Five stars for Sarah! Our German Shepherd Husky mix is a very anxious boy with a short trigger threshold and severe separation anxiety. After consulting with our vet and other trainers, Sarah's name kept coming up as the best for these issues. Even with medication, it's Sarah's patient and easy-to-follow training methods that have made the biggest difference. He's learning to relax, is much more comfortable when I leave, and is overall a much calmer and happier dog. We highly recommend Sarah to anyone dealing with similar challenges! read more

Sarah has been extremely helpful with our rescue dog Odie's barking issues. We were at our wit's end with alert barking, attention barking, and barking at guests. Sarah took her time to tailor her approach to Odie's needs, devoting the first session just to building trust with him. After this initial session, she helped us make progress extremely quickly within just a few weekly sessions. She sent helpful follow-up information and is very available and communicative. We have seen a huge decrease in alert barking and attention barking, and although we are still working on the guest barking, we feel like Sarah has given us the tools and support we need to keep making progress. read more

I cannot recommend Sarah enough. She is professional, kind, flexible, and knows what she's doing. I plan on booking more sessions, but in the three weeks we trained with her, she was able to help my dogs (we just moved to Chicago) adjust to big-city walks. They're champs now, and my stress levels re: walking them are much, much lower. I think what I like most about Sarah is how down-to-earth and approachable she is. She was patient with the dogs -- and with me, as training is not only for the dogs, but for the dog owners. Even though yesterday was our last session (for now), she left the door open and encouraged me to send updates and stay in touch. It's easy to see she really cares about her clients. She loves, loves, loves my pups and they love her. And she's been nothing but a pleasure to work with as far as I'm concerned. read more

Sarah is an exceptional trainer. She's easy to work with. She's very sweet and trusting. She's helped me and my scruffy terrier (aka stubborn and smart little guy) so much. He's much happier since we've worked with Sarah. You should expect to do homework as dog training is as much human owner training as it is dog training. read more

Sarah is one of the very best resources you can have for your dog if you live in Chicago. She is a consummate professional and does incredible, transformational work! What makes Sarah great is how down to earth she is. She knows your time and money is valuable when doing private training, so she won't waste any of it. She knows how to get the info she needs right away, so you can get to work and start helping your dog! I trust her completely with my pup and am so grateful that I have been able to work with her. I'm glad that Sadah is on our team! read more

I'm a lifelong dog owner and prior to this year, I felt very confident in my abilities to manage dogs. Within the last year my fiancé and I rescued two new dogs (a puppy and 70 lbs adult dog) and for the first time I felt completely discouraged as a dog owner and began to wonder whether I'd made a huge mistake. Walks were miserable. I could never get the dogs to stop pulling and lost control of the larger one more than once. Everything felt so chaotic that I coudn't even stop to think about where to begin with training. Before a last resort rehoming of one of the dogs, I thought I might as well seek the advice of a professional. After our first consult with Sarah, I felt hopeful about my abilities as a dog owner. She gave us very clear assignments and demonstrated them for us. Our dogs were exhausted after only an hour with her. She presented very easy solutions to some of our most overwhelming issues (leash pulling was corrected after the first appointment - I'm not even joking!) We've only had 3 appointments with her and it's like night and day. We work on training daily and I'm able to take them on much longer walks which is better for everyone! They're so much better behaved and even beginning to learn tricks. I can't believe the progress they've made in only a few weeks. My one regret is that I waited so long to book an appointment with her. Sarah is a miracle worker. I will recommend her to everyone I know. read more

Koppel’s K9s - Pet Training Near Me

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My 5-year old mixed breed rescue has become so much more confident because of training with Sarah! The primary reason we started working with Sarah was that my dog barked, jumped, and lunged toward other dogs - even over half a block away! I'd done as much training as I could myself over several months since adopting her, and knew I needed an expert to go any further. Sarah is as much a coach for me as she is a trainer for my dog, and it's made all the difference. She's taught me how to read my dog; to see, hear, and feel the world the way she (my dog) does; and to be consistent and confident in the way I interact with her. I very much appreciate Sarah's approach to training: true skill-building that sticks rather than quick fixes that don't, positive reinforcement, and tons of encouragement and patience. A key to our success is that we practice every day what Sarah has taught us. Seven sessions in, my dog is able to sit and watch other dogs walk by at a much closer distance than when we started. She's also calm on car rides, happy to greet people, and comfortable spending time with a few dogs of family and friends - things I wondered if she'd ever be able to do! We still have work to do, and it's so great to know it's a matter of "when" not "if" we see more improvements. Sarah truly believes in and loves her work, and I'm so happy we get to train with her read more

We have been working with Sarah for over ten years now, and it's hard to find words to express how much she has meant to our family - both dogs and humans! We have 3 dogs of different ages and different breeds - they couldn't be more adorable, stubborn, smart, mischievous - pick an adjective and I guarantee it will fit at least one of them! Sarah has worked so patiently and diligently with each of them. Our house is a quieter, happier home because of her! Couldn't recommend her highly enough! read more

We rescued Finn ( silver dapple ). He was not socialized at all. He had major separation anxiety and we almost gave him back to the rescue. We decided to hire Sarah and give him a chance. Within 5 visits, Finn started to listen to commands and wanted to just be loved. He has come a full 360 and this is all due to SARAH teaching Finn and also teaching us how to help him. Her patience and talent are unsurpassed and we will continue to use her service for refreshers in the future. read more

Koppel’s K9s - Pet Training Near Me

If you only say one thing about Sarah, it's that she absolutely LOVES dogs. That passion clearly translates into her work. While I haven't personally used Sarah (I don't have a dog...yet) I've spoken to her in multiple occasions and she's given me tons of insights on how to best communicate with dogs and train them. I've also spoke with a number of her clients and every one has been thrilled with the results after working with her. She's also not pushy at all which I really appreciate. When I refer her to friends and family I feel confident that she won't be recommending sessions just to get the job; if she recommends something it's because it will be in the best interest of you and your dog. If you're not sure about hiring a dog trainer, do yourself a favor and reach out to Sarah so she can let you know if and how she can help you. read more

Sarah has been invaluable helping us to train our dog. We adopted Luna in February 2022 when she was just over one year old. She is a fairly big dog weighing 70 pounds; a mix of bloodhound and great pyrenees. She loves people and dogs, but has a mix of a lot of energy as well as being timid about certain things. Sarah started by showing us how we could train Luna to follow a basic set of commands (sit, down, etc.) to get her attention. That sets a baseline. From there, she helped us get a harness and double leash as well as how to get Luna to accept the harness and let us put it on her. Then we tackled other challenges such as how to keep her from madly running down the stairs when heading out for a walk. She also introduced us to agility course options and how to get Luna to be more comfortable with how moving around. Sarah has helped us with a number of other important training subjects including polite greeting, laying down and rolling over for cooperative care, and much more. I highly recommend Sarah!!! read more

Sarah helped us out tremendously. I could not recommend her enough. My two pups have an abundance amount of energy (both around 2 years old) and when Sarah first came over to meet the dogs for their first session, they were CRAZY- jumping all over her, barking, being their uncontrollable crazy selves. Sarah was able to completely flip that wild experience for us. She really focused on giving us the tools to get them to settle when anyone came to the door which trickled to using the "settle" to any situation where they used to just go crazy. This alone is a tool that has been extremely beneficial for us. We also have had a lot of issues in the past with Wrigley and Loki barking at dogs as they pass by outside on walks to the point where they sound aggressive. Sarah again was able to step in and teach us ways to prevent these anxiety provoking walks and change them be a lot more "normal." Overall, she has been phenomenal to work with. Super flexible with our schedule, really listens to understand your problem to give the best solution and explains the "why" behind things, always goes the extra mile to send additional training materials after sessions, and even helped provide ideas to help with boredom for my pups when one was sick and needed to remain inactive without me even asking! Definitely a rockstar trainer that truly cares about her work, wears her heart on her sleeve and her impact truly is life changing for the dogs and for us as owners. Thank you so much Sarah!!! read more

Koppel’s K9s - Wrigley and Loki - Pet Training Near Me

Such an awesome experience with Sarah! She is very knowledgeable, patient and lovely to work with and you can tell that she genuinely loves dogs and her job. I would recommend her to anyone who is looking for some added training for their puppy/dog! read more

In July I adopted a wonderful dog (Hank) who I realized was very afraid of the outdoors, strange sounds, and everything new. For the first few weeks, I had to carry him outside because he wouldn't go down the back stairs by himself. I contacted Sarah after reading all of the wonderful reviews and she immediately called me to explain her training rationale (positive reinforcement, counter-conditioning, and desensitization). The first time Sarah came over, Hank was too afraid to approach her. She gave me tons of tips and Hank and I worked on them over the next few weeks - but I wasn't perfect. I forgot things and didn't train consistently enough. I mention that because I've never trained a dog from scratch before (like most people) but even the small amount of training I did had a HUGE impact. The third time Sarah came over, Hank approached her like she was an old friend and we all went outside together! Seeing the difference was remarkable and honestly moving. Sarah is incredible. She LOVES dogs and knows so much about training them and their humans She was so supportive through my frustration and second-guessing myself. I'm especially grateful for how she taught me to interpret his body language and all of the ideas she gave me for mini-training sessions throughout the day. I was hesitant to pay for a dog trainer because of the cost, but Sarah is reasonably priced and it is well worth it. She'll give you tons of work to do in between sessions so you can use your time with her to learn new things. I only wish I had called her sooner! read more

Koppel’s K9s - My happy hound Hank! - Pet Training Near Me

Sarah is the best at what she does. She focuses on positive reinforcement so your pup is actually happy to be trained. She's super creative in her techniques and meets owners where they live. 10/10 would recommend read more

This summer our lives were turned up-side-down with family dogs. After losing our 16-year Sheltie girl, Coco, we decided to find a new companion for our surviving 15-year female, CJ. We adopted Deacon, born and raised in rural Arkansas--on our drive home, quickly learned our new family member was still a young pup. Walking the dogs changed from peaceful and fun, to a tug-of-war. Between jumping on everyone, and attempting to pull your arm out of the socket, we needed help training this bundle of excited energy. Sarah came highly recommended by a neighbor with three dogs who had similar leasing walking issues. At our first training session, she showed us how to help focus Deacon's attention. Her approach, with clear baby steps and homework, made it possible to lease-walk him fairly quickly on quiet residential streets. There were days we were ready to ship him back to Arkansas. Each time we would have another issue, like marking furniture, Sarah always made thoughtful suggestions, and we made progress. Sarah has a unique ability to connect and understand life from the dog's point of view. And she teaches us humans through her empathy and knowledge. Life is better thanks to Sarah's sessions with our new little guy. read more

Sarah is the BEST! She was able to train my 2 year old stubborn and high energy pup into quite the charmer! He first wouldn't listen anyone, including myself and my husband. He would constantly torment the kitties and bark until he got his way. She put a stop to that really quick. You can tell he really enjoys his sessions and learning. He has done a 180 in just a few sessions and he loves Sarah as well. I'm thrilled! Highly recommend Sarah! read more

Sarah worked miracles on my beautiful black lab pit bull mix. She started off very afraid of everything in the city. She would bark, and pull me down the street, run after rabbits and need to say hi to EVERY dog. We are new to the area, so the dogs, cars, busses, skateboards, etc were way too much for her to handle. Not only did Reagan learn from her, but I did too, which I think is the most important thing. Reagan has unfortunately passed, but she could now be around the city, and focus her attention on me and remain relaxed. Reagan was also a pro at loose leash walking because of Sarah!! Thank you so much Sarah for helping me teach Reagan to behave on walks! I can't thank you enough! read more

I have a genius dog. (My second, not so much, but he's very sweet.) The problem with my genius is that she gets bored easily. She's hugely protective of me. She doesn't do well with other dogs and isn't crazy about a lot of people. Oh, and she's a herder so she sometimes (lightly) nips people and dogs to keep them in line. She is incredibly sweet, though, when she's not being a total brat. So, Sarah is training me and in the process, we are challenging Bonnie and getting her to calm down and pay attention. Sarah's great, patient, gets dogs and gets owners, too. We're not totally trained yet, but we're working on it! read more