Initial Wellness Consultation

The Initial Wellness Consultations provides an in-depth assessment of your dog’s overall health and well-being with the goal to help your companion lead a longer and healthier life by preventing or improving physical imbalances and implementing a tailored wellness and nutrition plan.

Assessment of Body Condition and Gait Issues:

By performing a thorough evaluation of your dog’s body condition and gait, I will identify any issues that may affect their movement and comfort. This assessment will make you aware of potential weak areas that would be more injury prone in the future, and I will show you specific exercises and games that will strengthen those areas and lead to a more balanced and healthy physique.

Nutrition and Caloric Intake:

Good nutrition is key to a dog’s health, and I will analyze your current food choices and discuss your dog’s dietary needs and caloric intake to ensure they are receiving the proper nutrients for optimal health. I can recommend a variety of excellent food choices to help them reach and maintain a healthy weight.

Fitness Program:

Based on the results of our assessment, we can create a realistic and fun fitness program that specifically addresses any physical problems and weak areas of the body. This program will be tailored to the specific needs of the dog at the time of the evaluation and include exercises from core strengthening to hind leg awareness and proprioception improvements and to improve overall health and mobility.

Medical History and Surgery:

If your dog is recovering from surgery or has an obvious orthopedic problem and you want to try and avoid or postpone surgery if, at all possible, we can design an appropriate physio regime in concert with your veterinarian. I am also more than happy to coordinate a post-op exercise routine following the recommendations of your veterinary surgeon.

Program for Senior Dogs with Mobility loss or suffering from mental decline:

For senior dogs with arthritis or other medical conditions affecting mobility, keeping them moving is really important. An individually designed stretching, massage, and strength program can contribute greatly to maintain their mobility and muscle mass and postpone atrophy. The whole family will be happier if you can keep your dog mobile and pain-free as long as possible to increase longevity and quality of life.

At DogRelations NYC, I believe in a holistic approach to dog wellness, and I am committed to providing the best environment for your dog to thrive. The Initial Wellness Consultation is the first step in achieving this goal, and I look forward to working with you and your dog.

Can be done in the guardian’s home or in a studio environment.

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My Services

Wellness + Enrichment

Mental and physical well-being are strongly connected. My primary objective is to design a program that suits your dog and ensures that you and your dog can spend as many fun-filled and healthy years together as possible.

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Behavior Training & Modification

Designed to provide maximum support and guidance for first-time dog guardians and/or to address behavior problems such as excessive barking, separation anxiety, resource guarding, adult house soiling or a variety of fear and fear aggression issues.

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Psychiatric Service Dog Training

I can teach your dog to perform tasks that help mitigate your stressful or anxious moments. Together we determine which behaviors your dog should be trained to recognize and then perform these tasks.

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Puppy Training

The focus for this training is on reinforcing house training, establishing polite manners and building confidence in your puppy while educating guardians in the practical application of positive reinforcement

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What I love about Elisabeth is that she looks at the companion animal as a whole being!! She considers how…

What I love about Elisabeth is that she looks at the companion animal as a whole being!! She considers how and what the dog is being fed, the lifestyle and all established habits in the relationship between the client and the dog. Then she starts.

Elisabeth is quite focused. I can truly say that she understands the dogs’ needs and the reasons for their behavioral issues. She makes it easy for the humans to see the roots of the difficulties they are experiencing and creates an effective path to improvement in quality of life for all.

Tazz Latifi

Owner & Founder of The Petropolist NYC

The Petropolist NYC

We’re so thankful to have met Elisabeth and we’re incredibly appreciative for all of her tremendous insight with our puppy.…

We’re so thankful to have met Elisabeth and we’re incredibly appreciative for all of her tremendous insight with our puppy. We have a one-year-old morkie who was experiencing various behavioral issues. With Elisabeth’s training methods, we’ve noticed significant improvement in our puppy’s behavior in only a couple days after one training session. Elisabeth also promptly provides a comprehensive report, detailing training techniques. We’re eternally grateful for all of Elisabeth’s continuous support and help!

Rob Hoogenboom

My ex-wife and I have a now 11 year-old Border Collie named Oreo. In late September, 2013 she completely tore…

My ex-wife and I have a now 11 year-old Border Collie named Oreo. In late September, 2013 she completely tore her ACL and partially tore the medial meniscus on her left hind leg. Needless to say, we were besides ourselves. She had surgery the next day, and did well in the post-op period. One thing the vet made clear from the beginning was the importance of good physical therapy and rehab starting a few weeks post-op. We did some research, and ended up with two referrals: the physical therapist in the animal hospital, and Elisabeth Weiss of DogRelations. We had Oreo see both, to figure out which one we liked better. Elisabeth started off with a comprehensive evaluation of Oreo and her needs from a very holistic approach. She gave recommendations about Oreo’s feeding and her weight, her general behavior, and her rehab plans. After a few sessions with Elisabeth, we dropped the other PT like a hot potato. What can I say about Elisabeth? She’s phenomenal! She has a great rapport with our dog and is constantly giving Oreo praise and TLC. Oreo responded to her right from the get-go. Over the past three months, Oreo is a changed dog! She’s running around, dancing sideways and is clearly more agile now then she was before the injury. Elisabeth has gone from focusing primarily on the injury, to working on Oreo’s arthritis and even working on some of her “bad” behaviors. Oreo loves to see Elisabeth and is always exhausted after her workouts. Quite simply, Elisabeth is great. You can tell that she truly loves dogs, and is working with a great deal of knowledge in the field. Parenthetically, she’s extremely professional, reliable, and trustworthy. Thanks, Elisabeth for everything that you’ve done for Oreo!!

Ramon Solhkhah

M.D.

Elisabeth was fantastic with Isis, our Havanese. Despite our best efforts Isis had been doing her business all over the…

Elisabeth was fantastic with Isis, our Havanese. Despite our best efforts Isis had been doing her business all over the house and was not good at listening. Elisabeth was able to train her in a couple of sessions to listen and do her business in the right places. Elisabeth engaged Isis with interactive tasks which she found challenging and fun. Having Elisabeth come to train Isis was the highlight of her week. Isis was connected and engaged with Elisabeth at all times. I would recommend Elisabeth to any dog guardian. Her loving care and her practical advice have been invaluable to me.

Jeanette Rosen

Working with Elisabeth was a life changer. I recently developed a health condition that required a number of big lifestyle…

Working with Elisabeth was a life changer. I recently developed a health condition that required a number of big lifestyle changes in order to accommodate everyday tasks, with a few of them requiring the emotional and physical support of my Australian Shepard. I knew that my particular dog was capable with training (personality and breed wise) of helping me in these tasks, but I needed structure and guidance. After careful review of a number of trainers in NYC for service dog certification, I chose to work with Elisabeth and I couldn’t be more grateful of the experience. In just the first session my dog took to the training, it was an absolute pleasure working with her. I thought it would be a much more stressful process. She also helped by pointing me in the right direction for all of the other requirements needed for bringing her into public spaces/on transportation as a service dog. I could not recommend working with her more for this, she’s the best of the best.

Aja Marie Johnson

I cannot thank Elisabeth more…the change in our dogs has been miraculous! We have a 5 year old Papillon and…

I cannot thank Elisabeth more…the change in our dogs has been miraculous!

We have a 5 year old Papillon and recently adopted a 1 year old Papillon. Our older dog Henry always had serious behavioral concerns yet we somehow learned to “live” with them. With the addition of our new dog Mochi, Henry’s problems somehow became magnified. To add insult to injury, Mochi was exhibiting fear aggression issues that needed to be addressed immediately.

Elisabeth was recommended to us and we could not be any happier. Her patient and gentle approach with our dogs has helped transform them into much happier and well adjusted dogs. She partnered with us and gave us weekly exercises that we could practice with both dogs – we saw change in them immediately. Her training methods are logical and results oriented. As novices, we learned how to use a clicker, ignore undesirable behavior and reinforce the right behaviors.

Henry’s incessant barking is so much less. Mochi now allows strangers to pet her and has virtually stopped growling. We were so worried for so long and can now breathe a sigh of relief.

In addition, Elisabeth is always available via text or phone or email should you need a quick fix. She encourages the owner to reach out and ask questions and provide updates on how the dogs are doing. Elisabeth always responds quickly and provides a solution.

Our little “imperfect Paps” have a long way to go on the road to becoming model dogs. We feel so lucky to have found DogRelations and know we have a true partner in Elisabeth on this journey.

We ADORE Elisabeth and so do Mochi & Henry!

Holly and Eric Grannan

1000 thanks to Elisabeth Weiss for so positively effecting our home life. we have a beloved, but super rambunctious standard…

1000 thanks to Elisabeth Weiss for so positively effecting our home life. we have a beloved, but super rambunctious standard schnauzer and rebbe’s behavior was starting to dominate our every move.

Elisabeth trained Reb (and me) with patience and humor and affection . she’s made it possible to enjoy our dog with out constantly having to worry about his next outburst. she’s also a great resource when it comes to his health issues – truly a holistic approach that’s made me feel like i’m not going it alone.

Rachel Chanoff

Founder and Director

THE OFFICE performing arts + Film

If I could give more than 5 stars, I would! Elisabeth is a gem. When we decided to add a…

If I could give more than 5 stars, I would! Elisabeth is a gem. When we decided to add a new pup to our family I was very nervous and overwhelmed by all the options for training, diet, grooming, etc. From the start, Elisabeth eased my nerves and provided me with the tools to really set up our pup for success. Our puppy’s transition from the breeder to our home felt seamless because of Elisabeth’s guidance. As a trainer, Elisabeth is the best. Not only does our pup LOVE her, her style of training is exactly what you would hope for. She is patient, kind, understanding and fun! Her energy and demeanor is something that cannot be replaced and is why she is so talented and successful. With Elisabeth, our puppy learns quickly and retains easily. Its so fun to watch her work! Our puppy consistently looks forward to Elisabeth’s visits and knows her by name. Beyond training- Elisabeth has become my go-to for all pet care questions and issues. She truly values and cares for her clients and is always there for questions or advice. I cannot recommend her services enough!

Christina Hathaway

No one ever wants to admit that dog training can be very dull for the dog and for us. Not…

No one ever wants to admit that dog training can be very dull for the dog and for us. Not so with Elisabeth! She turns training into a fascinating exercise! The dogs can’t wait for her to walk into the room. Elisabeth sees the world from the dogs’ perspective and she will give you a whole new view of your canine friend. She views “training” as education. This is a significant distinction. Suddenly, with her help, you and your dog are speaking the same language, learning and playing on the same page. I make sure that Elisabeth meets every new dog who walks into my life. She’s helped me solve what appeared to be unsurmountable behavioral problems. She’s a brilliant and sensitive trainer. Get her in as early as possible!

Elizabeth Hess

Writer

Biography of Nim Chimpksy

Elisabeth gets great results quickly. The lessons are a happy, fun experience for the dog and the rest of the…

Elisabeth gets great results quickly. The lessons are a happy, fun experience for the dog and the rest of the family.

Our dog (Max) is always really delighted to see her and has learned so much in a very short time.

Elisabeth is a fount of information about training and other topics such as diet, health care, grooming and even travel tips.

Jann Wenner

Co-Founder and Publisher of Rolling Stone Magazine and Chairman of Wenner Media

Rolling Stone