We adopted Mack, our golden retriever from GoldHeart in April 2009. He is a beautiful, affectionate, ornery 5 year old boy. We immediately fell in love with him, but there was one problem. Mack thought he was in charge!! We were impressed with Mike’s knowledge of dogs after the first phone call. Mike spent over 3 hours with us one Saturday and quickly opened our eyes to different things we were doing with and around Mack that were not showing him who was the real leader of the pack. After a few days of consistently using simple tips that Mike showed us, we felt Mack was a different dog. Mack was calmer and really seemed to be happier because he was pleasing his owners. We were also very fortunate to meet Mike’s adorable dogs, Jack and Koda. Mack had previously shown dominance with other dogs, but after a few corrections from Mike, Mack enjoyed running and playing with both dogs. Mike is definitely a wonderful resource for any dog owner!! We would highly recommend Mike!!
Paul and Lynn Murphy
" Mack " Murphy
Mack & Jack just hanging out!
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After years of contemplation and internal debate, I finally decided that I wanted to get a dog, particularly a border collie because I grew up with a border collie as a pet and had many pleasant memories. First and foremost, I had it run it by my future wife, Kate. She didn't hesitate and out came an ecstatic "YES!" After a few weeks of looking around we had our pup. He was full of attitude and personality. We named him Murdock, after the villain on the 80's television show MacGyver. Little did we know how well he would wear that name, because over the course of the next few months he became quite villainous indeed. It started slowly and at first it was easy to overlook, but after a few months his aggression was beginning to be a real problem for us and affecting our relationship with him. Murdock was showing signs of both territorial and food aggression. He was disrespectful at times and disobedient, despite being very, very intelligent or perhaps in spite of - who knows? After having a conversation with another dog owner at the gym I was a member of, this friend suggested I call Mike. Mike was very helpful, patient and professional. Murdock was a different dog altogether while in the presence of Mike. The challenge was learning to relate to him the way in which Mike demonstrated. Murdock has seen vast improvement over the past couple of months from working with Mike. Kate and I have also benefited, by learning to be better leaders and owners. Mike regularly checked in to see how things were improving and even would stop by for a quick refresher if things weren't progressing smoothly. He was and is very generous with his time and resources, all while being very optimistic and honest. We couldn't be more pleased with our time with Mike and would recommend him to any dog owner that is frustrated with any behavior that their dog is exhibiting. You won't be disappointed!
;)
Corey, Kate and Murdock the Border Collie
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One of the loves of our life is our 4-5 year old rescued, high energy, Irish Setter. Our Cory is an extremely smart, escape artist , previous stray, but with a sense of loyalty I've never seen in all the other dogs we have had the pleasure of adding to our family. Our challenge was then, how to train him. His in-house manners were OK but needed work. His off-leash attitude was one of, shall we say, indifference.
We had hired trainers for Cory in the past with little to no success. One came with a pocket full of treats and worked miracles with Cory...until the treats ran out. Tol' ya he was smart. In less than an hour Mike had his whole attitude changed. Then he proceeded in changing ours. Mike made it quite clear that WE were the ones that probably needed to change the most and if we listened, we'd see results immediately. He could not have been more right. So, for less than half the cost, less than one fourth the time invested, we have made strides ten fold. You do the math , and here's the bonus! Cory is now even more loyal, more eager to please and has gone from being a good companion to being a great companion. " I am now convinced that real dog trainers... "have it"... "get it"... or don't. Mike's "got it" and "gets it!"
Kind regards, Matthew F.
Matt and Cory
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“Mike is by far the best dog behaviorist I have ever worked with. I have known Mike personally for 20 years and have seen his work first hand with both his own dogs and others. He has coached me in raising both a male Rottweiler and a rescued Pit bull mix, both of who had unique behavioral challenges. If you want a balanced and happy member of your pack, look no further than Mike at Mike's Dog Talk!” - Erik C.
Erik and Maddy
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I have a 6 yr old White German Shepherd mix named Cameron and a 1 yr old American Pit Bull Terrier named Woodley and they couldn’t be more different. Cameron is shy and anxious and Woodley is outgoing and confident. I called Mike after being referred by a friend and asked if he could help me address Cameron’s issues with anxiety. What I didn’t know is that he would want me to bring Woodley along too. So a couple Saturday’s ago Cameron, Woodley and I went to visit Mike and his two dogs. They were amazing. Mike was very patient with me while I learned his methods and very patient with the dogs while trying to work through their issues. Woodley just needs some basic guidelines and Mike provided those for us, but Cameron needs a little more. Mike showed me some techniques for helping her become less anxious and also addressed her behavior with other dogs. He showed me (w/ the help of Jack and Koda- who are great dogs by the way) how to introduce new dogs to Cameron and keep her in a calm state of mind so that she is able to interact with them and not feel threatened by them. We also worked on some of the everyday tasks that she becomes anxious about and he showed me how to work with her and different ways to do things so that I don’t intensify her anxiety by my actions. He told me what to do with both dogs to make them understand that I am the pack leader and they are members of my pack. I know it will take a lot of practice and repetition to break Cameron and I of our old habits but I am prepared to put in the time b/c I saw the difference in just four hours with Mike. I have read a lot of books and seen a lot of Dog Whisperer episodes but I needed someone to show me exactly what works and help me to experience it first hand to build my own confidence so that I am able to build that confidence in Cameron. Mike helped me do exactly that. I would recommend him to anyone that like Woodley just needs some basic guidelines and rules for successful training or for a dog like Cameron that needs to build confidence and correct some previous mistakes in training. I am very pleased that I was referred and got the opportunity to work with and meet Mike, Jack and Koda.
Erin C.
;)
Erin, Cameron and Woodley
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"Being the new owner of an eight week old Shih Tzu puppy, I was slightly apprehensive and feeling very overwhelmed about his training regimen. Mike Evans provided me with many tips and tricks throughout the early stages of the journey with my new puppy which put me (and Max) at ease and helped make building a relationship together fun. Mike was readily available to assist at all hours to help assist me in making Max the loyal companion that he has grown to be. I am grateful to Mike and his extensive level of expertise in the arena of dog training." - Joe W.
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"You CAN teach an old dog new tricks and you CAN undo bad habits and behavior. Mike has made us happier, more confident dog owners. I would not have believed it could be done had I not witnessed it for myself. Mike's techniques, structure, and simple approach to working with our dog, Emmit made the training easy to implement and it was effective immediately. Emmit is doing great and knows both his boundaries and who is boss." - Bernadette Y.
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"Mike not only showed us how to train our rambunctious bichon frise/shih tzu, but he also explained much that I didn't realize about dog behavior and pack mentality. He gave explanation to his suggestions, making them much more likely for me to "buy into" than I otherwise would have been. He took control of my dog's behavior, made it look easy, worked with us until we got it right, and instilled hope and confidence in our being able to manage our dog. Moreover, he really listened to us - fully grasping our concerns and assessing our desire to effect change in our dog, all before intervening. As a psychologist, I know this to be the right approach!" - A.G.
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" Our first dog was a “poster child” for over-bred labs. He had everything imaginable wrong with him – the worst hip dysplasia our vet had ever seen; shrunken liver; enlarged kidneys; you name it. He wasn’t supposed to see his first birthday, but it was only last year that we put him down just before his 10th birthday. We waited a year to get a new lab, but when we did, we conducted extensive research to find one with good bloodlines. Well, we found one. Maverick is from a line of champions, and his instincts and muscle tone reflect that. We needed help reining this guy in. That’s where Mike comes in.
Mike gave up 2 hours of his Thanksgiving holiday to work with us to help make Maverick manageable. He taught us so many things about dog behaviors and why they do some of the things that they do, and his attentiveness to our needs was unmatched. He taught us techniques to react to – and even anticipate – those behaviors. Maverick immediately responded to Mike, obeying his every command – and many times, not even requiring commands – only Mike’s silent connection. Maverick even started listening to us (imagine that!). Within days, Maverick was responding to our new-found techniques. He still has an infinite amount of curiosity and energy, which makes him both endearing and frustrating at the same time. But the techniques Mike taught us have started to take root, and Maverick has become more endearing and less frustrating. It is a work in progress, and the onus is on us – not on Maverick, but we feel much more equipped to take on that challenge thanks to Mike. " – Bob M
Bob and Maverick
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We adopted our long-haired Chihuahua, Chutley, and immediately scheduled a Puppy 101 class with Mike Evans. Mike is amazing with dogs, and his own dogs, Koda and Jack, are a great example of how well-trained, happy, and balanced dogs can be. We wanted to make sure that we would raise an obedient dog who wouldn't damage our furniture or bite people (as Chihuahuas sometimes do), and going to Mike was definitely the right way to go! Mike was able to train us to be pack leaders, and be confident and calm in showing Chutley the rules and boundaries of our house. He is already a more calm and well-behaved dog because of it. We would recommend Mike's Puppy 101 class to all new dog owners - it is definitely the first step in training your dog to be an upstanding citizen, and a well-balanced member of your family!
S. Aziz
Sameeha, Ryan and Chutley
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