Testimonials

Paragon Pooch's training services, under Mary's dedicated, expert, and compassionate leadership, are simply superb. She is excellent with both the dog and the owner. Instead of being punitive and harsh, she is very gentle, demonstrating tremendous skill in conditioning good behavior from dogs through positive reinforcement -- or, at most, the absence of reward -- rather than punishment. She is deeply thoughtful, systematic, and consistent in her training approach. She also always follows up with detailed summaries of the lessons learned, so that the owner can refer to these useful notes later. My puppy, Daisy, has learned a great deal with her training classes, and I am proud of the advances she has made. Paragon Pooch is better than any expectation I could have ever had. Enjoy watching your dog develop essential life skills, crucial responses to commands--which can make the difference between safety and injury or threat--as well as an array of manners under Mary's deeply knowledgeable, ultra-competent training. I recommend Paragon Pooch unreservedly. Thank you so much, Mary!

Susan, Owner of Daisy, Golden Doodle

I’ve had dogs around me for most of my life. Recently, I adopted a golden doodle and this is a breed that I was unfamiliar with and needed a little more insight and help in correcting unwanted behaviours. Mary was recommended to me and it was clear why when I had a session with her. She is very thorough in her approach to training. You can see that she loves to pass on the knowledge and techniques she has acquired over the many years of experience with dogs. I got several new simple tricks to correct behaviour that I found highly effective. Most impressive is her knowledge of various breeds and their characteristics in training. For example, Afghan hounds my mother’s favourites; few trainers I have met understood this breed but in my discussion with Mary she nailed it! If you are looking for an attentive, caring and knowledgeable professional, look no further and give Mary a call. She will provide sound training advice. Thank you Mary!

Draco, Owner of Frodo, Golden Doodle

Thank you, Mary, for everything you’ve done for us and our dog! From the very first session, it was clear how caring and passionate you are about your work. You’re not only incredibly knowledgeable, but also such a good listener—always attentive to the little details that make a big difference in training.

We appreciated how you tailored each session to our specific needs and always took the time to explain the “why” behind every exercise. Your follow-up emails were especially helpful—so detailed and organized, full of tips, exercises, and progress notes that kept us on track and motivated.

We’ve grown a lot as dog owners thanks to your support, and it’s made a big difference in our relationship with our dog. She’s already shown so much improvement, and we feel confident continuing the training on our own with all the tools, tips, and exercises you’ve shared with us.

It’s clear that you genuinely care about both the dogs and their humans. Thank you again for your patience, encouragement, and expert guidance!

Carole, Owner of Murphy, Husky mix

I have nothing but positive reviews for Paragon Pooch! The training was very helpful for not only training my dog but also training myself in order to know how to interact and train my dog most effectively. Mary is extremely accommodating for the individual needs of the trainee and goes out of her way to ensure a positive experience. The training itself proved to be very effective and the methods were tailored uniquely to my dog!
All in all I would certainly recommend Paragon Pooch to anyone with a dog of any breed or size!

Eva, Owner of Myla, Cuban rescue

Raising a golden doodle is like raising a child all over again... and thanks to Mary it's gotten easier. From her first visit to our house till graduation day, it's all been about helping us teach Sadie to be a well behaved member of the family. Always giving helpful feedback after each lesson and making the pet parent feel at ease to ask even the silliest questions. Getting to understand one's dog is half the battle and thanks to Mary our communication is getting better each day. Thank you!!!

Helen, Owner of Sadie, Golden Doodle

Training a pup can be a stressful thing if you don't know what you're doing. For two years I had a feeling of rowing against the tide and not making any progress with Jules who's a poor a Covid dog from a more or less respactable breeder who has been socialized way too late for his proper development. So he's anxious and barks like there's no tomorrow anytime we get out of the house. He barks so loud I've even been told to "stop beating him" by passersby...

And then I found Paragon Pooch.

Mary is an extremely knowlegeable trainer who helped me analyze what were the specific issues Jules needed to work on and build a custom program for the both of us. I have particularly appreciated her positive reinforcement approach that allowed me to be increasingly confident in working with my dog(s). That and the calm, humorous way she has of presenting things.

What I also loved is the weekly recap of each lesson, with an analysis of your dog's "performance", tips to move forward ans plenty of links to relevant demonstrations, conferences, so there's plenty to work with in between lessons. I'v never had a dog trainer that gave so much value for their professional fee.

In only six weeks, I've already seen great results on a dog I thought would just make my life miserable for the next 15 years. Now I know it won't and it makes me so happy. As a bonus, the other pupper in the house is now much happier too!

Marie-Claude, Owner of Jules, Havanese x Cavalier King Charles spaniel