My advancement into the field of agility would not have been possible without the expert obedience instruction that I received from Claire Silver.
I began working with Claire shortly after purchasing my Miniature
Schnauzer, Cricket. My first 
experience
was during a puppy socialization class where Claire provided much need help
with getting your puppy comfortable around other dogs, as well as answer all
of those crazy questions that any new dog owner has. It provided a fun and relaxed
learning experience for both dog and handler.
My next step was to enter a beginner obedience class. Again, another positive learning experience – I found that the more I worked with my dog, the more we bonded. Claire also used attention training to get our dog more focused on their work, something I would stress everyone to learn. Additionally, Claire added a challenge to the class – teach your dog a new trick to present at graduation. I decided to build an agility tire for Cricket to jump through. My dog just LOVED to jump through the tire, and I had such a great time training her to do so, a light bulb went off in my head. If she and I loved it that much, perhaps agility training might be right. Claire immediately encouraged me to pursue agility.
In order to be successful at agility, an obedience foundation is absolutely essential therefore my next step was intermediate obedience. This class was both challenging and immense fun for us. Claire’s professional training methods, clear and concise directions, extensive handouts, and hands-on help gave this handler/dog team the solid foundation to begin agility training.
A quick story about Claire’s routine method of attention training: I so happened to be training with a very well know agility coach and one of our first instructions was to be sure to have our dog’s attention at all times. Her exact comment was, “no one can just say “look” and have their dog keep their attention on you.” My comment was, “I believe that I can.” Upon saying “look” to Cricket, she immediately swung around and looked at me. The trainer couldn’t believe it, therefore asked to repeat the exercise while distracting Cricket. Again, the word “look” worked like a charm. All I can say to Claire is thank you for the wonderful and positive training experience. Because of your help, here is a picture of Cricket from a United States Agility Dog Association Show! Three blues that weekend!
Elaine Morin & Cricket
Ann "The Dog Lady" Ford's Story
Claire Silver became my mentor when I was first involved in
the Frontier Animal Society of Vermont, ten years ago. For the first year, hardly
a day went by when I didn’t call Claire for advice. She was always courteous
and insightful and made me 
feel
like my problems were important to her. Today, I still refer adopters to her,
and know that they will be treated in the same knowledgeable, friendly manner.
Claire’s incredible problem solving ability never stops amazing me!
I almost always have at least one of my foster dogs in Claire’s class.
Best of all, Claire makes her classes fun and rewarding for both dogs and owners!
Ann Ford
“The Dog Lady”
Frontier Animal Society
Fern was surrendered to our the local animal shelter last fall.
For the first ten months of her life she lived under a porch with 
several
other dogs. Full of porcupine quills and apprehension, when we reached into
the kennel to attach the leash - GRRRR!!
I adopted Fern from the Frontier Animal Society last October. She had been returned after having been adopted out to a farm family -- it was not a good match -- when she returned to the shelter she was even more anxious and shaky than before the adoption. Something about her sweet face and pretty eyes -- I just knew this dog had potential, if only I could get through to her.
Once in our home, she quickly warmed up to her new family and fit right in. House training was a snap, she played with our other dogs appropriately..I though we were all set.
And then I brought her into work for the first time. Each time time a customer entered the store they were greeted by a snarling red Tasmanian devil, not my sweet little Fern. Scary and aggressive looking, she would bark and growl in fear. This was not her true personality, if only I knew why she was acting like this.
We signed up for Claire's class, hoping to unlock Fern's
true personality. We arrived for the first class with a lot of growling, barking
and very anti-social behavior. Not only was it embarrassing, all of the other
students and dogs gave us a very wide berth, "Steer clear of that mean
dog!". Determined to do what it took to change her attitude, I took all
of Claire's advice to heart and followed instructions closely. Lo and behold
- it worked. By the next class, she sat near people, by the third class she
sat near other dogs, by week four she approached other dogs and people with
a wagging tail!!!!
We have had to work at this behavior, it didn't happen overnight, but the exercises weren't difficult or time consuming. Fern really enjoys her training sessions and it has helped her form a solid bond with me, as well as gain trust that I will not put her into a dangerous situation. When I ask her to do something new, she knows that I am the leader, trusts me to correct her and acts appropriately. I have a confident, relaxed and happy dog ready to please. This was my goal when we started obediance class.
Where will this all lead? I'm not sure where the training will take us ... maybe therapy work, maybe a store greeter, maybe none of that will be her destiny. I only know that now the rest of the world can see what a beautiful dog I have!
Melissa and Fern
"Claire's
up-beat personality and positive attitude towards dogs, their
owners and obedience training made the beginners class so much fun that
I have enrolled Pepper into the intermediate level. I really
appreciated Claire's encouraging words and endless patience throughout the seven
week course. I look forward to new and rewarding experiences that Pepper and
I will share as we continue to participate in obedience training classes. I
highly recommend obedience training for dogs of all ages as it is a positive
way to interact with your dog while learning appropriate behavioral and social
skills at the same time. Claire Silver offers a fun learning experience for
all participants, no matter what age or level your canine companion is."
Beth Wadleigh.
Our Samoyed, Yuki no ko (Snow child, in 
Japanese)
learned to behave in Claire Silver's Obedience classes. A young and opinionated
Sammy, she learned to heel, sit, lie down, stay and come on command and wait
before going through doors. Now she is a Therapy Dog and visits reeidents in
nursing homes to cheer them up. On our daily walk down the drive she always
hints that she wants to "Stay" and "Come" 
(and
get a dog biscuit reward). She really enjoyed learning her manners with Claire.
Robin and Frank Tenny
Having completed both of your basic and intermediate classes, I can now say that the knowledge and experience I have gained is priceless. Your method of teaching us pet owners how to train our dogs is simple but very affective. After seeing many uncontrollable dogs arrive the first week of training and leaving eight weeks later, sweet, gentle obedient dogs, with just a minimal amount of work is very rewarding.
Now being a volunteer at our local shelter, I often use the techniques learned from you to help our rescue dogs become more adoptable pets.
Thanks Claire for helping many, many people make that not so perfect dog a lot closer to being the pet we dreamed of.
Terry Bonneau
Before we had started the dog training classes, I'd already
known
Claire through horses so, when I heard she was teaching dog obedience
classes, I thought it might be good for our dog to go. When we first
brought Ozzy, our German Shepherd, at that time who was not neutered, was very
hyper and ready to play. Claire really helped out a lot because she was really
patient, but at the same time didn't let him get away with anything. Throughout
the different sessions we would change who would work with him, sometimes it
would be myself, my dad, Kirk, or my mom, Shelia. That way he would get used
to the different family members working with him, and so, that all of us would
understand what to do. Ozzy continues to improve as we implement the training
techniques we have learned.
Beth Martin and Ozzy
Koko wasn’t a ‘rescue’ dog in the traditional sense, however where we picked her up, cardboard box shelters and the faint smell of urine in the air, was no place for a puppy to grow. Koko’s breeder though seemed to have good intentions; she de-sensitized all her puppies claiming it prepared them for great futures as service dogs and made them safer family pets. Now this lady tattooed this tiny puppy’s belly right in front of us and although my mother had her heart set on a second black poodle, Koko’s I just stuck my nose in a socket won her over. Seriously, she had this terrible wiry stuff sticking out from under her soft fluffy poodly puppy coat. After the rest of the family stopped feeling sorry for our ‘ugly’ duckling, Koko settled right in.
Almost a year went by and Koko was growing wonderfully, her ridiculous puppy look turned into a beautiful sophisticated poodle look, minus the pompoms. Just one problem Koko was unable to be alone. She had perfected the puppy eyes and trained all of us not to all make plans on the same night, funny how quickly we humans learn. I had gone through an obedience class in Montréal when I was younger with our older dog so Koko was always very obedient. Only I had a puppy, now nearly 60 lbs, who was totally petrified of everyone. Poor Koko had no confidence around other dogs and would quiver when approached by any human over 2 ft tall. This was no was for a dog to live, she was petrified of strangers and anxiety ridden anytime she was alone.
So I entered Claire’s beginner class, not so much as a training tool but as a means for controlled socialization. Little did I know that Koko would prove to be an obedience master, graduating top of her class with a nearly perfect score, and a wonderful hoop jump to top it all off. The best moment for me though was the week before graduation when Koko passed the canine good citizens test, she managed a whole minute sitting with a stranger without so much as a quiver. That moment was worth all the training for me. Little did I know that I was slowly preparing Koko for the biggest battle of her life.
This past summer Koko and I entered the intermediate class, and she excelled in that too. So we entered advanced class, not as scary as it sounds, Claire was right the dogs can all do it, it’s the humans who need training, although it did take a lot to convince Koko she did actually want to put a dirty dumbbell in her mouth. Koko does have one thing that always amazes me, (its frustrating because she’ll be so stubborn at home) but she possesses a certain poodle pizzazz. She is certainly a show off, so much so that she paraded around obedience class carrying two brightly colored dumbbells! She’s a crowd pleaser. That same class we decided next summer we’d start agility training. And although we didn’t know it that was Koko’s last chance to show off to her class mates.
Unfortunately the week before graduation we had to put everything on hold. Koko became very lethargic, was sleeping all day and refused to hold a dumbbell in class. A couple of days later I went to my vet with little more reason than “well she’s just not Koko”. This was the beginning of a long series of tests, and one of the first things my vet said was that it could be lymphoma, so in comes a specialist. Internal medicine specialist, Dr. Carioto concluded, after over an hour ultrasound, during which Koko lay perfectly still for a total stranger, she diagnosed Koko with lepto pending a blood test. And prescribe antibiotics immediately,(try explaining to a human pharmacist why your dog has no medical coverage) Well Koko seemed to get better, we skipped graduation thinking she was contagious, but she was less sleepy, but still not Koko, and still dropping pounds like a super model before a Victoria’s Secret shoot. I went back to my vet being a rather annoying owner but I knew Koko was sick, - really sick. They did more blood tests and some urine tests, Koko had begun peeing like Austin Power’s, and they couldn’t find anything, but they like me, were very concerned by Koko’s weight. So we trekked immediately off to the teaching hospital in St-Hyacynthe, Québec. Only about forty minutes from my house in Montréal.
We admitted Koko through critical care, as a shortcut so as not to wait till morning, and the emergency vet told us he was certain it was not lepto, however he also noticed that Koko’s blood calcium levels had skyrocketed since her last batch of tests. At this point Koko, who once weighed 71 lbs, weighed an emaciated 51 lbs, and so I knew I had no choice but to leave her and I would have to sleep without her. I was certainly comforted by how far she’d come with Claire’s guidance as I left Koko for her first night alone, ever, with total strangers. The drive home was perhaps the longest of my life or at least up till then anyways.
It would be 2 days before I saw her again and it was because I begged, and I told them, knowing as only mothers know, that only I could really get Koko to eat. And they agreed. Nothing could have prepared me for those couple of hours I spent there. Koko had been shaved like a patchwork quilt, and weighed a
skeletal 48 lbs. But I sat there with my best friend for 2 hours, mostly asking myself if I was keeping her here out of selfishness. I’ll never forget how at that moment she slowly lifted her head and looked in my eyes, and I knew Koko was still in there somewhere. Koko was still fighting. The Saturday visiting hours ended and they pried me and other sobbing owners away from our friends, and that was the longest drive home of my life. I then resolved that Koko was going to get better, cancer or no cancer, we still had no real idea why Koko was so sick, that I would do all my crying in the tub and then be strong for Koko.
The next afternoon I took Koko outside, her Austin Power’s complex made a great excuse and we sat in the sun looking at the trees, just appreciating life like I had never done before. That afternoon new met with yet another doctor, who, by process of elimination diagnosed Koko with lymphoma. We all agreed that immediate treatment was necessary because Koko had less than 24 hours to live. So on the same day as the biopsies were taken, Koko was administered chemotherapy. The next day Koko stood up when we got there, this was gut wrenching because I wasn’t allowed to touch Koko at all, but I put on gloves and took her for a walk in an industrial parking lot where there was little chance of the being other dogs, believe me, no one in there right mind would walk around there, but I was only thinking of Koko.
She slowly but surely got better, although it was a rollercoaster of emotions between mixed results and opinions. What it all came down to was no one really knew what was going on inside Koko’s tiny body, but I knew she was loosing spirit every time I left. I finally just said I don’t care what you think this dog needs; I feel she needs to come home now. And I picked her up the next day, of course she came with baggage, four pills a day, bags and bags of iv fluids, and tons of needles and syringes and even some eye ointment……… ah the things we’ll do for our pets. I took a quick lesson in fluid injection and Koko was on her way home. We knew at this point this was the best thing for her, even though we were painfully aware we were taking her out of the only place that could really help her. But as any pet owner will tell you, and many many human patients know, there is a point where medicine ends and something else takes over. Love is what kept Koko with us all that time, and it is why I never questioned getting up every four hours, and perhaps it is the only thing that can explain Koko’s recovery.
It would be two weeks of needles and blood calcium tests before we got the results that finally eased our minds, well maybe not the doctor’s, they did a hormone test on Koko, I could have bought winter tires for that vile of blood, but this PTH PTH rp test can tell the difference between cancerous white blood cells and good ones. This means it knows it there is any chance that there is cancer anywhere in her body. Koko’s came back normal, a shock to all of us since nothing of Koko’s is normal. Now of course there are doctors who really want to know what’s going on, for now, unless Koko gets really really sick, she has spent her last night in a hospital. Home is where she belongs.
So for now I am grateful everyday that I get to see her and try not to think of the moment or two when I thought I would have to spend this Christmas without my best friend at my side. I must have done something right somewhere because Koko will turn 4 on Dec 21 this year and, however hairless she may be, she will share her love and warm our hearts through another holiday season. And this season through Koko example I will appreciate every moment, it is these moments that make memories and Koko’s time will end but memories last forever.
Thanks Claire,
Julia
In January of 2007, I began begging my husband to allow me to get a dog. I had always had dogs growing up and had loved having them around to play with, walk with and talk to when nobody else was around. After several months of begging and pleading with him to let me get a chocolate lab, he finally gave in….with one condition….the dog had to have spots…? A dalmatian?? After growing up in the ages of 101 Dalmations movies, and hearing horror stories of how bad they were I couldn’t believe he wanted a Dalmatian…but if it meant I got a dog I was game. Roger and I spent the next nine months searching for a Dalmatian…apparently the dogs reputation stopped people from breeding them and it was difficult to find. After thanksgiving weekend we travelled to Massachusettes to pick up our puppy. He was so cute and precious. We drove him home and proceeded to welcome him into our home. It had been a few years since I had a puppy and was soon finding out that it wasn’t as easy as I thought. I had a crate, toys, food…everything a puppy could want. But yet by the end of January, I was still getting up three or four times a night to stop the puppy from crying, to take him out to go potty, and to top it all off, the dog was already about 30 pounds and was not only dragging me everywhere I went, but was jumping on people, counter-surfing, barking and whining all the time. What was I thinking letting him convince me to get a Dalmatian. They must be the WORST breed in the world…I had never had these problems with the collie I had as a child…I was ready to take my little Cosmo to the pound. I didn’t’ know how much more I could take…That is when I had my father visit my house. When he came in, he asked “who are you going to get to help you train this thing?” Train??? What do you mean by train…I had never “trained’ my dogs as a kid….that is when my father said…”you are right…you didn’t, I did…” I began reading books and articles on training and nothing was working. Cosmo was only getting bigger and causing all kinds of problems. By mid-February, I was at my wits end….That is when my husband surprised me for Valentine’s day….
His gift to me…Claire. He had Claire come and do a home visit and signed me up for her basic obedience class.. During the visit, Claire talked with me about some of the issues I was having. While Claire was blunt, she was absolutely right…Cosmo was a dog. I needed to show him that I was the lead dog. No more cuddling up on the floor with him to stop him from crying…no more gently pushing him down if he jumped…and no more letting him go anywhere he wanted on the leash. Claire was at my house for that first visit for just over an hour. Thinking back…that day, February 20, 2008 was the last time Cosmo ever jumped on anyone. Fast forward 6 weeks, and I had the dog that I had always dreamed of.
I could walk Cosmo anywhere, the gas station, a busy parking lot, noisy environments…it didn’t matter. He was unbelievable. Over the next months we found the only thing that was missing was a playmate for Cosmo. We had the tools Claire had given us, so we began looking for another dog to help keep Cosmo company. He could play and be a dog at times and have fun….Dalmatians need a lot of exercise and with two we figured we would be able to reduce our four walks a day to two by letting the dogs play….This time, we went to Petfinder to get a shelter dog as a playmate. That is where we found Shuby.
Memorial Day weekend 2008, we traveled to Gatineau, Quebec from Orleans to pick him up. Shubert (his pound name) was 5 weeks younger than Cosmo. PERFECT!...or so we thought. At the time, Cosmo was fully grown. He was 22 inches at the shoulder and weight 65 pounds. When we arrived at the shelter to pick up Shuby, we found a 22 pound, 16 inch tall dog who had every bone in his body protruding through his wiry coat. To top it off, we were told he had cut his paw the day before on the chain link fence at the shelter, and if he wasn’t bouncing on everything, he was peeing on it…Roger and I took a minute to talk it over in the parking lot. He was cute, but was he really what we wanted. Could he handle Cosmo’s roughness…could they really get along. After talking for about 10 minutes we both said…we have Claire…she’ll help us. We signed the adoption papers and headed home.
We introduced the two dogs on a neighbors lawn. Everything was going well, so we took them for a walk. That is when the bandage covering what we were told was a little cut fell off. To our astonishment, it looked like half of Shuby’s paw had been cut off. Off to the vet we went….After finding out he should have had stitches and had a severe infection, we were on our way…on Monday, we packed up both dogs and headed to Claire’s training facility, because we knew she had just started a new class. We arrived at the end of a class to talk to Claire. She was happy to see Cosmo and very interested in Shuby. In the last week we had noticed that Shuby would pee any time we looked at him or touched him. He would cower the minute anything came near him and was almost afraid of his own shadow. Claire suggested that we come and observe the remaining 6 weeks of the class so she could evaluate him and then enroll him in the following class.
During the next 3 months, we spent countless hours emailing, calling and talking to Claire to figure out what to do with him. He would still pee if you touched the top of his head and at times he would hide behind us to avoid anyone. At the end of the basic course with Claire, Shuby had changed. He was more confident and didn’t shy away from people. By following Claire’s instruction, we had overcome all the damage done to Shuby in the first moths of being a puppy and he too had become a terrific pet. Then Graduation. Everything went well. Shuby did his sit, stay come and a wonderful hurdle for graduation. But his CGC test was another story. The minute Claire brought an object to his brush him, he went crazy. He peed on the ground and began shaking…We still had more work to do.
After graduation, Claire talked to us about taking him more places. We began driving to Burlington two times a month to visit church street and visit the pet shops. That fall, we entered Shuby into the intermediate course along with Cosmo for a refresher. This time, it was like a switch had been tuned over in the dog. He was awesome. Claire had even stated during the class that he was almost a different dog. He passed his CGC test with flying colors and did amazingly well.
Still on occasion, Shuby has issues with different things, such as Santa Clause, a man dressed in camo or extremely hyper people.
Claire has made herself available through phone/email and visits and is always willing to offer help. Claire even visited the dogs at the boarding kennel when we had to go away for the first time. Claire has proven to be the most valuable resource for our family. With her help, we have been able to train two wonderful dogs who get compliments everywhere they go about how well behaved they are. They visit stores in the area and we actually have people that we bump into that will ask…where are the boys?
If I could say anything to everyone in the world it would be…go see Claire. Every dog deserves the best opportunity in the world. Had it not been for Claire, Cosmo would either be another out of control dog or be in the pound and we wouldn’t even know where Shuby would be.
Thank you Claire for making our family complete.
Heather Lanoue
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