AnimalSense Canine Training and Behavior

Fantastic class! We learned a lot on how to appropriately and positively train our dog. We took the middle management class at their Logan Square location, and I could not have had a better experience!

Lindsay has a great love for animals. She is an expert in helping owners and pets coexist as well as understand each other. She took time out of her busy day to come to our house and help us train our puppy. Lindsay also continues to go to many seminars and retreats for behavioral training in order to offer the best techniques for her clients. Thanks Lindsay and Animal Sense!

We adopted our rescue dog about a year ago and her aggression towards both dogs and people has gotten worse over time. When I called the office and explained our issues, they recommended we work with Sally Bushwaller, through private lessons.
Sally is amazing! She’s knowledgable, experienced, patient and creative. A word of warning: You must be prepared to do the work on your own as well. You will get out of it what you put into it. I wasn’t prepared for how much work this would be for ME at first. But Sally is very encouraging, and after each session would send me detailed notes on what we covered and what we should continue to work on.
I look forward to working with her again — her love of animals really shines through her work.

If you’re looking for a place to take your puppy for obedience training look no further. Animal Sense’s founder, Jamie Damato is an inspiration. Her love for animals drives her business and it was proven when she took an afternoon off to accompany my husband and I on a trip to several dog shelters. We were guided by her keen knowledge of dog behavior and after many introductions we adopted Jack, a 10 week old border collie mix that came to the shelter six weeks earlier with a broken leg and had been separated from most of the dogs to recuperate.
We never intended to go in looking for the perfect dog — Jack is high strung, an avid herder of anything that moves, but I like a challenge and we backpack and camp and jack now has an oulet for all that energy! We all saw Jack’s potential that day at the pound. We signed up for obedience training classes at the Animal Sense-​Oak Park location. Jack was a quick study and learned how to better socialize with other dogs every week. Four years later we are so thankful for the guidance given to us by Jamie and her highly trained staff! Thank you for offering such a wide variety of classes! We’re going to sign Jack up for Agility this Summer.

I took the six week Puppy Grade School class and it was really helpful/​fun. Our trainer, Erin, is an excellent teacher, really patient and friendly. She always makes sure your questions are answered and that your pup is headed in the right direction. A great experience.

I took the «Bowser & Baby» workshop offered through Northwestern Hospital. it’s a one-​day workshop to help you prepare your dog for a new baby in the house. The instructor Nicole was great, very friendly and upbeat — putting everyone at ease (most of seemed to have issues or concerns with our dogs!) She gave us lots of tips and «homework», as well as useful resources.
I’m now looking into an AnimalSense class or private training for our dog before the baby arrives!

We won person training at a silent auction with Nicole Stewart who recommended the Doggone Issues class for our reactive pit bull. Sally who teaches the class is great and the set-​up for the class is very well thought out. They TRULY care about you and your dog rather than some of the factory like dog training operations throughout the city. We loved everyone we encountered with Animal Sense!

If I could give this place 10 stars, I would. My girlfriend got me the Middle-​Management class for a Christmas present, through a Gilt City special at the time, although I would pay full price for Animal Sense classes any day of the week. This class is for the «awkward, rebellious teenage» years your dog is going to go through after they hit about 14 months or so.
Penny was ok the first few classes, and had really picked up on the instruction. Great methods, and moved forward slow and steady. One weekend, a few classes in, she started showing a lot of signs of anxiety. We were taken aside, and she was given an overlook by the instructors and told to go home and relax. Once we got home, she calmed right down. An hour or so later, I get an email from the instructor who was following up on how she felt, along with suggestions.
The next week we were taken aside again, and given plenty of private instruction, and methods on how to deal with her anxiety. That was followed up with an email with a list of suggestions, exercises and practices, and they all seem to be working.
If the classroom instruction alone wasn’t outstanding, I’d STILL recommend using Animal Sense because of the trainers. They honestly do care about your dogs progress and make it their personal mission for you to get the most out of the session.

We used a Groupon to get our puppy’s training started with AnimalSense and really loved it! We started with Puppy Preschool and our lovely trainer Terri (and about 6 other families). Terri was so patient with us and helped us develop some creative methods to train our pup. By the end of the session he had learned to sit, lay down, touch his nose to our hand, and may eye contact. We definitely had to practice consistently outside of class, which can be tough with a busy schedule, but the pay off was worth it.
After the first session was over we re-​enrolled for the next class, Puppy Grade School. We were working again with Terri who remembered our pup’s strengths and weaknesses. We were in a smaller class this time, probably only about 5 other younger dogs, but there was definitely a variety of levels of experience. Since this was our dog’s second class with Terri she was able to give us some different behaviors to practice training. The only frustration we had was the class time this session. We live in the downtown area of Chicago and had to make a mid-​week commute out to Oak Park. We just wished there were a few more scheduling options for the class. We did check in a few weeks ago to possibly re-​enroll for a third class, and it looks like they’ve added in more sessions!
I would suggest this class to anyone looking to train their dog and better their understanding of why our dogs do what they do! Our pup is definitely one of the best trained on our block and people are always asking us if we shipped him off to some expensive training school. This was WAY better!

I attended the 6 week Middle Management course with my 2 year old rescued dog. It was a course designed for «teenage» rebellious dogs. Nicole was the trainer and let me tell you THIS CLASS WAS AMAZING!
I had many a walk that ended in tears. Yes, tears. Granted I am an emotional girl, but walking my dog was terrible. She would lunge and bark at other dogs and people. She is 50lbs and strong, would practically pull my arm out of socket, chew on the leash, you name it. To say the least, it was embarrassing.
First day of class was tough. Nora did her usual barking, barking and more barking. But Nicole made me feel totally comfortable and hopeful of improvement in my dog. She is very empathetic, kind and knowledgeable. There was never a question we had that could stump her.
Oh, did I mention there was only 3 people/​dogs in the class!!! Ah-​mazing! The class was totally customized to our needs. I got plenty of 1:1 attention. As did everyone in the class.
The class is also very positive/​reward based. I never felt uncomfortable about any of the training yet I feel ready to deal with my dog in any situation now. She learned all the basic sit/​down/​etc, along with leash and focus training. She is doing MUCH better. No more tearful walks :)
There is not much else to say except just GO HERE. If you want one of the best training courses in Chicago for your dog, go here. This place delivers, it is worth every penny!

My puppy and I took the 6 week Middle Management class and our trainer was Nicole S.
I am sure you have seen the classes at Petsmart that have 7 dogs + in class. This class at Animal Sense had 3 dogs!!! So we got Nicole’s undivided attention and boy did we learn.
Not only did my dog learned sit, stay, down, watch me, come, go to bed, leave it, roll over, take a bow and more. We also got tips on great leash options and learned how to nicely walk on the leash. My puppy learned a lot in the class but so did I. Nicole worked with everyone on individual basis and it was amazing to see how well she knew her students just by looking at their body language and behavior. I liked watching her work not only with my dog but also the others because she was so good with them. Every Saturday I looked forward to going to class and seeing my puppy succeed. Every class always ended on the positive note. In addition, after each class Nicole sent us follow up emails and additional material to reinforce the class and help us practice what we learned in class.
Nicole’s personality makes it very easy to learn from her. Nicole is very approachable and made me so comfortable in class that I was never scared of asking any questions even the silly ones. In fact, on the last day of class, it turned out that my husband was able to come to the“graduation day” and after class when we were going home in the car he said that he could see that Nicole was a really good trainer. I am so glad that I chose Animal Sense for my class. My puppy and I got very personalized training that was worth every penny. My experience with AnimalSense has been positive from the start. They helped me chose the right class and location for me as well as were great following up and always there whenever I needed them. Great customer service and great trainers.