My Girl Friday - Dog Training

I cannot recommend MJ enough. She is an incredible teacher, for us and our dog. She goes above and beyond with everything she does. She has been there for us every step of the way.It is very obvious how much she cares for dogs and wants them to thrive. She is always offering different ways to engage with your dog and keep them happy and fulfilled.In addition, she is always learning and I think that's a super important quality for a teacher to have.We are working on dog reactivity with our 2 year old rescue. We were very stressed initially and didn't know if we were approaching training in the right way. MJ helped answer a lot of questions that we had with the way he was reacting and things we can do to condition him away from reacting to seeing a dog. Although progress is slow, we can see such a huge change already. MJ has helped us understand our dog's body language and given us some really great tools to work on the reactivity and we cannot thank her enough for her guidance and support.If you want to learn and grow with your dog, I highly recommend working with MJ!

Where do I even begin!? MJ is so wonderful in every way, not only is she great at what she does but she’s an amazing person too! We had originally contacted MJ to help our high energy mini Australian Labradoodle relax in the home but ended up needing help with many other issues including reactivity and resource guarding. In a few months we have noticed improvements in our pup but more importantly we have the knowledge, confidence and support system that we didn’t have before. As new challenges pop up, it is humbling to know that MJ will be by our side every step of the way. She truly goes above and beyond and I am truly grateful for her! I can’t say enough good things and am lucky to have made a friend along the way!

Mariana is a great trainer to work with. She has a very caring and compassionate approach to understanding and training dogs. We found her very easy to interact with and very knowledgeable. She helped us get unstuck from a training hole were in with both a young dog and an older dog. We have applied the advice she gave us to great effect.

MJ has helped us a lot. My wife and I had both had dogs growing up, but they were never properly trained. As it had been a while, we knew close to nothing but were invested in making it work. After getting recommendation from a friend at work, we had scheduled sessions with MJ before we even had the puppy.MJ was amazing speaking with us and giving us tons of tips on things to look out for the first few weeks, for the road trip to pick up the dog and all things. After the first week on our own, MJ arrived to find my wife and I sleep deprived from taking turns on the sofa to sleep with the puppy. She told us right then that was not needed. That night, my wife and I finally slept in our bed and shortly after that, the puppy started sleeping all nightlong in her crate.That first visit alone was worth it for us. The number of tips and help MJ gave us with Potty Training and dog behaviour, were really the most important thing for us.The puppy has grown to be a very well behaved 5 month-old now and we cannot recommend MJ enough. She is always available for ad-hoc questions via WhatsApp and her passion and love for dogs really shows. She quickly becomes more of a friend and does not hold back on helping in any way.MJ also does boarding and day-care for her clients, so we will also start to take advantage of that, so I can go to the office a few more days a week and feel comfortable our puppy is taken care when we are on the road.Thank you so much for everything MJ! The whole family appreciates it!

As a first time dog owner it was important to me to make sure I was training my dog correctly. Not only did Mariana help me learn how to read my dogs behaviour and what to teach her, she also pointed out ways for me to improve and be more effective in my training. Mariana made a comment to me in an initial consultation that really stuck, and is one of the reasons I chose her to be our trainer. She said something along the lines of… you don’t just want an obedient dog, you want a dog that makes good decisions, and that by default gives you a well behaved pet. Each lesson left me feeling positive, like both my pup and I were learning and making progress, both in training and in growing our bond. If you are in search of a professional, knowledgeable and friendly trainer, I would highly recommend Mariana and My Girl Friday! I’m extremely grateful I did!

We cannot say enough about how wonderful and amazing MJ has been. We have a Portuguese Water Dog who is very high energy and needed a lot of one on one attention. We have been working with MJ for months as she has guided us through the puppy stages and now into early adolescence. She is hands on and works not only with our girl, but with us as well on how we can be better dog pawrents. Forever grateful for MJ and we will continue our training journey!

For a long time I thought I was able to manage my reactive rescue furbaby and my toddler. As my son becomes more independent we've faced new challenges, and starting feeling a lot of guilt as a mom to both. MJ listened, got to know our family and then gave us the simple, realistic tools and the confidence to help us all function as a family in our home. Everyday we work at it and it's been a HUGE help. Now when she see's my son first thing in the morning she wags her tail and is excited to start our morning routine!I only wish I hadn't waited so long to contact MJ.Thank you, thank you, thank you!

We have a 7 month old Weimaraner and have been working with MJ for the last 4 months. With a high energy breed we felt it was important to begin training at an early age. Our experience with MJ has been extremely positive. She is knowledgeable, approachable and very caring when it comes to the well-being of our little girl. Without hesitation I would highly recommend MJ for assistance in the training of your dog!! She has a great program and is very flexible in addressing any specific needs!!

MJ is absolutely fantastic!!!! Even before we got our dog, MJ was there for us every step of the way, being so generous, supportive and helpful in every way. She has so much knowledge and really knows her stuff. She did such a good job at showing us how to approach training and think in our dog’s perspective which have really helped our dog and us every day. We have come so far in just a few months thanks to MJ and we are very grateful! We very strongly recommend her to anyone looking, she is AWESOME!!! :)

We had a great experience with My Girl Friday! Mariana was so easy to work with, and could answer all of my dog questions. She was wonderful with my dog Hazel, and so helpful in teaching her new things. I would highly recommend My Girl Friday to anyone who is looking for a dog trainer!