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My friendship with Tarina Brooks goes back, let me see, greater than 45 years. We grew up
together and lived right next door to each other. Her image in my mind is synonymous with
"Animal Lover". I cannot begin to tell her stories as they relate to animals, particularly
dogs. She does have a love for horses too; and I do have some funny stories that as kids we
look back on and just shake our heads and laugh. Most of my memories bring up the DOGS. As a
matter of fact it was she who was with me when I brought home my first puppy over 40 years ago.
(I bet mom remembers) It was Tarina who in our later years adopted my Great Dane, Boss, without
hesitance when I was no longer able to keep him. I drove from Miami to Texas with him just to
place him in the safest most caring home he could have next to me, his owner. It was Tarina who
moved into my home to take care of not only my daughter, but also my second Great Dane, Bunny.
It was Tarina who stayed by my side when Bunny was so sick and passing. I bet she can teach the
"Dog Whisperer" a thing or two. I know that any questions I have EVER, EVER had of dogs or dog
training I posed to her. She ALWAYS steered me in the right direction. I believe my dogs were
very well adjusted due to her experience and her love for sharing those experiences.
Most of my memories of our past involve a dog or two or three. From her childhood German
Sheppard; Dutchess, to her Doberman; Hollywood, to her Chihuahua; Little Bit, to Cal to
Tuff...and many many more all were very well behaved and very well trained. I trusted
and most important enjoyed each one of them. And in return she has loved my dogs as well.
Her passion and patience for dogs and their behavior goes beyond anyone’s I have ever been
involved with. She takes her training very seriously and demands good behavior of any of her
dogs. Any dog or dog owner would be enriched and blessed by her involvement in not only their
lives, but also most especially their dog’s life too. Even the dogs sing her praises.
Sharon Clarkson
ER Speciality Nurse
Gainesville, FL
Just wanted to thank you for the wonderful job you are doing with training Fredo, he is one blessed Pom.I am so happy that we have you as a trainer, you made our life so much easier. When you took the time out of your holiday to check on Fredo and he ended up at your house I knew then that you cared and loved what you do, myself and my children recommend you to everyone that have the need of a trainer. I don't think that we would ever find a better person to take care of our little friend.
Thank You,
James, Jana, Susan, Fredo and Anthony
I would like for everyone to know the incredible experience we had with Tarina and our Dobbie Bullet. Literally, from the first 15 minutes she was there, Bullet was responding to verbal commands that we still use today. Her expertise just seems to bring out our Dobbie's character and make him easier to handle and more teachable. Tarina has a way with animals like I have never seen. It is almost as if she understands them and they respond to her knowledge and this brings out their willingness to learn. Now we are really enjoying Bullet instead of always getting on to him for his misbehavior. (and he is only 15 weeks old) We plan to continue with her services as our wonderful baby discovers new adventures and we are finding we need more direction. I highly recommend her services for your animal companion.
Susan Wilson
Personal Lines Manager
Wilson Financial Services
I’m guilty and I know it. I spoil dogs terribly. I spoiled my boxer – Sandi Paws. I made her the queen of the roost. I was her slave. I cried out, Tarina answered my ad, and Sandi Paws became an awesomely obedient, happier dog! Tarina taught us how to assume the alpha role, as leader of the “pack.” It makes no difference that we only had one dog – WE were HER pack. Tarina turned that around in record time, and Sandi Paws loved her immediately. I have never seen such gentle, yet affirmative training. Had I not been there, I would have thought she switched dogs! Tarina is a trainer you can trust. Give yourself the gift of Tarina’s expertise. You will be proud to walk beside your dog, knowing you are the center of its attention. I guess you can tell – we LOVE Tarina!
Joel and Amy Lane
Ocala, Florida
Tarina has been so helpful to me and my family. We first met her when we had a stray puppy we took in that turned out to be quite aggressive. My vet had told me to get rid of the dog. While trying to deceide what to do, a friend gave me Tarina's name and number, so I called her. She came to the house and evaluated Biscuit. Tarina agreed that our dog could be a threat to our children, as well as the neighborhood kids and smaller dogs. We opted not to keep him.
Several months later we saw a very cute dog for adoption in PetSmart. My kids really wanted her, but I was extremely wary of getting another dog after the experience we had with the last one. My friend suggested I call Tarina, which I did. She dropped what she was doing and immediately came to PetSmart for me to evalute this other dog before I adopted it. I felt very comfortable getting "Sadie" after Tarina said she thought her to be a good dog for us. (The adoption people said the dog showed aggressive tendencies-Tarina disagreed-they were wrong and Tarina was right!).
We have had Sadie for several months now and she has made our family so happy. I feel completely safe with the children playing with their dog. I'm sure we would not have gotten another dog if it weren't for Tarina. How many trainers do you know that would drop what they are doing and come evaluate a dog at PetSmart for you? She didn't even want to charge me for it!
As to her abilities as a trainer - wow! She is just like the dog whisperer on tv. It is amazing to watch how the dogs respond to her. We hired her for a few lessons to get us started with the new puppy. She came to the house so she was able to work with us, and the dog, in the dogs own enviornment. Her rates were incredibly low.
I highly recommend Tarina - I wouldn't use anyone else!
Cathy Fill
Keller, Texas
February 12, 2008
Dear Tarina,
Thank you for your time and attention with our puppy Stella. Your training tips were very helpful during these first few months of Stella's life. As you know, I have never had a puppy before and you were able to prepare myself and my family for her arrival. We really appreciate how you were able to assist us in what materials to have on hand and what to do the first few months. Your knowledge on dog behavior, alpha, and energy has been really useful. Thank you also for including my children in the training of Stella. They feel comfortable around her, they assist with her training, and they help when friends and strangers approach her.
Most importantly, you were able to inform us of the behavior we could expect as our puppy got older. At each stage of Stella's development, I felt prepared for what was going to take place and sure enough everything you said she would do, she did!
We are enjoying our puppy very much... thank you again for your assistance.
Sincerely,
Judy
Southlake, Texas
Thanks to Tarina I was able to control my Crème poo! She knew just how to handle him, and the best part was; she knew how to teach me and him together. He tried to control me. She taught him a few manners and taught me as an owner to continue that. I found I could always call on Tarina at anytime to help me in any issues with my Crème. He was very hyper and he was everywhere!! I never knew how smart and well behaved he could be.
I thank Tarina for the best relationship I could ever have with my Crème.
Thank you sooo much!!!!
Susan Moore
Boynton Beach, FL
I have always had Shepherds in the past but when it came time to get a new puppy I chose to get a Lab. Based on what I had read on the enternet and from other people's opinion, I was under the impression that a Lab was an "easy" dog to raise, so I got one. I was finding that Sierra, my Lab puppy was proving to be more of a challenge than I expected. I was in fact at my wit's end with how to get through to this puppy. I have a friend who refferred Tarina as a trainer, and I called her.
At this point Sierra had become a bit "wild" and hard to control. After Tarina coming to the house just one time, I knew help had arrived! It was like having the Dog Whisperer in my house. She started out by telling us to watch how the dog is going to begin to "settle" down, just by her presence. She said because she puts out a Calm Assertive Energy, and that she protrays a strong Alpha, as in a pack, the dog will respond to that. She said the dog will begin to circle around her and then lay down. In my head, I'm thinking yeah right, not my dog. But to my surprise Sierra did exactly as she said!
As we were there sitting on the floor Tarina asked what we considered to be a couple of our biggest "issues". At the top of the list was bitting. Sierra had been constantly play bitting me and the kids, hard enough that it broke the skin. We had tried everything to stop this with no results. Tarina said she would teach us a behavior called "Leave It". She said if we will do this every time Sierra mouths us, and also as a "lesson", the bitting would stop. She explained how to safely "pop" our puppy under the jaw after giving the command to leave it. Tarina demonstrated this a couple of times. It was clear that she did not hurt Sierra and after doing it only a couple of times she no longer had to pop her, just to say Sierra leave it!
We have now added another dog to our family. We got Dakota, a beautiful Sheperd. He is a much easier puppy than Sierra is. We are finding that if we follow the advice and instruction she gave us for Sierra, we can handle and enjoy both of our dogs.
I was not allowing Sierra to play tug-of-war because I had been taught by another trainer that it teaches dominance. Tarina taught me that it is acutally fine to play this very Canine game with dogs, and that it is a good time to reinforce the "Leave It" behavior, thus making us dominate in the game. We now let both the puppys do this. Our dogs do love playing this way and it has become fun for us too.
I was very closed-minded with my training because I felt that what worked with my prior dogs would be what I would stick with. She taught me that I need to be versatile with different dogs. What she did teach me that never changes, is that as the pet owner we must have a zero tollerance level for the behaviors we are trying to eliminate (just like another dog would do). That we must communicate our commands firmly and that we must be Alpha to our dogs. She does this while also being kind and loving and I notice that our dogs like her alot.
I would recommend Tarina to anyone!
Allison Haas
Keller, Texas
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