Dog Training and Behavior Consulting serving the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago
Hear some of what Mary's dog training clients have to say...
"Mary is a miracle worker! She has trained our family to work with our energetic rescue hound Cracker Jacks to peacefully increase positive behaviors such as walking softly on his leash, sitting quietly when guests arrive, and decrease lunging, leash biting, pulling, jumping, barking and counter surfing. Mary's instruction is clear and easy to follow steps and practice after she leaves. She provides reinforcing notes and directions as well as brilliant suggestions for leashes, harnesses, toys and puzzles.
Cracker Jacks' energy is diverted into positive puzzle and structured play activities. Cracker Jacks is calmer, happier and more mentally stimulated and so are we! Our family has loads of fun playing fetch with a kong, hide and seek and catch the bushy tail. Mary's methods have increased our whole family's positive behaviors and fit in perfectly with the positive problem solving approach we use to help us all behave. Thank you Mary!!!"-
Marie and Cracker Jacks, Barrington, IL
"After experiencing a serious physical injury, I couldn't manage our headstrong, highly energized young puppy, Tilda, during my rehabilitation. Fortunately, we were introduced to Mary. She was very accommodating and immediately developed a daily schedule of walking and training to meet our unique needs.
Mary's positive, reward-based philosophy is one I share and is most effective with our dog. Mary is very creative and uses a variety of techniques to address each need whether it be to teach standard activities such as sits, downs and stays or to address unwelcome behaviors such as jumping on people. Her goal is to first identify the cause(s) of a behavior so as to more specifically pinpoint the solution(s). But if one exercise isn't effective, she immediately moves on to another. Throughout it all, she provides detailed commonsense rationales of the activities. And as typical with puppies, our dog's behaviors, and our needs, seem to change on the fly. Mary reacts just as quickly to meet the new needs while retaining the positive tone of the learning experience.
Last but not least, Mary obviously enjoys the challenges and rewards of working with Tilda. She's upbeat, never discouraged, and projects humor and joy in helping us shape our pup into a responsible adult dog while fully enjoying all the silliness of her puppy ways. And how does our puppy feel about all of this? Whether she's scheduled or not, at a certain time of day, I can always find Tilda waiting by the front window, looking for Mary!"-Gail Cohen and Tilly, Dog training and walking client
"Mary is amazing. I fractured my ankle & was unable to walk my dog, Alex, who was used to daily walks. Mary bonded immediately with Alex who watched out the window every morning waiting for Mary. In addition to possessing a high level of reliability, Mary has a wonderful demeanor as well. She clearly loves dogs & I feel very comfortable having her babysit Alex when I am out of town and still use her regularly to walk Alex. I would highly recommend Mary."-Kerry Treat and Alex, Arlington Heights, IL
May 26,2017
"My advice to you is – hire Mary! She is a game changer. She comes to my house every week at a very reasonable cost to help train my new Papillon, Max. Every training session she blows my mind with some gem that amazes me with it effectiveness and simplicity; things I have never read or seen elsewhere. Her gems make a huge difference in my ability to train Max. Sixteen years ago I took basic clicker training classes with my first Papillon, but never trained him further. He had some bad habits I hope to avoid with Max. I was teaching Max sit, stay, come on my own. Often my timing was off or I was reinforcing a bad behavior unknowingly. Mary can see that in the home setting. Mary also suggests treats, toys, and other equipment that Max loves. Max is only 5 pounds. Some techniques and equipment that work for larger dogs don't work for him. Mary has numerous ways to reach the same result. If one is difficult for me, or doesn't appeal to Max she has 2 or 3 other suggestions. She explains the science behind her suggestions if you are interested. She sends me a detailed followup email that recaps our training session and homework. The email is great because I often forget all we covered and exactly how to do it. Did I mention Max loves her? So do I. And so will you. Cyd Combs with Max, Arlington Heights, IL"
September 24,2017
"We could not have had a more positive experience with Mary Thompson as our personal dog trainer. She is extremely knowledgeable, professional, patient, and positive toward both her four legged friends and their owners. She did not push her personal agenda or dog expectations on us...rather, each session was tailored toward exactly what we needed & wanted to work on with our lab. She was sensitive to our anxieties and never condescending. We learned so much from her during each session and then had the added benefit of receiving a follow up email after each visit reviewing what we worked on, step by step directions, as well as additional informative links with regard to appropriate toys, feeding tools, etc. She was also accessible between sessions via text or email to field additional questions. We consider it a gift to have found Mary to give us a solid start as a new family!" Maureen and Josh Reinking with McKay, Arlington Heights, IL
November 27, 2017
"Mary did a great job providing us the right approach in training our puppy and the tools/advice needed so that we could put in the effort when she wasn't around to really improve his behavior. We had used a different trainer previously and also interviewed a few others and Mary was substantially better than anyone else. The biggest thing for me was that she was a certified trainer, where everyone else we met was 'self taught.' I also appreciated that she sent us follow up notes after each session since there is a lot of information presented in an hour.
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I really enjoyed working with Mary as did my husband and our cattle dog mix, Logan. We had specific behavior issues that we wanted to address with Mary and she listened to us and laid out a plan for each session and how we were going to tackle each behavior. She also explained the scientific and biological background regarding certain instincts or behaviors which really helped to put the problem in perspective. Mary uses positive reinforcement which our dog responded to so well and she really helped us help Logan be a better family member. Thanks, Mary!"
Steve and Julia Helmer with Logan, Buffalo Grove, IL
"Mary has been wonderful to work with! We called her when our 5-month old puppy needed additional training and we wanted a force-free trainer, and she has been very helpful. She answered our many questions in between training sessions and was positive, professional, and very informed about her work. If we need additional support with Theo in the future, we will definitely reach out to Mary, and we recommend her to anyone else looking for a force-free, loving approach for dog training!"
Barb Cronin Powers with Theo, Arlington Heights, IL
"Our pup is a 2 yr old Australian Cattle Dog rescue who came with no history. He wasn't a difficult dog but he was stubborn, different than any dog we've had and we were totally stumped. It was important that we help Emmett's transition in his new home and we needed a professional, not someone who only helped with basic obedience. After researching the many trainers in the area, we felt Mary Thompson and The Canine Perspective was what we needed. The "no pain, no force, no fear - force free training" was important to us. During our first session with Mary, we saw an immediate transformation with Emmett. Mary is phenomenal in her calm demeanor, training style, and extensive canine knowledge. Mary also sends a follow-up email of each session with step by step instructions, with additional links, for continued training & practicing for real life situations. We will call on Mary for any future training when needed. We now better understand the canine's perspective!"
Allison Curts Doruff with Emmett, Arlington Heights, IL
"We specifically chose to reach out to Mary because of her belief in using positive, force-free training methods, as well as her ethical statement on her website FAQ that it is irresponsible to guarantee results. It turned out to be the best decision for learning about and training our dogs. Mary's positive and caring demeanor made it so easy to work with her. Both dogs loved her and she was able to demonstrate the training techniques. Mary provides typed up notes of each session, which is fantastic because there is so much to remember! She is prompt and her rates (particularly the packages) are really good. Pixie and Raggles have learned so much and we are so grateful to have engaged Mary as our trainer. We can't recommend her highly enough!"
M.E. and Katie Eccles with Pixie and Raggles, Des Plaines, IL
"I love working with Mary! She has helped all of our dogs in our rescue program. She’s worked with everything from dog reactivity, to resource guarding, and even helped our dogs become more comfortable with nail trims. I highly recommend her!"
Kaitlin Krupp, President of Project Adoptable
Chicago, IL
August 2018
"Mary was an excellent trainer, both for our dog, Enzo, and for me! Positive reinforcement, no punishment necessary, and a very good learning environment for all. Enzo really looked forward to her visits. I learned a lot about dog behavior from Mary."
Amy Andersen with Enzo, Deer Park, IL
July 2018
"Mary Thompson made a life-changing impact while working with my dog, Sadie; this was particularly important to me due to Sadie's fears and anxieties that makes her a challenging dog to handle. Over a period of approximately one year, Mary helped Sadie learn to better manage anxiety, become more consistent and reliable in basic obedience skills/commands, improve her focus/attention, and gain the ability to perform a variety of tricks. Most importantly, Mary's teaching style is evidence-based, scientific, gentle, and centered on positive-reinforcement techniques; she continues to improve her knowledge and technique through ongoing training and attendance at a variety of educational programs to continuously improve her skillset. Though Sadie can often be fearful of strangers, she was always happy to see Mary, which I think is a testimony to the type of trainer that Mary is.
In addition to helping Sadie, Mary helped me learn how to most effectively work with Sadie. She is excellent at communicating concepts and ideas, as well as helping me shape my own behavior in working with Sadie. She provided me with written documentation and guidance for working with Sadie outside of session. Interpersonally, Mary is a pleasure to be around and someone from whom I could easily learn.
I am very grateful for all of the diligence, care, and kindness that Mary has shown Sadie. I would easily and gladly recommend her to anyone looking for training; it was my greatest regret to move away from the area of lose her as a trainer. She's the best!"
Kimberly Hook with Sadie, Schaumburg, IL