“When my wife and I adopted our pup, Kona, we quickly realized we were in over our heads. Kona struggled with severe anxiety and reactivity to almost everything—new people, dogs, trucks, you name it. It felt overwhelming at times.
Enter Val. I’m not exaggerating when I say she has completely changed our lives. Val showed us how to build Kona’s confidence and trust in our handling, using her natural play drive to make training fun and effective.
After just six months of working with Val, Kona was like a new dog. She’s fantastic with obedience, walks beautifully on the leash—even in busy, stressful environments—and welcomes new friends into our home with ease. Watching Kona’s whole body wag with excitement every time she sees Val is the icing on the cake; it’s clear how much Kona adores her.
If you’re considering working with Val, don’t hesitate. She’ll make a life-changing difference for you and your dog.”
-Jess (Kona’s Mom)
“Cara is an invaluable member of our pack. She's helped my shy, uncertain girl come into her own and develop confidence in a world that can feel overwhelming. There are so many ways Cara has helped me to become a great dog mom, and I can say with absolute certainty that a lot of Maddie's growth is due to having Cara as my teacher, coach, and cheerleader. She's also one of Maddie's favorite play partners!”
—Marybeth (Maddie’s Mom)
Photo Credit: Deborah J. Karson
“When we first started working with Val, Kanga had a lot of anxiety and fear, especially in social situations. With Val’s expertise we have worked our way to being so much more confident and can manage uncomfortable situations. Kanga is a wildly different dog and is much happier for it. We can’t thank Val enough”.
—Maura (Kanga’s Mom)
“I couldn't have asked for a more dedicated and knowledgeable trainer than Val.
My rescued cattle dog, Frankie, was an especially energetic and opinionated adolescent dog with no socialization or training. He was highly reactive to his environment and he was constantly frustrated. Needless to say, I was completely overwhelmed (yes, there were tears!) and with just one virtual training session, Val gave me hope that there was light at the end of the tunnel. I quickly signed Frankie up for homeschool because I knew Val could help Frankie become a happier and more stable dog.
Val taught me to see the world through Frankie's eyes which turned my frustration into empathy. She taught me how to communicate clearly with Frankie and how to effectively reward him. She explains training exercises in a concise manner and she makes sure to explain why we are doing them so that they can be done purposefully. Val frames many training exercises as games, making training fun and something to look forward to. I'll also add that she writes really fantastic session summaries which put my mind at ease, knowing that everything discussed in a session will later come in a detailed, reference-able written form.
I used to dread taking Frankie out for walks because he would lose his mind barking and lunging at any dog or person that showed up within a 150ft radius of us. It was frustrating for us both - he was clearly so stressed out and I worried that he was scaring those around us. Thanks to the training games that Val has taught us, Frankie is now able to notice nearby people and dogs and move on with his day.
I honestly don't know where we'd be without Val. Frankie is still very much his silly self but he is so much more stable now. She helped me form a really special bond with Frankie and I look forward to continuing our training with Val beyond Homeschool.
Thank you so much, Val!!”.
—Caitlin (Frankie’s Mom)
“Val is truly fantastic to work with and we are so lucky our pup Zora has her as a trainer. Zora has anxiety and a lot of fear to overcome, and in the few months that Val has worked with her we have seen huge improvements in Zora's confidence and demeanor. It is clear that Val loves Zora like her own dog and goes above and beyond in all of our interactions with her - both with Zora and with us. We are so thankful we found her and recommend Chromatic K9 to anyone interested in furthering their relationship and connection with their dog!
”.
—Alicia (Zora’s Mom)
“We started working with Val since Jaco (Mini Aussie) was almost 3 months old. This was the best decision we could have made! Val helped us understand our puppy and his breed, to read his body language and to advocate for him so he could feel safe in his environment. Jaco is six months old now and he is a confident, playful and eager to learn pup.
We are excited to continue working with Val and highly recommend her to any dog parents out there!”
—Omar & Dani (Jaco’s Parents)
“Val totally transformed our dog Louie’s behavior as well as our relationship with her. When we started working with Val, Louie was quite anxious and her recall was totally unreliable. Six months later, Louie’s confidence has increased radically and her recall is strong enough that she can hike off-leash. Val has helped us train many “obedience” skills — heeling, recall, stay, and more. But more than that, Val has helped us start to understand Louie’s experience of the world and given us the tools to try and “set her up for success.” After working with Val, we feel empowered to build on the training foundation we have established to address new behavioral goals or challenges that might arise in the future.
Val has a really practical and scientifically-grounded approach to training. It’s clear that she has a deep respect for and an intuitive understanding of dogs. She is a clear and direct communicator and always follows up after lessons with an in-depth write-up of what we worked on in the lesson. She tailored the training to Louie’s needs and personality and to our preferences — everything was customized. Working with Val was worth every cent and we’re so grateful to have found her”.
—Emily and Simone (Louie’s Moms)
“Today I made one of the best choices of my life. Today I found a freshly dead baby rabbit while offleash roaming in our backyard yard, and I decided independently to simply sniff it and walked away.
Mom didn't even realize there was a dead bunny in the grass until Pippa found it a minute later and rolled on it. Mom was absolutely shocked that I didn't try to eat the bunny, and I was handsomely rewarded with a yummy trachea chew for my good choices.
But why was Mom so surprised? I'm a good boy, right? Let's go back a few weeks...
I was in the yard on a long line because I couldn't be trusted not to eat sticks or poop. I was sniffing under a rock and all of a sudden Mom heard squeaking. She quickly grabbed me pulled a live screaming baby bunny out of my throat as I tried to swallow it whole.
The bunny was suprisingly uninjured and was old enough that Mom could release it, but she was horrified that even after spending months trying to control my stick/poop eating habbit, I had escalated.
She reached out to our good friend Val of @puppieswantjazz and told her everything. We'd never had this problem before this year, and Mom has been training me herself for years, but we needed help.
Luckily for us Val runs her own training business @chromatic_k9 and while she doesn't typically work with service animals, she had a cancelation and let us book a home lesson with her just a few days later.
She watched what we had been doing and gave us a protocol to clearly establish that eating the things I find in the yard isn't allowed using fair positive punishment with an ecollar. If Mom wasn't able to do the protocol due to her chronic pain flaring, I got on leash walks with Dad instead of yard time.
There's almost zero conflict now because of how consistent Mom's been with the protocol and how effectively I have been managed. That's the key to our success, and we will keep on doing this until I only make good choices like today.
Asking for help, being consistent, and utilizing management, that's the secret to success. Tell everyone!”.
—Sam (Charlie’s Mom