Frances is hands down the best dog trainer I have ever worked with. She is not only passionate about her job but she invests endless time and money into continuing her education, something that is very rare amongst the dog training community. I first started working with Frances a year ago and under her guidance I went from having a chaotic teen to a well trained dog that has incredible obedience, social skills, and an amazing recall. Along with this Frances introduced me to the world of dog sports and now my dog and I spend our weeks competing in dock diving, scent work and even do some retrieve work for fun! Her passion for dog training is so contagious that I found myself wanting to learn more, train more, and explore more of the dog world. I truly don't think my dog and I would have the bond we do if it weren't for Frances. To this day we still train with her regularly and she is the only person I would trust to handle my dog. Could not recommend her enough!!! read more

Finding Balance Dog Training - Pet Training Near Me

We worked with Frances in 2019 and 2020. Her primary approach at the time was the use of an ecollar and recommending neutering as a fix for aggression. She boarded and trained our dogs multiple times over that period and frequently praised their behavior -- never raising concerns about aggression. More recently, we were stunned to see Frances publish a highly damaging story about one of our dogs that contradicts everything she previously told us. The claims are not supported by any of her past communication, and we still have complete transcripts and texts that reflect a completely different version of events. She has now claimed our dog is human aggressive and has a bite history -- claims that were never made during our time working together and are not supported by any documentation or past behavior. She had even sent us videos at the time of our dog peacefully cuddling with her husband in bed. It's also worth noting that Frances was, at the time, publicly outspoken in support of ecollar use -- even going as far to proudly state she was involved in efforts to stop San Francisco's proposed ban. She once shared that proudly online. Strangely, all of those posts have since been removed, which suggests a shift in how she wants to be publicly perceived. More recently, she's also attempted to involve other local businesses in supporting her current version of events, despite its clear inconsistencies with past documentation. I would not recommend working with someone whose narrative can change so dramatically over time. It's disappointing and deeply unsettling. read more

Frances is an exceptional dog trainer. Her skill, passion and integrity really set her apart from other trainers I've worked with. Highly recommend! read more

We brought our puppy Charlie home, and understandably, he was not potty or crate trained. Our new vet (and books, trainer, etc. pretty much everyone) agreed: crate training goes hand in hand with potty training. "Start immediately and don't give in! If you go to him when he cries, he will forever learn that this is how to get out of the crate and he will never learn how to self-soothe!" And so began 10 days and nights of sleepless hell, with a 4.5 month old puppy who screamed all night and pooped and peed the crate. every night. every morning I would wash the poop off him and the walls around the crate, and cry, and feel like this cycle would never end. my son's warm welcome home consisted of shipping him off to airBnBs for a week just so he could sleep at night. I couldn't sleep all night, my heart breaking, hearing our new puppy cry. I was struggling, trying to follow the advice of all the wise dog owners and specialists, but it was unraveling our family, and I was worried we were going to break our sweet new puppy. I have to rewind a minute and tell you that Frances offered to come meet us at the foster's home when we first picked him up, to meet Charlie and see where he was raised, and meet his mom and his siblings. She offered to help weigh in when we struggled about taking Charlie or his more mellow sister (but it was always going to be Charlie ). She took time out of our busy day to do this kindness for us, because she loves dogs, and she loves people, and she wants us all to get along. What happened after we got Charlie home and were struggling is incredible. I'm pretty strong, but I was on the edge of a nervous breakdown. The stress of having a screaming-all-night-pooping-his-crate-refusing-to-poop/pee-outdoors pup along with a human puppy who needed his sleep while dealing with a new job, it was just about too much. I had entered that unthinkable mental space of "I am just not sure I can do this. I might not be able to... gulp KEEP this sweet puppy!" I had scheduled Frances to come shortly after we brought Charlie home, to help us with basic "sit, down, stay." I wanted to make sure we had a well-behaved dog who wouldn't jump up on visitors and beg at the table. I didn't even know enough to be concerned about other issues like socialization and other subtle but hugely important things. Frances is a born dog-whisperer. She is just one of those people who understands dogs as if they were her own flesh and blood. When she was young, her fantastic mom offered her a choice between a trip to Disney or a dog. Duh!  No contest for Frances. (By the way, 18 years later, she still has this sweet dog!) Turns out, this dog was a challenge. And the story of Frances the trainer begins! Returning to the story of Charlie: Frances came by for our first training session (which is as much, possibly more, for the humans than the dog! )  and she could just tell that I was already at a breaking point. She instinctively offered to help in a much bigger way than "sit" and "down". She wanted to check in with her partner to be sure they could weather a screaming puppy, and her partner said "I think you can really help these people, and this puppy!" I was beside myself with gratitude.  I mean, they are both just, saints. So they took in our Charlie, and they had kind of a rough first night where he screamed and pooped himself, and she lovingly bathed him in the middle of the night, and then started her amazing problem-solving. "What if my incredible dog Leroy can help soothe him and show him it's ok to be in a crate overnight?" Her instincts were golden and that remains the last time Charlie pooped his crate or even cried in it. Leroy and Charlie enjoyed a fine friendship and bedtime routine: charlie inside the crate, and leroy just outside it, slumbering peacefully but right there to soothe charlie if he started to freak out. After several nights she removed Leroy to make sure charlie could handle it on his own. he could! then she started putting his crate in different rooms to make sure he'd be able to adapt. he did! Then her 3 dogs (and Frances! lol) proceeded to help teach Charlie to pee and poop outside! (I had tried and failed for 10 days!) She sent me photos and video updates, with informative and often humorous commentary. I treasured these communications as my hope and confidence grew that we might be able to handle this new puppy after all, after this intervention. We went to visit him and were greeted by a puppy who now fetched!  He was also sitting and lying down on command, and was just so much calmer and secure-seeming. Her dogs contributed to some much needed socializing, with her careful supervision. When team Frances delivered Charlie back to us, we had a puppy who was 100% crate trained, and potty trained. Nothing short of a miracle if you ask us. She is really smart and kind and funny and interesting. Our puppy adores her. Your and your dog/s would be very blessed to have Frances in your lives! read more

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Finding Balance has quite literally changed out lives. My wife and I rescued our dog and within a year were struggling to find the right ways to adapt our training to our dogs behavior. Frances' went above and beyond -- she focuses not only on your dog but on how to make you as owners equipped with the right tools to manage and continue the training outside of your time with her. Frances' patience and kindness are only outweighed by her training expertise. Couldn't recommend her services highly enough! read more

I cannot rave about Frances and Finding Balance Dog Training enough. We did a 3-week board & train with our 1.5 year old french bulldog. He needed some general obedience training, and he was doing some attention barking which we did not enjoy (as well as having limited-to-no recall). Frances has an amazing home with a lot of space for the dogs that she has at any given time. She incorporates them into her life activities, while also taking specific time to train them. She sent us thorough updates and photos the entire time. We felt he was in completely safe hands. When we got him back, we did a training session with her to review what he has learned and she sent a comprehensive document with recommendations. In just 3 weeks he was able to improve his recall tremendously, obey commands, and vastly reduce his attention barking. We are so grateful! We will continue to work with Frances for maintenance training as well. HIGHLY RECOMMEND! read more

Finding Balance Dog Training - Pet Training Near Me

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Nothing short of a miracle worker. Sensible and realistic, a true professional in every sense of the word and a genuine good person. Seriously, what more could you ask for? If your looking into trainers, just do yourself the favor and go with FBDT. read more

Frances at Finding Balance is my go-to trainer for not only my own dog, but for foster pups that could use any level of rehab or training. With Frances, old dogs truly can learn new tricks. I've recommended her to a number of friends--all of which say the same thing. There's no age, breed, or training situation she's unwilling to take on. She's not the cheapest trainer you'll find, but she's 100% the most effective, and best bang for your buck. She'll come and meet you where you're at, and goes above and beyond to keep you and your pup safe while learning together. read more

Frances was a huge lifesaver! We urgently needed someone to come do a behavioral assessment of our dogs. This also happened to be the day the Bay Area announced a lockdown bc of Coronavirus starting at midnight. Frances accommodated our schedule and was incredibly professional, thorough and you can tell she really cares about animals. read more

Frances is amazing! Calm, thoughtful, knowledgeable and highly trained. She came to us day of for a last minute emergency to evaluate our dogs behavior. She brought her beautiful dog Leroy with her, who is incredibly well trained and sweet. She was so professional, thorough and compassionate. We loved working with her. Highly recommend! read more

I know it sounds a bit hyperbolic, but Frances changed our lives. We were under a lot of stress because of some behavioral issues with our pup, and needed help or were worried we wouldn't be able to keep her. Frances came to our rescue, and gave us the tools we needed to be better dog parents. Frances is incredibly sweet and understanding, knowing that she is often coming to people in times of stress. She's extremely passionate and just an all around lover of dogs, and her enthusiasm is fun to be around. She is truly a dog whisperer, very calm and in control immediately, very knowledgeable and creative. She understood our dog and what she needed after a short time, and listened to our concerns and what we wanted to get out of our training time with her. Frances is compassionate, talented, and a model balanced dog trainer. Our dog has grown so much over the time we've worked with Frances, that all of our lives are changed for the better. We've already recommended her to people we know, and would continue to do so gladly. We just love Frances! read more

Any good dog trainer will tell you that dogs are easier to train than people. It's true. Looking back, I have wasted a lot of money on different trainers either because I didn't want to change something or their methods were allowing bad behavior to escalate. Frances has a gift of communicating with her clients directly, realistically, and in a non-judgmental manner. Sometimes, it's embarrassing for dog owners to reach out and contact a dog trainer because it's not easy to tell somebody "Hey, I've had my dog for five years and she isn't housebroken/only sits for a treat/drags me around on walks..." None of us are professionals at everything, and sometimes it's better if we seek help from realistic, experienced professionals like Frances. I have worked with several other trainers in the past for different issues, everything from basic obedience to resource guarding, and Frances has taken on those challenges with professionalism, realistic advice, and methods that are balanced but are heavier on rewards and make learning fun, while instilling boundaries. She comes highly recommended and I eagerly refer people to her! read more