Anything Is Pawzible

I can’t say enough good things about this place. We have attended the puppy class and the basics class, and they have helped us considerably in training our dog. The trainers have been great, and have an awesome rapport with all the dogs. With the one hour classes, they put you on the right track and provide a guide for the work you need to put in at home. The most rewarding part is seeing the progress from week to week. And most importantly, our dog loves going, so we will continue to enroll in additional classes.

We did the basic training with Yvonne through Anything is Pawzible, and absolutely loved it! The class is in a fun and laid back environment, so you aren’t stressed about how your dog is acting. Yvonne is so knowledgeable and gave us a ton of tips (beyond what is taught in the class) that are making a huge difference with our dog. I highly recommend doing your dog training here. You will be very happy with the results, and will have fun going through the training with your dog!

We adopted a rescue dog (Bea) with severe fear anxiety. After spending a lot of time and money on trainers, behaviorists and medication we were referred to Alex at Anything is Pawzible. She has been amazing working both with Bea and us and with her help, we have made tremendous strides. She was our last hope and has helped turn our fearful and unpredictable dog into a wonderful pet. Alex has worked with us at our home and throughout our neighborhood so we get real world/​real time guidance and training. As we face new challenges with Bea, Alex continues to work with us, including helping us introduce our children’s new caregivers and other important folks in our house — where Bea is most challenging. Without her help, I do not think we could have kept our B in our family. Alex has a gift with dogs and her positivity is infectious.

I moved to downtown Chicago from the suburbs of DC and struggled with getting my 4-​year old dog, Moca (rescued at 7 months from Puerto Rico), in and out of my highrise. I even had to use a muzzle to take her down the elevator and had to warn people that she could be aggressive towards other dogs. After working with Alex, it’s like I have a completely new dog. Not to mention, I learned a lot about how to handle Moca. Instead of taking a class, Alex came straight to me and even brought her own two dogs to practice interactions. After a few training sessions and work on our own, Moca can sit calmly on the elevator with other dogs (and no muzzle)! Alex clarified that Moca was only reacting to other dogs when she got scared and showed me how to avoid and deal with situations that made her react that way. She also recommended daycare – which I thought was crazy, but Moca’s behavior has improved so much its almost unbelievable. Moca loves Alex and seems like such a happier dog now.
I’ve also had GREAT experience with Alex dogsitting for me when I leave town – even with super short notice. It’s almost sad for me to see how excited Moca is to leave with her when she picks her up for the week. I’ve used other methods of boarding and Moca comes back barking her head off or with UTIs– but after coming home from a week with Alex, she is healthy, happy and even better behaved!
Alex is great at what she does and great with the pups :)

Anything is Pawzible in my opinion is fantastic. The instructor (Yvonne) was fantastic. She was kind, patient and really knew what she was doing. Basically how this class works, is that the instructor will teach you how to train your dog with a command along with some knowledgeable information on why this way is preferable, what goes through the dogs head and some do’s and don’ts.
You then attempt to teach your dog how to do a command. Where (in my opinion) this class excels beyond all else, is that the instructor will give you alternative methods or baby step methods to get you dog to do what you want if the original way isn’t working. This is the reason this class is better than trying to do it yourself from online tutorials or wiki’s. The instructors bring in a lot of experience with various dogs, and they really know their way around them.
Other benefits of the class were distractions. You got to train your dog around other dogs and help them focus on you. By the end of the program my dog Rocket was a totally different dog. And the class sizes are big enough to give a distraction but small enough where the instructor can really give one on one time if needed.
I’ll be looking forward to signing my pup up for advanced classes in a month. Totally worth it.
Also, best of all, my energetic dog (he bolts around like a rocket, hence the name Rocket) was exhausted when we got home. Mental training really wears them out.

Great Basic training class with Joanna. The class was only 5 dogs so it kept it very controlled and allowed you to have enough space during the training. She trained US very well and offered a lot of extra advice whenever we ran into challenges with Tucker. All of them worked and by the last class, he had made huge strides. The best is we still have all the «homework» sheets that she passed out so we can always reference them if needed. Joanna also gave us her email and told us to send a not if we ever had any questions.
Plus who doesn’t like a doggie cake on graduation day! Great times. Thanks Joanna!!!

We took our dog here for classes because the rescue we got him from requires obedience classes as part of the contract. The class ended up being wonderful. Our dog is still no rockstar at obedience after the basic class, but he has gotten so much better and it’s been incredibly helpful for things around the house and getting him ready for walks. Joanna was a great teacher that clearly loves being around all the dogs and it showed. Our dog was excited to be in class and had a great time.
Loved it!

We loved Yvonne so much, we came back for puppy class round two. She will go through the curriculum with you, and then stay late to trouble shoot specific issues you may be having with your dog. She really knows her stuff and forms a bond with every dog (and human) in the class. Can’t recommend her enough!

My experience here was terrible.
We did our research and thought this would be the best place for our new rescue dog. Unfortunately, that was far from the case.
Our instructor, who at the least you would call flaky, was okay for the first few weeks, even though she couldn’t even remember what type of dog we had, and was consistently calling her various different breeds.
We learned the basics — sit, stay roll over. Big deal. We already knew those.
So, she accidentally graduated our pups a week early. She was so confused that we actually paid for an extra week of training that we never got.
To top it off she also allowed random dog siblings in the class, i.e. 4 classes getting used to a few dogs and then number 5 a random lab shows up, which my dog is not happy about and also who didn’t pay for training.
Long story short, I wouldn’t recommend to anybody.

Mugsy our French bulldog absolutely loved coming to training here. Our pup was in the 6month-​1year group and had a great experience! As a puppy, we thought we could, on our own, teach her basic skills but after a while we gave in and decided to try dog training classes at anything is pawsible and we were sooo glad we did. Joanna, the trainer, is awesome, Mugsy absolutely loved her and coming to class every week! She taught her so many essential skills and tricks we never could of done on our own. We are so glad we signed up and plan to do the advanced classes in the future. I would highly recommend taking your dog here!

Rendy was recommended to us at a time when we were at a crossroads. We had a foster dog that, after a few weeks of good behavior, racked up a bite record on a walk with a potential adopter, and started displaying other aggressive behavior after that. We were faced with the decision of putting him down or adopting him, when we’d very much only intended on fostering in the first place.
It was a heavy decision we received a lot of well-​meaning, informed but conflicting advice on, and went to Rendy as a last resort before deciding one way or another.
After spending a careful hour assessing our pup’s behavior in-​person and via a Q&A, Rendy made the recommendation to stick it out, adopt him, put the time in, and see what happened. She had faith in our dude and thought he was trainable. This was in tandem w/​a move out of Chicago, so we were unable to meet with Rendy again, but secured a new trainer in our new city right away.
We had a consult a month back, and finally had our first official session, and our dog is already behaving SO MUCH BETTER. A lot of the behaviors were our fault, no surprise. We got our pup on a d-​ring chain martingale, and practiced proper leash holding /​/​asserting ourselves, and how to get him to give up his alpha to us on a walk. I know there’s still a lot of work ahead & he’ll test us (& we have more trainer sessions lined up) but I am so so happy with his behavior I could cry. It was getting intimidating having him around the house and I was anxious, plus feeling terrible about how anxious HE was all the time. Our pup already seems calmer in the home and less anxious in general. It’s so great to see him like this. I feel like our lives are going to be different moving ahead.
The techniques, we learned from our new trainer as a matter of circumstance, but the dog’s LIFE, we got from Rendy. She believed in him and us. She was our light at the end of the tunnel, and gave us hope so we didn’t have to make a really heavy decision.
I’m so proud of him, and eternally grateful for her!

Joanna was our trainer for the puppy classes (we also purchased the 2 privates as well), and Archie just loved the class, learned so much more than we could have ever expected in a puppy class. He can sit and lay down with verbal cues and just hand cues; he can «wait» for treats, he can walk on a leash while paying attention to us, as well as walk for exploring, he can «come» or recall from far distances, and he is learning from his timeout corner at home to stop biting us and his older English bulldog brother at home. We are definitely signing up for the next round of classes with Joanna! Archie just adores her…

I took my puppy here for the puppy basics class. Based on the reviews I was expecting a fantastic experience. While nothing was bad about it, nothing was great either.
The instructor didn’t give me and my puppy much individual attention. That’s fine though because everything that the instructor said, I’d already read in some basic puppy books. That does indicate that the instructor was giving good advice, but I felt I’d wasted $ 210 to hear it in person after spending $ 10 on a book with the same insight.
I do think the socialization aspect of the class was worthwhile. I wish there was more time for playing because that’s a very important part of a puppy’s education. Several of the first-​time dog owners became very nervous when the playing got rough and I wished the instructor would have stopped them from being helicopter parents. Puppies play roughly. It’s how they learn. The instructor should have provided some guidance about how to tell when your dog is fine participating in the rough play versus being frightened by it.
Like I said, it was a fine experience. Maybe it was because I’m not a first time dog owner, but I didn’t get as much value from this class as I’d hoped.

We just finished up the Puppy Preschool course and could not be happier with the experience or the results! Joanna was fantastic — patient, helpful, funny, and informative and we left each of the 6 classes feeling as though our time (and our puppy’s time!) was well spent.
I would highly recommend the Puppy Preschool course if you are a first-​time puppy owner. We learned basic commands, but also tricks and hints to help stop certain behaviors. The puppies were able to play freely with each other, off leash, every single session and I truly think that helped acclimate our pup into the «real world».
The location is fantastic (right off ⁹⁰⁄₉₄), with plenty of free street parking, and the facilities are great. Plenty of room for the dogs to run around :)
We’re already planning on scheduling either private sessions with Joanna, or signing up for the Basic + Course. Anything is Pawzible will be our go-​to for dog training!

We signed up for a puppy class on Thursday evenings with our little rescue black lab puppy. Meatloaf required a lot of patience and hardworking but the pace of the class really encouraged us to keep us on our toes and truly dedicate quality time each week for training.
90−95% of the hardcore training took place outside of class. Yvonne was our instructor and her tips and tricks were invaluable. She was always available after each class to answer our questions. She really took time to get to know our dogs and overall, Meatloaf really enjoyed himself!
We will definitely sign up in the near future for the Basics Plus class with Yvonne!

I adopted a ten month old hound mix, Rocco, from Anti Cruelty. He’s a sweet, wonderful dog, but he can be a bit unruly and overly «exuberant.» He just completed Basic Pawzibilities classes with Yvonne, and the results were remarkable. He’s more well behaved, takes direction and has settled down without having lost his goofy personality. All of the dogs in the class made great progress.
The training approach is very easy and positive. It’s definitely not a corporal, boot camp-​like philosophy, and as a result, I think the dogs are far less intimidated, and gain a fuller under standing of obedience. They seem happy to obey rather than fearful of consequences. Yvonne was a great instructor who immediately bonded with each dog in the class according to their unique personalities. Even in a group setting she was able to devote personal attention to each dog and owner.
I still have work to accomplish with Rocco, but now I feel I have the means to address any areas that need attention. I am definitely thinking of taking him back for the Anything Is Pawzible’s Bark In the Park classes, and I’ve recommended Yvonne’s class to my neighbor.
If you want a well behaved dog while maintaining a loving relationship, I would recommend Anything Is Pawzible.

We went to Anything is Pawzible to prepare for our Canine Therapy Corps test so we took the Therapy Dog class. Results? Mio passed his test on his first try. He is now a Canine Therapy Corps member and doing amazing work all around the city. They are also very active with dog charities around the city and always give back to help dogs that are in need.
The entire establishment and their trainers are first class. You simply cannot do better for yourself, your family and especially your pups when you enroll in a class at Anything is Pawzible.

We just got our goldendoodle Leo back in May and immediately wanted to enroll in some basic puppy classes. We did the Sat. morning (11:30am) class with Joanna and she was awesome. The class only had about 4 – 5 dogs at any given time so she was really able to focus on Leo and tell us what we could be doing with him to help. Joanna showed a genuine interest in our pup which made us feel really good. She also taught us the basics and how to talk to our dog which helped a lot. The socialization aspect was key and Leo got a chance to run around and play with other puppies which certainly helped tire him out and also have some fun!
I found her training to work really well but at the end of the day, it all depends on how much work you’re willing to do with your pup at home. The more we worked on the homework with Leo after class, the better he did.
I would recommend this class to any new puppy parent and I’m going to sign up for the next set of classes as soon as possible.

Rendy is the best in town, period.
She has been working with my Labrador Retriever since he was 7.5 weeks old and he looks at her like she makes the sun come up in the morning. She has a gift for both working with dogs and making everything easy to understand for the owner. I attended Puppy Pawzibilities with my first dog and that class was fantastic. I have been getting private lessons with the Lab and she is helping train him to be a therapy dog and he is way ahead of the curve because of her. Her facilities are very clean and my dog is always running to get inside.
I cannot recommend Rendy enough, she is super friendly and her scheduling is quite flexible which is very helpful. Cannot imagine bringing my dog anywhere else.

We just finished the puppy class with our black lab puppy named Frannie, and we’ve all learned a lot.
Joanna was our instructor, and provided us with a safe yet high-​standards environment in which to address our new-​puppy-​parent questions. The class also provided a great balance between much-​needed puppy socialization and more straight-​up positive reinforcement training.
I appreciated that the philosophy behind this training was demanding on us… that they didn’t try to sugar coat the fact that we, as owners, had the primary responsibility outside of the class for training our dogs and attending to their needs. I totally agree.
What this class did that was invaluable was enable us to communicate with our pups. We learned what different tones of voice to use, how to use physical gestures to communicate, how to understand our puppy’s reactions and behaviors. Our ignorance wasn’t greeted with judgment, but good, solid education.
And we’re so proud of our Frannie and all she learned in this class!
I would really give 4.5 stars if I could. The only reason it’s not 5 is that some of the classes went so fast, especially towards the end, that sometimes there wasn’t time for a demonstration with a puppy in the class — which was the norm for helping us understand how to teach the commands. Being a visual learner, it was harder for me to get those commands that I wasn’t able to see acted out in front of me.
Really though — highly recommended!!!