Contained on this page are comments from pet owners who have worked with both Dr. Ciribassi and Laura in a collaborative effort to help manage behavior issues in their pets. They are posted here to help give you a sense of what we hope to accomplish as a team in working with you and your dog. Thank you so very much to those who have consented to contribute their comments regarding our work. We also wish to thank the ones who we do this for....your best friends.

"We adopted a wonderful 9-month-old rescued dog, Tucker, an animal with a history of severe neglect. We found he had separation-anxiety and couldn’t be left alone, became almost uncontrollable around other dogs, and didn’t know how to follow commands so that he could enjoy being with us. We took him for positive-reinforcement-based clicker training with Laura Monaco Torelli, then consulted Dr. Ciribassi for medication that supported that training; and a few months later our dog Tucker is even more wonderful – he’s crate-trained and can be happy by himself for several hours, truly loves playing with other dogs at public dog parks, and follows a series of commands that make him a real joy for us. We’ve learned how to understand and teach him, and he’s learned how to relax and learn; and we couldn’t be more pleased with Laura’s and Dr. Ciribassi’s help in making our dog part of our family.

The best part, Laura, is that all of this is true. Tucker’s a real delight, and that might not be so much the case without your help.

We hope that we’ll be able to work with you again.

Hope all is well."

Scott & Malcolm

and of course the big guy... Karat

p.s. I don't think the dog world could ask for a better partnership!!!!"

"We had a terrible time with our dogs behavior.  We tried several different "trainers" and none of their methods worked and some even scared the dogs and made their behavior worse!  We became very frustrated not only w/the dogs, but with the trainers.  Then we discovered Laura.  What a breath of fresh air!!   She was genuinely concerned about our pets on a holistic level.  She took a medical history, wanted to know what we were feeding them, their exercise routine, who their Vet was. She taught us positive reinforcement clicker training and encouraged and motivated us to use this method without a hint of coercion or pressure. She gave us a list of books that proved very helpful as well.   She also taught us to interpret our dog's signals recognizing not only happy, relaxed behaviors, but also nervous, anxious and potentially dangerous indicators of behavior.  We quickly noted very positive changes in our dogs.  Laura is truly a gifted trainer and I know she is a graduate of the Karen Pryor Academy.  Our female was still aggressive towards our younger male and so Laura suggested we visit Dr. Ciribassi, an Animal Behaviorist Veterinarian.  We worked with Dr. Ciribassi and Laura utilizing both medications and behavior modification training.  We felt that there could not have been a more concerned team working with our pets and us.  They were patient, kind, encouraging, sympathetic as well as professional, creative and most of all positive.  We couldn't have placed ourselves and our dogs in better hands.  We can wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone who may be having difficulties.  Truly we feel blessed, and VERY fortunate to have met and worked with them both."

Joel, Karen and Sophie

"Two years ago I adopted a severely traumatized dog who was reactive toward any strange human as well as any dog in eyesight.  I wasn't making progress with him and I really didn't know why. Though I'd grown up with dogs, Laura and Dr. Ciribassi taught me to find and create the signals that I didn't even realize Arlo was giving me.  They taught me find and create situations where I could work with Arlo without making him worse.

Laura and Dr. Ciribassi were in constant communication with each other and with me to individualize Arlo's treatment plan.  Every time we hit a behavior plateau our plan changed. Our strategies evolved not only with changes in Arlo's behavior, but with my skill level - as I continued to learn things I had no idea I didn't know. 

I never would have figured out the skills I'd need to work with Arlo on my own, and I had no idea how damaging the common advice can be. I consider myself (and Arlo!) incredibly lucky to have found this team."

Allie & Arlo

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