The Polite Pups Experience

We contacted Donna when Milo was just a young puppy - we were working with him on our own but were feeling concerned about him jumping up on our young daughter. Donna came to us for a meet and greet and we knew right away we needed her help! She is kind, genuine, and passionate about her work. I have already, and will continue to recommend Donna’s services to all of my friends and family!

We have known Donna Barrett for almost a year now. She helped us with our special fur baby. When we got him, he had been through a lot in his early life and experienced some trauma. He was orally fixated on walks, anxious of other dogs, and impulsive. But, with Donna’s guiding hand, our little guy has come so far; in just one year he has been transformed.

Donna is an exceptional dog walker because she doesn’t just take our Duck Toller, Stella, for a walk. As an experienced dog trainer, Donna knows how important it is to exercise a dog’s mind as much as their body. She plans a variety of mind puzzles and challenges for Stella that she incorporates into the walks and also knows how to properly address any unwanted behaviours while out and about.

Donna at Polite Pups Training has been walking our fur baby (and Corgi) Notley for about a year and a half now. I cannot recommend this company and Donna enough.

Corgis are herding dogs that need work to keep their minds busy as well as their bodies. I have had dogs for more than 30 years and walked Notley daily myself. However, I got ill a year and a half ago and was virtually unable to walk and needed Donna to walk Notley for me. By hiring Donna, Notley was still able to get his needed exercise. I have gained some mobility back and can once again walk Notley, but still I can’t give him the long walks with the speed that Donna does. So even now I continue to have Donna walk him to supplement the exercise I can give him.

I am recently retired and happily have lots of time to spend with my two-year old terrier, but while I was still working, Donna was instrumental in providing both exercise and training for Rio.

Rio loved her “Donna days” and so did I. Donna does not just walk your dog. She closely observes your dog and provides your pet with an enriched physical, mental and sensory experience.

Our family contacted Donna from Polite Pups when we started seeing some troubling behaviour from our one-year old rescue dog, Max. Max was being aggressive with food as well as barking and lunging at other dogs when walking. Walks were very stressful for us all and we stopped walking him altogether.

With Donna’s help through weekly training sessions over a few weeks, our family learned strategies to deal with Max’s aggression around food.

We chose to invest in puppy training to enhance communication between us and our pup, to help establish boundaries and expectations. Also, for the safety and security of our pup, it was/is important for us to have her trained. We believed that understanding commands would certainly help keep our puppy safe while living within the respectful boundaries/expectations we set out for her.

When we first got Oswald as a puppy we knew right away we didn’t want him home alone all the time while we were at work. We contacted Donna at Polite Pups and after our initial meeting we knew she would be the perfect fit for us. Donna has a trustworthy and warm personality - Exactly the kind of person you feel safe having in your home, and trusting your furbaby with. Since October 2018 Donna has been walking Oswald twice a week.

Investing in puppy training - even if you have had a dog before - is being a responsible pet owner and could save you time and money later….and could even prevent you and your dog from getting into a very serious situation.

We learned how to communicate effectively with our dog - she is always looking to please us. But if we don’t let her know what behaviours we are looking for it can be very frustrating for all.

We have one mastiff cross rescue, Pepper, and when we adopted a second younger mastiff cross, Enzo, this year we knew we might need some help with managing their different training and energy needs between the two dogs.

Having had a few dogs before, we know that to invest time in training them while they're young will pay dividends for the rest of our lives together. We found that Donna provided a structured and positive learning experience for both Louis and us!

With our previous dogs, we did not use professional training and we did not want to make the same mistakes with Jax. We knew he was going to grow upwards of 100 pounds and wanted to have a well behaved dog that we could bring anywhere with us.

Through positive reinforcement, Donna has taught our Luna how to calm/settle herself faster in high arousal situations. Donna also trained Luna to follow commands and has done an excellent job. Not only has she worked so well with our dog, but she has also included our four-year-old daughter in the process of teaching, rewarding, and gameplay.