Update: After another month or two of sessions with Grace, we are now doing off-leash hikes and beach trips with Hershey! Wooo! I couldn't believe it! We were able to achieve our end goal of walking off-leash with him. In my mind, I had thought it was going to take years for your dog to know not to run off once they are free. (probably PTSD from when my previous family dog, Lucky, who, if he escaped the backyard, it will take forever for him to come back because he thinks that me chasing him is a game.) But Grace really was thorough in giving us the tools and time we needed to get Hershey accustomed to being off-leashed. Seeing how Hershey is more relaxed now as well, we now no longer think we need to attend obedience classes. We are so lucky we went with Grace! read more

Fair Love Dog Training - Pet Training Near Me

I don't know where we would be with our fearful Taiwan Dog if I had not reached out to Grace! Cruz arrived in early February 2021 and we immediately knew he was unlike any dog we had had before. For the first week, he wouldn't come out of his crate, we had to carry him outside to potty, he would barely venture out of his crate even to eat, and he most definitely was not going on any walks; while everyone else's Taiwan Dog seemed to come around much quicker or almost instantly, Cruz was extremely scared and not looking to bond with us anytime soon. Everyone told us "they will come around with love and patience" but I could tell it was going to take more work than that, and we weren't about to let months or years go by without being proactive with him. With Grace's training, we have learned how to truly bond with Cruz, and how to help him relax in situations where he is scared. We know how to "read" him and anticipate how to react/respond to help him. I love that her focus is on emotion coaching our dog (something coincidentally enough we are also working on with our children) and helping our dog help himself so he can work through his fears in any situation. Her understanding of fearful street dogs is profound; she really knows how they think, why they are reactive and how to calm them in stressful situations. Cruz continues to grow exponentially every week. The dog who wouldn't come out of his crate 5 months ago now loves to jog, hike and camp. He wakes up every morning full of wags and kisses for us, happily gets in the car to go somewhere, and [drum roll please] we just had our first very successful beach trip with him where he was so excited to play with us and the other dogs there, he didn't show any signs of fear, he happily walked up to other humans to say hello, was off-leash most of the time, and he knew his boundaries and always came to us to "check in". He still has work to do but at the rate he is growing, he will far exceed our expectations of the perfect family dog. Our family highly recommends Grace! read more

Fair Love Dog Training - very happy at the beach! - Pet Training Near Me

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When I first picked up my formosan mountain dog Hershey, he was the most terrified and anxious dog I've ever met. "What did I get myself into?" I thought as I struggled day-to-day with Hershey's behavior: - would not want to leave the front door (making potty training near impossible) - barks / growls at shadows and at anybody who comes remotely close to him - could not make it more than 1 block on walks and want to turn back to the house - could not be / sleep inside the crate without screaming bloody murder constantly for an hour straight - could not be in an outdoor setting (restaurant patios) without being extremely skittish around other people or dogs - functionally, could not interact with anyone else except me and my wife I knew FMDs were more wary than other dogs in general - but did not anticipate to this level. Was I going to be stuck with this for the rest of my life, (and even shamefully thought would I have to give Hershey back?) -- Looking back at our 6-month adventure with Grace, Hershey today is a completely different dog. At the beginning of our program, we set out with the end goal of being able to bring Hershey off-leash hiking. My wife later told me she thought this would take years. We recently took Hershey to Fort Funston for an amazing day of off-leash hiking, exploring, and playing on the beach with other dogs. (Even letting strangers pet him!) More deeply - the program has allowed Hershey's playful personality to shine through. Are there still times when Hershey gets wary or a little scared? Of course - but the program teaches both you and your dog how to work through it, and how to address those feelings at the root. -- Her process requires you to read her emails before starting her sessions, and I highly encourage it. She will have lessons that might not always be easy to hear - however, the training is just as much fair love to you and your dog. If you have a skittish, nervous, or fearful dog, Grace's program might just be for you. read more

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Grace is an incredible trainer who really knows her way around fearful and reactive dogs. My FMD dog, Scion, was fear-aggressive, which meant he used to lunge and snarl at other dogs yet was tail-tucked terrified of humans. However, Grace taught us how to emotionally coach Scion through stressful situations. It's definitely a more psychological and emotional approach. Even though we've only been working with Grace for 2 months, we can already see huge improvements with Scion! He stopped lunging, he can self-soothe himself when stressed, and he's generally a much calmer dog. She's not your typical obedience trainer but really gets to the root of the problem which actually resolves the problematic symptoms. She's a direct person which means she's easy to talk to and you can really tell she cares about your fur babies :) I love my dog Scion to the ends of the world but just a few months ago, I wish I hadn't adopted a rescue. With the emotional baggage he had, it was difficult to do even simple things like go on a walk. However, with Grace's training, my and Scion's quality of life have improved tremendously. Even though I know Scion still has a long way to go, a few strangers have already come up to me and asked, "What's your secret? How come your dog is so calm and obedient? What can I do to make my dog calmer? How can I make my dog listen to me?" And it still shocks me that THEY are coming to ME. They would've never guessed that he was not the dog he is today. Seeing Scion grow and blossom into the dog he is today makes me so proud of both myself and him. And it's also nice to say that those regrets are no longer there. I highly recommend Grace! read more

Fair Love Dog Training - Pet Training Near Me

We initially adopted 2 Formosa Mountain Dogs at 6 mos old. They seemed to get along well initially, but we started to see some signs of aggression towards one another as well as some towards us. Struggling, we reached out to Grace for advice. She listened to our situation and she gave us her honest assessment that we should rehome one of the dogs. It was a difficult conversation but I always appreciated Grace's honesty and straightforward, no-nonsense approach. It wasn't what we wanted to hear but it was probably what we NEEDED To hear. For what seemed like counterintuitive reasons at the time we decided to keep the dog, Axel that Grace thought we should rehome. While we loved both pups dearly, we saw something in Axel that we thought was worth committing to. It was a challenging process, but with Grace's help we've seen Axel blossom from a very terrified, fearful pup to a happy, loving member of the family. I think even Grace is proud of how far Axel has come (and Axel LOVES Grace)! We are so grateful to Grace and Fair Love Dog Training for supporting us on this journey! If you own a fearful pup, and need help I whole-heartedly recommend Grace and Fair Love Dog Training! read more

It's hard to describe how much Grace/Mensa Mutts has helped our dog, Jodie. When we were heading out on a three-week vacation in December of 2017, we decided to take the opportunity to do a board-and-train program with Grace. Over those three weeks, Grace worked on basic training for Jodie, plus training on an e-collar to help Jodie with her recall. By working on obedience and slowly bringing Jodie into new and gradually more challenging situations, Grace improved Jodie's overall obedience and made her a much more confident dog. Grace's philosophy is to help dogs learn to calm themselves. I have seen how Jodie can now enter a new situation where she previously would have been scared and become calm and confident. We also worked wtih Grace again before the arrival of our new baby. She helped us come up with concrete tactics we could apply in our household once the baby came. As a result, the dog welcomed the baby into our home (even though she normally doesn't like new people) and she even wags whenever she's near the baby. Grace feels like a true partner to us. We asked her to board Jodie while we were in the hospital having the baby and Grace was on call for us. With just a few hours notice, she was able to pick up our dog while we rushed off to UCSF. Jodie is a fearful, but curious dog. If you have a dog that is fearful or shy, Grace can really help bring out their confience, so they can be the best version of themselves. We love Grace and are thrilled to recommend her to anyone. read more

Recently I concluded 5-months of private training for my rescue, Oatly. I learned early-on conventional obedience classes were not working. Oatly would consistently growl, bark, and lunge at the other five dogs in the class and it was difficult to learn the foundations while trying to manage his behavioral issues no matter how many distractions and treats I gave him. With Grace, I realized what Oatly needed was to learn the foundations of staying calm and relaxing especially when presented with his fears (of strangers and other dogs while on leash). Starting from training via Zoom inside the home, to working in empty parking lots, then in-person sessions with Grace, and most recently walking hiking trails, Oatly's transformation has been astounding. His polite manners and confidence walking by and meeting other dogs has completely exceeded my expectations. I even was able to take him on our first road trip to Tahoe with friends that were new to him! Grace has also taught me how to be the owner Oatly needs. I too, feel more confident recognizing Oatly's behavioral cues and appropriately managing the many different experiences that come our way. I owe Grace for helping Oatly gain the BEST second chance after living a homeless life in the streets of Turkey. I highly recommend her to any prospective clients! read more

Fair Love Dog Training - Pet Training Near Me

Working with Grace has been the best thing we've done for our Formosan Mountain Dog, Bento, as well as for ourselves! We got Bento in March 2019. At first, all seemed good and well, but then little things started happening here and there that started to get us worried. Random barking fits at supposedly random dogs and strangers. Fearfulness when people came over or when over at other people's houses. Our "dog manners" class we had signed up for recommended identifying his triggers, then counter-conditioning to them, but we just didn't see that as a real solution, especially since part of our issue seemed to be the randomness of it all. We tried classes, and we consulted with other trainers, but none of it seemed to help. Prior to adopting Bento, I had done a lot of research into dog training and positive reinforcement training. I was made to feel like there was a "right" method for training your dog. Working with Grace has helped me realize, it's less about the dog and more about you. She teaches you about how to read your dog's behavior, recognize signs of stress, and teaches you strategies for how to deal with stressful situations when they happen. Stressful things still happen, but now we are prepared when they do happen. I also love that she focuses on teaching your dog how to relax and be calm. We've noticed that since we've practiced being calm with Bento, he's been able to recover more quickly when stressful situations happen. We've also seen TONS of improvement during our walks. Bento was a puller and loved to take the lead on our walks. These days, he's much better about walking at our pace and following our lead! We've been working with Grace since August 2019, and over the 7-8 months we've been working with her, our relationship with our dog has changed dramatically for the better! If you're feeling lost in what to do about your dog's behavior, Grace will definitely help! read more

My husband and I have 2 fearful and reactive FMDs. Before working with Grace, our dogs barked and lunged at people, dogs, cars, bikes, wind, and small noises - both inside and outside the home. The stress and anxiety got to the point where I was considering rehoming one of the dogs. After working with Grace for 6 months, we can finally walk our dogs together, and they can meet new people and even other dogs! Before Grace, we tried everything: multiple obedience classes, private training sessions, we read dog training books from all the different schools of thought, subscribed to multiple dog trainers across the country, and reached out to multiple online FMD communities. Most people dismissed our problems as "just keep doing more obedience" or "feed more treats", aka do more of the same. So when Grace said she was an "anti-obedience" trainer, that caught my eye because she was the first trainer who affirmed my experience that the usual training was not solving our problems. Grace understands fearful and reactive dogs. Her entire training system and philosophy is based on improving your dog's confidence in itself and in its humans, and addressing the root cause of behavior issues rather than quick fixes. I learned that the problem is not that my dogs weren't obedient enough, it's that they didn't know how to be calm, and I didn't know how to show them. Grace gave us a variety of effective and empowering training tools that are tailored to our lifestyle and even tailored to each of our dogs' personalities. Even before meeting our dogs, Grace knew how their different personalities would lead to different challenges, and despite my skepticism at first, she was absolutely correct. I am especially grateful for Grace's support through the challenging beginning stages of training. Grace is knowledgeable, honest, and professional, and her training is extremely effective. Her solutions are simple to incorporate into daily life. It's hard work for both humans and dogs, but none of it requires carving out lots of extra time, space, or equipment. The changes we have seen in our dogs has been monumental and truly life-changing for all of us. Thank you, Grace! read more

Grace has been an incredible help in making us feel more confident about our Formosan mountain dog's reactivity to other dogs and small children. Her training has made us feel like we know our dog better and we now can pick up on subtle cues that we didn't know to look for before. I highly recommend Grace's personalized approach to dog training and look forward to each week we get to see her train Zoey. read more

I am so happy I reached out to Grace at Mensa Mutts! Grace is not only a fabulous trainer, she's a wonderful human being! I initially reached out to Grace because my dog Bentley would bark and lunge at other dogs while on walks. In addition, he was a door dasher! I needed training in order to provide Bentley with the necessary guidance to ensure he was safe at all times. Then, after chatting with Grace, we decided that Daisy, my tripod, also needed a bit of training because she had not been very self-confident especially after getting hit by a car and losing her leg several summers ago. Fast forward four months with Mensa Mutts and Bentley is no longer a door dasher, certainly doesn't bark as much and is much more fun to walk! Oh, and Daisy is becoming a self-assured dog again - yes, she's getting her groove back! More about Grace: she listens; she provides simple instructions; she corrects me without judgment; she is always on time; she gets me and my pups! Grace is everything we needed and my pups - and I - are much happier. Thank you, Mensa Mutts! read more

Grace helped us immensely with our rescued Taiwan Dog. I have worked with a lot of different trainers with many different styles and hands down Grace is very different and terrific. The step on the leash exercise is amazing. When we moved on to the relax drill I was astonished. I still do both exercises multiple times per day and read Grace's emails daily. We boarded our dog Poppy with her twice because I do not trust anyone who doesn't understand fearful dogs. Each time we received daily videos and Poppy made progress. Don't go with Grace's program unless you're willing to do the work. If you do the work you will be amazed! read more

Fair Love Dog Training - Poppy the Taiwan Dog - Pet Training Near Me

Grace is amazing! I'd heard good things, but since I am up in the Sacramento area, I didn't think I'd get a chance to work with her. She sent out an email offering a four-part virtual workshop at a very affordable price, so I signed up, wondering how we could possibly accomplish any kind of behavior modification with my dog via Zoom. My dog, Nuvelle, is a rescue from Taiwan. She's about 2 years old and is naturally fearful and reactive with other people and animals. She lunged at other dogs on walks and barked incessantly at people who came to the house. When we let her out in the backyard, she would charge over to the neighbor's fence to "fence fight" with their dog. Overall, she was a good dog, but her reactive behavior was causing her (and I) stress. Grace's techniques work. Even over Zoom! They are easy to understand and simple to implement. Consistency is the key. It's only been a few weeks, but Nuvelle has already improved so much! What's amazing is that the same technique applies in so many different situations. By teaching her to "relax," or calm herself, we have seen improvement in all areas... when people come over... when we encounter dogs on walks... when we let her out in the backyard. We have foster kittens now, and I never EVER thought I could have kittens in the house. Training her to calm herself and work through her anxiety has helped her in all areas. I highly recommend Grace to anyone looking to improve their pup's behavior and have a happier, healthier pup! read more

Thanks to Grace, our FMD "Willow" is living her best life. We had been looking for a dog in the states for several months, but due to COVID there were very few dogs available. We ended up looking on line for a cat friendly dog and she popped up. The rescue group told us she was great with kids, cats, dogs and even strangers. We were sold, she was exactly what we were looking for! Willow arrived from Taiwan on Thanksgiving day. What the rescue did not tell us was that she was terrified of everything! She wouldn't come out of her crate, she wouldn't eat, and she flinched at every sight and sound. I thought that it was no big deal, that she would warm up quickly and within a day or two we would be best friends. I've had dogs my entire life, and I've worked as a veterinary technician for 26 years, and yet a month later I still was not able to help this little dog from Taiwan. I was heartbroken! We tried everything we could think of to gain her trust. None of the traditional methods of socializing a dog we're helping in any way. Willow was different than any dog I'd ever dealt with. My husband and I were feeling very discouraged, and quite desperate to find something to help her. AND THEN WE FOUND GRACE!!!! And thanks to her, our dog Willow is happy and shows amazing improvement every day. In just a few short weeks she has gone from a dog who would tremble and cower if we took her to our back yard, to a confident happy dog who waits at the gate to go for a walk around the neighborhood. We have more work to do but I know we're on the right track and I know that we are in good hands with Grace. She truly understands reactive, fearful dogs. She's amazing with her clients too! She has helped us understand our dog from a completely different perspective. Her training methods work because she knows how these dogs think and why they have come to be so reactive. If you want to help your fearful dog, call Grace! You won't be sorry and your dog will get to live the life they deserve!! If Willow could leave a review, she would want to give Grace a thousand stars. My husband and I are grateful every time we see our sweet dog looking happy! Fair love Dog Training , look no further! read more

We first contacted Grace at Mensa Mutts after our dog nipped at worker at a potential boarding place when he tried to put on her leash. We had adopted our Taiwan/FMD dog Nina two months prior. She was also extremely fearful of new people, sudden noises, self-opening doors, and would bark frantically at people/dogs when they walked by the house. Grace gave us techniques/tools to help Nina calm herself and be less fearful. Grace was positive and lots of fun to work with. Nina is a different dog from the one we first brought home. Friends and neighbors continually comment on how relaxed and calm she is, and we owe that all to Grace. She is amazing! read more

We adopted Sam, a rescue from Turkey, about a year ago. In the beginning, he was very fearful, but we thought that was just the usual adjustment period for a rescue. However, we quickly realized it was much deeper than that. Sam had major fear and anxiety. He was afraid of going outside, afraid of people, noises, any change around the house, any object we had in our hands, and could not wear a leash without dropping down and shaking uncontrollably. At first, we went the regular obedience training route, but those trainers were often overwhelmed by Sam's extreme behavioral issues and their methods simply didn't work. Then, we put him on Fluoxetine. But that didn't make a difference in his behavior or help with his anxiety. Then, Grace happened. Truly a saving Grace indeed. Not only was she familiar with international rescues and some of their traits and struggles, but also her passion for understanding a dog's emotional needs was something I really appreciated. I won't lie, her training can be intense (as she will tell you). But what I didn't expect, was that the training would be more intense for us than Sam! Through Grace's training, we realized how much of our own emotions we put on Sam and so much of the training revolves around giving the dog an opportunity for building confidence as well as learning how to deal with their emotions. Fast forward about 8 months, and Sam walks on a leash every day, loves playing in the backyard, can relax himself in situations such as having new people around, or loud cars passing by, or countless others that we used to struggle with him. Basically, Sam is a completely changed dog. I cannot count the amount of times Grace would give us a training lesson and I wouldn't think Sam would respond, and then he would catch on super quick. Grace definitely taught me to have more faith in Sam's capabilities and as we have seen through applying her teachings, they truly, truly work. As dramatic as it sounds, Grace saved our lives in a way. Without her, not only would we have been dealing with very difficult doggie-struggles in our day to day lives, but Sam would not have grown into the best version of himself that he is today. And for that, we are extremely grateful to her. read more

My pup Juno was recently boarded with Grace for 9 days. Normally I'd be really nervous about boarding her for such a long time but I had nothing to worry about! She basically had a second home during this time. I decided to do private boarding over doggy daycare for the extra attention and she sure got it. Grace took her on regular walks and even practiced agility with her! All this I was able to follow through regular video uploads. Juno came back happy, cuddly and her leash walk improved. We will be boarding her with Grace in the future without doubt. read more

I contacted Grace after having poor experiences with other trainers, all of whom said that my rescue dog Harvey was dog-aggressive. She showed my family that Harvey's behavioral issues actually stem from being anxious and fearful, requiring confidence work. Grace has a calm, assertive and patient presence as well as methodology. She takes the time to really get to know the animals and families she works with to create tailor made, easy to complete strategies that get results. After working with her for just a few months/sessions, Harvey has already shown big improvements becoming more calm, confident and happy. Walks with Harvey encountering other dogs are getting increasingly more manageable. I'm excited to continue working with Grace! read more

When we adopted Millie a few months ago we quickly realized that normal training techniques were not going to work. Even though she seemed friendly, we knew something was up and that she was constantly anxious. Some of the behavior we experienced when we first got her: - For the first few weeks Millie refused to use the bathroom on the leash. She had to be off leash in the dog park with no other dogs present and she would only go once in the corner of the park - She never napped, she was always alert and pacing back and forth in our apartment or barking for attention - She wanted attention constantly but also couldn't seem to handle getting attention - Didn't understand when or how to calm down - Refused to go in her crate and when we managed to get her in the crate she wouldn't stop crying and barking Luckily we contacted Grace and our experience with Millie has completed changed. Working with Grace has completely changed how we interact with Millie. Grace's training focuses on trying to better understand your Taiwan dog and what drives their behavior. Grace explains this in a way that makes sense and gives you achievable bi-weekly goals. We started with step on leash and this alone has helped Millie tremendously. Step on leash taught her how to calm down and now it's a useful tool to use when we know Millie is getting worked up/anxious. From there, we progressed to working on deepening our bond with Millie and to better understand her behavior. Now Millie is a lot calmer (she sleeps a lot of the day), is better on walks (a lot less pulling), is more confident meeting new people, is more playful, and can finally sleep through the night in her crate! On top of this, we now have the tools to help Millie calm down in stressful situations and she continues to improve each week. We highly recommend working with Grace!! read more

I have 3 adult labs who are my babies, but 2 of them definitely needed some training on top of the obedience training we did when they were younger. One dog was anxious and barked a lot, always on high alert (but still very loving and friendly), and the other stared getting grumpy and a little territorial (she's the baby, and kind of a brat, but also still very loving!). Grace has been a wonderful tool in our toolbox for our girls! She told us that our obedience courses aren't what our dogs need, and they need to learn how to relax their mind and self-soothe. After implementing her homework, we started seeing improvements with all of our dogs! It was like a miracle! Now I'm not going to say it's a one-and-done deal, you have to be consistent and put in the work, but when training your dog, you should expect that. We have seen leaps of improvements in our first dogs anxiety and her ability to calm herself, and our other dog has also been making really great progress. And that was just in 2 months! Grace is absolutely worth the investment for your dogs!! read more

I haven't used Grace/Mensa Mutts for any formal behavioral training sessions, but I have attended one of her agility classes. I found the agility class through Meetup and when I finally had a free sunday, I went and I'm glad I did! I learned so much in just an hour, it was great. She brought bars, a tunnel and some podium/steps to learn on. My dog had never even done agility but with the help of Grace, within minutes, he looked like a pro, he even ran through the tunnel, which shocked me! Conner and a dog that Grace was board and training were the only ones to practice, which meant both dogs got a lot of practice and were able to get tired. Grace is awesome and was actually nice enough to answer some questions I had about Conner's changing behavior as he reaches adult dog age. Her husband is also great and knowledgeable and took pictures of the whole session, which was an added bonus! I definitely recommend Mensa Mutts to anyone who needs help with their dog, especially anxious ones. I do intend to talk to her more about my dogs behaviors soon so we can start some training too. read more

Grace has turned my Polly into a brand new dog! She was pretty reactive toward strangers and other dogs, very fearful and would growl/bark at them. Grace identified that she wasn't aggressive but more untrusting of others and her training consisted of exercises to help her gain more confidence and trust. We never though Polly would be able to be crate trained because as a puppy she absolutely HATED it and would break out of it. But now she sleeps perfectly through the night everyday and enjoys it as her little safe space in the day. Polly had made so much progress and Grace has been able to provide us with tips/exercises that are easily digestible and actually DOABLE. 10/10 would recommend grace!! read more

Fair Love Dog Training - Turns out Polly loves agility! - Pet Training Near Me

Grace is phenomenal! We boarded our 1.5 year old dog with her, and I couldn't be happier! I could actually enjoy my vacation and breathe a sigh of relief knowing Grace is watching our dog! I would highly recommend! read more

Grace is awesome! I booked three training sessions with her to help our newly adopted rescue girl, Carol, overcome some separation anxiety issues. Grace gave both myself and Carol the tools to set up healthy routines and practices. These have made a world of difference and it's so fulfilling to see Carol feel more confident and independent. Grace continues to be an excellent resource for us, and is so speedy to reply to emails too. Would definitely recommend Mensa Mutts. :) read more

Grace is an amazing trainer for our pups and us! She has taken the time to get to know us as well as Daisy and Dexter. Grace's knowledge of animals and people is outstanding. She brings insights into how to bring the best from our dogs and ourselves. After losing our previous dogs, we decided to adopt from a rescue. Daisy and Dexter were abandoned on the streets of Michigan. The shelter could only tell us they thought they were about a year old and a bonded brother and sister, so would be adopters had to be willing to adopt them together. We knew we wanted a credentialled professional to work with us one-on-one. We weren't sure where to go to find the person that we would be comfortable with and create a positive learning environment for us. Then, we heard of Mensa Mutts and did some research. From the very first call, we felt connected with Grace and have been thrilled that she is sharing her knowledge and techniques for the benefit of our fur babies! As we've been discovering Dexter and Daisy's personalities, Grace has been incredible with teaching us what to look for, how to provide them consistency through our 'homework' and live a better more "chill" life together. We highly recommend Grace and Mensa Mutts to anyone with a pet(s). She is holistically a kind, gifted and wonderful person! read more

Grace worked with us and our FMD, Sierra, on three occasions at our home. She is extremely knowledgeable about subtle changes that we as owners can make to help our dogs relax and change their behavior. After our last session our walks immediately became more enjoyable. I made a few small changes and now my dog is not pulling as much and her negative reactions to her surroundings are diminishing. I highly recommend working with Grace to solve your dog problems! read more

A year ago, I adopted a 6 month old Formosan Mountain Dog. My dog had a fear of strangers and was extremely sound sensitive. He would constantly bark at random sounds and any strangers he saw on our walks. It was impossible to walk him without coming back home burnt out. He was afraid of everything and I was sad that he lived his life in fear and wasn't able to be happy in his daily life. I was referred to Grace for help training my fearful dog. After going through her program, I was able to learn how to recognize when my dog was calm or needed a little help remembering to calm down. I think the most valuable things for me were learning how to read my dog and how to react in different situations. After my first few sessions with Grace, I had developed a solid set of skills to use when managing my dog's anxious behaviors. It has been a while since my last session with Grace, but I've been using the skills I learned and my dog has been able to grow amazingly well. Where he used to nonstop bark at sounds or strangers, he now only lets out a soft woof and lets me help calm him down. I'm excited to continue working with Grace! read more

We had just one session with Grace before we moved with our fearful and nervous dog, Shasta, and the tools we were given have helped so much! I'm sad to move away from Grace because she has already made such an impact on how we interact with our dog. I would highly recommend Mensa Mutts! read more

OMG!!! I can't say enough about what a miracle Grace has been! This is our 3rd Taiwan dog that we have adopted and unfortunately he came to us with very high anxiety around people, especially men. We are thinking that he was abused before he got to us. We had gone to 3 trainers, all who said that we would have to live with him the way he was or keep him on CBD to keep his anxiety controlled, which I might add, made him crazier. I was referred to Grace, thinking, OK, give ANOTHER trainer a try, and all I can say is that I am so glad we did. She has a calmness about her and a knowledge of how to work with these high anxiety dogs that is amazing. When she first met our pup, she said 'oh yea, he has hope', and we thought yea right. He was sitting in his crate, backed in a corner and shaking. At the end of the first session, with Grace's instruction for us, he was no longer shaking and was actually laying down, peeking at Grace over his bed. From that day, it only got better with us doing our 'homework' from Grace and occasional email questions, our pup was able to 'relax' himself when his anxiety kicked in. Our biggest and proudest moment that I have to tell about and give Grace so much credit for, is that we could NEVER get our pup to go on a walk by himself (we have 3 dogs) or even get past our driveway without putting up a fight of jumping and twisting and pulling to go back home. If he did go on a walk with the other 2 dogs, he would pull, jump and try to run if he saw a stranger or heard loud noises. After working with Grace and teaching our pup how to relax himself, Grace decided it was time to try him with the walking. In ONE session of working to get him to go out on a walk alone, I am SO happy to say that after 3 weeks of 'homework', our pup is able to go out on walks by himself, walks right by our side, no pulling, jumping or twisting and when there is a stranger walking toward him, we have him sit and relax himself and he lets the stranger walk by with no anxiety! He even looks forward to his walks alone now and he walks with a wagging tail! We really can't thank Grace enough for all that she has done to help 'train' us to train our pup. Thank you Grace!!!! read more

I love bringing my dog, Koa, out and about, especially to events like the Mensa Mutts Agility class. The variety of equipment was more than enough for my dog, especially being that he gassed out about 30 min. into the hour long session (shows how much stamina he has, which could be improved)! All that jumping had him out of breath and tired, coming home a happy pup. Grace taught me how to get my dog jump on the box & clear the hurdles, as well as how to praise him so he would repeat the movements. Another good thing is that my dog is reactive toward other dogs & Grace made sure that there was adequate space between the dogs to prevent any drama. It was a safe environment for Koa see & be around other dogs, get that necessary exposure without having to react! Much needed! I know Koa would love to come back! read more

We first met Grace in fall of 2018. I had scheduled a "Dream Dog" phone consultation because we were at wits end trying to help our then 11 month Taiwan dog mix with her fear issues. She was a rescue with a known traumatic event as a pup and came to us with tremendous fear of people, dogs, and nearly any new situation. Like many other fearful dogs, her fear was evolving into aggressive-appearing behaviors as she unsuccessfully struggled to cope with her overwhelming fears. Our family came to know that when she was not feeling the stress of a fearful state, she is a sweet, loving, playful and funny girl, who would much rather cuddle and play than anything else. We felt so sad that she lived in the constant stress of fear, but all of the training and recommendations that we had tried so far did not seem to be making a significant difference. The consultation call lasted about 1.5 hours and Grace impressed me that the first thing that she wanted to do was listen to us talk--to gain a detailed understanding of our dog's story, her behaviors, their impact on our lives, our goals for our girl and how she would fit into our family life. She encouraged us to look beyond our limited goals--goals which had become increasingly modest as we grew to doubt that she would never overcome her fear behaviors. Grace then spoke about the goal of building confidence within our dog. That gaining real confidence, as opposed to us trying to distract her from fear with obedience tasks, would give her the internal coping skills to deal with her fear triggers. It rang true for us--that this is what we were looking for so we signed on to do the intensive program for our dog. Over the four months since then, our little dog as come a very long way. Grace came to our home regularly and gave us a variety of "homework" tasks. I recall that when I was first introduced to the early homework assignments, it couldn't help wondering how those simple tasks would make a difference, but we trusted in Grace's experience and did our homework with our dog. Within the first two week interval, we saw improvement in her ability to reach a relaxed state. Over time the homework involved introducing new locations and challenges into the routine, but always with the goal of allowing her to work out how to become relaxed. Grace gave us the tools to help our dog. It felt great to see that she was gaining the skills and confidence to be calm and happy, even in locations that were once scary for her. We know that these changes like building confidence take time, but we are very grateful for Grace's insights and detailed and personalized guidance to help our dog. Grace is always responsive to our questions, and we never feel rushed during our sessions. Grace's passion for helping and truly understanding dogs like ours, who are probably the most challenging pups out there, is really amazing. And thank goodness she has that passion, because we have gained so much hope and such a better of quality of life with and for our dog with her help. read more

Grace is absolutely wonderful! She helped me get over the last few hurdles of training my pup Shadow. She is a very happy confident pup that can now relax more on our walks and outings with less pulling/tugging. She is now more relaxed with very busy/noisy/loud situations such as the BART station near our house. Grace was just what she needed to be a better pup. read more

Fair Love Dog Training is exactly what it sounds like: love is the given but structure is the foundation. Grace's Step-On-Leash program immediately sold us because it was clear that her philosophy aligned with our own. Using this method, we saw results quickly; her training is practical and she understands the demands of both fearful, reactive dogs as well as what is reasonable to expect for us humans. That said, she has high expectations for you, the dog owner, and prides herself on ensuring that yourexpectations and objectives are clear. She stresses quality over quantity to ensure that you can create a deep, meaningful connection with your dog--but you have to be committed with an open-mind. Grace's training methods begin with a few, key strategies which she then adjusts for you personally over time. She never loses sight of *why* you got your dog, but helps you figure out the *how* of working with and earning the trust of these incredibly smart, timid, and nervous dogs. Because once you do, you will be on top of the world and Grace will be there every step of the way! read more

Grace from Mensa Mutts has been a godsend! We adopted our beloved Jazmine from Adopt a Doggie 2 years ago from Taiwan and all started out well. But then, we had an incident where Jazmine attacked another dog. There were extenuating circumstances around this incident which did not make it all of Jazz's fault, however, after that she became fearful/aggressive towards certain dogs as well as a bit anxious in general. After her being one of the friendliest dogs in the neighborhood and a pretty chill dog to begin with, this change was pretty upsetting. I looked into other trainers and was not comfortable with their methods, nor did they really address the issue. Finally, I found Grace! It's been a bit of a journey and we are not 100% there, but with Grace's guidance, commitment from me and my family, and a bit of work, I have to say that Jazz is becoming the dog of my dreams! Her 'anxiousness' has decreased considerably and her fearful/aggressiveness towards other dogs has started to diminish considerably. Most importantly, Grace has helped and given me the skills to help Jazz become the best dog she can be. Grace has helped me realize that it isn't necessarily the dog that is the issue, but the person that needs the help/training. I'm becoming more 'in tune' with my dog and able to read her signs quicker and have more confidence in how to react and manage situations. My confidence has given Jazz more confidence which in turn has led to a better me, a better Jazz, and a better relationship between us. Thank you Grace for all you do for dogs and their people! read more

We were referred to Grace after we got a FMD/Lab mix dog from Taiwan. We had her for a few days and she was showing what we thought were signs of aggression (barking/snarling at strangers and other dogs, especially in our house) - we reached out to Grace in a panic and she was very responsive on Facebook, we sent her videos and she provided digital support and we were able to set up an appointment almost immediately with her. She came over and was able to get our pup under control in a matter of minutes (and explain that she wasn't aggressive, simply scared and needed a confident leader) and gave us several techniques to work on that helped her become more confident, calm and learn to soothe herself. We have worked with her for a number of months in a variety of settings (our home, her home and out a cafe with lots of strangers) and she has helped us with our leadership style with our dog and helped the pup feel more confident. We also did the three week board and train when we went out of town and that helped immensely with our dog's treatment as well. We would definitely recommend Grace for dog training, especially for shy/nervous pups! read more