Ilana Strubel, DVM

"I am a general practice veterinarian working in the Bay Area and I have completed fellowship training with the Behavior Medicine Service at UC Davis.  For the past 7 years I have offered behavior consultations to help my clients better understand their animal's natural behavior and help solve problems of unwanted behavior.  As one of my top priorities when evaluating new puppies -  I always spend a good deal of my appointment time explaining the extreme importance of early puppy socialization (AKA Puppy Kindergarten Class) and I always enthusiastically recommend Fawn Pierre as a puppy trainer to my clients.  I consider Fawn to be a 'puppy expert' as she has spent many years training and observing puppies, using humane and natural training methods.  Not only does she have a solid understanding of canine learning theory, natural communication, and puppy development, but she also has an amazing talent for communication with her human clients!  I have had tremendous feedback from clients whom I've referred to her for training and I have observed her puppy class in person as well.  I have learned so much simply from listening to her teach her canine and human students alike.  She has an earnest desire to see each and every puppy develop into a healthy, well socialized, and happy canine companion who has a close bond with it's family.  Her work is invaluable.  By teaching people how to communicate with their puppies using kindness and clarity- she directly increases their bond with their animal.  This in turn greatly reduces the risks of behavioral "problems" developing later in life, which often leads to surrender to animal shelters for re-homing or even euthanasia.
Fawn does exactly what her website says: " Training dogs to respect people as people / Teaching people to respect dogs as dogs"  Fawn explains to her clients in clear and friendly terms how to help their dog learn to function in our human society and this will help them to enjoy their canine companion for years to come.  For all of these reasons I am 100% planning to continue referring clients to Fawn for puppy and adolescent dog instruction."