Find a Dog Trainer in Rochester

Best place in town for pets! I highly recommend Leashes and Leads, they really care about your dogs and treat them like family and you can get all you need in one place, daycare, grooming, training etc. They also have a fabulous equine park where you can get horseback riding lessons. This place is awesome!

Our highly reactive 9 ½ year old dog, Yazzy, wasn’t adjusting very well to the addition of a new pup to our family. We were expecting there to be some conflict during her adjustment period and were prepared for it, but we were not prepared for Yaz to pound this pup with a daily barrage of attacks. Nor were we prepared for the unpredictability of it. Any time one of us came into the house, Yaz went after the new puppy. After trying to work through it on our own, we realized we were over our heads and consulted our vet He suggested we contact Jessica Smidt at The Family Fido. Jessica was prompt in returning our call. She LISTENED while we described what was going on. She expressed concern with not only Yazzy, but also our pup, and what it could be doing to her, and the potential for someone to get caught in the middle of one of Yazzy's charges at the puppy. A home visit was scheduled.Jess spent several hours at our home interacting with the dogs. She asked many questions about their behaviors, the new puppy’s excitement level, and what was happening before Yaz would attack her. Throughout our conversation she gave us positive feedback and encouragement that filled us with hope that we could get through this. It wasn’t going to be a simple fix, but there was hope. What a relief. The next day we received an email from Jess with “The Plan” (that’s what we call it). Jess’s suggestions for behavior modification was written in a way that was easy for us to understand and it’s easy for us to follow. It also gave us better insight into Yazzy’s body language and ways we could help both her and our new puppy learn to relax around each other. As we work on our home behavior modification training, we have noticed the old Yaz is coming back to us. She’s starting to act like herself again. Both she and our new family member seem to be more relaxed around one another. Things are looking good. Yes, there is hope. If you are looking for a behaviorist who is knowledgeable, professional, personable, and compassionate, you can’t do any better than Jessica.

Kim is always completely engaged and focused on an agility team's lesson. She is out on the floor, interactive and catching every detail. She is quick to point out your successes and strengths but does not gloss over or ignore the details you need to work on. This dedicated honesty and drive to help each team improve to meet their goals is rare and very helpful. I've never known Kim to "ignore" a training or knowledge need just to move on to the next person or because she is tired of dealing with a continued problem. Kim always asks the student for their goals and then will do her very best to help you meet those goals. She does this in a kind, fun, personal, direct, supportive and positive manner. She has excellent positive dog training, dog behavior and assertive communication skills. She takes the time and has the insight to understand, teach and advocate for both your dog and you. If you want to see progress, and have fun doing it, Kim is the trainer for you.