We are SO grateful that we found Kim Barber and Livable Dog. We've had dogs before but, we've never had this much of a dog! We adopted 4 year old Stella because of her joyful energy and loved her right away. We quickly figured out that we were going to need real help learning how to work with her so that we could all live happily together.
Kim is amazingly observant and perceptive. She listened to us and respected our personal styles and our lifestyle. She watched Stella closely and helped us learn how to watch her too. Kim helped us build and strengthen our relationship with Stella. As a result, Stella learned how to pay attention to us too.
Kim blends elements of several training approaches to meet the different needs of her human and canine clients. Each session, she had new exercises that helped us make the next needed step. She taught us how to walk together and how to play safely together. She helped us learn ways that dogs communicate and how we could clearly communicate with Stella. She suggested books for us to read. We learned how to use rewards and praise to reinforce desired behavior. She taught us techniques to help Stella be around other dogs more appropriately.
Kim is so smart and articulate and clearly loves working with dogs and their families. Our Stella is now a Livable Dog. We still have plenty of things to work on together but, thanks to Kim's training, we have the confidence and skills to meet much of what is ahead. read more