Polina is truly a dog whisperer. She helped us turn our spirited Golden Doodle puppy into a well behaved little lady! We have done lots of dog training in the past, but she opened our eyes to new ways of understanding our new puppy. She trained us just as much as the dog, which is probably even more important in the long run. We have done Zoom Room and have worked with and interviewed several other trainers -- Polina is in a whole other league. If you need training help, there's no better option out there. read more

True Nature Dog Training - Pet Training Near Me

We were referred to Polina by someone who spoke very highly of her and her thoughtful, methodical approach to dog training. Our 10-month-old maltipoo, Sarah, had her first session at our home where Polina took the time to understand our setup and answer all our questions about how to get started. Polina is extremely patient, and it's clear she truly loves what she does. After just a few sessions, we noticed real progress in Sarah's obedience training. We also appreciated the follow-up Zoom sessions, which were convenient and surprisingly effective for both Q&A and virtual training. We plan to continue working with Polina as Sarah learns more commands and as we gain a better understanding of her behavior. We've already recommended Polina to friends and would highly recommend her to anyone looking for a dedicated and effective dog trainer. Thank you Polina!!! read more

True Nature Dog Training - Pet Training Near Me

Last year our two adult male Cavalier King Charles Spaniels were getting into fights over food. It was incredibly stressful. For safety, we kept them on leash and started having to supervise them constantly. It was wearing us down. We contacted Polina for help and she made a world of difference. She is very experienced with this issue and taught us specific, reward-based strategies to retrain our dogs. She was attentive to our needs and no time was wasted. After several months our dogs are getting along great. They eat their meals at "their places" and respect each other's space. We can relax now and our dogs are happier. It is a huge relief. I highly recommend Polina! read more

True Nature Dog Training - Fun walks on the beach together - Pet Training Near Me

See all

I'm really grateful to Polina for helping me train my very nervous and sensitive rescue dog. I knew I couldn't do regular group training for my dog because she'd spend the whole time lying on the floor being scared. Polina understood my dog as an individual and helped create a training plan to build her confidence and obedience. She gave a lot of great education to myself as well, which is crucial to helping my dog be well-adjusted and happy. I now have the tools I need to expand further on the basic training we've done. Thank you again, Polina! read more

True Nature Dog Training - My happy, smiling dog on a hike after months of training. - Pet Training Near Me

We sought Polina's services to help us with our recently adopted adult Great Pyrenees, Yeti. From the beginning she was very generous with her time (did a 50 min free Zoom consultation), and I appreciated her explanations of theory and positive reinforcement approach. She came to our home to train and was also responsive to questions between sessions via text. She really helped us learn to understand Yeti's behaviors, and I was always amazed at how well behaved Yeti was around her. Polina is a very experienced, professional, and compassionate trainer, and I highly recommend her! read more

True Nature Dog Training - Our rambunctious Yeti sitting and staying with Polina on day 1. Thank you for giving us the tools and confidence to work with him! - Pet Training Near Me

After about 3 months since adopted my first own rescue (1 1/2 year old) pup, i knew it was time to begin training. At first, I started with social media and media known trainers (from Cesar Milan to Matt Beisner from Dog: Impossible) to start but I knew I needed to find professional trainer locally. Researching trainers in the area were several options. I came across Polina's website that was very helpful and appreciated the initial zoom consult to better understand her approach to dog training. Polina met my pup and my pup responded favorably to Polina's methods/approach so we progressed well from our first interaction. My rescue pup experienced separation anxiety and general anxiety that resulted in very hyperactive behavior and reactivity to big dogs. Polina provided specific instructions and addressing the anxiety that was very helpful and am so pleased with how well my pup progressed. Polina even connected me and my pup with a wonderful dog sitter/trainer, Ira. My pup also has responded very well to Ira. Since I had done my research, Polina and Ira were both receptive to my suggestions (e.g., sign language as hand signals in communication) on how I've learned to bond with my pup and everything just worked to make more and more progress. Of course, we also needed to work on the dog reactivity. I appreciated that my pup was able to meet Polina's dog who is very calm and even zen in presence. My pup learned much doggie wisdom from Polina's dog during a couple times in the past year that my pup boarded for about 7-10 days with Polina. My pup is now calm around the home. My pup has also now advanced to passing the AKC obedience training classes, which Polina should be proud of my pup blossoming into a good canine citizen. Thank you Polina and Ira for all you have done in caring for my pup. read more

True Nature Dog Training - A calm first meeting with Polina's dog. - Pet Training Near Me

We had a wonderful experience having Polina help us work with our two dogs. Her steady, gentle and caring approach helped both our 6 year old Pepper and 16 month old Yuki, settle and be more responsive to commands both in the house and when out walking. Her patience, consistency and responsiveness with us and the dogs made it a very enjoyable and rewarding experience for all. Thank you Polina!! read more

We adopted our first dog (Luna, a German Shepherd and Persian Greyhound mix) about four years ago and worked with a different trainer back then. That trainer used positive reinforcement which was helpful enough and Luna's behavioral issues were minor and tolerable to us, so we did not look for more training. When we adopted our new 10 month old puppy (Nova, a German Shepherd/Great Pyrenees/Australian Shepherd mix) at the beginning of August we were struggling with Luna's reaction to him. After a couple of stressful tries getting them to share space together, I immediately began looking for a new trainer to work with. Polina offered a free consultation on the phone and I was immediately impressed with her breadth of knowledge and her understanding of dog behavior. She also had a very clear understanding of my two dogs' personalities, even before meeting them! When she first arrived the atmosphere in the house was tense and stressful, but even just one session with her gave me hope that we would be able to create a calm and supportive environment for our dogs to begin getting along. Every session with Polina is tailored to your needs and your dogs' breeds/personality. She is a quick and creative thinker. She easily comes up with solutions to problems and is an excellent instructor in teaching you how to implement the practices she uses. I have learned so much about each of my dogs and myself as a leader while working with her. It has been both a challenging and fun experience that is so rewarding. Our dogs get along great together and the new puppy is already so well-behaved. Even our older dog has learned new habits and it has been so wonderful to watch her transform into a more mature dog. Every time I see the two of them playing together or cuddling in the sun, I send thoughts of gratitude for Polina because she is the one who taught me how to make that possible. Training dogs certainly takes work and there is no way around that. Polina breaks it all down into manageable steps and her wonderful personality makes it a fun process. We all look forward to when Polina comes over--not just the dogs, but me and my partner too! If you need help managing the dog(s) in your household, you will be very glad that you chose Polina. She is an absolute professional and I highly recommend you book a consultation with her and see for yourself. read more

See all

My 7-month old golden retriever puppy Willow has been working with Polina since I brought her home. I had tried group classes, online classes, online videos, etc but nothing was working because until I started working with Polina did I realize none of it was tailored my specific puppy's needs. From day 1, Polina has not only helped me work to fulfill Willow's needs but helped me become a more informed (and confident) owner about Willow's obedience, traits, even diet! We've worked on socialization, leash training, settling, basic obedience, and reactivity and the routines I've learned have not only impressed other dog owner friends, but ones I use with my 11 year old golden! I appreciate how patient, understanding, and even a little tough love Polina has provided, all through a positive reinforcement approach. read more

Polina is an extremely knowledgeable, compassionate, and effective trainer. We highly recommend her! She helped transform our rescue, Mocha, from a scared, lunging, needy, and unsocial dog to a happy, confident, (mostly!) calm and loving sweetheart who is friendly with new people and wags her tail at encountering most dogs in open and uncrowded areas (we avoid dog parks). The calming code she developed really works! Thank you for your outstanding expertise and guidance. read more

True Nature Dog Training - Mocha tries on her new life jacket before heading out on the Bay. - Pet Training Near Me

We got our mini poodle a year ago and Benny has been a jolt of energy around the house. We grew to love our little Benny but he's been really tough to understand and train. Polina to the rescue !!! It was very lucky for us to be introduced to the True  Nature Dog Training. From the very first visit Polina opened our eyes to the mentality of the animal, how to respond or not to the variety of situations. Little by little the dog habits around the house stabilized and thanks to Polina Benny became a happy puppy. I highly recommend to work with Polina as she's a true professional with years of experience tailored specifically for your dog. We love whenever she comes over and adjusts our approach while delivering a calming affect on our puppy. read more

True Nature Dog Training - Pet Training Near Me

See all

Polina is amazing. She was the first trainer that we used that actually taught with positive reinforcement methods. Before meeting her our trainers were always trying to choke our 6 month old puppy with ropes and prong collars. Polina listened to us, and calmly and effectively instructed us on how to direct, contain, control, and engage our very hyper and reactive dog. Our dog Winston is a mix of border collie, cattle dog, lab and pointer, and he was abandoned and left his litter early. We had a lot of issues. Polina put us on a path to success and brought a some sanity back to our lives. read more

True Nature Dog Training - Pet Training Near Me

Polina is amazing! She worked with us both in home and through zoom and we had great experiences both times. We worked with her for our puppies separation anxiety as well as some other obedience training and learned a lot. I appreciate how responsive she is and flexible to work with whatever fits you best. We will recommend her to anyone we know! read more

Polina is super helpful and taught us so much about our puppy, Ernie. Polina was good at listening to what our goals were with Ernie while keeping us informed on his growth and development. We learned so much from Polina and are so grateful for everything that she taught us. Ernie is now a year old and is fitting perfectly into our lives because Polina taught us how to communicate with him. Polina didn't just train Ernie the basics, she also taught us about other possibilities to keep our over active confident dog fulfilled and happy. read more

Polina has singlehandedly changed my life for the better. I worked regularly with Polina from October 2022 to June 2023 on shifting the home hierarchy, increasing my confidence as the pack leader, understanding the psychology and setting a routine for my two rescues (now ages 2 & 7) so they don't feel like they have to protect me - they can relax and be dogs. It was like therapy for the whole family. And like therapy, you have to be willing to do the work. Polina will show you what to do with the doggies and explain clearly why, but it's really up to you to take heart, view your own unconscious patterns, and make the needed changes bit by bit. It's hard work, honestly, but so worth it. And the doggies love the training. Thank you, Polina. read more

Soooo happy I found Polina! When I first called, weeks before getting the puppy, Polina spent at least an hour on the phone with me, giving various tips on how to better prepare for the new family member - which I thought was very generous of her time. I watched so many dog training videos and read many books, articles, etc- so naturally, I thought that "I got it". 6 days with a puppy at home- and I called Polina to the rescue. She said that puppy consultation doesn't really require a puppy- she will go over the Dog World. And oh boy, did she! She observed my little Tovah and me, while explaining the way dogs understand the world and that are biggest issues is - communication. While Polina was explaining, she started working with the puppy, teaching both me and the dog on what to do when the pup bites. I've been implementing all the wisdom and the hands on instructions for 3 days now and - it definitely works! Now I just need to be consistent and call Polina again for obedience training in a few weeks. If you have a puppy- call Polina! If you have an grown up dog with issues, call Polina! read more

True Nature Dog Training - Polina is explaining stages of behavior - Pet Training Near Me

See all

We highly recommend Polina. She goes above and beyond getting to know our dog and explaining the rationale behind each behavior. Even before we started the training exercises, she gave us extensive in-depth knowledge about pack interactions and how they communicate. She explains techniques and details about what to do that you don't usually find in YouTube videos or articles about training. We have a senior sensitive rescue dog that has been very reactive and sometimes aggressive, and we were shocked that our dog transformed immediately when she started working with him, becoming a new calmer and more attentive dog. She gives us very specific directions and feedback when we practice the exercises with her so we can train our dog correctly. The type of training she suggests is about being patient, observant, and sensitive to the dog. She doesn't use forceful techniques, and it works! read more

Polina was very helpful with our dog Ozzy. Ozzy was a rescue Lab/Husky mix. His behavioral issues included nipping with us and anxiety with guests, children and elderly people. We could see an improvement almost immediately after the first session. She has several calming techniques we used in the first week. He is now much better - no biting/nipping and good with guests. He still has some anxiety with children/elderly which we continue to work on - some things do take more time/training. Overall, we were very happy with the results and would recommend her. read more

I want to do what's best for my pup but I couldn't understand how she felt and what she actually wanted. Since she's my first pup I had no experience dealing with dog's emotion. Polina really helped me understand what my pup actually wanted. We've been doing training indoor and outdoor and just for a good few weeks I saw results. My pup is waaayyy calmer now and she listens way more. I can't wait for more training! read more

True Nature Dog Training - Pet Training Near Me

Polina is a wonderful lady and patient dog trainer. Her explanation of the Dog calming code really was an excellent insight into their genetic code and their ancestry. I highly recommend Polina read more

Polina is wonderful! She worked with us and our 2 dogs both lab mixes. She is very intuitive and observant in how we interact with our dogs. Her quiet, calm, and firm approach really makes you understand how to more effectively communicate with your dogs. I am a very high energy person so it was very helpful for me to better understand how to be effective leader with a calmer and firmer approach. Bring Polina into your life to improve your relationship with your dogs. She will do wonders for you and your fur babies! read more

Polena has been a Godsend. Our 100 lb rescue Rottweiler, Koda was having difficulty adjusting to her new home. Problems with jumping up for food, not responding to commands on walk, pulling on leash and she bit another dog when out on walk We spoke with a large number of dog trainers and worked with a couple before meeting Polina. Her methods seemed so much better developed than most of the people we spoke to. Polina's practice of making sure the members of our pack, Koda and the family knew their place was huge. Everything changed when positioning was realigned with a few simple techniques. Koda has been far more relaxed, we are much closer and understand each other better. Before meeting Polina I was not sure I would be able to keep Koda. I am extremely grateful for the work she has done with our family. read more

We greatly appreciate Polina for training us to help our dogs be calmer. We have three dogs and it has been a problematic dynamic. The time and money have been well worth it for our family. read more

We adopted a rescue dog a month ago; an extremely sweet dog, but clearly has experienced some form of trauma and is dealing with a level of anxiety. He is very skittish around young kids and sometimes around old adults too. In fact he is taking a fair bit of time to warm up to my elder daughter (he growls and snips at her). Polina came in last week, and within an hour she had his attention (without doing anything with him for the first 45 min. Polina has an approach that does not discipline, nor focus on just"sweet treat" the dog to get him to do things. She helps you understand the mindset of the dog and outlines an approach that is holistic, clean, and very dog friendly. It's not a quick fix necessarily, but I believe over the longer term, if one is disciplined, her approach will help one reap the dividends of ones' efforts. We still have some ways to go with Polina, but I can state with conviction that if you love your pooch, and don't believe in punishment and/or pure treat based approaches, you will enjoy the learning and journey with Polina and your pooch. read more

Polina is an absolute pro. We could not be more thankful for her time, care, and expertise. We adopted our pitbull-husky mix, Leif, as a puppy and by 8 months old were having behavioral concerns that we just couldn't manage. He was crying, jumping, and could not be left alone at all. Polina taught us so much about how to observe and understand why Leif was acting in those ways, and what we could do to make changes. We really appreciated how her approach is not about negativity or changing the dog, but rather about being in a respectful relationship that fosters the desired behavior. Polina took her time with us, explained everything clearly, and provided lots of feedback and instructions for homework so we could practice on our own. Leif loved seeing her every time, and we are extremely proud of the progress we've made. Working with Polina is definitely the best choice we've made in the care of our dog! THANK YOU, POLINA! read more

We started with Pilona within the first week we got our 2 months old puppy. She spent more than 3 hours explaining leadership concepts which at the time we were really impressed with. But she couldn't make any connection with our little puppy during that long long session, suggesting that he is a very fearful and scared dog! Later, we found out that the concepts she taught us were really old and there are new evidences showing the opposite. She scheduled the next appointment for a month later saying that our puppy is not ready yet for long training sessions, we believed that and started doing what she told us to do for that month. Meanwhile we used online videos to understand how to actually train our dog, because all she gave us was when not to pay attention to our 2 months old puppy who really needed attention, it was really hard for us but we kept doing what she asked us to do. We now regret that. After a month, she came for the second session and started blaming us for not doing what she said and complaining about our puppy being afraid of her. She was making no effort to communicate with our puppy, saying that she wants to build the leadership relationship, so 45 mins in and she couldn't even give him a treat! At the end we suggested other things and first she said she doesn't want to do those, but then she didn't have any other choice and started doing what we said and that worked. But still she kept complaining about our puppy temperament, like it was anyones fault! This was while our puppy didn't have any problem with our other visitors. The same thing happend in the third session. She even blamed us for using wrong hand gesture!!! Like it matters at all, and she never even gave us any guidline in the begining for obedience training! Another issue was that she prevented us from socializing our puppy with other dogs and insisted on going to her socialization session first which was at the end of our puppy's 4 months. We thought that's too late but we waited for her. 2 days before that she canceled because the host was sick and she didn't have any back up plan and left us with nothing. At that point, we decided this is not working for our puppy and it was making the whole experience so frustrating. we stopped working with her and hired another trainer who has more experience and can actually demonstrate what he says. Since then, the quality of our life has changed significantly with our puppy who is a sweet smart confident boy now. read more

Thank you, Polina for helping us train our smart, energetic, and opinionated dog. While we had generally good behaviors, there were a couple of persistent points of struggle. Polina's training approach really worked for us. We now understand our dog so much better and can work with her independently. I like that Polina's method does not use pain/discomfort to teach the desired behaviors, while not relying on constant feeding of high-value treats. We had wonderful training sessions and a good amount of "homework" between those. My only regret is not working with Polina earlier: it is harder to "unlearn" bad habits than to learn the good ones. My highest recommendations! read more

Polina really helped our family. From the moment she got out of her car she was observing us and Jack (our 11mon old rescue). To be able to give us insight on his behavior and ours. When she came into our house she immediately was training Jack. Within a few minutes she had basically established her hierarchy in our pack. She then spent quite some time calmly explaining to us dog behavior and why Jack was behaving the way he was. She then gave us simple things to do to change the dynamic. The best part....it worked. We had a few follow-up questions which Polina quickly responded to. I highly recommend reaching out to Polina if you have a "Jack" and your family needs training.:-) read more

Polina came to our house and observed how we and our puppy interacted. She gave us some great training tools and tips on how to get our puppy to stop biting and barking. We applied those tips and the results were fantastic. I would highly recommend Polina and we plan on having her back to help re-train us a bit. read more

Dog Behaviorist Extraordinaire! I met Polina and her impeccably trained Golden Retriever, Lacy, shortly after we got our Lab puppy. When I found out she was a dog trainer I planned to contact her to start obedience sessions but never got around to it. When I started to have aggressive issues with my Lab, I contacted her. I think the thing that sets Polina apart from most trainers is that she comes to the home for three hours and observes the dynamics of the entire family. Most importantly we learned why our Lab was being aggressive and how to reverse it. When she first arrived our Lab was hyper, demanding attention, pacing, etc. After the first two hours, our Lab was calm and falling asleep. We realize it is us who will have to change the authority roles and our Lab will then calm down. We have followed the new rules now for 24 hours and already seeing a difference. Even our neighbor has noticed a change in her behavior. It is going to take dedication to these new permanent rules but can now see the light at the end of the tunnel. I think anyone can train a dog in the basics of sit, down, stay but Polina's gift is understanding the dog's behavior, good and bad, and how to encourage the good and change the bad. read more

True Nature Dog Training - After two hours! - Pet Training Near Me

I was searching for dog trainer for my new puppy and my first dog and Polina was a perfect choice for that she made us at ease how to train our puppy. She is so knowledgeable about dogs behavior and what to expect and how to behave as a new puppy parent. Her recommendation on training worked right away and I'm looking forward to continue to work with Polina to achieve raising well behaved dog. read more

We got an Australian Shepherd puppy 2 months ago, and pretty quickly after I searched for a dog trainer. There are many of them out there, but Polina was the first to reply. This promptness and strong service carried over when we had our first one on one consultation. Polina was at our house working with us for over 4 hours, even though the price she quoted us was for 3 hours. Never once did she check her watch, or make us feel like the time was limited. She gave us and our puppy her full undivided attention. The most important part is the fact that she really has a deep understanding of dog behavior and was very thorough in her instructions/guidance/etc...The advice she has given us has worked very well so far and we plan on meeting with her again when the time is right. Also, she will respond to any email and follow up questions you may have in full detail for one month after the initial consultation. This is very useful as new issues and questions constantly come up, and she doesn't try and nickel and dime you each time. Nothing but positive things to say about Polina! read more