“Sarala is fantastic” – Jill F. and their Australian shepherd Ruby, reviewing their Canine Good Citizen Prep Course with Sarala Helmer

“Sarala is a great instructor. She offers constructive feedback to help make us better handlers and is very tuned into the needs of each dog. Thanks for being there for us!” – Lisa S. and their Coonhound Lexi, reviewing their Leash Pullers Anonymous class with Sarala Helmer

“Sarala is a very good instructor. She is kind and very knowledgeable. Lucy LOVES ‘school night’” – Lori P. and her Shih Tzu / Bichon Frise, Lucy reviewing their Canine Good Citizen Prep Course with Sarala

“Sarala was very easy to work with. She understood my dogs so well and was realistic with her advice. Wonderful trainer – I hope to work with her again in the future.” – Cheryl M. and her Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier, Jack, reviewing their Private Training Lesson with Sarala

“Sarala has been really good at helping me learn and fine-tune how to keep up with Charlie, who already knows so much. Just so happy to have found a training program that [works] and a wonderful trainer like Sarala who hears my concerns and implements what is needed!” – Christina E. and her Dutch Shepherd, Charlie, reviewing their private training lessons with Sarala

“Sarala gave me good suggestions based specifically on my dog. I’m very glad you are offering these classes. Such variety and so many opportunities.” -George D. and his terrier cross Olive reviewing their Outdoor Adventures class with Sarala

“Very different levels of training with the puppies at class and yet everything went very smoothly and nothing was left out. I like the Saturday/Sunday class options since I work full time and rarely have much evening as it is. I was so glad Sarala was having more Saturday classes.” -Sue K. and her Border Collie Echo reviewing their Beginning Obedience class with Sarala

“This was a great class because we were able to practice the skills learned in class out in the real world. Sarala held class in a nice variety of locations.” -Julia B. and her Boxer Penny reviewing their Outdoor Adventures class with Sarala

“The website is easy to use and the pre-evaluation questionnaire was helpful and easy to use. Our trainer was kind and made us feel comfortable while also  being extremely well informed and knowledgeable. She taught us a lot and also followed up with us. She also gave us multiple different options for correcting behavior in our dog and catered them to our lifestyle, which helped show that she actually cared. We are very, very happy with our experience.” – Lainey S. and her Shih Tzu/Bichon cross Gaby, reviewing their private behavior consult with Sarala

“I loved all of the exercises that helped our dog to understand what heel position or front position is. I feel like we made a lot of progress in the class.” -Shalise K. and her German Shorthaired Pointer Quint reviewing their Rally Foundations class with  Sarala

“I have owned and trained dogs for about 15 years. Cooper is my current dog that was in this class. He is about 1 1/2 years old and has trained with about 9 different obedience instructors in that time. Paws Abilities in the fifth training organization we have worked with. I rate Paws Abilities as one of the top if not the best training program we have attended.

“The instructor to student ratio is very good. I have not been in a team instructed dog training class where the instructors were so evenly matched and complementary in style and experience. Both Sarala and Tara brought a strong set of experiences and work well together.

“You are masters of operant conditioning. I wish that I had attended Paws Abilities classes earlier in Coopers development. I have trained using many different methods with Cooper. After getting a good start with operant conditioning we had some setbacks with older forms of training. St. Paul Dog Training Club is the classic example of how this issue played out. We started out using clicker training and positive reinforcement. The more advanced obedience classes are taught using slip chain and prong collars. The irony of this is that in St. Paul Dog training agility classes we continued to use operant conditioning. I can say that for my particular dog the harness system you use and how it is used is very beneficial. If we would have used this tool a year ago Cooper would be far more advanced in his obedience training. Great program and training classes. Keep up the good work.” -Steve N. and his Golden Retriever Cooper reviewing their Beginning Focus & Control class with Tara and Sarala

“Sarala and Tara were great with giving personalized recommendations and answers for each dog. I thought they did a great job. I think we’ll take that class again, amongst others.” – Amanda P. and her English Setter Myer, reviewing their Beginning Focus & Control class with Sarala and Tara

“Sarala is very knowledgeable about Rally and the foundational skills. Paws Abilities has the best instructors!! I like how Sarala focuses on developing the foundational skills in Rally instead of just courses.” – Julia B. and her Boxer Penny reviewing their Rally Foundations class with Sarala

“My main objective was to get Echo to focus with many distractions and that did happen. Love Sarala. I’m definitely getting what I want out of the classes I have taken.” -Sue K. and her Border Collie Echo reviewing their Beginning Focus & Control class with Sarala

“Fun and informative. Really made an impact on myself and my dog. Good one on one attention. Super excited to see everyone make progress. Sarala and Tara made an excellent teaching team. They worked well together and great sense of humor.” -Kristin S. and her Border Terrier Cooper reviewing their Beginning Focus & Control class with Tara and Sarala

“Sarala was a great instructor! Loved the class with her.” -Barbara H. and her English Bulldog Nigel, reviewing their Rally Obedience Foundations class with Sarala

“Great trainer. Engaged with the class and was willing to answer questions as they came about even outside class via email. It’s very appreciated to have that resource as well as the handouts we received weekly. Sarala is a great asset to Paws Abilities. I have learned so much with the Beginning Obedience class I had took with her as my trainer and it was things I was able to take home and use on my other dogs. I’ve also done a private training session with another one of my dogs and learned so much from her. I know if I hadn’t, Lucy most likely would have been put to sleep as she was too much for me and had already nipped at 2 people. She’s such a different dog and we have an amazing bond thanks to what I learned with her.” – Nicole S. and her Golden Retriever, Barney reviewing their Beginning Obedience Lessons with Sarala