3 Sessions Suggested

Practicing Replacement Behavior Lessons
Examples: run to spot instead of barking , calm replacement “settle” instead of demand barking or jumping or begging for food and attention, manners , polite offered behaviors without verbal prompts or cues.
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We can only say wonderful things about Elisabeth. We got Sydney, an 8 week old Weimaraner puppy, and didn’t have any of the proper training tools in our pockets. Sydney lived in a rule free house until he was 8 months old. Although we loved him very much, we were getting frustrated with his inability to settle down in the house. We were considering various training methods when a fellow Weimaraner owner referred us to Elisabeth. All we can say is what a blessing! Immediately upon meeting Elisabeth we knew she was the right trainer for us. Her methods are loving and gentle while producing the desired result–a well trained companion! Sydney immediately loved her and responded to her techniques after the first session. He now lives in a home with rules that requires him to use his mind and enables him to settle while in the house. We have been working with Elisabeth for a few months and Sydney is a different dog! He still has his loving, gentle, funny personality while being able to listen and respond to commands. As Sydney continues to work with Elisabeth every week he continues to come leaps and bounds from the rule free puppy he once was.
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!
We had gone through several trainers with our standard poodle Annie. We got Annie at four months and she was already fearful ,aggressive and barking non stop. Elisabeth came to the rescue with her patience, humor and dog whispering talents. I highly recommend her. Your dog and neighbors will thank you.
Dear Elisabeth,
David and I read your wonderful and enlightening letter. We cannot thank you enough for taking the time to care and relate your experience and wisdom to our problem.
When you said “Fear Aggression” the biggest lightbulb went off. We always thought that Zeus was over protective of David, but I think you absolutely have nailed it. Now we have an entirely different perspective.
We also are thankful for you excellent description of Schutzhund training and why that would not be a good option for Zeus. And most of all in one simple sentence, you have explained to us the importance of the positive reinforcement training. When you said that it is much better to do something because you want to do it, than worrying about some terrible thing happening if you don’t, again the sky actually parted for us. I never knew that was the reason for that kind of training. When we worked with the folks at Santa Fe Tails previously, no one ever said that. We just thought it was a newer, more modern way to train dogs. And we worried that they gave far too many treats. And finally your wonderful explanation of deferential behavior gives us such hope for Zeus’s future. I could not bear the thought of living a life of constant fear about him and for him and you actually have lifted a terrible and ominous weight off of the situation. Our only challenge now, is can these folks train us to understand and work in this way with Zeus?
Could I ask you to recommend a book or DVD that would be appropriate for us to learn to work with Zeus in this manner?
I am ever grateful to Freddie and Myrna for discussing our problem with you and I am ever grateful to you for your amazing expertise and for being so generous in sharing this with us.
Warm regards,
Roberta Remy and David Shields
Elisabeth was one of the key people in helping maintain the spirit and integrity of Lola’s life. Everyday Lola looked forward to her time with Elisabeth. It was a great relationship that we all rejoiced in. Elisabeth is a kind dog genius. Her help cannot be overestimated and went far beyond what one can buy. Lolabelle loved her.
We all loved her.
My 11 year old lab Alex’s arthritis was catching up with him. It became very difficult for him to move around and sometimes he would fall. After a terrible fall down a set of stairs Elisabeth guided me to a great neurologist and after Alex’s surgery started an in home physical rehabilitation program. Alex walked again, enjoyed his walks through the neighborhood, learned to ring poochie bells and loved it. The care Elisabeth gave her contributed a lot to his quality of life.
Hi Elisabeth,
I’ve been meaning to write and thank you, just haven’t had a moment.
Rocky is doing so well! We had an especially nice long walk this morning. He was able to pass many dogs, even big ones, without trouble (he pulled a little, but I told him to sit and wait and he did!). He barks a bit at the door, but calms quickly.
I’m still training him regularly and feeding him the raw diet, and it’s really making a difference. A few neighbors with dogs he’s always barked at before have even remarked on how much better behaved he is!
So, thank you thank you thank you Elisabeth!
All we can say about Elisabeth is that she saved us! What a professional!!
We brought home two 12-week old puppies from the North Shore Animal League in May and although we were excited and loved them immediately, there was a lot of reorganizing to do around the house. First and foremost was to start having the pups house trained .
Of course, we didn’t think about this BEFORE we brought the puppies home. We were so excited because they were so cute and cuddly that getting them home was all we cared about. Then reality set in! Big time! Elisabeth came so highly recommended from a woman that we met while sitting in the waiting room of our veterenarian’s office that we called her immediately when we arrived back home.
The beauty of this story is that Elisabeth came to our rescue THAT SAME DAY! When I called her, she asked me a bunch
of questions about what was happening and she gave very helpful advice over the phone so that we could get through the night without barking puppies! We were hooked on Elisabeth from that moment on because she showed us immediately that she cared. She cared and she knew exactly what she was talking about.
That was almost four months ago and today, our puppies are incredibly well-behaved and learning more and more everyday. They are approaching seven months old and we can not believe the difference in them in such a short amount of time. The joy they bring is incredible anyway but imagine the joy they bring when there is zero chaos? We are having the time of our lives with them and we would not be in this position if it were not for Elisabeth’s incredible knowledge and talent with animals. The puppies absolutely adore her and it just makes us smile. We are confident they are getting the best of care and for us, that makes all the difference.
We highly highly highly recommend Elisabeth and would be happy to talk to anyone looking for a
referral. There is no one better!
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!!