Happy Paws Dog Training

Where do I begin…
I got a Chihuahua mix for my mother a couple of years ago. Mom went into the hospital for 7 months 4 days later; long story short, she’s now MY dog. Last October, I repeated the exercise and now I have TWO little dogs. I’ve never had a little dog. This is foreign territory for me. I’ve always had big, goofy, friendly dog.
I always thought «A dog is a dog; train them the same way». WRONG. You DO need to «train» a little dog to have confidence — not aggression. Slim line, big difference. When our older dog, Tish, was a puppy, it was funny when she’d run ahead of me and bark at anyone who tried to get close to me. As a full grown dog, it’s not so cute… even at just 6 lbs., that’s the meanest strongest «don’t mess with me» dog I’ve ever known — and I’ve had 6 Pitt Bulls and a German Shepherd. I wouldn’t mess with this little dog; and the younger one, Brit, started picking up her behavior cues from Tish.
I’ve had 5 other trainers, including a week long board and train «boot camp». Countless thousands of dollars, zero results. In fact, one trainer said «I taught her to sit, stay, heel, etc. She learns fast!!!» Yeah — because *I* already taught her that. When Tish had a go at the mailman, that was my final straw: she had to get over her insecurities or I was going to get sued. It was a matter of not «if», but «when».
Enter Raquel. I found her sort by accident looking for a good, reputable trainer. She had some great reviews and one thing I’d never seen: one price, however long it takes, whether 2 hours or 9 hours, and if I wasn’t happy by the time she left, I didn’t have to pay.
Huh??? Really??? So I gave her a shot. She called the next day and was at our apartment within 5 days. She spent 3 hours with us. To say I have different dogs is an understatement. I still wouldn’t trust them to allow them to be touched, but I can now carry on a conversation with a neighbor and have people in my home without having two snarling snapping beasts at my feet. It’s a work-​in-​progress. She doesn’t come in and «cure» your dog; she teaches YOU how to combat their unwanted behaviors.
It takes work, I’m not going to lie. And it’s hard work and it requires commitment. Some days you’ll think you’re back at square one and there’s no hope. But keep doing what Raquel taught you. It WILL work if you use the tools she gave you. If you’re still unsure, I’m happy to send video of my dogs before and after Raquel’s visit.
I’ll end my review with this: Would you let your child stand at the front door screaming at a guest, «Get out! I hate you! You can’t come into my house!»? Right — and you shouldn’t allow your dog to do it either.

We have two French Bulldogs that over the years had developed very bad behavioral issues. The worst being excessive barking and aggression. The issues were so severe I had gates throughout the house and was fearful of walks. I am amazed at Raquel’s success and talents. She truly transformed my dogs within one session and gave me the tools and information I need to continue the changes. Both us and the dogs are happier and calmer. The greatest test was when my daughter and her boyfriend arrived they could not believe the changes and my daughter said the entire energy had changed. I cannot thank Raquel enough. She is a miracle trainer and I highly recommend her, especially to those who believe change is not possible because I am proof it is.

I cant even put it in words how delightful we are with what Raquel did for us and our dog. After trying two other trainers who failed on doing any improvement in our stubborn, strong willed, and absolutely non-​food motivated, fearful Shiba Inu, we decided to try Raquel training skills. and that was the best decision we ever made. After the terrible experience we had two weeks ago that Roobahi (our dog) escaped from home because of the fear she had from our guests that were staying with us for couple of days, we immediately knew, we need help from a professional that knows his/​her job well. we realized that we HAVE to boost her confidence and lessen her fear before another attempt to escape.
Raquel was the life saver… she spend 3 hours with Roobahi and mostly with us, walking us through how we have to treat her and make her sure that we are the leaders, snap her out of her quite and dark corner,…even how to walk her to make sure we engage her mind all the time.
we saw a huge shift in Roobahi. and I really mean HUGE. the fearful dog that was finding all the corners to hide, now sit on her blanket when we visit our friends, and even sit with us on the couch, and she just worked with her (or better to say us) two days ago and this much change just happened in few hours. it is amazing how our behavior affect our dog behaviors.
We still need to practice more based on what Raquel taught us. We have faith that we can rehabilitate our fearful but extremely cute Shiba inu, and make her enjoy life better.

We recently adopted a dog from the Burbank Animal shelter. He’s a corgi/​yellow lab mix and his name is Barley. Barley was great with us from the get go but was aggressive with strangers and other dogs and also had separation anxiety (whining/​barking when we left). He would also freak out when friends come over. It was no fun to walk him because we were scared he was going to freak out at people/​dogs on walks and we were scared to have friends come over, too. Raquel INSTANTLY gave us the tools to communicate with our dog and to have him be great on walks! We were able to show Barley that we were the alpha dog, not him, and it was in a way that was very sensible and practical (and of course made sense to Barley in a calm way). It is such a relief to walk him and not be scared of what is to come. We also now know how to work with him on calming down when friends come over and I’m excited to see him respond to those training exercises, too. Raquel is so kind, smart, and engaging. She’s a wonderful communicator and a joy to work with. She was clear, concise, and friendly with our dog. It is so clear she loves her job and loves animals and loves to help people figure out the best way to let their dog’s true personality come out. I now feel so excited to see how these practices and tools will help our dog in the coming months and know it will change our dog and make him even more of a joy! Raquel truly knows what she’s doing. She worked with us for 3 hours and I feel totally equipped to continue working with Barley in order to keep training him to be an even better dog. Raquel knows what to do and knows how to communicate it to the dog and their owners. We could not recommend her services highly enough. Thank you, Raquel!

Well as suspected dog training is really owner training… Raquel taught me how to be the pack leader my dog needs. I have a small rescue who was exhibiting lots of anxiety and dog aggression. It’s seemed counter intuitive to me that I needed to be firmer with her to reduce this behavior but raquel helped me see how much sense it makes that she is anxious because she’s trying to be the pack leader and it’s too big of a job for a little dog — she needs me. I’m confident that if I do my job I’ll have a happier, safer dog which of couse makes me happy. Thanks Raquel!!!

Raquel is OUTSTANDING. Our deaf Great Dane has bad table manners (he wants our food and it’s hard to stop a 140 pound dog from getting what he wants!). Another training facility suggested either a ten day bootcamp for $ 2000 or months of training 3 – 4 times weekly. After just THREE HOURS with Raquel, our boy learned to behave himself around food. Raquel essentially trained us on how to deal with him, explaining dog psychology and socialization in a way that was user-​friendly and accessible. We now know how to work with him to reinforce this training, and to practice. Raquel also told us we can call any time for follow-​ups or clarifications. I’m so happy we hired her!

Mini Cooper is a 3 yr old Yorkie /​Pom mix. The biggest issue was that he was barking excessively whenever we would leave the home. (This made us feel like prisoners in our own home.) He also had a tendency to growl and bite strangers if they came close to him while we were outside. He also growled and barked whenever my wife and I would touch each other or hug in bed. My wife and I had dogs our entire lives and we never had these types of problems before.
Raquel was a referral from a friend. As soon as she walked in the door, Cooper started to bark excessively and she started the training process right away without wasting any time. Within an hour into the training session, there was a moment in time where she said she just hit the reset button for Cooper. What my wife and I witnessed afterwards was amazing and remarkable to say the least. We were able to leave the apartment without Cooper barking at all and Raquel was clearly in control.
It’s been a few months since the training session with Raquel. Cooper still sometimes barks when we leave the apartment and growls at strangers when we’re outside, however, it’s definitely nothing like before. There is at least a 80% improvement.
IT FEELS LIKE WE GOT A NEW DOG AND A NEW LIFE.
That whole psychological drama that my wife and I had to go through whenever we left the apartment is almost gone. Moreover, Cooper seems happier and he is definitely more calm. I’m very confident that we will see a 100% improvement very soon if we continue to implement the tips and advice received from Raquel.
If you’re looking for a dog trainer, I would definitely recommend Raquel to you. She was able to fix a problem that we’ve had for almost 3 years within 1 hour.
The only thing I regret is that I didn’t reach out to Raquel sooner.

Wow, where do I begin. Within minutes of Raquel’s arrival at our home, she began assessing and training our two barking, affectionate and hyper babies — a 10-​year-​old Silky Terrier and 9-​month-​old Toy Poodle. Both dogs would start barking at the slightest noise and would «rush» the door. She set up an invisible line that they are not to cross unless we call them. Today when I ran out to the store I used Raquel’s techniques with our Silky and he did not cross that line and was still waiting for me right there when I returned. No barking, no bolting. Our Poodle would not walk on a leash. Raquel worked with her, and we all took a pleasant walk around our neighborhood. Raquel worked on our Silky’s food aggression issues and had unbelievable results. All of this in just one session. I could go on and on. Raquel gave us the tools we needed to continue training our dogs. I have nothing but praise, admiration and thanks for Raquel. She truly is amazing!

This review is long overdue. Raquel from Happy Paws Dog Training LA met with my family and our very challenging 2 ½ year-​old chihuahua in May. While very sweet with us, our dog had been prone to violent outbursts with anyone he didn’t know. Fortunately, he had never hurt anyone, but we needed Raquel to help us ensure that he never would. Raquel instantly identified the issues with our dog and the techniques we needed to implement to ensure his happiness and our safety.
The three-​hour session with Raquel was invaluable. She helped us develop the insight and skills necessary to redirect our dog with firmness and love, while ensuring that we did not allow him to continue to rule our household. Much of her time was spent counseling us to overcome our own misguided notions about needing to cater to the every whim of a shelter dog for whom we felt sorry. Raquel helped us understand that we were not doing our dog any favors with this mindset. She was absolutely correct.
With her interventions and techniques, we immediately saw a change in our dog’s behavior, which, ultimately, was due to the changes in our own behavior. We altered the dynamics in the household by taking control and, to put it crudely, showing our dog his place in the household. That is to say, we had to show him the role of being the family dog, not the leader of the family «pack.» Our shift in mindset was entirely thanks to Raquel.
We joked that our experience learning from Raquel was like being in an episode of «Cesar Millan.» We truly would never have believed the ability for our dog to demonstrate different behavior almost instantly if we hadn’t seen it with our own eyes. Of course, as Raquel taught us, there are no miracles or easy fixes. We learned quickly that we have to continue to be vigilant in using the techniques and mindset Raquel taught us or our dog will quickly revert to old, bad habits.
The money we spent for Raquel’s services was completely worth it. We continue to think about what she taught us and, when we find ourselves slipping, remind ourselves of her simple, straightforward techniques and the need for us to maintain the mindset of being the leaders for our dog; not the other way around.
My family and I have already recommended to Raquel to friends. We give her our highest praise and recommendation. She is a true professional and someone who is clearly extremely passionate about her work. We are very grateful for her services!