These words mean the world to us.

She slips into your home so quietly and gracefully, you don’t even really notice the startling work she is doing until one day you look back at the beginning, middle and end of the process, and realize how subtle and nuanced her training has been. The best training is when life has not been disrupted or when more anxiety has not been added; the training Rachel provides brings calm, solid, and lasting betterment to the entire household at large. Ella is better. Miles is better. We feel stronger. Our daughter is safer. And it is through Rachel’s consistent and steady work that we have come this far without it ever really feeling like “work”. Thank you, Rachel. We couldn’t be more grateful.

You are undoubtedly the most knowledgeable and astute trainer in NYC, with a remarkable range of knowledge for puppies and dogs that have differing needs. You helped us develop our baby Stella from a rebellious, undisciplined, aggressive-with-other-dogs, puppy into a beautifully respectful, attentive, plays-nice-with-other-dogs-but-still-has-fun pup that I always knew she could be. We owe ALL of this (& more) to you. Your innate insight and talent is beyond words.

We hired her to help our newly rescued dog from lunging and barking at other dogs on the street. She did that in 2 sessions. Only after our neighbors and building manager complained did we realize that he had a more severe problem – acute separation anxiety. He would howl for the duration of the time that we left him. Over 5 months Rachel worked with us and Quinn and our vet, who also prescribed medication. We can now leave Quinn alone for as long as four hours without a howl or a whine. Without Rachel’s help we would have had to rehome Quinn and, instead, we are now a happy family.

Rachel is able to observe and interpret the meaning of dogs’ body language, which I would never have appreciated had it not been for Rachel working with Stella and me. In addition, Rachel knows many effective techniques to train a dog to execute commands that don’t come from books. Simple commands, such as sit, lie down, shake, and come, Rachel can teach in one lesson. Owners must know however, that it’s their responsibility to continue to apply these techniques to drill the dog regularly until it becomes second nature for the dog. For more complex behaviors such as walking backwards, jumping over an obstacle, crawling, and sitting up, Rachel breaks down the complex behavior into a series of more simple behaviors that can be taught and combined over a series of weeks. Rachel also was very effective in training Stella to overcome her fear of the vacuum cleaner, which is now one of her best friends, and socializing Stella on the streets of NYC. Stella is courteous to all types and ages of people and pets on the street and she remains calm and focused on her walk through sirens, trash trucks, jack hammers, mailmen, baby carriages . . . whatever. She’s unflappable. I also found it very helpful to have Rachel benchmarking Stella’s social behaviors and training progress against other dogs, and knowing that Stella was progressing normally.

I had a 10 week old puppy who was “a little challenging” as Rachel would say, and I was totally in over my head. She worked with us on his resource guarding, handling issues, demand barking and separation anxiety (as well as the normal puppy stuff)! We did 8 sessions together and she helped me work with Milo on all of his issues, including ones I wouldn’t even have known to look out for. She was also able to connect me to different dog owners in the area for play dates which was super helpful. She is still my go-to person for questions (which she graciously fields). 15/10 would recommend. I would be in a very different place if it wasn’t for Rachel.

Rachel makes clicker training simple and relevant for the City Dweller. I’m always impressed at her clear instructions and her explanations of the latest behavioral dog science. She’s made our transition from suburbs to city a pleasure. Highly recommend her in a city where dogs can encounter just about anything.

My husband and I are so much closer to our dog thanks to her. She has helped us understand what our dog, Sasha, is feeling by looking at Sasha’s body language and actions. Just one example of many, we had no idea that our dog nibbled on grass when she was anxious because of other dogs nearby until Rachel pointed it out during one of our training sessions. It was such a lightbulb lighting up the moment, and it was all due to Rachel. We’ve worked with Rachel for over two years, and she has never missed a single training session. She is one of the most responsible, trustworthy, patient, understanding and kind people we have ever met. Most importantly, Rachel loves our dog, and our dog LOVES Rachel.

Rachel has been working with Nutz, our Papillon, regularly for the last 4 years and we couldn’t be more happy with her. She is great with Nutz and it is a great comfort to see and know that the care and love that Nutz receives from Rachel is no different than what our little dog receives at home. Indeed the deliriously happy reception that Rachel gets from Nutz each time she sees her is exactly the same as what Nutz reserves for me and my husband every day when we get back home. That to me speaks volumes. We are so happy with the relationship that we regularly leave Nutz with Rachel whenever we are traveling out of the city. It’s her home away from home and an added bonus is that she learns neat new tricks every time she’s with Rachel.

“Rachel helped me train my new puppy Willow and manage the challenge of integrating her into the life of my 9yo dog, Raffi. Rachel reassured me that Raffi’s behavior demonstrated he actually liked the puppy”

Before working with Leash and Learn every walk was frustrating and stressful for both Teddy and myself, full of lots of stops and starts. Now we both love going for walks and Teddy is raring to go! I feel so much more in tune with her and confident, it’s made me feel like a better dog mom. Thank you, Rachel!

She is caring and professional and I never worry when she is with my dogs. My two rescue dogs- both of whom were aggressive- have made amazing strides because of Leash and Learn. They play with other dogs, walk up to strangers- adults and kids- all of this they couldn’t do when I first got them. Rachel practices what she preaches and seems to always know how to handle a problem. She is also really responsive to callsquestions, concerns, freak outs and emergencies (real and imagined). Totally recommend Leash and Learn!!

Rachel is awesome!! My partner and I worked with her and our adopted 4 year old dog Annie, who is a nervous & loving rescue, and doesn’t get along with other dogs. We spent about 5 months working with Rachel before we moved from NYC to Texas, hoping to get some tools to help Annie transition. Rachel taught us how to read Annie’s body language, and gave us concrete skills to work on. It made such a big difference, WEBSITE COPY 2022 TESTIMONIALS and we found out Annie actually loves to train! I would recommend Rachel to anyone looking for a dog trainer.

An online live dog tricks class?? Really? I had a few doubts at first but was totally blown away! Rachel used the Google Hangouts app that uses your Internet browser using the built in webcams in our computers. She showed us how to guide our dogs into doing each of the tricks, then watched us as we each took our turn to try it out with our dogs. It was pure magic! Her ability to quickly explain the proper technique was brilliant! She would then coach us as we followed her instructions, watching each of us individually and giving immediate feedback. It felt like she was watching over our shoulders! We could also see all of the other students and learn from their successes. Highly recommend this to others, it’s a great way to provide daily enrichment to your dog and a wonderful way to bond with them as well. No more couch potato pups languishing around! Can’t wait for her next online class!

Rachel at Leash and Learn is absolutely fantastic! She turned us nervous, first time puppy owners into capable trainers and taught our rambunctious pup tricks, manners, and overall good behavior. Thanks to Rachel, we now have an amazing, well socialized dog who impresses everyone with her attention to commands! We would have been lost without her help! Rachel is also a truly wonderful person and has become a good friend. We are so grateful!

They are caring, enthusiastic and true dog lovers. They are genuinely concerned about your dog, and will take great care of it on all walks or while pet sitting. My dog, Charlie, is always excited whenever someone from the Leash and Learn team shows up to for his walk and train. In addition, they are responsive and thoughtful with any questions that you may have, and provide helpful training advice too. Charlie has also done many overnights with Rachel, and is always well cared for (and I get lots of pictures to see while he is there too). I know that Charlie is great hands with Rachel and Leash and Learn and I would highly recommend them.

Rachel has been an amazing addition to Pickle’s world. Rachel trains him and also helps us become better dog parents. We have noticed he is calmer on walks and has healthier interactions with other dogs. Additionally, Rachel gives us extensive feedback, tips, and tricks on how we can expand upon what she is doing with Pickle.

She trained our Great Dane puppy Hamlet and he was house broken very quickly. She came to our house while at work and did her magic. He’s super well behaved for a puppy and we owe it to Rachel.

Off-leash, Tjuta was a happy girl who mostly ignored other dogs to focus on her ball or squirrels. On-leash, however, she reacted to every dog who crossed our paths. I started dreading our walks and contacted Rachel in desperation. Once Rachel explained Tjuta was acting out of fear and anxiety—and she taught me how to manage both—I saw almost immediate progress. After many weeks of training and practice, Tjuta is about 90% better and we both enjoy our walks again.

With her help, Puppyhood was a breeze. Rachel was not only very skilled, But also utterly trustworthy and ethical. Unfortunately, our pup started to develop serious behavioral problems as a “teen”. Rachel was an invaluable resource and sounding board in helping us find the right solution to Sammie’s problems. I highly recommend her!

Rachel is very knowledgeable and great experience. Goes above and beyond to create a custom experience and help get your furry friend to the next level. Tailored experience and comes to you for training, highly recommend.

She breaks things down into straightforward tasks that can easily be practiced and learned. I have spoken to many dog trainers; unlike some, she also speaks fluent human 🙂 Rachel is extremely down to earth, very easy to talk to and work with, and extremely passionate about the behavioral science. I feel my puppy and I understand each other better after our training with her.

I have known Rachel (and her dog Dustin) for years and they are both terrific. Rachel took care of my border collie, Winston, for many years and he loved her. I totally trusted Rachel with Winston and would trust her with any dog I owned or was responsible for. She understands dogs and is super at training. Dustin, Rachel’s own dog, is a master of tricks – self-taught by Rachel and she did a great job. I feel very comfortable recommending Rachel to care for your dog.

For over a year, she treated her like she was her own and Lily was beyond excited every time she came. Lily’s a strong pitbull mix and her powerful nature was never an issue for Rachel. She was always on time, enthusiastic and so observant of all aspects of Lily’s health, disposition, and diet. The best part was that Lily’s behavior improved from the time she spent with Rachel. She also had Lily surprise us with some new tricks!

Rachel has been working with our mini labradoodle, Louis, for over a year now. She has helped out with teaching him basic obedience and has also taught him some truly unbelievable advanced tricks like skateboarding, playing the piano, grabbing us a Kleenex when we sneeze. So many people are impressed by our dog and how well behaved he his, and we owe it all to Rachel. She is very thorough in her teachings to not only the dogs, but teaching us pet owners how to reinforce the behaviors. Rachel has become more like family over the year and has formed a special bond with our pup. We have a great relationship with our dog because of the training Rachel provided. I highly recommend her to anyone and everyone who has a dog or is thinking of getting a dog, as she works magic.