“I highly recommend Michelle. My dog and I were having problems after a firework went of near her at our local park. After that she refused to leave the house and became afraid of loud cars and even people. Michelle was empathetic and extremely knowledgeable. She taught me how to read Lolas responses more accurately and how to create an environment and set behavioural patterns that have set Lola on the path to recovery. She now happily leaves the house for walks and is much less frightened with unexpected loud noises. We’ve both come a long way and Michelle was instrumental in that. I cant thank her enough and know if I need any advice or have any issues in the future she will be my first contact.”
Laura Renic, Bristol, Avon
“We picked Frida up from a rescue centre just before Christmas 2014 and within minutes we discovered she had issues. Every time she saw a dog when on the lead she would lunge and bark even if the other dog was miles away, and the more dogs she saw on her walk the worse she would get. (Off the lead she was no problem at all). After just a couple of days we resigned ourselves to night time walks where we were not in danger of seeing other dogs and avoiding any public areas during the day. She was thankfully never aggressive (she just needed to say hello to every dog she saw) but she could often appear that way. As first time dog owners we felt completely out of our depth and contacted Michelle. We met a week later and she taught us a distraction technique that we have employed ever since. In the year and a half since then Frida has transformed into a different dog. We can now walk her wherever we want, even North Street in Bedminster, which was a big no-no for us and also take her to dog friendly pubs and restaurants – something we never dreamt possible. We’ve passed several milestones in the year and a half since first bringing her home and our walks are, at last, uneventful – she’ll now look at us for a treat whenever we spot another dog and will happily walk past even barking dogs with no signs of reactivity, all thanks to Michelle’s advice and a lot of perseverance!”
“From the moment Michelle walked through the door, I knew everything would be okay. Previous experience with some very well meaning amateurs had left us feeling confused, even accused on occasion. Michelle is the real dog deal – a fully qualified behaviourist of the highest pedigree (pardon the pun) and also a people person. She showed tremendous empathy and respect for all the efforts we’d put in to trying to help our dog, helping us understand what we’d been doing right, not just wrong! Her written recommendations following the session were clear, pragmatic and achievable; and subsequent follow up sessions completely sealed the deal. Thanks to Michelle’s incredible knowledge, support and encouragement, the progress we’ve made has been incredible. Our dog is now so much happier and more confident – as are we! I couldn’t recommend Co-Evolve highly enough.”
“Michelle really helped us with our rescue JRT/patterdale mix – he’s quite a high maintance high energy dog, and a real character, and we’d had other training and advice over the years but Michelle spotted exactly what we needed to do to to help satisfy his intense prey instinct, he now hunts for his food and he loves it. What was amazing though was how supportive and positive Michelle was, she made us feel that we’d done a really good job with a lot of areas and gently steered us in the right direction on areas we hadn’t quite mastered. I truly believe a good relationship between dog and owner is about being calm and confident and we came away feeling really positive and saw some real result with his tendancy to sometimes be reactive on the lead. I would recommend her unreservedly!”
“As failed fosterer’s we knew we were taking on a lot and initially had no idea how to cope and where to start. Our dog is a 2yr old great dane, who is so loving to us but was not socialised at the correct time as a puppy therefore she is nervous of everyone and everything. Michelle helped us understand why the dog did certain things and once you can understand the dog’s way of thinking it all feels like a load has been lifted from your shoulders and you can actually start to make progress.Our dog has come on so much, if it wasn’t for Michelle I’m not sure if the dog would still be with us. We still have a long way to go but I know Michelle will there to guide us through every obstacle that we encounter.”
“We asked Michelle to help us with our 4 year old Weimaraner Polo who was displaying a number of worrying behaviours including dog on dog aggression and resource guarding. Michelle came over for the first visit and was so friendly and personable and really filled you with confidence. Polo absolutely adored her especially when she started feeding him treats when showing us an example exercise. She asked us lots of questions and played with Polo and Natalie, she then wrote us a detailed report which outlined the background root causes of his issues and also gave us a number of exercises to do with him each day/week. We made a plan and followed it with Polo which he absolutely loved (as did Natalie as it meant more treats!) and we had a two month follow on appointment with Michelle last week. We are so impressed at the change in his behaviour, he is happier, calmer and an all round more reliable dog. Michelle has given us the tools, knowledge and confidence to help Polo and as with any training we acknowledge importance of putting her plan into action, following through and staying consistent. We still have a way to go but we are definitely on the path to success due to the sessions and reports from Michelle. Thank you Michelle for all of your help and we are looking forward to the next follow up so that Polo can show you even more improvement in his behaviour!”
“Michelle is fantastic! We realised something wasn’t quite right with our puppy Tess’s behaviour, so we searched online for a ‘specialist in Dog Behaviour’ and discovered Michelle (Co-evolve dog training). It was very reassuring to see that along with her wealth of experience and knowledge Michelle’s approach was based on the latest scientific research. Her wonderful approach with Tess (and us!) has been a life-saver! After meeting us at our home, Michelle put together a detailed case report with an easy to follow plan (with positive reward training tasks) to help us understand Tess’s background, breed characteristics and a way forward to help us overcome her complex separation anxiety. We have been so impressed with Michelle and her lovely one to one approach and dedication, that we have also met up with her (and her own dog Tully) for lead training. Tess loved it and her confidence is growing!”
“Michelle has helped us to think like a dog and see things from Poppy’s perspective to understand why she behaves aggressively in certain situations. Dog walking had become stressful and at times embarrassing for us. None of us enjoyed it and Poppy seemed unhappy and fearful. With Michelle’s guidance and manageable approach (not to mention endless patience) we are building up Poppy’s confidence with positive training techniques and working towards our goal of having a happy confident dog we can take anywhere. Her advice has been invaluable.”
“Hi I am Poppy a nine month old WH Fox terrier and I have this super trainer called Michelle.
“I cant recommend Co-Evolve Dog Training and Michelle enough. We are the proud owners of Capote, a French Bulldog puppy, and having tried and failed to get him into Puppy Classes (it would have been easier getting him into Clifton College) we came across Michelle by doing an internet search. Her website is very clear and its obvious that she is highly qualified and loves dogs. Co-Evolves pricing is very competitive and remember that this is a 121 session, you are not part of a big group where you simply don’t get the individual attention you need. Michelle is also flexible with when she comes to see you which fitted in well with us and our busy lives. When you first meet her she is very personable and friendly, which lets face it is as important as often we the owners are the ones that need the training! We did some very simple straight forward tasks both here at home and also in the local parks which were fun for all of us. Michelle really brings her background in animal behaviour to her sessions and makes you think like a dog and what they relate too. We have ended up with a very well behaved little dog who we can take anywhere, he is great with other dogs and children and this is in no small part thanks to Michelle and her intuitive training methods. We have already recommended her to friends who had adult dogs and she has also helped them too. When Capote’s little brother arrives in the near future we have already arranged for further sessions with Michelle to help integrate him into our family ‘Pack’. Thanks Michelle (the real dog whisperer).”
“We were struggling with our dogs behaviour – pulling on the lead, barking at other dogs, barking at our cats, etc. Michelle came in and could immediatley see what the issues were. She offered simple, yet practical solutions and in a very short period of time, his behaviour improved tremendously. Michelle was professional, helpful and a great sense of support. We had regular follow up training sessions and she was also available via email to answer any questions or offer advice. She also sent us very useful summary documents of our training sessions. My only regret is that we didn’t get her help sooner! Thanks Michelle!”