Living with Dogs

We would have been quite lost if I had not found Living with Dogs after moving to the Coast. Our sweet Golden loves people but is anxious around other dogs, especially when on leash. Sandi offers so many resources to help a dog become a more confident and get on better in our human world. Our little girl’s obedience has improved, and she has great recalls, whether at the beach or in the woods. She is becoming more comfortable walking and working near more dogs — although that’s still work in progress. The Reactive Rover classes were very helpful in teaching us to «read» our dog and giving us helpful «tools» to better manage and improve her fearfulness.
Sandi is always thinking of new ways to teach us things, and has such a wealth of learning and understanding of dog behavior. We’ve had a lot of fun in Family Dog classes with Irene at the Aptos field, and doing Capitola Real World Walks and Nosework with Sandi. Sandi can be direct at times, but is also very gentle, patient and kind-​hearted — always wanting the best for dog and family.
Training and building trust and teamwork with our dog at LWD has been super rewarding. So glad they are nearby!

We took our dog to Sandi for agility classes. Agility training was a commitment and a lot of work. Sandi was great at guiding us through the process. With her positive training techniques we found an excellent outlet for our dog’s energy, and appreciation for her drive and talent. Also, the foundational training for agility gave us better skills as dog owners, and a very well behaved dog. Lure coursing is another activity that Sandi offers which is fun for us and our dog. We were amazed at how fast our dog could run, and how much she loves to run the course. Currently we are enrolled in the Treibball course which I’m am sure will be another fun thing to do with our dog. We are very happy that we met Sandi, and grateful because she helped us recognize what an amazing dog we have.

I started training my puppy with Living with Dogs 7 years ago. I have learned so much about positive dog training methods. Mac, my Westie, is a beautiful, well trained dog who I can take to work and public places. I attribute this ability to the training methods learned from Sandi. So far we have taken Puppy Preschool, Family Dog, and Agility classes. Mac earned AKC Canine Good Citizenship and Therapy Dog designation.
Mac ‘s favorite activity is Lure Coursing each month.
Yesterday, Living With Dogs hosted an awesome Barn Hunting Clinic and Fun Trial it was well organized and flexible, as more dogs showed up than expected. Living With Dogs introduces dog sports in a fun environment.

I searched the Santa Cruz County area for a dog training program that was positive, reward based. I didn’t want to be punishing or negative in my relationship with my dog. I have been training my dogs for the past year & a half with Living With Dogs and I have been so pleased with all the classes we’ve participated in. My dogs have been through Puppy School, Family Dog (obedience) Agility, & Nosework (a great scent detecting sport). I have experienced a greater, deeper bond with my dogs grow through these training programs. I proudly recommend this program to everyone who really loves their dog.

I have been taking my puppy to puppy school and now obedience 1 and obedience 2. I have had great results. I attend the Aptos trainings with Sandi and find them to be very informative. I bring a training/​obedience issue to Sandi each week and she provides great feedback and strategies to address it. I will continue to go to Living with Dogs for other classes once we are out of the puppy stage. I highly recommend it for your dog.

Sandi knows more about dogs than any trainer I’ve met. I’m a dog trainer too, so I know quite a few! Her ability to «read» your dog is amazing, and instant. She has a special knack for suggesting just the right remedy. I’ve seen her stop a potential dog fight with just one word (phew!)
Her school has 3 trainersand 3 locations. The week is filled with classes, 5 days/​week. Puppies, adult dogs, and lots of sports — agility, treiball (doggie soccer), and nose games (sniff out the treats, dogs love it). And also help for fearful reactive dogs.
My favorite training location is a beautiful soccer field in Aptos. Its private, well tended and enclosed. Its also available off-​hours to students who want to play/​exercise their dogs. Nice.

My Maltese pup and I attended Sandi’s class a while back. She is an excellent instructor and clearly has a wonderful way with dogs. I especially love her use of positive rather than negative reinforcement to encourage dogs to respond appropriately. (As a licensed psychologist, I can assure you that is a much more effective method.)
I appreciated Sandi’s flexibility, allowing my pup and I to attend a couple of classes prior to Christmas vacation and then continuing after I came back.
Repetition is needed for good dog training. Of the classes I attended, we did use «touch» on more than one meeting, but much much more was covered over the course of six weeks. Sandi worked with the class overall, plus gave ample individual attention to each dog and his/​her owner. To really benefit from her classes, though, it is important to do homework between classes to reinforce new learning, both for the dog and the owner.
I feel comfortable highly recommending Sandi’s classes to anyone who loves and wants a positive way of training her or his dog.

We’ve taken several classes from Sandi with our extra smart but sensitive and snappy corgi/​cattledog mix — the basic Family Dog class, and several agility classes. I’ve also taken agility courses elsewhere, so I can compare. Here’s my thoughts on why Sandi is amazing:
1. She knows dogs and dog behaviors. Hands down. Lip licking, dog running down field constantly, dog looking at you a lot (or not) — she gets what these seemingly normal behaviors really mean and helps you work with your dog so your dog is comfortable.
2. Speaking of dog comfort — she wants your dog to be happy, have a good time, not be nervous. It’s not «just get the dog to behave» — it’s creating a positive environment and relationship between you and your dog. So it’s the really owner who gets trained.
3. I like that she expects us to work on things during the week so we can make progress at each class. I don’t like wasting a ton of time on one or two dogs because the owners just show up each week and expect it all to happen there. I bet some people don’t like that and feel singled out, hence a few negative reviews (unwarranted, in my opinion).
4. Specific to agility classes: My dog was doing great on some equipment, and had big fears on a couple of the other pieces in a different class. When I switched to Sandi’s classes, she had my dog tearing over those once-​feared obstacles in under 10 minutes. Her personal demeanor is so non-​threatening to dogs, and she has a seemingly limitless bag of tricks to help your dog overcome any obstacle. And she breaks everything down into small steps to achieve success. It’s really amazing to see, actually.
So to sum it up, I am constantly recommending Sandi’s classes to people who want to develop a positive relationship with their dog as the means to changing their dog’s more challenging behaviors. The classes have been small, the space is great (a big field in Aptos). And I can’t possibly recommend anyone else for agility classes. As the human, I have to work very hard for my dog in these classes, and it really pays off in the end.

I did not take puppy classes with Sandi even though a friend recommended it. Mainly because I was reading an Ian Dunbar book at the time and because where I live. it was just as far to go to Los Gatos as it was to go to Aptos. i went and did Sirius instead. I really liked my experience at Sirius and my puppy learned some good basic manners with the techniques. but when i asked the trainer about taking my dog past puppy 1 and puppy 2 she recommended Sandi and Living with Dogs.
My first class with Sandi was a doozy because my dog was going thru the height of her rebellious adolescence and she’s a very big dog and was dragging me all over the place. Sandi was awesome from the start. I saw instant improvement over the course of 3 classes. I too had heard some of the critiques of the other reviewers about Sandi prior to entering the class but after two series with her. i’ve come to the conclusion that people are focusing on how she treats THEM; not how she teaches the dogs.
I really don’t care if my dog trainer is a people person (Sandi’s mannerisms are on the quiet side and isn’t very touchy feely.) She’s an AWESOME dog person. She takes a long view on building a relationship with you and your dog and her games are fun and the dogs love them. I have a breed that is considered willful at times. and her techniques really engage my pup’s mind. The only reason I gave her 4 stars and not 5. is because if you have to miss a training session she’s not always good at reminding you to make it up. But once again. i chalk to up to her human communication skills. not how she trains my dog.
So if you want someone to ask about your family and know your kids’ names and butter you up about your dog and feed you a bunch of sales pitches… i don’t think sandi is your trainer. If you want someone to read your dog and instinctively train in a way that is going to be helpful over the course of dog’s life? I say give Sandi a try.

Sandi knows so much about dogs that sometimes I watch what she’s doing with a pup and I’m just amazed. Our dog is wonderful and we love her but she can be difficult — she has so much energy that she’s hard to train, and she’s fearful. Of course we’ve covered the basics in class, but Sandi has also shown me how to manage all those problem behaviors too — pulling on the leash, barking at people, not coming when called, chasing the neighbor’s cat, and just generally being a hyper dog. Its taken patience to stick to a positive reward system but its really working! Our dog needed those positive rewards to learn to trust her people and remain calm. Any other system would have totally backfired — it would have increased her fearfulness and I probably would have ended up with an agressive dog.
We still have a ways to go but what a difference! Now she’s walking on a loose leash, she barks less, she doesn’t chase the cat, she comes right away when I call. She doesn’t have to try to defend herself from «scary» dogs or people because Sandi taught me to read her body language and intervene or call her away when she gets anxious. Love it! I only wished I’d learned all this earlier.

I have been training with Sandi for 6 years now. I have attended puppy, family dog, agility and lure coursing with her. Her style took me some adjustment since I have owned dogs for over 18 years and was used to rushing to the desired behavior. Positive reinforcement is not a rush it is a bonding period between you and your dog that will not be broken if you put the time in, listen and work at it. Nothing in life worth anything is easy is it?
We are now attending with our third «Sandi dog» and the breeds I have are not «easy» and Sandi is positive, receptive and always reminds me gently that it is me that the training of a particular behavior isn’t working and make this adjustment and it will work… guess what? It does.
Her brand of training may take longer but if you put in the time and effort that she does (certainly it is for the love of dogs and not to make millions) you will succeed. Do you want to know why? She will not let you fail if you just ask her for help and follow her advice.
To those who want the «quick fix» I wish you the best. I will choose to learn about myself and bond with my dog through positive reinforcement any day and Sandi is an absolute GEM!

I have had a great experience training my dog at the Living with Dogs school. My dog is a very hyper 45 lb. aussie mix.
My dog and I took puppy class, family dog class and now we are in the intermediate class. The trainers have seemingly unlimited knowledge of dogs and positive, humane training. They explain the exercises, give a demonstration and then we get to work on the exercise with one on one time with them. Finding the time to practice has been a challenge at times, but when we do practice and exercise before class it makes a huge difference and we are improving. We still have a lot to learn but I am very grateful to Sandi and the staff at Living with Dogs for coaching us. I just wish they had more late evening classes. We are really excited about doing agility next!

This woman seems to be only in it for the money. I don’t think that she really cares about the dogs, and I got an unpleasant feeling from her. I’m sure she’s an alright person, but I don’t think she has the dogs’ best interests in mind or at heart, and that’s sort of important when you’re a dog trainer.

Love classes with Sandi! We have two dogs that are really still puppies, at 9 & 10 months. So far our oldest has been through all the classes and the 9 month old is about to start Family Dog ¾. Positive training is the way to go and we have two very well balanced puppies; we thank Sandi for her help. It certainly requires a lot of work, not just in class but outside of class with our pups to expect the best outcome and Sandi certainly made this clear. When I did not get it, she helped myself and puppy understand what she was showing us. Hey, I am just a human, right? I can’t always get it right and she was able to train us puppy parents to train our puppies with a lot of patience and love.
I look forward to future classes, especially the Agility but we need to wait until our puppies are a bit older. I really do look forward to working with Sandi again and will continue to be a very happy puppy parent to Luca and Pippa!

We did Lure Courcing today for the second time with them and are very happy with that business!
A lot of fun and very well organized event on very nice green field!
Will do again and again and again…
Our dog love it !
Thanks from Shasta

Horrible puppy training class, don’t waste your time nor money. Better puppy classes in town to choose from than Sandi Pensinger’s, plus she has this ridiculous refund policy which is No Refunds once the first class starts, how stupid is that? Probably is so, so she does not have to give back money to unsatisfied customers or realize how many dissatisfied customers of hers that are out there.
I agree with what the other poster said in their review, it was basically the same experience for me. I have met maybe a dozen or so people since taking her class, when my dog and I have been at a neighborhood dog park, and believe it or not, everyone has had similar bad experience, negative comments and opinions about taking Sandi’s Living with Dogs puppy classes. Most shared that they stopped going because it was so stressful, did not care for Sandi as a trainer or the quality of her classes.
Basically with her Positive Training, one is throwing their dogs treats, in hopes that the dogs are distracted enough to pause for a moment with their ‘bad’ behavior. Really ridiculous and probably not very healthy to feed our dogs that many treats in one hour. Besides– since new puppies are always coming in during the course of the 2 months until your pup turns 5 months, skills are never built upon and the older student pups keep doing the same things over and over, never progressing further. Waste of time and money. Her puppy classes were more stressful than useful.

Sandi came highly recommended so I decided to give Living with Dogs a chance for my newly adopted Terrier. While Sandi has great information and access to class materials and recommendations (included in the sign-​up fee) are very helpful, I have been disappointed with how the class itself is conducted.
Sandi does not train with a dog of her own, and very rarely uses a dog to demonstrate what she is talking about. While this works for the first class or two when you are dealing with a simple sit or calling the dogs name, it quickly escalates to being more involved and the participants can easily get lost. In addition, she rarely walks around and gives individual input, but stays in her spot talking on the microphone. In addition, I’ve noticed that sometimes she just starts and ends class early without telling anyone. It is frustrating to arrive 10 minutes early and realize she has already started your class.
While Sandi has great info and knowledge, the $ 145 6-​week class simply isn’t for those looking for hands-​on attention or even a demonstration. If I decide to continue with additional training it will not be with Living with Dogs.