Testimonials from our alumni

Toni Matthews is a great person very friendly and warm always positive and when you need correction it is done in a positive manner to build confidence not only in the dog but also in the handler. She is not only training the dog but training the owner at the same time she is consistent as well as fair and her prices are reasonable.


-Michael Brennan

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Toni is amazing! She is very personable and easy to discuss training issues. My dogs love her and we've learned great tips/tricks to deal with problematic behaviors. Highly Recommend Spot On Dog Training!


  -The Tracy Family

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We started working with Toni when our Australian Cattle Dog was just 10 weeks old.  She did in-home visits until he was ready for real her real puppy classes.  She really understood our puppy's personality and our ranch life and needs.  Our puppy is blossoming into a wonderful dog who is learning to be obedient and thoughtful under Toni's tutelage.  We would recommend her to anyone who wants to develop a strong bond with their dog.

-Gary and Shawna Thunen

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I would like to personally endorse Toni Matthews canine training and obedience classes. As a veterinarian I am always looking for effective means of training that are positive, humane and successful both for my own use as well as a resource for my clients. Our family recently enrolled one of our pets into Toni’s basic class. In 6 weeks Lilly amazingly transformed from a shy and uncontrolled 2 year old to an obedient, confident and well-mannered dog. Toni’s techniques based on positive rewards were a very successfully learning mechanism for Lilly and gave us the tools to continue to maintain and reinforce her good behavior.Toni brings to the table years of experience in formal dog training as well as advanced search and rescue expertise. She offers entry level basic training as well as more advanced skills for the dog as well as the owner. Toni is equally comfortable and competent in either group classes or individual sessions. She is totally committed to making training successfully, enjoyable and rewarding for everyone involved. I have recommended Toni to many of my clients and not one has been disappointed in the experience or the results. Toni’s love of dogs, passion for training as well as her organization and communication skills all add up to making her a successful dog trainer who comes with my highest recommendation.


-Dr. Kathie Gerrity D.V.M

Boulder Creek Veterinary Clinic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The purpose of this review is to recommend Spot-on dog training, in general, and Toni Sitterly, specifically, because of the progress made training my 2.4 year old male German Shepherd dog, Cosmo.


On our first training session with Toni, I explained that Cosmo was my 8th German Shepherd Dog in 24 years and that I felt I am a strong, confident pack leader as I’ve had very little problem before adopting Cosmo at approximately 1 year old, from the Berkeley Animal Shelter. He had been turned in as a stray as he had been running the streets for an unknown amount of time. I found Cosmo, 80 miles away in Berkeley only because three different GSD “rescue” groups “passed” on rescuing Cosmo and I never found out why. Maybe I should have followed their lead and also passed on Cosmo, but he is WAY too cute and bratty to not rescue.


The behavior I asked Toni to solve, hopefully via a pill that would work in 24 hours, was his insistence on NOT coming to me when I call him when he is outside and I want him in the house or in the car.


Toni asked me if I wanted the green or red pill, so I asked which one worked better. She said they both worked equally well, which is to say NOT AT ALL! The bad news, she informed me, was that the next 6 weeks we had to devote to training Cosmo would be spent training ME so that I could then train Cosmo. She explained training is a lifelong activity when dealing with dogs with a high prey drive, which she assured me Cosmo had in “spades” as he obsessively hunted bees lighting of flowers blooming in the training field, catching some, getting stung, and hunting some more!


Toni had a “Doggie Epiphany”: Use Cosmo’s extreme prey drive against him! Get him to chase me to wherever it is I want him to go and he’ll forget his natural reticence to resist my intentions!


OMG! That worked FANTASTICALLY! It was a WATERSHED moment! His return is now, for the first time I’ve owned him, GUARANTEED! Even off leash! I now can let him out to do his business, confident that all I have to do is to walk up the driveway, catch his eye and start my running away routine to get him to ALWAYS run to the house front door with me! I had lost hope that I’d ever get that control over him.


The rewards of this spill over to now when we leave the house, off leash, headed to the car, he runs ahead and meets me at the car where he WANTS to get in without hardly any prompting at all. I just can’t tell you how such a little thing, for which I’ve always taken for granted with 7 other GSD, can be such a great moment in my day because we’ve struggled with this for so long without any progress…until Cosmo met Toni.

Cosmo is now well on his way to being the dog we expect him to be.


My wife and I are about to move to Costa Rica next month and only now, because of the progress Cosmo has made with Toni’s instruction, is Cosmo assured of going with us. I’ve never given up on a dog before and thank God, I won’t have to start now.


Thank you Toni, for saving Cosmo’s life.


Please feel free to contact me at Lcastner@surfnetc.com if you feel Toni wrote this herself. I assure you, she doesn’t need to. Her dogs says all that need saying, even if I felt I needed to add my voice to the chorus of grateful dog lovers.


Best regards,


-Layne and Margaret Castner

 

 

 

 

Toni was very understanding and patient, she trained us how to train our sweet dog Cleo. Toni knows alot and has only your pets best interest in mind.


                                            -Tina Beaudoin






 

 

 

 

 

To Anyone Considering Spot On Dog Training,

We are two women who got a traumatized year-old Labrador retriever from a rescue organization. We had been warned that Butch was somewhat aggressive, fearful, and quite a handful.--and he was. The rescue organization saved the dog from certain death at the pound.

We first met Toni at our vet, Dr. Gerrity in Boulder Creek where she worked. Clearly Toni was confident and wise in her handling of dogs at the vet. So when we got Butch, we enrolled in Toni’s class of six, group dog-training sessions.


Toni was not at all concerned that our dog was rather aggressive to other dogs and people. She patiently taught us, and Butch how to manage a group class safely and with confidence. We, and Butch, really enjoyed the classes, which were great fun, very educational and could not have been any better. After just six classes, Butch was a happier dog, and we were better trainers.

A few months later, Butch still had a few bad habits. So we took him to stay with Toni for nine days in her board and train program. Toni took Butch into Walmart,practiced commands, got him bully sticks, and even had her Jr trainer (son) work with him. We got fantastic, high quality, valuable training, at a price we could afford.


When we picked up Butch he was calm, more well-behaved, and a more confident dog.  Toni’s training made a tremendous difference for Butch and us.  Whatever it was she did during those nine days, it worked wonders and has had a lasting effect.

We give Spot On Dog Training & All 4 Paws Ranch our highest recommendation, for kenneling, training, and loving up your dog(s).

-Beth Stephens, PhD, Professor at UC Santa Cruz and Artist
-Annie Sprinkle PhD.  Research Associate UCSC and Artist