City Dog Training, LLC

To Whom It May Concern (and their dog):

What can you say about a person who saved your dog and – in the process transformed your life? Can any turn of phrase do them justice?

Marjie Alonso is an extraordinarily gifted trainer. One hopes to find someone who can speak “dog” – reading their body language, expression and intentions – but it is actually rare that you meet someone who is fluent. Marjie knows in the first 30 seconds of meeting wo/man & dog the short story version of their tale, the nuggets that tell the essential truth.

She is also deft at the delicate task of training the human – the secret to success in dog training. Truth is, humans are so mired in how to relate to other bi-peds, they have to unlearn all the ways of greeting, communicating and relating in order to work with their dog. Marjie is great at seeing the subtle ways that miscommunications happen and in providing clarity.

So 10 months after my anxious, concerned 17 month old dog met Marjie, he has settled into a happy life of greater trust – where strangers are not scary, men may approach without barking, loud noises are not necessarily incoming mortars, and maybe his human knows a thing or two and should be the leader.

And she does it all with humor and a wealth of human kindness, which every owner needs in buckets when struggling to forge a solid and healthy relationship.

If you are reading this letter, you should immediately hit the “Contact” button and arrange to have Marjie meet you and your dog. That is all it will take for you, too, to become her devoted admirer.

Jane Beal
Cambridge, MA

Marjie Alonso’s positive reinforcement training techniques have enormously helped me train my dog Archie. By applying Marjie’s suggestions he became the best dog I’ve ever owned. I never would have thought a hound could prefer staying by my side to following his nose, but Marjie made it happen! I highly recommend her to anyone wanting to improve their dogs behavior and strengthen their relationship with their dog.

Molly Weir

To Whom it May Concern:

Marjie Alonso is a life saver! She worked with us and our dog Maya for about six months last year, and I can’t say enough about how important her work with us was. If it weren’t for Marjie, I’m not sure we’d still have our dog today.

Maya is a rescue, thus we know nothing about her past. But, it’s not hard to surmise it wasn’t good. She was very skittish when we first brought her home, had significant separation issues, and was generally pretty fearful of most people. I took Maya to a beginner class at the New England Dog Training Club, where Marjie is the training director, to learn some basic dog training techniques. However, Maya had her own ideas about what she was willing to tolerate, and after trying two different dog walking services and a dog daycare facility, I knew we needed more intensive training to get Maya past her fear of …well, just about everything.

Marjie came to our rescue. She came to our home several times to provide one-on-one consultation and advice. She was also available by phone and email whenever I needed her. She really went above and beyond the call of duty trying to help us resolve Maya’s behavior issues.

There were many techniques that Marjie suggested we try, some creative, some practical, but always offered with a great deal of humor (which we really appreciated after struggling with such a difficult dog)! Marjie knows dogs, but more importantly, she knows how to work with the people who own those dogs. The one method fits all is not her method. She assesses the situation, makes recommendations, shows you what to do, evaluates the outcomes and makes adjustments if needed. We were one of those who needed lots of adjustments – and Marjie was there with us all the way. She even went so far as to talk with my vet (with my permission) about some of the issues we were struggling with. I’m not sure many trainers would take that kind of time or care that much – Marjie did.

Our dog today is more relaxed, more confident and I believe truly happy. While she’s not perfect, she’s light years ahead of where she was a year ago. There are certainly many factors that have contributed to this success, but definitely Marjie was a major part of it. She has my wholehearted support. I would recommend her services to anyone and any dog!

Connie DiCocco

I write this letter of recommendation to highlight my experiences and the many fine abilities of Marjie Alonso. I have had the pleasure of working with Marjie since January, 2007. I knew from my very first conversation with her that she was extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic about animal behavior.

As the director of Baypath Humane Society’s pit bull placement and foster program, I rely on my foster homes to no not only house our dogs, but to help assess the dogs’ personalities and behavioral needs. Since most of our dogs have unknown and diverse backgrounds, the transition period into a new foster home can often pose many challenges for our foster parents. Marjie has worked closely with me and many of my foster homes to help ease this transition process. I rely on Marjie to help me asses each dog and their new living situation and provide honest feedback and information about each placement as well as training exercises and tools for each foster home to use in order to make the dogs more adoptable and marketable.

Because all my foster homes differ in their levels of dog/breed knowledge and experience, and because every dog is so different, it is very important that I work with trainers who look at the entire situation carefully and who are skilled in their ability read dogs. Marjie is very consistent and thorough and she takes the time to get to know each client and gather as much information as she can about the dog’s new environment. She is creative and confident in her approach and I am always impressed with her knowledge and her abilities to read each situation differently and to develop training plans tailored to each dog’s and foster’s needs.

Marjie conducts herself in a very professional manner, but is also very entertaining and engaging. She is a wonderful teacher and her great sense of humor makes her very easy to relate to. Marjie is very detail oriented and makes herself available via email or telephone when extra help is needed. She also provides handouts and helpful reading materials to her clients to refer to after their sessions.

Marjie does a wonderful job communicating her thoughts and ideas to me. Each time she meets with one of my fosters, I receive a detailed description of the session. She is very honest and I trust her judgment and value her opinions. She always follows up on a dog’s progress and success as well.

I have had only positive experiences with Marjie and have found her to be very helpful in providing information, advice and opinions about dog behavior to me and to my foster and adoptive families. It is a joy to work with Marjie and she is someone I can recommend with confidence.

Sincerely,
Susan Bennison, President

Baypath Humane Society of Hopkinton, Inc.

I have known Marjie Alonso since December of 2006, when we brought a 2 year old rescue dog into our family. The dog was not an easy one and my adolescent kids are also not easy. Marjie first came to meet the dog and one of the kids and worked really masterfully with both of them. She totally ‘read’ the dog and was able to help my daughter deal with this wonderful but somewhat trying creature.

I have also had several private training sessions with Marjie and Layla (the dog) and most of the real work has been in Marjie’s teaching me how to read the dog myself, and how to respond to what I see in a way that works for all of us.

Marjie has a terrific sense of humor and a very low key way of delivering information. In my experience, she has read both dog and humans right in every situation. I think it is Marjie’s perceptiveness with all parties, and her gentle no nonsense way of conveying information that makes her a really special trainer…and person.

Jennifer Knapp-Stumpp

Marjie has helped me to train my adolescent dog through his on-leash reactivity. It is hard to admit out loud that my dog exhibits behavior that I was at a loss to handle – that was embarrassing in public – but I quickly felt comfortable talking with Marjie about Sage because she has seen all of this before and understood both what he was doing and how I was feeling about it.

Training is about dogs and people together and Marjie is excellent with both of us! We had basic obedience covered, but to find a way to work together with Sage through his fears and as partners required that I learn to read Sage and to help him succeed in small steps and always, always in a positive way.

Marjie helped me gain perspective on his behavior and taught me positive ways to work with him in small steps. Now I can help him build skills to cope with things that are hard for him, and we can work to build his comfort and self control on leash walks. I can now recognize Sage’s signals when he is becoming vigilant and can redirect his attention, change direction or praise him for staying cool despite barky dogs we may pass by- meanwhile staying patient and helpful toward him myself. His reactions to dogs we pass in the car is down to quiet interest and a turned head with only a rare bark.

I am really grateful for Marjie’s expertise, patience and humor toward training as Sage and I grow into a closer, go-(almost!)anywhere team!

Chrystal Cleary
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portfolios:
http://www.tigercats.net
http://www.theispot.com/artist/ccleary/

http://www.portfolios.com/chryscleary

Great Dog Rescue NE has been fortunate to have Marjie Alonso as our “resident” dog guru and trainer for over 4 years. As is often the case, rescued dogs and puppies sometimes come with behavioral issues that we need to address prior to and after adoption. Marjie has been wonderful in her assistance at assessing our dogs prior to adoption and has shown limitless patience for providing support to our adopters. We know we can always rely on her skill, directness and easy to follow “to do” plans for our dogs. Marjie is a wealth of information and has often recommended books and websites that supplement her training. In addition, she has a fabulous sense of humor that makes her a pleasure to have around.

Marjie has always worked her magic with our dogs and, if a dog isn’t safely placeable in a home, she’ll shoot straight from the hip and give us the options. Marjie has trained our volunteers in recognizing dog behaviors, in temperament testing procedures and has written helpful directives for our rescue adoption packs. She makes our job of evaluating and placing each dog that much easier and we as a rescue are APPRECIABLY better for it.

We at GDRNE recommend Marjie Alonso without hesitation. If anyone were to get a chance to have Marjie work with and train their family pet, they would be a lucky dog indeed!

Joanna Reck
Director
Great Dog Rescue NE
www.gdrne.com