Just Rewards

I was searching hard for an in-person class for my reactive pup. After searching for a few weeks, I stumbled across Just Rewards. I sent an email quickly to make sure that classes were actually going to be held. We specifically took the Rowdy Rovers class with Wendy. I want to start off by saying that Wendy is an amazing trainer. She is super knowledgeable and genuinely cares about the success of your pup/dog.

She also wants owners to be successful. It's important to note that you should take this class with realistic expectations. Don't go into this thinking that 5 weeks later, you're dog will miraculously not be reactive anymore. She makes sure you have the tools to continue working on your dog's reactivity well beyond the class. Since the end of class, we have made strides. However, we still have a long way to go.

Because of this class, I've been able to take my dog outdoors more often, which is what I've been wanting to do from the start. I have been eyeing some of her online courses, so hopefully we can take classes with her again in the near future.

Excellent trainer! Great to work with. Also happens to remind me if Jett Reno in Star Trek; Discovery

I was really pleased we had the chance to work with Wendy again! When we were adopted two dogs in February, I signed them both up for Basic Manners. We started class a week after we got them.and a week before the COVID-19 shelter in place started. Wendy quickly and seamlessly shifted the class online. That turned out to be great for our dogs since it meant fewer distractions than in-person classes.

The class was a great way for us to bond with our newly adopted dogs, to get ourselves back in the mindset of training them (and, ahem, training ourselves), and to work through a few issues that came up with them. Henry, our just turned 2 year old greyhound, started exhibiting increasing reactivity to small dogs when we were on our walks around the neighborhood.

So after Basic Manners ended, I enrolled us in Rowdy Rover (also online due to COVID-19), and it has made a HUGE difference. The class built on the foundation of Basic Manners, and has given me tools to redirect his frustration and excitement. That, in turn, has built his confidence, and we are both happier on our walks now. Wendy is a great trainer and behaviorist.

She breaks everything down into steps that the dogs can learn, and makes you feel supported as you work with you dog. The homework between classes is fun and builds on the classwork, and I could see the progression in Henry's behavior from week to week. I would highly recommend Basic Manners for all new dogs and their people, and I can now highly recommend Rowdy Rover as well!

Wendy is so much more than a trainer. She is a behaviorist. Our rescue puppy started out with near flawless behavior and was loaded with confidence. After a couple of months she became insecure and was even sometimes fearful of me. I'd never even risen my voice at her. We'd been through training with a different trainer with our puppy and things started deteriorating then.

So fast forward to Wendy and we are working on her underlying issues and trust. Our dog is with me nearly 24/7 and I am her person - she stays glued to me. But get out the leash and the fear arose, she rolled onto her back in a submissive behavior, etc. She's made huge progress since then. A straight up sit, stay, lay down class wouldn't have helped her issues, we'd already been through that. Wendy is also a pleasure to deal with and she knows her stuff. I highly recommend her.

Wendy is an excellent skills trainer who is great with people and dogs. She knows how to break down teaching a skill into a manageable, actionable steps. She doesn't give lengthy lectures. She stays focused on one manageable step at a time. Her classes are structured with a curriculum that is a series of small exercises well-designed for skills training.

Like a good skills trainer she: 1. explains the exercise giving clear, concise instructions, 2. demonstrates the exercise with one of the dogs in the group, 3. reviews the instructions using questions to make sure we know what we're being asked to do, 4. has us practice the exercise, 5. observes and gives lots of positive feedback when she sees us doing something right and provides gentle coaching feedback where improvement is needed.

For improvements, she times her feedback so that we have a second chance to put her feedback to work immediately so that we can absorb her feedback, 6. provides time for questions after each exercise and at the end of class, and, finally, 7. provides written homework to practice between class meetings. The written homework means she does not need to waste class time telling us what to do and ensures that we'll remember it when we leave.

Her classes are not too long (50 minutes). My husband and I left feeling successful and motivated after having a lot of fun. Oh, and did I mention, our pooch is making great progress! Not every dog trainer who knows how to train dogs is equally knowledgable about how to train people. Wendy has both skills. Highly recommended.

Our 3 large dogs have thrived under Wendy's approach. She is positive, gentle and warm with dogs- who adore her- and practical and straightforward with humans. We were pretty clueless at first, as it had been years since we had a puppy- but we found her methods effective and achievable. Applying her advice consistently, we enjoy our dogs more, can walk them comfortably and take them out in public without embarrassing displays of lunging and barking, and can play on the beach and hike off-leash safely.

Couple tips: 1) you get out of it what you put in, 2) you're not "done" when class ends, it's a continuing management process - reading your dog's body language, scanning the environment, setting your dog up for success. Wendy gives you these tools. 3) she truly loves dogs, and doesn't abide harsh or punitive owners, which I appreciate!

Reading the one negative review below, I felt compelled to give a great review. Finding a trainer is a scary thing. We went to one but he was too punitive and rough. Our Rottweiler puppy was good in class but she didn't seem to learn the material well. My boyfriend and I felt a little helpless because we knew she was smart and willing but we didn't know what to do.

We moved to Burlingame and found Wendy through Pet food Express. We are only 2 days into her Basic Manners class, and oh what a difference! We are practicing at home and Maya is being very responsive to the training homework. It's amazing to see her mind absorb everything like a sponge and be successful. If all goes well, I plan on staying with her classes, and maybe one day doing some rudimentary agility or herding with Maya.

To be mean and say Wendy has a little dog personality is silly. Wendy has a calm command presence. Maya loves her and responds positively to her. Thank you Just Rewards! Highly recommend.

Wendy is awesome. Before having her come to our house our dog bichon poodle mix really didn't know much besides sit and would bark nonstop outside sometimes and we would have to go out to get him from barking. After having her come to our house and taking her basic manners class at pet food express, our dog now sits, stays, knows down, wait at the door and when we are inside the house and he's barking outside we are able to get him to come without having to go outside to get him.

We found out about Wendy's classes through Pet Food Express, and we are so happy we did! Barry is our GSD/Doberman mutt, and when we acquired him as an 8 week old puppy we wanted to make sure he'd grow up to be a well-socialized and well-behaved boy. We enrolled him in the Puppy Manners class, and it was great to hear and see how the foundation basics were being laid out and having the steps broken up for us so we would be able to accurately reward the behavior we wanted, and a little bit of structured playtime let the pup parents see what dog actions were good puppy play and when we as responsible owners should step in and redirect our dog's attention to us.

Her weekly handouts were helpful in keeping what we learned in class focused to what our goals should be with our puppy. We enjoyed it so much that we came back for Puppy Manners 2, and we further built on raising a dog that is well-behaved both at home and in public. Wendy likes to keep the class size small, which makes it easy to feel like she can focus on specific issues each person is having and she can tailor the class to address some common headaches we're all experiencing with our pups. Bottom Line: Just Rewards rewards you after the course with a well-behaved dog, which means pup gets more treats and you feel like it's been an easy feat!

We had a fantastic time with our Vizsla at Wendy's Intermediate Manners class. She is a knowledgeable instructor with a great personality and it was a pleasure to learn from her. The class was small and there was a lot of personal attention paid to each dog. Each week we had a set of instructions and homework provided to us and there was progress made for each dog in the class. Wendy was recommended to us by another instructor and I'm so glad we had the chance to taker her class. We'll definitely be signing up for more classes soon.

I'm just not sure what the people who are giving low ratings are talking about. Wendy is not only an extremely qualified trainer, she is kind, funny, and helpful to dog owners. Perhaps these people just didn't like having someone tell them they could do better with their dogs.

I found Wendy because I was looking for a Rally class for my big male dog. I was so impressed with everything she did, and everything she taught us, that I have continued on with her classes for over four years. I have seen Wendy work absolute miracles with unsocial, reactive dogs. Of course, she just really taught the people what to do, and they followed through. I have St. Bernards, and Wendy taught me tricks so that even my big 145 male looks graceful!

I highly recommend Wendy Hilton, the trainer at Just Rewards. She uses only positive methods for both training and behavior modification. She is excellent with dogs and equally good at teaching her human clients. I first contacted Wendy for help with our new rescue dog who was very "dog reactive". Wendy spent time talking to us and asking detailed questions to understand his behavior.

Then she demonstrated techniques we could use on walks to keep the dog calm when encountering other dogs. She gave use a detailed program to follow. We quickly saw positive changes in the dog's behavior. We continued to work with Wendy and the result is a dog who is calm and happy around other dogs in many situations. Because of the progress we made following Wendy's behavior modification program we were able to take some of her group training classes, and currently train with her in Rally. In every class I have taken Wendy has been encouraging, patient and creative. She makes training interesting and fun for dogs and handlers.

I agree entirely with Jim B. in Redwood City. Wendy is awful, both at training dogs but more so, in interacting with people. In our case, she just didn't work out. She's prone to snap and she's rather odd, with a bit of a mean small dog-like persona of her own. Definitely not a relaxed sort of person and hardly fun to take a class with. Not recommended.

Wendy is FANTASTIC and patient with both dogs and owners. I must respond to the negative review posted below. I was witness to one of the interactions and the poster was extremely rude and unreasonable in his communication with Wendy. She maintained her cool and was extremely professional the entire time. We will continue to go to Wendy, we have nothing but good things to say.

Wendy is the best. I have a high energy rescue dog who for some reason does not like me to put on socks. With Wendy's help through her training class (and a little extra help after class), Shamrock will now hold a sit, stay while we get ready for our walk. Thanks for all your help.

I highly recommend Wendy and Just Rewards. I have taken many dogs to her training classes and she's had excellent ideas and solutions for every dog issue I've needed help with. After taking classes from several other trainers in the area, I'm so excited to have found Wendy. Other trainers don't even bother to learn your name, you just get called "Fido's Mom".

Not with Wendy. She's every bit as good at working with people as she is at working with dogs. If you need help between classes or once your class is over, Wendy's always willing to help.

The trainer at Just Rewards is Wendy Hilton and she is excellent. We have taken 3 classes from her and I (& my pooch) have learned a lot. Wendy uses only positive reinforcement techniques and all the training is gentle and fun. As of right now, she offers classes at the Pet Food Express stores in Los Gatos, Redwood City, and San Carlos. The biggest positives: 1.

She limits every class to only 6 dogs, so you get a lot of individual attention and the dogs don't get bored while she's walking around to everyone 2. Cost is less than comparable training programs 3. She teaches all her own classes 4. She's patient and her training methods are effective I highly recommend her if you're looking for a dog trainer.