We have been working with Heather for a couple of years and she is by far the most patient, thoughtful and talented trainer for us. Our 2 year old German Shepherd has really leaned in to the engagement work that Heather has taught ALL of us. Our pup has not only learned wonderful manners and skills - he has grown more confident and eager to calmly interact with his surroundings both at home and in social situations. Heather's approach is measured and calm with a mix of joy and fun - and the sessions are as much for us humans as they are for our dog! Heather is supportive and encouraging at all times - and we are all the better dog handlers because of her expertise. Heather makes it look easy! read more

Clear Mind Canine - Pet Training Near Me

Heather was instrumental in teaching us (the GSD and the humans) obedience and good behavior. The training lasted the full 14 years of our wonderful Roxie's life. Because of heather and our training, Roxie fit in everywhere she went, and protected our domicile with grace and finesse. We are in the market for our 4th GSD and Heather will definitely be our choice when the puppy arrives. read more

I highly recommend Clear Mind Canine! Heather has been outstanding in her capacity to help train me as a handler to help my dog, be less reactive and much more successful in all of our day-to-day activities. My anxious rescue pup is now a calm and happy dog who loves to learn new tricks and has even earn his Canine Good Citizen certification through AKC. read more

Clear Mind Canine - AKC Scentwork award ribbons - Pet Training Near Me

Heather helped me train two Great Pyrenees puppies to be well behaved and polite. She is currently working with our new boy, Cane Corso/ Doberman mix. He is doing great! read more

Clear Mind Canine - Hank is learning gentle with the cat - Pet Training Near Me

My two year old Dutch Shepherd and I have had the pleasure of working with Heather for the last six months. During our private lessons we have been working on his leash aggression and general obedience. Her techniques and advice are super effective and he has responded very well. Not only is Heather an expert in her field but she is also an amazing person. We are very lucky to have the opportunity to work with her. read more

Clear Mind Canine - Pet Training Near Me

I can't give Heather enough praise for all her support and expertise. Heather is super patient and calm even in a tense situation. In a short amount of time, I have seen a huge difference in my dog's behavior. Not only has Heather taught my pup, but she has given me the tools I need to have a better relationship with him. I have been able to apply the techniques I have learned in real world situations including in a potential dangerous circumstance when my dog got off his leash. By using one simple marker word we learned in training, my dog ran right back to me from across the park. An invaluable lesson, and I am forever grateful and appreciative of Clear Mind Canine! read more

I highly recommend Heather and Clear Mind Canine! I have taken all four of my dogs to Heather for different issues over the years and she is an insightful, skilled, and experienced trainer. She is patient and an excellent communicator; key skills for an effective trainer. I also know many, many people with all different types of dogs, and dog training issues, who have been to Heather with fabulous results. Heather is knowledgeable and skilled with everything from pet dog training, to behavioral issues, to high level competitive sport dog training. I recently struggled with my two young male dogs I am training for the obedience ring. We were having issues with focus and distractions. They did nice obedience work at home and in group classes, but could not put it together in distracting environments. Heather gave us the skills to make things "click" for these two! Soon after working with Heather, my three year old Malinois went to a trial and q'd in both Rally Novice and Beginner Novice earning a first place in Beginner Novice! This would not have happened without the work we did with Heather. She also helped us progress in leaps and bounds on our dumbbell retrieve. I was stuck with my dog and she unstuck us and he is really progressing now. We have a lot of work in our future as we pursue competitive obedience and I will definitely be going back to Heather. read more

Clear Mind Canine - Pet Training Near Me

Beware! Heather is not a stable person! We had an awful experience with her becoming extremely irate, unreasonable and even aggressive. Her behavior was shocking! if she turns on a dime with an adult i am afraid to think how she behaves behind closed doors with animals. Don't trust her! read more

I went to Clear Mind Canine for the first time with our second pup last summer. This was a recommendation from Dr. Logothetti from Westside Animal Hospital. We signed up for a 6-week beginners class for our 4-5 month old Lab/GSD mix. It was with a guest trainer, Vicki. I really like that it was on a wide open field with available chairs (for the humans) and cots for the doggos. We were taught how to train Eevee (our dog) with basic and necessary commands, like come, sit, how to loose-leash train and such. There were some things like having the dogs put their paw on a cot or object that I didn't see a point to. It could just be that Eevee is a Lab/GSD, but she did really well and heels and comes when she is off leash on our property. I would consider coming back again if I'm still living in the area and got another dog. Also, love supporting small, local businesses! read more

clear mind canine is great place to train no mater if you need puppy training or advanced completion tralining, Heather is one of the best!!

BIG 5 STARS for Clear Mind Canine! I struggled for years to safely trim the nails on my high drive, high-energy working dogs...every trimming session was a "fight-to-the death" wrestling match! Heather outlined a program for me, monitored my progress, suggested adjustments, and patiently guided me through the process. I'm now able to trim my dogs' nails--with all of us happy, safe, and calm! In fact, my guys now can't wait to offer their paws for trimming! read more

We adopted a nervous pitbull and took her to training classes with Vicki. The classes were fantastic. Tailored to the needs of each dog (and owner). Our dog is doing great and when we're ready for more advanced training, we will 100% go back to Clear Mind. read more

Heather is an amazing trainer! My dog Sadie has been incredibly challenging, and I didn't think there was much hope in her making any progress. I enrolled Sadie in the "Feisty Fido" class for reactive dogs, and Sadie made huge strides. This year I did private lessons, and Heather gave me clear directions on how to work with Sadie. She would also follow up our sessions with summaries of what she taught me. After the class and lessons I feel so much better about taking Sadie for walks and having her around people and other dogs - which I never thought possible. I would HIGHLY recommend Clear Mind Canine to anyone!!! read more

It really is as good as it gets with Heather. We highly recommend her for private lessons and boarding! We haven't been to her group classes, but I'm sure they are great as well. She owns a nice property in Felton which has several fenced off sections. I know she does group lessons in another location, probably because it gets dark so early these days. We adopted a German Shepherd and she instantly knew how to take control and teach us to work with him. She is a natural with dogs. We went to several private lessons, and then recently we urgently needed somewhere to board him while we went on a trip and thought of her. She was totally able to accommodate us. Not only that, our flight was departing at 6:30am, and instead of requiring us to bring him the night before, she let us drop him off at 3:00am, so he could get one last night to sleep at home with us. That was so sweet of her to allow us to do. She text'ed and emailed us pictures! With boarding, she offers the option of doing some training with your dog for a minimal amount more per day. We are working on socializing him, so for the additional fee, she took him to the park and worked with him there! Want to know one of the most amazing things about Heather? She openly told me that on one day they couldn't make it out to the park because she got sick, and deducted it from the total. I would have never known that they didn't make it out. Her honesty was super refreshing in this world! Haha. Heather is very intelligent, straight forward, down to earth, and so so kind. I highly recommend her for your doggy needs. We got our dog back in one piece and he is doing great. read more

We attend Heather's group classes with our reactive GSD and we loved it. We attended the Fiesty Fido class on counter-conditioning (based on the Control Unleashed method) and the Nosework class. The Nosework class was very interesting and our GSD just loved it! We highly recommend Heather. read more

I did two classes with my large male Rottweiler when he was 6 months and again at one year. I am so proud to be able to take him anywhere even in large crowds with lots of other dogs, he behaves and is friendly to everyone. He even ignores aggressive dogs when meeting them in an off leash setting, he just walks away and finds something else to investigate. read more

Heather Ross is probably the most versatile and experienced dog trainer in the Santa Cruz area. She understands dogs of all temperaments and can help owners understand the path toward a happy well adjusted pet. In addition, her depth of knowledge across a wide range of sports including IPO, obedience, rally, agility, scent work, and tracking is remarkable and she has trained her own dogs to very high levels of achievement. What sets Heather aside is her ability to trouble shoot and find more that a few creative solutions to problems that arise in training. In addition she is a R+ meaning she is a fully positive trainer. read more

what used to be a nightmare for me and my dog handsome- walking into a room filled with reactive dogs- has now become the highlight of our week. we joined heather's feisty fido class a couple months ago, and every week i notice slow, steady, tangible improvement in both of us. it is so encouraging. we have been recovering from ptsd after a bad dog attack from 2 pit bulls last year. it had been stressful and isolating, as i was learning how to manage dog reactivity- in both of us. from the first class with heather, i experienced huge relief. her knowledge of course- is so valuable- but more than that- her presence and confidence creates an environment of safety and focus that permeates everyone in the class- dog and human. at the risk of gushing and embarrassing her- she reminds me of advanced spiritual teachers i have had- only instead of a meditation technique- she focuses her mind on dogs. she's like a dog yogi. every class is different- she reads the room and sees where we are at and comes up with different exercises to help each dog along in their journey. i never thought being with a bunch of reactive dogs could be so fun, inspiring, creative and healing! read more