley wouldn't have made such a wonderful adjustment to live in a big city (she came from Wyoming) and I wouldn't have had any idea how to make sure she was challenged and how to best meet her needs. She has always gone above and beyond with her training, answering my many questions and reassuring me when i'm not sure what to do. She is Finley's guardian angel and we can't say enough good things about her. If you want a trainer who will take the time to understand both what your dog needs and what you need as a student, you can't go wrong with Dianne - she's the best. Stephanie |
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| Dianne is a guardian
angel for dogs and their humans!
From the first moment we met during a private session and she began working with my energetic Boston Terrier , it was evident she knows her stuff and loves what she does. My dog knew it too! My dog and I just finished
the 6 week basics class. An exceptionally positive and enjoyable
experience for both of us. I hope every dog and their owner has the opportunity to experience the pleasure of working with Dianne. Dolores |
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My husband and I met Diane about 3 years ago when we had become new doggie parents. Our dog was the smallest in the class! She was so very sensitive and kind. She went out of her way. When the day of graduation arrived we presented her with a lovely bouquet of flowers. This was certainly not enough but it was a heartfelt gift! Our dog viewed our cat as his mommy and the year following our first meeting with Diane our cat passed and our dog went into depression. Again Diane came to the rescue! We adopted a puppy and noticed that our first puppy's behavior was changing and again Diane was right there for us always returning our emails. We are looking forward to sending our new doggie son to meet Diane! She is a professional person who makes you feel at ease with your questions and concerns. She continues to be extremely approachable . Many Barking Thanks! Sylvia Chavez |
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IT DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER THAN DIANE AND DOGMA!!! We recently finished our basic class with Dogma. And, I say WE, because Diane was effective in training both ME and MY PUPPY. Diane has an incredible way with Dogs. It amazed me how she could have dogs of differing ages, sizes and temperament...all in one class...to great effect. WE learned so much. Diane gave both me and my beloved Serenity great confidence. And, we are looking forward to more classes. Thank You Diane! Betty & Serenity |
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I came across Dianne by accident by signing up for the next SPCA class and she was our teacher. She was amazing and I hired her after the class for private lessons. She bends over backwards for LuLu and can read a troubled dog as well as I can read people. She sees their behavior coming a minute before the dog themselves know they are going to do it. Now LuLu and I can live in
harmony and I have a well trained dog that will be an important
part of my family for the rest of her life! Leslie M. |
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| I had worked with another trainer in the area that used fear/pain tactics to train- not the type of training I was looking for. Furthermore, the dog trainer may have been effective in class, but he completely failed to train ME, so as soon as we got home, Kona would fall back into his old behaviors. I ended up "dropping out" of that class half way through. That is when I ran into DogmaSF and within the first 15 minutes of our 1st class, I knew that Diane would be successful in every way my previous trainer had failed. She is not there to train your dog- although she will help, she is there to train you on how to train your dog. The only way I can explain it is that she taught me not only how to read my dog, but how to successfully communicate what I want from him. This way, no matter what the task, I could take what I learned in class and apply it to whatever I needed at home. During training I informed her that I was having problems with Kona jumping when guests enter my home. She came to my home and helped me and my roommate deal with the situation. Then she spent some extra time with my roommate to help her understand how to work with Kona to get him to understand. It was so helpful and helped to put my roommate at ease with a 50lb jumper. :) I enjoyed her methods so much that I enrolled for the intermediate class, where we were able to hone our awesome skills. Before DogmaSF, I was at a point where I thought I might have to find another home for Kona. However, with her help Kona became a "good dog", but more importantly she got us to a point where we could bond and he became an indispensable part of my life. She is encouraging, supportive, and honest. I highly recommend her for
any amount of training- from touching up on recall to doesn't understand
"no", she'll help you learn your dog and bring your relationship
with him to a whole new level. |
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We were desperate for someone to help with our new rescued dachshund who wanted to kill every other animal it saw, including our 2 dogs and cat. She really gave us hope and skills, especially the parts about learning to read your dog. It gave us freedom to improvise as we saw him improve. She has been with us for each important step. We liked that she has enough confidence in herself to refer us to the SPCA growly dog classes for tips and exposure to other dogs. It only took 3 weeks for our Sonny to fall in love with his other canine companions and today he accepted our best friends dogs into his house-no sweat (she was here to guide us). We still have leash and off leash work but we know it will be a success. Her email contact and help is just as awesome as the in person training. Desperate, we engaged her without even asking what it would cost--and were shocked at how reasonable it was. Joyce L. San Francisco, Ca. |
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| Totally
enjoyed our weekly classes with diane. my dog, colt, was the youngest pup in the class (8 mos.) but she knew just how to get and keep his attention and taught me and my boyfriend how to do the same. (actually, DOGMA SF should be under a "people training" category.) she obviously loves dogs and is really good at what she does. we'll continue to work with colt using the techniques
learned at DOGMA. THANKS DIANE!!!! xoxoxo Texxxas SF, Ca |
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I can't say enough good things about Alex and Dianne. They've been taking care of my black lab Peja for almost a year now. My dog has a bit of fear aggression and has been to a behaviorist a few times. She's a great dog, but really needs structure to keep her happy and Alex has given her just that and a lot more. I spent 2 weeks searching and interviewing people to take care and walk peja when I moved to the city, but I pretty much knew I found the right one when I spoke to Alex and Dianne. To be fair, it was really Dianne and Alex interviewing peja and I instead. I've worked pretty long hours since then and occasionally travel for long periods for work. As much as I hate leaving Peja, knowing that Alex and Dianne are there for her really keeps me at peace. I can't thank them enough. Edward San Francisco, Ca 3/8/10 |
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