Service Dog Tutor - Belmont, California

Bodhi D

We have been training with Jean for the past six months with a combination of online and in-person classes. As I am in a wheelchair, our goals for our dog Nuka are to assist me in activities of daily living & accompany me into the community for companionship and mobility assistance.

Jean has extensive experience working with clientele experiencing a wide range of disabilities and helping them to thrive in both residential settings and public spaces where a service dog accommodation truly equalizes their owner’s access to the community.

At first I had my doubts that we could really train our dog with a remote instructor on zoom, but Jean’s a natural with digital tech; and she carefully structures our zoom training to reach a milestone at each session. At our in- person trainings we meet at a park where we can challenge our dog’s ability to remain focused in public. Jean is worth the drive   - 78 miles each way!

Jean is helping us get the fundamentals with Nuka down rather quickly. Currently Jean is training us to help Nuka reduce his excitement and distraction around other dogs. It is very challenging, but she’s taught me a variety of positive reinforcement and classical conditioning techniques to get the dog to focus on me. We are also learning tasks that the dog can do to help me while I am in my wheelchair.

Dora Games

Five stars for Jean! My little dog and I just completed our fourth training session. She was just great with him and immediately identified several effective techniques that improved my dog's behavior. She also explained aspects of canine communication that helped me modify my actions to more effectively train my dog. Jean came to my house to work on specific issues related to charging the door after the doorbell rang, which produced a significant improvement. We also had some fun leash-training sessions outdoors and she also provided very useful handouts and video links. I now feel more confident and knowledgable about going forward on my own.

Callie Niver

I was amazed by Jean’s knowledge of service dog training. She helped my dog learn skills that I didn’t even know existed and worked with him on proper service dog etiquette. Our lessons were always structured very clearly and she was able to teach my dog so much in a very short time frame. I’m so grateful for her help.

Kate Smith

I have a disability and my dog and I have been working with Jean on Service Dog task training. My dog, Crime fighter, is an obedience trained 9 yr old Golden Retriever who is smart, wants to please, wants to be with me, and responds well to having a job. All the elements were there but I didn't know how to proceed. I found Jean on an internet search and called her. She was immediately very helpful and very mindful of the potential demands of training on a 9 yr old dog, and suggested that I have my vet evaluate her joint health before we got started. She also invited me to a presentation/demonstration she was giving at a local hospital with her service dog Ranger. I knew immediately after the presentation that I wanted to work with Jean. Jean was very accommodating of my need for a specific class time due to my commute, and worked with me on a schedule that worked for both of us. I very much appreciated this. The classes have been just fantastic. I am so delighted to have found Jean! She understands dogs extremely well, knows exactly how to train for specific tasks as well as behavior issues, and always focuses on my safety and my dog's. Jean has a wonderful, gentle, patient and clear teaching style and is very thoughtful regarding a person's disability and how to work with both ends of the leash! Jean is also very organized, sends a followup summary of each lesson, what to work on at home, and outlines the plan for the next lesson. I am working daily with my dog and have gotten fantastic results, which has made me feel safer and more confident. I look forward to continuing to work with Jean and can whole heartedly recommend her to anyone in need of dog training. Thank you Jean!!

Jack Sculley

Jean has been a miracle worker with our two Siberian huskies. She trains not just the dogs but the owner too, which means that the dogs will remember their training with some prompts from the owner. Jean sends articles and practice homework which our pups love to do. She is a pleasure to work with and has helped our dogs to not only be a pleasure to be around, our girls have gained confidence while training them. Her instructions are clear, consistent and concise, so neither dog nor owner get confused. I can't recommend Jean highly enough! She is without a doubt the most effective and personable dog trainer I have worked with in 30 years of owning animals. If I could give six stars I would.

Julie Behn

Jean has been instrumental in helping us train our vivacious Labrador retriever. He is a beautiful, loving dog but is extremely smart and with that, comes lots of curiosity, energy, and constant attention. Jean has helped us focus his energy and provide fun games to train and work him. We have enjoyed working with Jean and have tons of tools to help channel our pup's energy in a positive direction. I highly recommend Jean and her services!

Julie Cress

Jean has been such a wonderful teacher and provided so much stress relief as we took on raising a puppy. We are new dog owners and were unsure about just about everything we were doing in raising a puppy. Jean quickly put our minds at ease, and built up our confidence, with her easygoing demeanor, wonderful attitude and patience for all of our crazy questions and insecurities. Not only has she been extremely helpful in providing us with guidance on how to train our new puppy, but she quickly and patiently engaged our children in the training process in a way that was informative and easy to understand. We are so thankful to have found her.

Stacy Klees

Jean has been extremely helpful in training Ruka. We have a now one year old French Mastiff and due to her size, we need to be sure that she is very well behaved. We've attended quite a few training sessions at our local pet store and have had another person help us in our training but not until Jean have I seen the most results. I am a first time dog owner, I have a three and a four year old and my spouse has been diagnosed with a terminal neurological condition that is progressing quite quickly. The hardest thing is of course to find the time to train. Jean has been flexible and has even brought her husband and her own dog to help in the training process. Of course, the majority of the training is for the pet owner. Jean is very patient and teaches helpful tricks and tips. I am grateful for her help and think that if you have a family pet and find that you need to guide them into the direction of a service dog, Jean is for you. She is very personable and genuine.