Francesca’s Dogs

Francesca is wonderful. She’s patient and kind as well as clear and direct. And she teaches you how to be like that — clear and patient — with your dog.
Her training is completely different from traditional dog training. This is dog PSYCHOLOGY. I learned more in 3 sessions with her than in the three puppy/​dog classes (8-​weeks each) I took with my dog.
My young dog had become a little rambunctious when he hit adolescence but I thought he would grow out of it. But then he had a bad vet experience and he became aggressive — which was completely unlike him. He’s naturally a very sweet little dog. I was told by the dog class trainer to give him timeouts which didn’t work. I was told by the vet to be more dominant which actually escalated things and made him more aggressive. We were caught in a vicious cycle. And I was starting to give up hope.
I’m so glad a friend told me about how Francesca had helped her with her dogs.
Right from the get go Francesca let me know he was being aggressive because he was afraid. I’ve since learned I had been too indulgent in some ways when he was a puppy and he needed more boundaries. But when I tried to be more dominant I was too rough and that just scared him. As Francesca explained to me «He’s fighting for his life!»
That helped me not take it personally but also learn how to be a better, gentler leader. Plus she’s helped me understand what he needs and how to communicate so he can understand me.
And I’m happy to say he/​we are doing MUCH better! :)
I’m so grateful to Francesca. I don’t know what we would have done if we hadn’t found her.

5 years ago we rescued a dog, Jasper, from the SPCA who stole our hearts. But, honestly? He’s a weird guy. He loves us like crazy but with friends and strangers alike he alternated between skittishness and aggression and frequently bit or tried to bite visitors. We kept excusing him — telling people he was just protective, we did not know his past, warning them not to touch him, locking him up when we had company. It was, frankly, a pain in the butt, and a worry that he’d really hurt someone, but we really did not know what to do! After a move, his aggression increased and I even asked the vet for dog-​Prozac but the vet wanted me to first take him to a pricey «dog psychologist» on the westside (which I could not afford in time or money). Then a neighbor recommended Francesca. We started training with her about 6 months ago and have done a couple private lessons, but mostly group classes where he’s part of a «pack.» Jasper has changed like you would not believe. Truly, after one lesson with Francesca he had improved more than I ever thought possible. It appears you can teach an old dog new tricks! She taught us about pack order and his relationship with our other dog, and the things we were doing wrong. She suggested a different leash and taught me how to be the leader. (I thought the he wanted to protect me but it turns out he’s a lot happier when I protect him.) He’s a different dog and I am a different dog owner and it might sound nuts, but I can feel how proud he is of himself now. I am a huge believer in Francesca’s methods — and I would add that the other dogs and people in her classes are all kind and helpful, too. Both Jasper and I love our time with our «pack» and I recommend Francesca highly for anyone with a problem dog.

Francesca is so patient and has a confident calmness about her that helped me not stress over training my Bruno. She’s smart calm cool and knows what she’s doing. I adore her and highly recommend you utilize her abilities.
Victor n Bruno

Francesca greatly helped train my nervous dog. I adopted Amber from the Humane Society and she was extremely shy with separation anxiety. Francesca taught me to be a strong confident leader to set boundaries and a routine for Amber. And she introduced Amber to a variety of dogs so we can walk anywhere now and Amber never reacts to another dogs nervous barking. Amber is a changed dog and I learned to be a better pet parent.
Thank you Francesca!

I had the good fortune to stumble across Francesca’s group classes for basic obedience/​Canine Good Citizen training on
. These basic obedience classes are held weekly on a drop-​in basis, and provide an opportunity to work with your dog in a small group setting on basic skills. I’ve gone through two sets of these classes with two different foster dogs, and both dogs (and I!) have benefited immensely. Francesca is attuned to dogs and people and clear in her suggestions on how to modify human behavior to achieve desired behaviors from dogs. Her classes are relaxed and fun, but still full of learning (they are also held in a busy park, which is a great place to bring your dog for socialization). She also offers specialty courses that address specific behavior issues (leash pulling, reactivity, etc.) and advanced skills (agility, search and rescue). I recommend her regularly to people adopting dogs from the Baldwin Park shelter, where I volunteer. She is also an advocate of and supporter of dog rescue. Whether you’re looking for basic training for a new (or old-​to-​you!) dog, or need help with a behavior issue, Francesca is an amazing resource and is sure to help you and your dog.

We recently adopted a terrier mix puppy as first time dog owners. We really had no idea what we were doing so we thought it would be smart to get a dog trainer. Our puppy had a lot of the common puppy behaviors — leash pulling, lunging and barking at other dogs, running out through any open doors, etc. At our first meeting with Francesca, she was able to quickly evaluate and diagnose a lot of mixed signals that we were giving our pup and some of the behaviors on OUR part that were triggering his behaviors. We devised a training plan and have been working through it with Francesca over the past couple months. In reality, Francesca is our trainer, teaching us how to create a positive environment to raise our pup and how to shape him into a well-​balanced dog that gets along well with both humans and other dogs. She has a very calm demeanor that inspires confidence and provides great in-​the-​moment feedback that we can immediately act on.
Francesca also offers very affordable pet boarding services. When we had to take a previously planned trip, we left our pup in her care for over a week. She sent daily pictures of him out and about with other dogs and playing with her boys. Our little pup was happy to come back to us but we knew he had a great week and was very well take care of.

This is Justice, he just turned 8 months.
While fostering Justice I realized that he is not your typical happy go lucky dog. Well I take that back, he is very happy and go lucky, but only in a safe and secure place, like home. When Justice leaves the property he becomes very frightened and instead of hiding between my legs he tenses up with aggression. This is called fear aggressive behavior. Justice came to us when he was only 5 months old and already started showing signs of fear aggression. At 6.5 months I finally found an Angel, and her name is Francesca.
Francesca came to us just in time. We talked on the phone for a bit and she listened as I told her everything there is to know about Justice. She was extremely kind and patient, and asked all the right questions. I just could not wait to meet her. The day she was coming over I felt like a kid going to Disneyland. I was so excited and a little nervous.
I must say that I really like the way Francesca has layered out our training. As a matter of fact, the first private lesson had no training for Justice at all, but more for me. She had me walk her through my daily activities with Justice, including exactly how I feed him. She than told me what I was doing correct and corrected me on areas that needed improvement. The three that have really helped a lot was total leash control for Justice. Justice needed to learn that the yard was not his but he was just using it’s space. The second was the manner in which we feed Justice. Now when I put Justices food down he will not eat it till I give him a verbal command or a hand command. If I don’t give the command he will just sit there and stair at me patiently waiting. I have even walked away on accident with out giving him the command and when I came back the food was still there. The third was working of his fear of children, yes all children, even babies. Justice was smacked in the head with a gas pipe by some kids ranging from the age 4 – 7 years and now whenever he sees a kid he comes out with aggressive behaviors. Francesca brings her children 4 and 8 years of age to all our lessons and Justice just loves them. He becomes totally submissive around them and completely relaxed. It’s wonderful to know that this is something Justice can overcome. It’s really amazing how much dogs already know and I love how Francesca takes the time to teach me, not so much Justice.
Justice is still fearful in a lot of ways but his aggression has dropped about 90%. I strongly believe that without Francesca’s help Justice would be very unhappy and out of control.
We are still working with Francesca on a weekly and sometimes bi-​weekly basis with some of Justice’s other challenges.
If you are interested on hearing more about Justice and the wonderful things Francesca is teaching ME please let me know and I would be glad to post another review.
Thanks again Francesca for being part of our lives.

Francesca is the best trainer. She gets right to the point and she is a pleasure to work with. After only one session there was a vast improvement in our dogs behavior.

Francesca came to my house to work with my dog Sasha after a brief chat we had on the phone. She is very flexible and very knowledgable. Sasha pulls on the leash, darts out the door and got very nervous/​aggressive around the dogs on my street. Since that one day Sasha is getting very good at not lunging and barking at other dogs and Francesca has taught me a lot of my own mannerisms as well! It’s not just your dog but you too! She has brought me a long way and I just signed up for another private session. It’s well worth the money trust me! I hope to soon attend group sessions as well! My session with her was very eye opening, punctual, and fun! She gives great feedback even after the meeting and I love that she is concerned about both of use (even after we pay her). She is not pushy to sign up for another session like many trainers are and it’s that care value and understanding that’s so hard to find.
Realize when you train your dog it is your mannerisms that affect your beloved pet as well and Francesca helps us both learn the right way. I highly recommend her to everyone (and have recommended her to all my friends with dogs)! Choose HER! She’s great!

Francesca is a wonderful teacher.
I was a new mom of a 3 year old German Shepherd rescue dog I’ve had (at the time) for three months, and stumbled upon Francesca’s Dog Socialization group. My dog gets agitated by high energy dogs and has a strong prey drive. Francesca quickly evaluated a vital tool that I was missing in helping my dog stay calm and within minutes of implementing her suggestion, I had a new dog. I have been coming to her group meetings weekly and after each session, as I practice what she teaches, see a noticeable difference in my dog’s behavior.
Francesca is patient, articulate, and timely with her suggestions. Between the large and small and lazy and easily agitated dogs that come to her groups, Francesca always creates a safe and educational environment for both dogs and humans.

I’ve done two training sessions with Francesca so far and its been great.
This is what I like about Francesca:
1. She is clear and precise. Today I learned how to teach my dog heal, sit, stay and place. I can go home and practice now.
2. She provides amazing written notes that she e-​mails after each session to refer back to.
3. She provides positive reinforcement to me and my dog. When I’m learning something new, I’m not perfect, and I feel stupid. But she never made me feel stupid and is very positive.
4. Her method is NOT treat based. Her rewards are love, praise and play. I can’t always have a treat to get my dog to do what I want. My dog should do what I want because I am in control of the situation.
5. She has a sharp eye. She sees little things that are right and wrong and educates me. She helps me understand my dog’s body language in order to be in front of possible bad behavior before the bad behavior happens.
6. Francesca is reliable.
Francesca is new to the area from the midwest, and now is your time to book her before she’s so popular you have to wait weeks to get an appointment. Call her today, she will help you and your dog.

Francesca has allowed us to enjoy walks with our kids (dogs) again! Both of our dogs behave much better on walk and in our home. On top of the difference she has made with our kids she is a true professional and a pleasure to work with. She intelligently communicates which is very important to us.
We have asked Francesca to start working on some of the advanced behavioral issues we would like to correct an I will update this post in a couple months.
If you are on the fence as to which dog walking service/​trainer to choose the answer has just been made easier.

We rescued our 4 year old German Shepherd, Marley, from a shelter and had her only a month before we decided we needed to get some training. She’s nearly 70 pounds and got to the point where my wife couldn’t handle her on walks. We met with Francesca and within 30 minutes of working with her, we had a different dog! She not only trained Marley, but us too. She is extremely friendly, knowledge, and thorough. I cannot say enough good things about her! After only 2 lessons, we felt confident enough in our dogs and in ourselves to maintain the level that she set for us. We will definitely keep her number for when Marley needs a «tune-​up».

Francesca’s training completely changed our relationship with our dog. He was out of control and was often not much fun to be around. On walks he would get excited, jump up in the air and spin around, he even bit through several leather leashes. He just would not mind and he was big enough that he could really be a problem. Francesca’s title «dog trainer» is really misleading. She actually trained us just as much as she trained our dog. With her coaching were able to help our dog be the well-​behaved member of our family he really wanted to be. He is a joy to be around now and people often comment that he is so well behaved. He is and we owe that to Francesca and her extremely effective training… of our dog and his people.