Lucky

We brought a White German Shepherd, Lucky, into our family in March 2009.  For approximately 6 months, we struggled with raising our new puppy while also raising our 3 year-old Pit-Bull Terrier mix, Bella.  Due to his high anxiety and stress, crating Lucky was a challenge, as he would routinely soil his crate, prompting a clean-up of both the crate and the puppy.  We also developed issues with Lucky’s over excitement and lack of discipline.  After contacting 2 other trainers, with minimal follow through, we realized that our lifestyle with Lucky was not sustainable. 

We contacted Lisa Flynn of “The Cultured Canine” in August 2009 and just through a simple phone conversation, we were reassured that Lucky could be and would be a functioning part of our family.  We quickly enrolled him for residency training.  When we finally saw Lucky after 3 weeks, we were amazed.  Lisa had turned this incredibly nervous puppy into a seemingly confident young man.  Lisa also “trained” us for dealing with everyday life with Lucky.  She was not only reassuring, but she exuded a level of confidence, integrity, and trust, that we had seldom encountered.   

Upon return home, we have continued to maintain the training that Lisa instilled in Lucky.  Although he is a work in progress and he often makes mistakes, we have completely embraced our new way of life with him.  We can proudly say that Lucky displays self-control (especially in his crate as we have yet to see a mess!), and exudes confidence.  Lucky’s success could not have been possible without the incredible work of Lisa Flynn

Not only has she impacted Lucky’s life, but she has greatly affected ours.  Throughout the time we have known Lisa, she has told us to “visualize” what we expect of ourselves.  She has given us a new framework from which to work from – that which rests on determination, persistence, and confidence.   

To end, Lisa Flynn understands dogs as the animals they truly are.  Through this understanding, she is able to effectively communicate with them.  Even further, from her patience and teaching ability, she is able to give humans as the pet owners, the necessary tools they need when training their dogs.  As such, we wholeheartedly recommend Lisa Flynn for any and all dog training that people may be interested in.    

All the Best,
Aaron & Namita Agarwal

        
                                                                                         Hans

Dear Lisa,

 I’m writing to say thank you and to let you know our hard work is paying off. On Thanksgiving my in laws were in town and they have not seen Hans since we started training with you; they were amazed on what a different dog he was and how well he listened. They admitted to me that they thought after the loss of my husband, moving, birth of Elsa and all the other major changes that happened and most likely contributed to Han’s aggressive behavior, that he was a lost cause. But, this visit my in-laws were so proud of and enjoyed time with their grand-dog, which made me so happy. Hans and I could have not made the changes without you and your tools and solutions. Thank you for strengthening and improving my relationship with Hans. We look forward to continuing our learning and training with you.

 Always grateful,

Meghan Keller and Hans
Plymouth, MA

            
                                                                                         Bouncer

I wholeheartedly recommend Lisa Flynn. After being referred to Lisa Flynn of The Cultured Canine by a friend who was seeing positive results with her dogs, I saw immediately what has made her an excellent trainer for all kinds of dogs and their owners. Lisa is professional, dedicated and reliable. Having been a client for more than a year on an individual training basis and in several group situations, I can attest to her effectiveness and excellent skills, expertise, knowledge and experience; she remains calm in all situations, patiently imbues owners with the education and skills to manage their dogs, and furthers the bond between canines and humans through all of her interactions. Lisa is persistent, appreciates the challenge tough-minded canines sometimes provide and should be regarded as a top trainer in her field. My dog, in particular, was a challenge physically and mentally, but responded incredibly well to her guidance and training; I attribute the large majority of the credit for the frequent compliments I receive about his behavior to the individual and group instruction Lisa provided to us.

Donna Sellers and Bouncer

                                                           Izzy

                                              Coffee

After Lisa did a great job with our foster German Shepherd Dog, she was one of the first people we called when we adopted our own GSD, Coffee.  Eight months ago Coffee did nothing but the low crawl with her tail tucked up against her belly.  She did not want anybody to come near her, and on walks would bark with her fur in porcupine position if a person came within 100 feet of her.  Lisa taught Coffee, and taught us how to teach Coffee, confidence and manners.  Now on walks Coffee will heel right by our side, and on command will lie down to let joggers pass right by us unaccosted.  Lisa gave us a ‘trick’ to stop Coffee’s counter-surfing, and Coffee receives accolades everywhere she goes, which is everywhere we can possibly take her.  Lisa also taught Coffee the most impressive thing we have ever seen a dog do – the place command even when a stranger is at the door.  Now when the doorbell rings, Coffee, in typical protective German Shepherd Dog fashion, charges full-blast at the door with non-stop barking and fangs a-showing.  After we tell Coffee what a good dog she is for protecting us, we give her the “place” command and she goes straight to the powder room a few feet away, and stays there until further command.  You should see the look on the pizza guy’s face when a whispered word causes a barking, teeth-baring GSD to retreat, and stay, behind an invisible threshold!  Lisa’s best quality is that she is even better at training humans than dogs.  Not having lived with many dogs, Ted was skeptical at first.  But after seeing Lisa work magic with Coffee, he trusts and follows Lisa’s advice.  My colleagues with teenage children report the same effect – Lisa emanates competency, and rightly so, helping the whole family be consistent, which is the backbone of training.

 Erica & Ted Stoecker 

                                            Blue

                                          Carly

Carly was rescued from FOHA last year after having lots and lots of puppies. As with most rescue dogs, you never know what the past may hold, but she sure

was a sweet and happy girl--when she wags her tail, her whole body wags! As we got to know each other, it became apparent that Carly had quite a stubborn streakin her, easily blowing off commands (chasing after a squirrel or a child was much more important than heeling!), and at 70 lbs., she was quite capable of walking me! Carly also became aggressive when she encountered other dogs. I became very uncomfortable even taking her out for her daily walks for fear of not being able to control her.

 

So, I contacted Lisa, and I'm so glad I did! Turns out that Carly was actually quite fearful (and probably not very confident in me), and her defense

mechanism was to attack first, and ask questions later. It also turned out, that I had just as much to learn as Carly did, if not more! Our training was such

a positive step in forging our bond, and for Carly to become more docile and more comfortable with me as her master. I learned the proper way to enforce basic commands, and Carly learned to trust me. Lisa was just awesome! Very kind and patient and positive, yet firm.

 

She's very knowledgeable and confident, and her techniques are so easy to understand and to follow...I really appreciated how she gave the reason behind each command and each behavior, how she customized our training to fit our needs, and how much we learned in each training session. I was amazed at how quickly I saw results--Imagine my shock, when Lisa incorporated

Jasmine (her sweet Doberman) in one of our early training sessions, and Carly remained sitting calmly as Jasmine walked by her! Carly is much easier to

handle overall now, and we're both much happier. I highly recommend training by the Cultured Canine for any dog!

 

Rachel Shortt

 

The Cultured Canine, Inc. offers obedience training and behavior problem solving for dogs and their owners in South Eastern Massachusetts, the South Shore, Cape Cod, and the Metro Boston area.  Many of our clients also share their lives with their dogs in New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.