Reviews (37)

I would encourage anyone with a dog to check into Mountainside Mutts. Whether you have a young pup or an older dog looking to learn some new tricks you will find yourself in great hands with Als Allan the owner. Our Aussie Bocephus was unfortunately already 6 months old by the time we discovered Mountainside Mutts. We found ourselves over our heads with this demanding, bossy little guy. We began with a few private training sessions in our home and advanced to Bo attending day-school three times a week. Als took us under her wing and supported us as we learned a whole new way of training. It’s taken time and commitment but has been so worth it! Our Bo has come a long way and our relationship with him is improved 100%. He absolutely loves going to day-school and comes home nice and tired ready for a long nap. The training methods Als and her fellow trainer, Nicki Phommachieng, use are completely rewards based and relationship building. The best thing of course is that they are effective and enjoyable for your pup. Bo loves training sessions and it turns out they burn tons of his boundless Aussie energy by using his mind. If you find yourself with a new puppy or even an older dog in need of behavioral improvement I can’t recommend Mountainside Mutts enough!

I strongly recommend Als and Mountainside Mutts classes to anyone with a dog! We appreciate her approach with us and our "bestest girl", Maple. Als always looked at us as individuals and never had a "one size fits all" approach. She took the time to understand how Maple processed her environment and helped create meaningful ways for us to build trust and communicate more effectively. We've strengthened our relationship with Maple through parkour classes, pup and paint night, and private training where we've worked on cooperative care, understanding Maple's comfort levels in different environments, and learning how to reduce reactivity. Als has always shown empathy, compassion, and understanding by helping us see things from Maple's perspective. We had the puppy blues when we first brought Maple into our lives. Now we can't imagine a world without her. Massive thanks to Als and the Mountainside Mutts program for making such an impactful difference in our lives!

Als at Mountainside Mutts has been indispensable in helping me integrate two puppies into my already busy family of five. Als simplifies training to make resolving issues that come up with my dogs easy and enjoyable for all of us. Not only do I love working with Als, but my pups think she's really great, too!

I’ve cared for over 50 dogs in my adult life and always felt that I could provide appropriate training. Well, that all changed when we adopted Dexter Morgan. He is a rescue from Alabama who is 1/2 Great Pyrenees, 1/4 Lab and 1/4 Golden Retriever and is large and in charge. Although he is a mix , his personality is very much that of a guardian dog. We reached out to Als and she’s given us the tools to not only bond more with Dex, but to also teach him to want to do what I ask of him through positive reinforcement and using treats and markers. Als is an excellent communicator, teacher and is nonjudgmental. She gives clear instructions and reinforces them with handouts that I found especially helpful. I highly recommend Als and Mountainside Mutts!

I'll be honest, this is my 3rd attempt at writing this review. My first 2 attempts were way too long because I simply can't say enough great things about Als. My wife and I originally asked her to help with one issue with a dog we planned to adopt. In they end, she took on both of our dogs for an entirely different issue. She was brilliant in creating a curriculum and training my wife and I to train the dogs for the desired result. I'll say that again: she trained my wife and I to train the dogs. She didn't train the dogs, she trained us. And my wife will be the first to tell you, I'm not easy to train. But the results are undeniable. And if you don't want to take my word for it, ask my boys...

We had an amazing experience working with Als and Mountainside Mutts. She really understands dogs and people. With her help we were able to help our Aussie move from Wild Child to Reasonably Restrained. Als was always able to answer our questions, had 1st class advice, and showed unbelievable patience as we worked though the basics of doggie etiquette. I'd recommend her Manners class to anyone and any dog.

Als is amazing, She is the puppy whisperer! She gave us many helpful tricks and tips for a puppy. I highly recommend her for your dog’s socializing and training needs!

My wife & I have been taking our dog, Danby, to Mountainside Mutts for over a year now & we could not be happier with the results. Danby has learned so many new & important skills & his socialization has improved dramatically. My wife & I have learned a lot of very helpful skills from Als too which has made our lives a lot easier & more productive as dog parents. We recently adopted another dog, Jet, and he will be attending Mountainside Mutts as well so that he can learn the skills that he needs to be the happiest & healthiest pup possible. Als is a phenomenal trainer - effective, knowledgable, results oriented & always positive. Danby is SO HAPPY every time he walks up the steps at Mountaiside Mutts to see Als, Nikki and his doggie buddies & he sleeps like a baby when he gets home. I would highly recommend Mountainside Mutts if you’re looking for dog training & socialization in the greater Rutland area.

Excellent puppy training instructor and instruction. The Manners course teaches your dog how to behave and engages their mental and physical capabilities. New puppies can be exhausting but with the right training and patience your new puppy will be on their way to a fantastic less stressful life. This course will get you there. I highly recommend this course for your new Furbaby.

This class was just what my unsocialized, nervous, distracted 1+ year old border collie needed. Tam was afraid of humans, overwhelmed by new situations and was unable to focus. This photo of us at graduation shows a much more confident, calm, happy boy. Our success has inspired me to continue building a happy relationship with my dog so he can be a true life partner. Als' personal attention to each student includes 1 private lesson, which enables her and the handler to fine tune what needs to be worked on based on the personality of the dog. The class setting is carefully supervised to prevent dog interactions (which really helped my pup learn about self control in the presence of so many exciting distractions!). Finally, Als left us with the option to take classes on a drop-in basis now that we've completed this series. Very helpful to keep Tam and I on track. Thank you Als!!

My time spent with Mountainside Mutts has been invaluable. I got my first puppy as an adult and of course wanted to make sure I was starting out with all proper training tools to give my pup and I a strong start. The puppy start right was perfect for that! Als offered such positive and simplified training for everyone. Everyone was thoughtful and patient with my handful of a pup. I will definitely be returning in the future for the other programs offered!

Als was great with helping us learn basic manners. Our dog is a high energy boy but he really took to the methods we learned in this course.

Kody just completed the basic manners class with Als at Mountainside Mutts and I'm so glad I gave them a try. Everything was explained well and I loved the detailed homework sheets she sent home with us after each class. I highly recommend them!

Mountainside Mutt and Als provide an exceptional, sound and humane approach to dog training. I heard great things about Mountainside from friends, and was in contact even before we picked up our rescue puppy (mixed breed). Have done private lessons, group lessons, and weekly puppy socialization training/classes. Now our puppy is 7 months old, and we are "raising" a great dog. I could not imagine doing this without Mountainside. Als' approach is based on positive reinforcement and being clear to your dog of your expectations. It works and is not punitive. Highly recommend.

Als and Nicki were so great to work with! Billie (our pup) has learned so much over the course of four weeks.Training classes were fun, engaging, and very informative. Highly recommend Mountainside Mutts!

I recently completed a basic dog training course with my furry friend, and I have to say, I'm extremely pleased with the results. The course covered all the essential commands, from sit and stay to come and heel, and provided us with the tools and techniques to reinforce those commands at home. Our instructor was knowledgeable, patient, and clearly had a passion for working with dogs. The class size was small, which allowed for individual attention and personalized feedback. I appreciated the positive reinforcement approach used throughout the course, as it helped build my dog's confidence and motivated him to learn. Overall, I highly recommend this basic dog training course to anyone looking to establish a strong foundation of obedience with their furry companion.

Highly recommend Als and the team at Mountainside Mutts. One week after bringing home sibling puppies we knew we couldn’t do training on our own. We participated in private training sessions, Puppy Start Right, and Basic Manners. We love her force free positive behavior training techniques. Als, and her team, have been invaluable in guiding us to set our puppies up for long term success.

We had no expectations when we adopted our 3 year old pitbull mix but knew we wanted her (and us) to have the best life possible. We talked to several trainers before we decided on Mountainside Mutts because we did not want to use negative reinforcement for our Elsa as she is such a gentle soul. Elsa has learned so much. "leave it", "go to your place", "stay" etc. Als was great and I learned so much from the training. She is patient and compassionate and realistic when it comes to any ill-conceived expectations from the owners of the dogs. I would recommend her to anyone who wishes to live a beautiful life with their companion dogs.

We enrolled our pup in the Puppy Start Right program and we are SO glad we did! Not only did he get the playtime needed to help shape his socialization skills, Als does a great job when it comes to training the basics. My favorite part though was WE as owners received an incredible amount of training - Als provided hand outs, different resources, and armed us with information that has proven to be so helpful with caring for our pup. We can't wait to book more sessions in the future.

I am so happy Ginger and I came to Mountainside Mutts for puppy training. It was extremely helpful for both of us to get a foundation for training and a good bond between us. We had several private classes and learned a lot. Als also provided handouts for everything we learned in that session to refer back to which was great. I highly recommend her. Positive reinforcement with constant training. I will be looking forward to more classes soon. Ginger absolutely loved Als and I can't say enough about her positivity and care for my little pup!

Als has a force-free training method . Why yell at your dog when a whisper will do? She is well organized, direct, and clear. She responds quickly and has offered a mixture of home visits and classes at Mountainside Mutts, where my puppy can mingle with other puppies. She's made me and my puppy happier, much happier. Recommend without hesitation.

My experience with Als was amazing! My dog was attacked by an off leash dog when she was little and was traumatized, she became dog reactive and would bark and snarl at any unknown dog who approached. I tried a ton of things but nothing really worked until we worked with Als at Mountainside Mutts. Within six weeks I saw a huge difference and she was able to walk by a dog outside of Petco and totally ignore them. I was so impressed! 5 stars, highly recommend!

We cannot speak highly enough about Als, she is incredibly patient and kind with both our dog and us! She's a true expert in her field, guiding us through the training process to polish some 'unwanted' behaviors with our 3 year old pupper. You can tell she loves what she does. Our dog goes to her 'day school' every Tuesday and comes home exhausted from all the learning and playing with the other dogs and takes all the training that she learns in school and applies it at home. Als and her side-kick Nikki are the best in town !

Alz provided 4 training sessions with me and my Tibetan Terrier (small -medium sized dog). She addressed the particular behaviors I asked her to. It soon became clear that she was actually training me, so that I, in-turn, would know what to do when I was away from the training environment. Alz was very knowledgeable, patient and kind with both me and my dog. She clearly explained what she wanted me to do and demonstrated as needed. She ended each session with a discussion of what I needed to practice at home. I highly recommend Alz and plan to go back again if I need some further help.

I took the group basic manners course and learned a lot! Als was so patient and informative. Even though it was a group class, we got lots of individual attention. Als did a great job addressing specific behaviors for each dog in the class. My dog and I had a great time. I'm looking forward to taking some of the advanced classes in the future!

Als REALLY cares for the dog and the success of the dog and owner! She conveys a very logical and understandable "training routine" and most importantly GREAT follow-up! Would recommend Als to everyone who needs help in their canine relationship.

Als and Nicki are fantastic! My dog Ellie just loves going there. They are patient and kind to both owner and pup❤️. Would not hesitate to recommend Mountainside Mutts.

Als is the best! Her training methods are always positive and problem solving ideas really help you to see issues from the dog's view point. Highly recommend her!!

We enjoyed taking out puppy to the Puppy Start Right Class. It was a good mix of training and socialization.

Super knowledgeable owner and treats everyone with kindness and respect. She knows her stuff and I trust her with my dog. That’s all I can really ask for.

Als was invaluable when we got our puppy,Ellie,a few years ago.She turned having a tough time into an enjoyable experience training us as well as Ellie all the basics

I am a dog lover but l needed help with my dog Harley Thanks to Al,s I now have a dog that listens and obeys commands and without punishing her to get results truly a great class

Very knowledgable trainer. We learned a lot to help train our pup.

Enthusiastic and informative sessions that were fun for pups and owners!

Millton was so happy at this set of classes. She was able to have some structure play with with other dogs as well as work hard. She was able to explore new sights and sounds as well as taste. Class was a great place and you can ask questions throughout 🐶