build a bond that will last a lifetime

Lynne is awesome. I recommend her to everyone I meet who asks about training. She’s taught us so much in the 4 months we’ve known her. We contacted her the minute we brought our puppy Marcie home and have been working with her in varying capacities ever since. She has met us in person – individually and in groups, she’s arranged sessions with us on zoom and communicated with us over email when I had questions. We are taking her outdoor basics class right now. Her feedback on our homework has been indispensable, and it’s prompt so we can make the changes right away. It’s working.

She’s worked with me, without judgement on some of my own fears about being a new mom, and shared knowledge about tools and collars, play, socialization and things and situations to do and to avoid. She’s patient and encouraging and treats all dogs and people with respect and equity.

She’s connected us with so many wonderful dog parents and we’ve had the opportunity to share stories, fears, joys and frustrations. We plan on attending her future classes for top ups and attending pack walks so that we can continue to learn from her – our role model and mentor. We can’t imagine what we would do without her guidance and strong knowledge of dog psychology. She knows northern dogs. She knows dogs and she’s never faltered in answering a question for us, or celebrating a milestone or success, or working through a problem. She knows puppy-mom-hood is a big job and she’s so honest and encouraging and fun. What an incredible knowledge and dedicated woman.

Nevada and I started training with Lynne in 2017.

I love Lynne’s no nonsense approach to training. It’s all outdoors where real life happens. Not only have we taken her basic training classes but also her ecollar classes. The ecollar training opened up a whole new world for us.

Fast forward to today, Nevada and I with our friends Jean and Edgar, just came back from our walk and both dogs were off leash 95% of the time. I am a more confident owner and with Lynne’s help and guidance Nevada and I have a an unbreakable bond. Lynne makes learning fun not only for the owners but for the dogs.

We also participate in pack walks, you never know how big or small the walk will be. It’s amazing how well everyone just falls into place for an enjoyable outting. Nevada and I still drop into Lynne’s classes when we can. Helps us both brush up on our skills.

Lynne is not only an amazing trainer but has become a good friend.

Lynne Hind changed our lives. We had adopted an 8-week old puppy, who we named Jude, and who became a sister to our first dog, Sam (2yo at the time). Our girls get along like peas and carrots, but from the beginning, Jude was starkly different from Sam. While Sam thrived and continues to thrive in social environments involving both human and non-human friends, Jude came to us extremely timid. We read online about “fear reactivity’ and spent weeks worrying about how to help our wee girl become the best dog she could be. Our efforts brought us to two different kinds of puppy schools, doggy play evenings at our local doggy daycare, and multiple meetings with some neighbours’ dogs in a bid to get Jude “going” or at least be less fearful. Despite everything, we kept coming up against Jude’s shyness. The trainers we encountered told us to simply keep “socializing” Jude as we had been doing and she would eventually come around. But this confused us because things seemed to be getting worse. With each attempt, Jude went from cautious to cowering and panicky, even though the dogs we were socializing her with were gentle and generally prosocial.

By the time we contacted Lynne, Jude was about 6 months old. Lynne was patient and non-judgmental, and such a relief to speak to. She gently helped us understand that Jude’s shyness would not simply change by further “socialization” attempts that we had been trying. What Jude needed is confidence, built through a strong bond and a solid structure. And so we began. Using Lynne’s techniques, which are rooted in the psychology of connection between dogs and their paw-rents (as we like to call ourselves), we started to listen to Jude, understand her strengths, and respect her limits. Over the course of our first 6 classes with Lynne, Jude became a different dog – she no longer cowered at the sight of another dog, she showed interested in ‘greeting’ those same dogs, and she even began to show excitement. Because of Lynne, we have a funny, quirky, empathetic, and deeply kind dog. Looking back, we have come to understand that timid dogs are challenging because they are difficult to engage and easy to write-off as “unsocialized” or as requiring “more socialization.” While it may be true that Jude needed social experiences, she did not need them in the way we had been organizing and that, in our anxious bid to help her, ended up being forced. Once we understood that, with the help of Lynne, we were able to give Jude the structure she needed and still needs. Today Jude is thriving, dare I say cautiously confident, and we aren’t looking back.

Given our experiences with Jude, we also took our first dog, Sam, for training with Lynne one year later and she, too, has changed for the better. While a social butterfly, Sam had begun barking at random dogs and playing a bit too roughly with Jude. Once again, we turned to Lynne who explained to us, using psychology, what might be going on in our family dynamic and gave us concrete exercises to help. Not only is Sam calmer (and yes, she stopped barking at random dogs and now plays more fairly!), she is happier and more balanced than ever before.

If you want a smart, humble, and emotionally-talented trainer, Lynne Hind at Dogabond is for you. If you want to do more than teach your dog to sit and stay, and rather understand their logics and the way human and non-human bonds work, then Lynne at Dogabond is for you. Even if you aren’t sure what you are looking for, I can assure you Lynne will provide you with the resources, knowledge, and skills you need to build the bond you and your dog need to be the best you can be together.

Sincerely,

Lynne is a fantastic person and trainer. Her passion for dog training is blatantly evident, although it’s obvious to me that she is more of a people trainer (and by proxy their dogs). Her dedication to the craft, and for helping build a better relationship between people and their dogs is perhaps only unmatched by her giving nature, and help assisting the ‘Finding Them Homes’ dog rescue organization.

We adopted a dog from Finding Them Homes who was a very high energy dog and (as we came to find out over the years) hyper intelligent as well. She had been returned twice as a result of this (she was only one year when we got her), and we frankly fell in love with her. When adopted, Pipsqueak had mandatory training as a stipulation of her adoption. We not only did the group training with Lynne, but also the individual one on one training with her, and we learned so so so much. Upon completing the training, we were invited to join a facebook group of others from the same alumni, and we can exchange ideas, and requests for assistance there, not to mention we were always welcomed to the regular hikes and training classes at no additional cost (although we would have gladly paid any extra costs as these classes are extremely helpful). So even after the training is done, the support of others that Lynne has imbued with her wisdom as well as Lynne herself can respond and continue to help even as time passes (it’s been 4 or 5 years since we did the training with her and we are still a member of the group).

Lynne still checks in with us from time to time and we share things that we’ve been able to accomplish with Pips, that were deemed ‘impossible’ by the rescue. Her prey drive is enormous. We were told that because of the cats we have that she wouldn’t be able to be homed with us, but i insisted, and provided a closed off portion of the house for the cats to retreat to that she couldn’t get into. Now, I routinely find Pipsqueak sleeping with our cat Toby. Toby will come to her and bunt her snoot from time to time as well.

Because of Lynne’s gracious assistance, excellent knowledge base, and fantastic training techniques, we’ve evolved into a very happy family, with a dog that at first seemed like a bit of a handful, but she has turned into such a wonderful specimen, and a integral part of our family, and quite frankly, I doubt that any of this would have been possible without Lynne. We can’t thank her enough, but I hope that our story will help those on the fence make a decision to put their trust in her, because it was one of the best decisions we made as dog owners.

The absolute best decision I have made for my dog and myself was taking classes with Lynne Hind of Dogabond.

She taught me how to communicate with my dog, how to read his body language, how to anticipate his actions and how to bond with him. After completing her class my dog has become a confident, well balanced, well behaved dog and it’s all thanks to Lynne. We learnt easy techniques that worked. My dog and I put in a lot of hard work but it was worth it. I was so satisfied with Lynne and her teaching style that I continue to take additional courses that she has to offer.

My dog and I both have gained confidence and we love to go everywhere together. I am no longer hesitant to take my dog places. Lynne has helped to open up a whole new world for us to explore.

Whether you have a puppy, a young or older dog, Lynne will have a class that is right for you.

Lynne helped immensely when we picked up our first rescue dog, Ripley. She was 8 months old and came down from the north to the Toronto Humane Society with anxiety around other dogs and leash reactivity.

Dogabond’s basic training program helped us get her mind focused while around other dogs. Once she learned what her job was and that she didn’t have to worry about other dogs in her space, she’s been the friendliest and most loyal companion.

Lynne also gives you the confidence to work on any problems that may crop up at any stage of training. Ever since then I’ve gone straight to Lynne and her guidance with any dog-related issues that I can’t overcome on my own.