It was an absolute pleasure working with Victoria! Not only is she smart and funny, her methods are effective and the dogs had a great time working with her too! We continue to work on our practice and our dogs are coming along with walking, and counter surfing! Would highly recommend Victoria!
Victoria at Shaggy Dog Pet Services is amazing! We worked with her throughout 2022 on separation anxiety for our new puppy. She is an excellent teacher and explains the research behind the training session. By sticking to her programming we were very successful! We started at leaving for 5 seconds and our girl can now comfortably stay at home for several hours. Highly recommend Victoria’s training services.
Victoria is a wonderful trainer who provided behaviour modification training with our 8 month old puppy when we were struggling. She's compassionate and explained clearly what we needed to do every step of the way. Can't thank her enough for her help and support.
Thank you Victoria at Shaggy Dog Pet Services for both the workshops- on Dog & Cat Behaviour 101 - that you gave at The Mutt Hutt Spaw & Pet Centre this past Sunday. I learned so much more about dogs and cats in these sessions. I think that these should be mandatory for anyone who is about to adopt a dog or cat...and for all of us who already have them. It is like taking parenting 101 classes. Why wouldn't we want to learn this?? Thank you again for giving me so much more awareness about dogs and cats. I know my furry family at home already appreciates this information. Thank you again!!
Met with Victoria for some assistance with my dog, Bruce, who has a tendency to be fearful and bark at strangers coming into his home or other familiar environments. Victoria was great with Bruce and able to calm him quickly when she came to our home. She educated us on dog behaviour, human behaviour, and what messages can be transferred through these interactions. She gave us a thorough and easy-to-follow training plan and has checked in multiple times since to see how everything is going and if we have any more questions. Would highly recommend Victoria for behaviour training that is based solely on reinforcement and positivity, rather than punishment and negativity. Her prices are also very fair, and it is worth it for Bruce to be more comfortable and for me to be more confident!
Victoria is an amazing trainer. She worked along side me to train my Sheepie and I'm truly grateful for her support and guidance. We came to Victoria for basic puppy training and am very pleased with her services and knowledge. Aglaea has learned so much from a sit and stay, heel with no pulling her leash when walking, puppy nip control, to greeting with proper manners and completely adores the learning games we learned to satisfy her natural puppy needs. Victoria's lessons and instructions are easy to follow, she readily answers any questions or concerns and I am now constantly complimented on my pup's manners and behavior. We had a lot of fun leaning and absolutely recommend Shaggy Dog Pet Services!
This woman is absolutely amazing. Barely know even where to start with this. When having a stranger come to your home, it is not a very reassuring feeling. Within minutes of meeting Victoria, we are 100% at ease knowing she will take amazing care of our fur babies. She is a very kind and extremely educated woman who simplified it for us newbies. She took 3 full hours at our home on a Sunday afternoon, and I feel that I have learned so much more about our animals then I ever thought possible. She even went as far as role playing with us to ensure we are following the training properly. She is patient consistent and her love for animals is very obvious. Her prices are beyond fair and she is a pleasure to interact with! She is by far the best choice we have made for trainer and sitter for our dogs. With all of the info and training tips she provided us, it has been only 3 weeks and already we are seeing major improvement. Thanks for everything Victoria, we are big fans
This service is wonderful my family was away for a week and Shaggy Dog Pet Services watched our older dog for us. They texted me every morning at my request with updates and pictures. When I came home there was a daily journal of what was happening while we were away. She took him on multiple walks daily. We are also using them for training purposes and she has trained our dog in less than one week and is helping me train him to listen to me on walks etc.
Victoria is wonderful I would highly recommend her.
Shaggy Dog Pet Service has shown me that my dogs are highly trainable by ME! In two short sessions Victoria has trained me how to walk my dogs so that they behave without me yelling or them pulling! She has also reliably come to take my dogs out twice a week for a group walk and left me journal notes from my dogs each time with updates on how well they are walking on leash. I have booked Victoria for some in-home dog, cat and fish sitting in the near future and I feel confident that I am leaving my pets and my home in her capable hands. I highly recommend Victoria’s Shaggy Dog Pet Services and it isn’t just because we have the same breed of dogs, it’s because her services are what she says they are - and more!
Victoria and Winston were tremendous in helping us train our puppy Coco. We started with puppy kindergarten where Coco mastered the sit, stay, leave it and drop it commands. Victoria was very supportive and encouraging through the nipping phases. We learned to recognize triggers and deter the nipping. Puppy obedience class is where we learned how to get Coco off the couch, settle down when visitors were at the door, go to her bed and lay down and more. Victoria and Winston helped us in having a behaved new family member in our home. I would recommend Victoria and her partner Winston to anyone with a new pup in their life.
Frances ZiyiFan, Kingston
Victoria and I met a week after I got my dog in 2016. She has helped me walking, sitting and training my dog since he was 3 months old. My dog made so many friends (Winston and Beau...) through Victoria. He is so happy and exhausted every time after the live-in sitting. Victoria always keeps me updated and sends me pictures during the sitting. We have had private training sessions to work on various issues of my dog throughout his puppyhood and as he matures. She helped me stay on top of my dog's behavioral issue. Her vet and behavioralist background provided me not only training techniques but knowledge about dogs in general.
Victoria was very compassionate when listening to my concerns about my cat Apricot and her new housemates. Victoria has always told us 100% of the truth and been very realistic with our training.I really appreciated her teaching us(the humans) what we needed to know to improve our animals lives while maintaining their natural behaviours. Apricot got the best cat highway of her life and we are always striving to create enriching experiences for her.Victoria was very fair with us and flexible when it came to our timmings of training and when we needed to pay - overall she has had excellent quality training and was extremely professional.
Janet Burgess, Kingston
"We went away for 9 days and left our dogs, cats, horses and chickens in Victoria's care. She was fantastic with all of them. The biggest recommendation comes from our shy, sometimes fearful, rescue dog. We have always been worried about leaving her in someone else's care since she is a high flight risk, but Victoria was wonderful with her. All the animals were so relaxed when we got home we don't think they even missed us!"
Debbie L., Trenton
Victoria was wonderful to work with, she listened to my concerns and was able to help us. After a couple of sessions with Victoria the results were amazing. My dogs now enjoy each other’s company and we are able to enjoy theirs!
Thank you so much for all of your help!
Alison Bell, Kingston
"Victoria cared for our 2 Goldendoodles while we were away for a week and went above and beyond our expectations! She sent us multiple photos and updates about the dogs, took them on multiple long walks, did some leash training with them (without us even asking!), and even took one to the pet store to pick out a toy and a treat. So sweet! We arrived home to a clean and tidy house, and a daily journal of the dogs activities over the week. I felt very at ease knowing she was caring for them which helped me enjoy my vacation even more. Would absolutely hire Victoria again and highly recommend her."
Victoria looked after my two dogs on several occasions (pet sitting for 3 days plus some house visits) and I've been very happy with her! She also gave me some very good advice for my puppy! Great service!
Ted & Peggy Davidson, Kingston
Ted & Peggy Davidson. Kingston After trying at least three (probably four) Kingston services we had pretty much given up on finding reliable sitters & walkers for our 3 medium/large non-socialized rescues, 1 from Cape Dorset, Nunavut & 2 from Greece. Peggy somehow found Victoria & we are now breathing easier. My wife & I (seniors) are unable to accompany our “girls” as in times past, the three dogs go nuts seeing Victoria at the door for walks, which she completes twice daily on most days during the week. She has shown appropriate concern for our animals & has reasonable prices for her services. Our three rescued strays, originally suspicious & sometimes aggressive with other dogs, are noticeably changing for the better thanks to Victoria’s patient handling. She has given us valuable after-walk tips on our dogs & spends time reviewing any concerns that may surface during an outing. Victoria is very professional and reliable, always on time, insured & bonded as well. We trust Shaggy Dog Pet Services with our girls; Victoria is very highly recommended.
Cindy R., Kingston
Thank you Shaggy Dog Pet Services!!! Recommend 100%
"I found Shaggy Dog Pet Services during the pandemic while a stay at home order was in place. All classes were done virtually and I couldn’t be happier with the results. My 8 month old English bulldog, Darla, was having issues with leash pulling. I could see improvements immediately after starting this portion of the class. Initially this was the main reason for seeking obedience training, however by the completion of the course, Darla had become much more obedient in many ways.
I would highly recommend working with Victoria at shaggy dog pet services."
Alison Starks, Kingston
Victoria is great and reliable. My dog Jake absolutely loves when she comes to take him for “walkies”. Jake is fairly reactive and has serious trust issues, but Victoria has been able to walk straight into our home from day one and he’s loved her. After each walk Victoria leaves a journal entry detailing the days adventures and if there are any concerns she will text immediately. Often she will send pictures of Jake on his adventure as well. It’s fantastic. Totally takes the stress out of my day knowing my little dude is well taken care of and getting properly exercised when I’m away.
Maddie O'Connor, Kingston
"Victoria took the time to learn about my dog's behavioral past and listen to what my concerns were. She helped me understand Willow's behavior and how to best address it. She was so supportive, kind and professional. I completely trusted her with my dog! Willow would be SO excited every time we saw Victoria and Winston. I especially appreciate how Victoria is so flexible. She once quickly made a last-minute trip to take Willow on a walk-and-train, when other plans didn't work out. I am thrilled with Willow's progress and now feel like I have a good handle on things. Thank you Victoria and Winston!!!"
Victoria has been walking our puppy and has been training him during the walks. She has also provided us with some training sessions. It is more to train us! She is very reliable, professional and you can tell she loves what she does!
Victoria has been walking my dog Beau for several weeks and she does an amazing job! Beau loves her, and it's so nice coming home at the end of the day knowing Beau has been well looked after.
"Quick to get into contact with and Victoria is providing excellent support and services. Really great and flexible service options."