Ann Arbor Canine Coach, LLC

Home
Ann Arbor Canine Coach, LLC

Dog Training and Dog Behavior Consulting owned and operated by Valerie Wells. ONLY force-free and

Valerie is a member of the “Pet Professional Guild” and “Truly Dog Friendly.” Both professional organizations accept trainers which utilize ONLY Force-free, Positive Reinforcement techniques. There is NO need and NO reason to ever harm your dog, with electric collars, choke collars or prong collars in order to have a well mannered pet. Valerie gives you the proper guidance you need for YOU and YOUR dog to SUCCEED!

20/04/2024

Posting for a friend. so all I know is what's listed. If you're interested, PM me and I'll put you in touch with the owner.

31/03/2024

Happy Easter!

26/01/2024

Hope you're having a
When Dylan imitates art.

25/01/2024

How wonderful it was to work with Valerie for a second time with our new puppy, Reagan! We had met Valerie 9 years ago when Hadley joined our family. This past summer we adopted Reagan, another chocolate lab. She entered our home full of energy and love. We quickly realized we needed guidance to help her learn her manners, especially with walking and jumping. I reached out to Valerie and we spoke on the phone within days. Valerie asked detailed questions about what our life was like with Reagan and came ready to guide us when we had our first appointment together. Reagan loved Valerie! During the six sessions we learned how to control jumping, loose leash walk, the come command, and so much more. We are now very comfortable taking Reagan out in the neighborhood due to the wonderful guidance we received from Valerie. We so appreciated Valerie's kind approach to working with dogs. Valerie was flexible with scheduling around our calendar. We highly recommend Valerie for any dog training needs you may have! Thank you, Valerie.

Phil, Kim, and Reagan Hughes

31/10/2023

Happy Halloween!
Woofie was always so good about sitting for a photo.

26/10/2023

I have two young, extremely reactive Min Pins. Group classes did not help and their reactivity was affecting everyday life in a way that just wasn't working for any one in the household. I decided to try a personal trainer because it allowed much more control over their learning environment. I picked Valerie because of her philosophy and her answers to my questions when I contacted her. We've finished our seven-lesson series now, and my boys have come a long way. When we started we couldn't be in the backyard (bark, run away), go for a walk (growl, bark), have friends to visit (growl, bark), or leave the house (scream like banshees), etc. without huge distress and drama. Now we can do all those things and more thanks to the strategies that Valerie gave us (and lots of practice!). We still have a long way to go for desired behaviors to be fully automatic, but that brings me to this: one of the most important things Valerie helped with was managing expectations. I had to remember to slow down and really get one issue resolved well before adding in more/new potential stressors. She also gave us some very helpful tools for specific issues - like "who's that?!" - that the dogs now know well and respond to pretty consistently. And finally, my dogs really like Valerie. That's important. She won them over early and that really mattered. My only regret is that I didn't start with Valerie to begin with.

Thanks again!!!
KF, Ann Arbor

05/10/2023

Miss Valerie has been my lifesaver as she helped me and my new moms become a true family. Her quiet and calming voice helped this young rescue dog, who was scared of every sound and movement, become more confident each day.

She believed in me and encouraged me to keep trying. Miss Valerie offered a multitude of suggestions to my moms such as interactive toys to help learn how to entertain myself, setting up playdates so I would have fun with other dogs, and even alternative ways to get me to respond to commands correctly if the first attempts didn’t work. She has a whole bag of tricks to use!!

Thank you Miss Valerie for all those homework assignments for my moms to do with me, for my favorite “click then treat” training method, for teaching me how to ring the bell to go outside, for teaching my family how to teach me, and especially for understanding the special needs of a rescue dog.

Although I wasn’t very friendly when we first met, we eventually became good buddies. You are a one in a million trainer who has a keen sense for understanding the needs of all types of dogs and their humans. Through Miss Valerie’s training we are all on the same page.

Two paws up,🐾
TomTom and my moms, Debbie & Barb

28/09/2023

What a cute photo of these two!

We were going to be the proud owners of a 8 week old Mini Australian Labradoodle. While we’ve owned other dogs over the years we knew the importance of proper training so we could start off our pup off right. We knew that WE needed training to give our pup the best opportunity for success. Val was the perfect teacher to help us on our training journey. with her patience, her knowledge, and her consistent and loving approach with our puppy. She’s obviously quite knowledgeable on training methods but also knowledgeable on so many different topics related to dog health, grooming, exercise, etc. . She helped us learn how to teach our dog basic commands (sit, down, stand, stay, come) as well as helped us deal with biting, jumping, and peeing in the house (due to a bladder infection which Val identified and the vet confirmed). We’re really glad we chose Val because she was so knowledgeable and patient with us

Bob S. and Laura P.

22/09/2023

Sweet pooch looking for a new home:
"Potter is overall a very loving and playful dog. He is a three year old Bernedoodle. He does come with some behavior issues. When a new person enters the house he becomes agressive, lunging and snapping at the visitor. He has never bitten someone because we have managed him and/or had him in his crate. He needs a new home that can train him and remain consistent with his training. Once he gets to know someone, he will be their best friend."

This is all the information I have.
If interested contact Amanda at [email protected] or 586-202-9445

14/09/2023

We hired Valerie to work with our new family addition Patrick. He was a rescue and had a parasite when we got him so he missed out on key socialization and because of this, he was having a few behavioral issues we wanted to address. He was super reactive to other dogs and people and he barked excessively out of our patio window. Valerie gave us the tools we need to be successful. She introduced us to clicker training, showed us how to properly walk him outside to encourage positive behaviors and how to work on his barking issue. She even gave us tips on how to get him to come to the door and not run from us when it was time to go outside. If you have a dog needing some guidance, I highly encourage you to reach out to Valerie. Our pup Patrick loved her and all of the yummy treats he got during training!

Nichole, Ann Arbor

07/09/2023

We hired Valerie for assistance with our two small dogs, Kinzie and Lucy. Kinzie was 5 and Lucy is 2, we had just given birth to our son who was 2 months old when we contacted Valerie.

Kinzie was a very territorial dog and she was our only dog up until early November 2022. My husband found Lucy on the street and we ended up adopting her.

We had a few requests with Valerie from the very beginning. Kinzie learning to share food/toys/affection with her new sister, Lucy. She would growl at Lucy for sitting to close to me or my husband. Valerie gave us the tools and helped show us how to act/react when Kinzie would demonstrate this behavior.

Lucy is a VERY loving dog towards my husband because he was the one who found her and rescued her. Lucy would try to be as close to my husband as she possibly could be without physically attaching herself to him. This became difficult as we were playing with our son on the floor. Lucy would not allow my husband to pay attention to our son without getting in his face and insisting that he pay attention to her. She knew zero commands when we found her and Valerie was able to help us a with training Lucy with commands, i.e sit, stay, release. This was a huge win for us!

Valerie is very knowledgeable, kind, patient, and understanding! She is flexible and was able to accommodate our crazy schedule that changed every week. She spent the time to actually listen to our needs and she tailored each session to our specific requests. She was able to help us find the perfect treat to train with as our dogs are very picky and have sensitive stomachs. We really appreciate all of the time we spent with Valerie and I am happy to say we will use her again in the future as our family continues to grow and our needs change.

Thank you so much!
Anne, Michael, Kinzie, Lucy, and Baby Jack

06/09/2023

Today's goes out to Cosmo. He's cute, cuddly and energetic. Welcome to our Cosmo!

31/08/2023

I reached out to Valarie because Mateo is my first dog. Mateo was afraid of everything and I didn’t know where to start. The biggest challenge was that Mateo was too afraid to walk outside. I live in a bustling area and he came from a quite rural home. Noises, people, etc had him running back towards the house. For example, when my neighbor stopped by to say hello for the first time, Mateo was so scared that he started shaking. Valarie showed me how to help him gain confidence. He slowly made it to the side yard, then a few houses down, then to the park down the street, and now we have gotten further into the neighborhood. Remember that neighbor he was afraid of? The other day he couldn’t wait to greet him! I’ve seen tremendous growth in his confidence. I now have the tools to help him come out of his shell so that he can show the world what a sweet, goofy, and fun dog he is and enjoy doing it.

- Michelle, Ypsilanti

26/08/2023

Happy

24/08/2023

Ramen, my now eight month old Shih tzu, and I have both greatly benefited from Valerie’s individualized lessons. I was seeking a trainer to help with basic aspects of puppy training for Ramen: From sit, stay, and stand, to potty training and socializing him to people and other dogs. Ramen warmed to Valerie immediately and looked very forward to her lessons. He learned quickly and responded very well to all the training. It couldn’t have been more timely; he got trained to go outside for potty on the patio just days before it became bitter cold outside and the first heavy snowstorm when the snow was higher than this little boy’s height. With our schedule of waking up at 5 am, having Ramen trained to go to the patio by ringing a bell has become a life savior for us both. I learned a lot about the right snacks to feed Ramen for his sensitive tummy, the right engaging toys, walking him outside, and how to help newcomers at home to befriend Ramen. The play dates that Valerie set up for Ramen were perfectly matched. Ramen has been enjoying playing with his new friends. Valerie is a very attentive and perceptive trainer and checked in with me weekly about training needs. I am a better human companion as a result of these lessons. Thank you, Valerie!

Preety G. Ann Arbor

17/08/2023

We truly enjoy working with Valerie Wells, Ann Arbor Canine Coach, so much so that we have used her twice with both of our dogs!

The first time we used Val, we hired her when we got our first dog, Denali. She truly helped us to get off on the right foot and train our dog to be a well-behaved best friend. When we got a second puppy three years later, we knew we needed her help again!

Val worked with us and re-taught us all the critical parts of her puppy training program. We covered potty training, bell training, emergency come, sit, down, stand, go to your place, loose leash walking, and more. Most importantly, Val helped us with what we felt was an insurmountable obstacle with our puppy not being comfortable with getting in and out of the car. Val helped us, gave us recommendations to get a ramp and lighten the interior of our car by opening the doors anf putting light colored towels down and that made a huge difference. We can get our pup to climb in and out of the car on her own now, which is a huge relief.

Another huge advantage is Val's puppy play group. Puppy socialization and bite inhibition is absolutely imperative to having a well-behaved dog. Getting your puppy playing with others early is something Val is passionate about and she is absolutely right!!! My dogs can play well and politely with any other dog because I was able to have them playing with many other puppies very early on! They also learned bite inhibition from other dogs and I have absolutely no fear that they will ever bite or hurt anyone, due to their good socialization. All of that is due to the connections and great play through Val's play group.

Val is friendly, experienced, and truly develops a bond with dogs. Both of our girls love her and are much more well behaved because of what she has taught us. Thanks for helping us a second time, Val! We are grateful for your wisdom and training!

The Gomez Family
Noe, Holly, Denali & Daisie

10/08/2023

I brought home a new 4-month-old puppy (Billie Jean King) in April. I have not had a young puppy for many decades and decided to hire Ann Arbor Canine Coach to help with the adjustment. Billie had no training before she came to me. Fortunately, she’s smart and eager to please but Valerie’s help was instrumental in guiding us to success. She instructed us in all of the important basic commands; sit, stay, wait, down, loose-leash walking, drop it, leave it, etc. She was also encouraging and helpful with crate and potty training. Valerie made the experience fun for all three of us (my cat Rafa joined us too). I have back issues and Valerie’s help in training me to walk Billie without pulling has been essential.

Billie is a super friendly, social puppy and having other puppies to play and socialize with has been amazing. Billie had some GI health issues and Valerie was flexible with scheduling to make sure we could train with treats when Billie’s problems resolved. It was wonderful knowing that when things came up, I had someone else to run so many different puppy-related issues by.

Billie, Rafa and are are so grateful that we found Valerie and highly recommended her to anyone looking for puppy/dog training. She is super knowledgeable, professional, accommodating and cares deeply about the well-being of the dogs she’s training. Big thanks for an excellent experience!

Jody K., Ann Arbor

08/08/2023

Tom Tom is learning to ring the bell to ask to go outside. So why does he look like he auditioning for a spot on Jeopardy?

02/08/2023

Today's goes out to Jacks and Indi. Both are sweet, loveable and smart. Welcome to dog training Jacks and Indi!

20/07/2023

Valerie is so helpful, insightful, and enjoyable to work with. My dog Bee is thrilled whenever she sees Valerie because she knows it's time for learning and treats. Bee has lived with me in four different apartments and with each move, Valerie has helped us set up good habits and positive associations. Bee is happy, playful, and loving but occasionally gets confused about when her guarding and protecting instincts can be quieted. Valerie has taught us ways to let Bee be her playful and confident self more often, especially around neighbors in the hallways and visitors to our home. This is a true relief and help for everyone, Bee included. Thank you, Valerie!

Katelyn, Ann Arbor

14/07/2023

When your dog wins the battle over who gets to pop the bubble wrap. (sound "on" for full effect)
Dylan is not your grandfather's chihuahua
Hope you're having a

13/07/2023

The time working with Valerie has been extremely pivotal for Bowen. Prior to starting, we were experiencing reactivity and attention barking with Bowen. He wasn’t able to look at something/someone on a walk without wanting to say “hi”. Now, we are at a place where he still remains curious but isn’t reacting. Training with Valerie has taught us as owners how to enrich Bowen’s life to the fullest. It’s given us a new sense of hope, and skills to make him into the best dog possible! Thank you Valerie, we truly enjoyed our time with you!

Jenna C, Ypsilanti

12/07/2023

This weeks goes out to Johnny Cash. Tall, dark handsome, smart and sauve. Welcome to Johnny.

04/07/2023

Happy Independence Day!
Hope the booms and bangs are at a minimum tonight.
Jelly Bean barks at the nosie but Dylan is terrified.

29/06/2023

When my daughters bought me a 4-month old puppy, Buddy, it didn’t take me long to realize that I needed help! He spent a large part of his time bouncing off the walls and was the master of the blank stare whenever I tried to communicate with him. After 6 lessons with Valerie, the progress has been dramatic. I really appreciate the simple ways she showed me for teaching him to respond to cues like sit, down, stay, and leave it. But what impressed me more was that her teaching method provided me with a set of tools that can be readily applied to other situations as well. For example, about halfway through our lessons a problem arose when I started to play the piano and Buddy began barking frantically and racing around the room. At first I thought I would wait for the next lesson to ask Valerie how to deal with this situation. But then I decided to simply try to apply the same approach that she had used for teaching simple commands like sit, stay, and leave it. And within a few minutes, Buddy no longer barked in response to the piano and now enjoys lying next to me and listening to me play. So I am grateful not just for the specific things Buddy learned, but also from knowing that I now have a set of tools that can be applied to other situations when problems arise.

Lewis K. Ann Arbor, MI

22/06/2023

I brought Winnie to training to get her started on the right track for a happy and successful life by having basic skills that would help to build trust between us to be able to allow her to experience the world with more freedom! When I brought her home before we started training, she had very normal puppy behaviors, rambunctious, wild, curious and energetic but with no skills on how to direct all that energy in positive ways. Since starting and completing our training course, she has improved 10 fold! I think one of my favorite parts that has come from training is the bond it has helped form between Winnie and I and how it has helped build that trust between us that we were searching for and helped to curb some of her stubbornness in her to help her to listen to commands and to know I always have her safety and best interest at heart.
Training with Val has helped especially with Winnie’s ability to walk on a leash which has made taking walks much more enjoyable for us both so that we can stay out longer and experience more together!
We also have participated in the socialization group, and had play dates with Dylan, which were a godsend! They helped to encourage safe and fun play times and interactions with other dogs and Winnie loved getting to run around with little Dyl!
Thank you so much Val! Working with you has been such a positive experience and I am so grateful for the tools and tips you have given us to keep growing together in our life!

Sincerely,
Taylor and Winnie 🤍

16/06/2023

Hope you're having a .

15/06/2023

We had our puppy Lu trained with Valerie. She was very knowledgeable about dogs and was very friendly. She taught us a number of training exercises and was helpful in suggesting the right treats for him. She also solved the major issue of potty training we were having trouble with.

Keaton F. Ann Arbor

14/06/2023

On this warm we welcome the wee Winnie. Super cute and super smart. Welcome to our Winnie.

10/06/2023

Happy

Address

Opening Hours

Monday	09:00 - 20:00
Tuesday	09:00 - 20:00
Wednesday	09:00 - 20:00
Thursday	09:00 - 20:00
Friday	09:00 - 20:00
Saturday	09:00 - 20:00
Sunday	09:00 - 20:00

Telephone

+17344341135

Website

http://www.A2CanineCoach.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Ann Arbor Canine Coach, LLC posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Ann Arbor Canine Coach, LLC:

Videos

#TrainingTuesday Litle Luna was constantly going up the stairs and barking for help to get back down. So we taught her to be more self sufficient. Luna owns these stairs now. Way to go Luna!! #annarbordog #pooschon #smartdog #LOVEmyjob

#TrainingTuesday "After this Teddy was able to come to a point of total disinterest in the cat!" (text from Teddy's owner. After just one lesson Teddy is already less reactive to the cat from his balcony. Now on to squirrels and other dogs. #annarbordog #Terriermix #reactivedog #Yesan #results #sciencebaseddogtraining

Itsy takes the cat toy for a spin

#TrainingTuesday Itsy takes the cat toy for a spin. #annarbordog #ratterrierchi #LOVEmyjob

It's a #cold #TrainingTuesday and Camdyn performs his ceremonial couch happy dance after our lesson. #annarbor #dog #pug #happydog #ceremonialhappydance #dogritual

Cadbury learns to walk on a loose leash

Constantly tugging and pulling, look at him now. No more shoulder injuries for Cadbury's parents. He learned to walk on a loose leash in less than an hour. Here he is with dad on a leisurely stroll. #annarbor #blacklab #looseleashwalking #dog #fearfree

Rosie learns to load up in the SUV

Rosie's new trick is to "load up" into the SUV, so that she can enjoy more outings! She was all about the popcorn and apples-but no spinach! #annarbor #pig #lovemyjob

Woofie rides

Woofie's new trick: riding a skateboard. (given our limited space to practice in this cold weather she learning fairly quickly-we've only be at it for about a week #annarbor #skateboard #dog #skateboardingdog

Shortcuts

Address
Telephone
Opening Hours
Alerts
Contact The Business
Videos
Claim ownership or report listing
Want your business to be the top-listed Pet Store/pet Service?

Country:

City:

Our Story

Ann Arbor Canine Coach offers dog and puppy training as well as behavior modification, utilizing ONLY humane, science based training methods, utilizing motivational techniques. Serving the greater Ann Arbor area and the surrounding South East Michigan area.

We believe there is NO need and NO reason to ever harm your dog, with electric collars, choke collars or prong collars in order to have a well mannered pet. Valerie gives you the proper guidance you need for YOU and YOUR dog to SUCCEED!