We completed the Puppy Start Right Preschool with our puppy Ollie and we were so glad that we found Clara! Being first-time owners, Clara was incredibly patient with us and was always available to answer any questions that we had and even went out of her way to record her own video demonstrations on how to practise certain commands such as “stay” and “leave it”. We also liked that the lessons were tailored for Ollie and focused on enabling Ollie to grow up to be a happy and healthy dog. The lesson plan was very well-structured yet flexible enough for us to explore ways that work best with Ollie. Her instructions were very clear and we found her positive reinforcement and clicker training methods particularly effective. We could also see that Ollie really enjoyed his training sessions as he gets very excited whenever he sees Clara. We would highly recommend Clara and we and Ollie are looking forward to training with her again in future!
– Huiting K.
Hi Clara. We are super glad that we found you to train Latte! Being first-time dog owners, we really appreciate you taking the time to answer our (noob) questions and guiding us closely as we adjust to having a new pet in the house. And thank you for being so patient with Charmaine. Many dog trainers would have opted for the easy way out by asking the adults to take over during training but you have been very patient in showing her how to handle her dog. Latte made so much progress within a short course of 8 sessions. And Charmaine is definitely a more confident dog-owner now! Looking forward to playdates with your doggie in the future. 😊
– Serene T.
We have signed up with Clara for our newly adopted puppy, Ice, on the Puppy Start Right Preschool. We have learnt how to take care of Ice from all the lessons conducted
Clara is a very knowledgeable and passionate professional dog trainer and we had fun working with her together. Thank you teacher Clara.
– Wei Ming C.
You can definitely teach an old dog new tricks if your find the right trainer, and Clara / PokéDog Training School was the right one for us.
Clara was methodical, clear, and patient in her approach (with both us the owners and the dog). She takes the time to explain what is the right method in teaching certain skills and equipped us with the knowledge to carry on our dog’s training on our own. The sessions were fruitful and we are glad to have worked with Clara!
– Kang Wee L.
We are so glad we met Clara and had the chance to work with her! Really impressed by not just her wealth of knowledge and skill in working with dogs, but how she goes above and beyond just training the dogs she works with.
She guided us along this entire process of training our dog, Dash – sending us articles, taking video demos so we would have more specific training examples, and always following up on any challenges that we may have come across in the previous class. Clara also catered her lessons to Dash’s needs and personality, which we really appreciated.
We always look forward to our sessions together – Dash included! Been such an enriching journey. Most of all, we are most pleased that we’ve seen Dash learn so much and that our relationship with him has grown over our training sessions. Thanks Clara for all your help!
– Stephanie Y.
Really fortunate to have had Clara to help with integrating my 2 dogs at home better. I was initially afraid of not knowing where to being with 2 very different dogs and a big household, but her enthusiasm, patience and sincerity in wanting to work with me and my 2 dogs really helped to alleviate the worries. She was very clear and encouraging, much like her methods with the dogs! What I really appreciated was her being able to emphasise being able to see each dog individually, and being very aware of what they each respond to and need, and also of how I approach them or what methods I use. It was very enlightening and worked great for both the human and the dogs! It’s a privilege to see how much care goes into ensuring that her methods bring the best out of the dogs and their owners, and I’ll be practising these with them further. Her good work and love for dogs really shines through 🙂 Thank you so much Clara!
– Clare Amanda L.
As first-time dog owners, Glenn and I wanted to ensure that we provide our 6-month-old puppy, Ollie, with the appropriate training and support. Although we watched many YouTube videos and read countless Reddit posts on puppy training, we realised that there are many different training methods and we weren’t sure which would be best for him.
We decided to enroll him for the PokéDog Life and Social Skills Programme and it was one of the best decisions that we made! Clara was very patient during our sessions and took the time to address all our questions. She’s very knowledgeable about canine behaviour and gave us much needed advice on how to help him overcome issues such as poor recall and fear of hairdryers. I’m proud to say that Ollie has improved tremendously after 8 sessions! Thank you, Clara! 🙂
– Alcina L.
Mentally preparing and planning to welcome a new puppy in the house was definitely different than the reality of actually having one! Especially when you realise your puppy is a high energy, playful, and an extremely bitey one that aims for your hands/legs a lot 😂
Clara has been thoughtful, open, very knowledgeable and flexible in tailoring training strategies to best suit Dubu and get him started on the right track! I will always be thankful for her patience with Dubu and I, through the entire learning process of understanding each other better.
There are many ways to care for a very bitey pup who is going through an extended teething phase and Clara always steadily guided me well and consistently to respond to him in a gentle yet effective manner.
I am grateful to not only have gained an instructor but also a friend during this PokéDog training 😊 Looking forward to many more hangouts with Kobe and Clara again! 🤗
– Shi Ning L.
My wife and I engaged Clara to train Juno, our four-month-old Maltipoo puppy. She is a very knowledgeable, experienced, and patient trainer who uses non-fear-based techniques. Juno has learned a lot from her, and so have we!
– Eu Jin O.
Being first-time dog owner, I wanted to engage Milky in fear-free training and receive professional advice to improve on areas that I was not able to train based on online articles and YouTube videos.
I am glad that I found Clara/ PokéDog’s puppy (Life & Social Skills) training programme which I decided to enrol her in when she was around 4 months old. Clara was very patient during the sessions and covers different areas of training for every sessions. She never fails to explain the purpose of the techniques before showing me how I should apply them. Also, really like how I am involved in the training instead of just sending her elsewhere to get trained by others! It encourages owners like us to build a good relationship with our furkids while training them at the same time.
– Hongwei L.
Knowledgeable, highly qualified (Masters degree on dog science from U.S.) and patient trainer!
– Alfred C.
A unique yet effective approach to dog training! We had a better understanding of our puppy’s needs, especially during her adolescent phase. This allowed us to better tackle the problems that were bothering us. Highly recommended!!!
– Sean A.
Clara shares a lot of useful tips on how to train and help strengthen my relationship with Dasher. Now Dasher can walk well without pulling on the leash. Thanks Clara for being so patient with us.
– Caryn L.
We engaged Clara to help us as we are first-time dog owners. Our sessions with her have been extremely helpful and informative. Clara focuses on building a strong bond between the owner and the dog and we can’t thank her enough for kickstarting this journey with our dog, Rollie! If you are looking for someone who is patient and knowledgeable about dogs, we highly recommend Clara. (Bonus: her dog Kobe is so cute!)
– Joanna W.
My furkid is an obedient child, just timid and lack of social skills. Clara’s approach in teaching my furkid and myself is very interesting and intrigued me that how much it really help my furkid.
I always believed that this journey belongs to the owner and their dog. And Clara has helped me understand my dog more and my furkid has improved in terms of willingly to explore and more socialized.
Training doesn’t stop here. It’s a long journey! 🤗 I think I have gained a friend (Clara), and also a more socialized furkid! 🤩
Definitely recommend Clara!
– Sandy H.
Clara went above and beyond for my dog Scout, who is leash reactive. She understood the root of his behaviours well and tailored ways to work with instead of against them. Always patient and willing to impart, I learnt a great deal from her and highly recommend her as a trainer!
– Erin L.
It took me a while to find the right trainer at first, but Clara was a true godsend. Sadie, my 3-year-old rescue, is highly anxious around people and other dogs, and had a lot of trouble just being around anyone or anything that was unfamiliar to her. But instead of forcing Sadie to conform to society’s expectations of a “good dog”, she taught me a lot about understanding Sadie’s needs, and finding ways to help her manage her anxiety and feel more comfortable and confident at the same time. We know that training is an ongoing process that doesn’t just stop with her graduation, but I’m thankful that I now have the skills to help Sadie lead a happy and healthy life. Would absolutely recommend Pokédog Training School to any pawrents looking for help with their furbabies 🙂
– Tiara Robyn C.
I am very, very pleased that we enlisted Clara’s help to train Gizmo, our corgi. She’s extremely patient with dogs, and knows their behaviours very well. Her training program is customized to suit each dog’s need, and its not simply a one size fits all approach. As a result of her training, Gizmo is now a much calmer, and very well-behaved dog, compared to what he was when we had just got him.
Do not underestimate Clara’s calm and patient demeanour, in each session she continually monitors your dog, and is able to give you insights on his/her behaviour and tell you what you need to focus on during training. The exercises she taught us were simple, effective, and most importantly, fun for both us and Gizmo!
I highly recommend Clara’s services as a dog trainer – enlist her help early and you will not regret it!
– Rashu J.
Clara was always super patient and encouraging with Hugo and know when to take our trainings up a notch and also when to take a break if Hugo wasn’t feeling up to it! Her methods are eye-opening and she provided us with a good basis of skills to work with rather than just the basic commands that other trainers would teach.
Highly recommend Clara if you are looking for a positive way to bond and train your fur kids!
– Marianne C.
We really would like to thank Clara for the excellent training that we got as first-time dog owners. Clara taught us how to build trust with Nugget and get him to listen to instructions. She tailored the training to Nuggets needs and behavior and managed to get results without any force or fear tactics. It was the first time we witnessed a kindness based approach and we loved it! We are still learning and so is Nugget but Clara was a great first teacher!
– Monica R.
As first time pup owners, we found Clara’s advice and guidance extremely helpful. She taught us how to understand Zuko’s behaviours and motivate him through positive, fear-free training methods. Through her lessons, we have acquired useful skills that we are still applying past graduation! We highly recommend Clara if you’re looking to build a strong relationship with your furkid through a kindness-based approach.
Thanks Clara for teaching us how to help Zuko grow up happy and carefree 🙂
– Jessica L.
We engaged Clara to help train our 4-month-old Pomsky. We still find it challenging to cope with a puppy though we were not first-time dow owners. We also wanted to start right this time and set a good foundation hoping to reduce some of the common nuisance behaviours before it starts.
🎖Clara is definitely a strong spokesperson of positive reinforcement approach. We had learned a lot from Clara. The journey had not been easy trying to cope with both work and investing time to engage and train a hyperactive puppy but we are glad it pays off now as there are some very strong behaviours that have stayed since. Through Clara, we also had very good recommendations of daycare services etc. We will definitely continue to learn and grow together with our puppy! Thank you Clara! ❤️ 🐾
– Daphne W.
We cannot recommend Clara any more highly. Any dog pawrent would be lucky to have Clara as a trainer and guide. After a bad experience, we wanted to find a trainer who is well-versed in science-based, positive, and force-free training. We’re happy to report that Clara embodies all of these values. Not only is she very knowledgeable, she makes training engaging, fun, and highly enriching. She is also very patient with both dogs and their human counterparts. Finally, she also recognises that equipping dogs with social skills is really important, and has moulded her training programme with that in mind. Miku really enjoyed her training sessions and is much more engaged with us, and we would not hesitate to recommend Clara to any pawrent.
– Joel C.
Clara is a really fantastic trainer that is really patient and supportive. Being first time parents was definitely not easy, and Clara was there to really guide us through it! Glad she came on board early with Maya’s training at 13 weeks old – She’s now 17 weeks and we see so much progress.
Really recommend Clara as she teaches the foundational principles of caring for your pup, as well as for me the most important is co-operative care and especially really important things I wouldn’t think about like leash handling!!
– Samantha T.
We love Clara!!!! She was super patient and understanding during the course of the training. Clara adapted to Snowy and taught me how to motivate snowy while introducing him to new techniques! I super highly recommend Clara for any paw-rents out there! ❤️
– Petrina S.
Clara is the best and we’re so glad to have her support us in Maple’s training!!! She is a huge endorser of positive reinforcement and fear free training & places importance on building a close, trusting relationship with your pup.
With her tips and know-how, Maple has grown to become happier, more confident and more engaged with us. We couldn’t be more happy.
Two thumbs up for Clara – highly recommended! 👍🏻👍🏻
– Ci Yan L.
Definitely recommend Clara – not only we touched on basic skills training but also understanding Dixie a little more, building his confidence and strengthening our bond through her guidance.
Dixie was a timid little puppy when I first engaged Clara. He’d shiver at dogs approaching, big or small. Even when dogs or crowds are at 2m away, he’d freeze in place.
Dixie enjoyed every bit of his training and had a mega fun time. Clara is also more than willing to share tips and ways to work with our pup, even on ways to make trainings fun!
I’m so glad he’s now confident and sociable!
– Vivian K.
Clara is an excellent motivator! She has taught me as a new dog owner to understand my puppy’s ‘know how’ with detailed explanation. She guides me through her positive reinforcement and force free training method.
Training with a longer than usual leash has opened my eyes to respect the dog’s right for personal space and relax freedom. Yet as a paw-rent, I am not too far away from my puppy to keep a watchful eye.
My puppy loves Clara’s bubbly and attentive personality. Every training session is fun and enjoyable. She is very patient and a caring trainer. I would not hesitate to recommend Clara to any paw-rents for her professional service.
– Julie T.
Clara is such a fantastic trainer, her credentials are exemplary and her skill level reflects that. I would not hesitate to work with PokéDog!
– Renée Erdman
Every training should be fun and Clara has made it all possible! All our trainings were enjoyable and very insightful. She explains every reason to every action and engagement that we make with our companions patiently. We have learnt so much and could really see myself improving on my own handling skills and knowledge when it comes to different things that we want to train. Most importantly knowing how to build a better relationship with Sparkie, having fun during trainings and learning together till we meet our end goals in mind. 😊
– Lydia N.
As a new dog owner, Clara has taught us much about our puppy (that we never knew before). Every lesson is an interesting session; where our knowledge broadened, but we also more about our puppy. She is also patient, engaging and my pawkid loves her. The excursion to Jurong Lake Gardens was an enriching one, and kudos for the enjoyable trip. Would definitely recommend Clara to any paw-rents for problem solving or those who would love to understand their pawkid better. 🐶
– Lindy F.
The sessions with Clara are simply wonderful. She’s patient and understanding. The skills and knowledge that she has imparted to us have built a strong foundation to continue this lifelong learning journey together with our fur kid.
– Daniel L.
We were going to self-train our puppy until he hit his adolescent stage at 5 months old. Then we realised we were out of our league… google and IG certainly didn’t help because it was filled with info from all over and it was super confusing. We were lucky to have met some fantastic people who pointed us to Clara and force free positive reinforcement training. We’re most glad that Clara is highly qualified and educated in the field, not just a self-proclaimed “dog trainer’ who relies on “experience”.
Every training session is fun, and she is able to very clearly explain principles and the activities very well. In this unregulated industry, it’s certainly important to have trainers who really know their stuff and base their methods in research and evidence.
Our dog truly loves her and enjoys every session with her! The best part of FF training with Clara is how she sets us all up for success and is dedicated to equipping her human clients with essential skills and know-how to navigate this world with our new pups. She doesn’t promise “results in X sessions” because true behaviour modification takes patience, understanding and time. The skills she provides us help us walk this journey w our pup even after the sessions ended. The most important thing is the bond we form with our pup and her training certainly helped us tremendously in that.
If you’re looking for real positive reinforcement training, look no further. I’ve seen so many local trainers who claim to use positive reinforcement training but turn out to use compulsion techniques instead. With Clara you can be sure she would NEVER use fear or intimidation on your pup, let alone physical methods.
– Tiffany L.
We engaged Clara for Pokedog’s puppy training course and being a new puppy owner, she’s been a great help throughout our training journey with Whisky.
She taught us the key to managing our environments better to help set Whisky up for success every single time, which allows us to positively reinforce desirable behaviours.
Walks with Whisky are a lot more enjoyable now too as we were taught to play engagement games with her when we’re outside and to give her more sniffing time with a long leash.
Another thing we love is that Clara always provides in-depth explanation and rationale behind each training rather than us just blindly following what she’s doing, and this really builds our training foundation up to tackle any new issues we’ll face in the future.
Her lessons are also catered to specific areas we wanted to work on, which makes training a lot more flexible and fun!
Thanks for training us on how to train our doggo! Highly recommend PokéDog for any training related services 🙂
– Jacintha L.
Lexi and I thoroughly enjoyed the training sessions with Clara this past month.
Clara challenges conventional approaches and scoffs at anything that causes any form of harm to our dogs. Having raised a corgi some 15 years ago, the only method I knew was coercion – I the handler am in control, I talk, you (the dog) listen.
My two biggest takeaways after 6-7 sessions with Clara – (1) that dog training is largely about training the owner, and to a smaller extent the dog, and (2) dog training done properly really enhances the dog-handler bond.
On-boarding a new puppy at home can be laborious and easily escalate to frustration on the handler’s front. Clara really helped me understand the background and context for some of Lexi’s behaviours and gave me tools to work with Lexi to get a desired response – which were successful in reducing some of my anxiety and frustration during Lexi’s on-boarding in my home environment.
Was a pleasure working with Clara 👍🏻
– Daryl S.
I engaged Clara for behavioural modification for my dog Bailey and it was a wonderful experience working together with her 🙂
Clara taught me a lot on understanding natural dog behaviours and management control for Bailey’s reactivity. As an ex-tool user, I had the old school dog training methods so ingrained in me that I didn’t know I was ruining my relationship with Bailey. Thanks to Clara, I finally found the way to communicate and engage with Bailey, and he has been a much happier dog over the past few months with improvements in his leash walking too! As his handler I also understand the reasons for his behaviours now and am better equipped at handling him in different situations.
Clara really cares for the wellbeing of each dog and Bailey really enjoyed the sessions with her!
– Rushan L.
Getting Bruno on the 6-course puppy program from PokéDog was a great experience for us and Bruno! Clara was extremely patient in explaining Bruno’s behaviours, what is natural and what is expected. It helped us to realign to Bruno’s needs and also manage our expectations and environment to make training more enjoyable and easier. She taught us practical training tips and tricks that is functional in real-life situations and also fun for Bruno. it’s not easy training and it takes a long time and a lot of patience but we’re glad we started the journey with Clara, and we celebrate all the small wins with Bruno as we get to know each other better. We highly recommend PokéDog if you’re ready to take the time and effort to learn with your dog, fear-free!
– Audrey S.
It was a smooth journey of training with Marianne as Tofu’s trainer! She really helped us a lot with the problems we are facing with tofu. Thanks for being patient and understanding!
– Jing Lin
We have had the opportunity to work with both Clara and marianne, and highly recommend their progressive reinforcement approach to dog training.
When our dog, Juno, was a puppy, Clara helped us with training foundations. Her guidance was invaluable in framing our expectations for Juno’s training journey and teaching us how to teach Juno.
As Juno matured into adolescence, she would at times struggle with overexcitement and leash frustration around other dogs. Enter Marianne. Marianne is an excellent communicator: after each session, we had a very clear idea as to what skills we had to work on, and how to work on them. The learning process was also greatly sped up by the cameo appearances by Clara and her dog Kobe, the ever-reliable stooge.
– Eu Jin O.
Would recommend PokéDog to dog owners who are struggling and wish to have a more effective way of communicating and interacting with their dog! Marianne has been really patient with Rocky and us while we work on his undesirable behaviour and build up good habits! We have a long way ahead of us but a super big thank you to Marianne for giving us the foundation and tools to help Rocky navigate adolescence and transit smoothly into his adulthood :))
– Tracy T.