Thank You!
It is a pleasure to tell anyone who’ll listen (or read this) what an amazing experience it has been to observe Jill work with our beloved golden retriever, Holly. In 1999, we took Holly, at age six months, to a trainer elsewhere in California whose references we checked thoroughly (alas) before boarding her there for three months. … To our dismay, his approach to training resulted in her becoming fearful, antisocial and aggressive…traits rarely associated with golden retrievers! In desperation, I consulted Holly’s veterinarian, Dr. Dave McCrystal, for a solution. His suggestion was that I contact Jill immediately, which we did. Watching Jill talk to and relate to Holly, listening to her assess Holly’s behavior with us and ours with Holly, and hearing her explain to us the “whys” of Holly’s behavior, revealed to us Jill’s rare empathy and understanding of the workings of a dog’s mind. Simply put, I’m convinced she can read a dog’s mind. She knows that what a dog wants to do most of all is to please and to obey, but it needs to understand clearly how to accomplish that for its owner/master/partner. That—the “how to”—is precisely what Jill is able to impart to the dog and the owner, with mutual respect forming the basis for the pet and owner relationship. It’s nothing short of miraculous to see her communicate with dogs…at least, that has been our reaction. (I am confident that this transfers completely to her work with other animals. Although I don’t have a horse, I have seen her work with horses and it’s remarkable. Because of Jill, we have regained the wonderfully loving and gentle (if enormously energetic!) Holy we had before her experience with the other trainer. It’s as if she’s been given back to us—the aberrant behavior an alarming, but brief (thanks to Jill’s help), “blip” in her life with us. As devoted as Holly is to all of us—her family—she positively worships Jill. And we couldn’t be more pleased…or more grateful. We have recommended Jill to our friends, who have later thanked us profusely for that advice. We continue the recommendation.
—Martha Kemp, California