My goals

“When my partner and I adopted our 1 year-old Pit bull mix, we instantly were presented with many obstacles.
Juno was reactive to every noise-people walking down the hallway, dog tags, city noises and even the T.V! She also wouldn’t eat her food, had separation distress, and reacted to every dog she saw. After training with Maritza, she does not bark when we leave her alone, is eager to eat her meals, no longer barks at noises (no matter how high we blast the T.V. volume) and is overall on her way to becoming a calmer dog!
Juno has also made friends with an 8-year old cattle dog named Hazel and can keep calm around her. This is a huge win!
Training with Maritza is the best decision we made for our dog. She is incredibly knowledgeable, uses psychology in her practice, is trustworthy and cares deeply for her clients. She gives you the tools you need to help manage your dog’s fears and expects you to put in work, which is necessary if you want to see long term results. She has taught us to be understanding and patient with our dog. We now confidently know how to set our dog up for success.
If you have a dog with behavioral problems, book a consultation with Maritza!”

“Maritza patiently worked with my dog, Dean Winchester and I, for weeks. After being rescued he had aggression with other dogs and lots of annoying puppy behaviors like chewing furniture and clothes, jumping on people, chasing my cat, pulling on leash, and nipping. She helped me learn how to appropriately deal with naughty behaviors and Dean is 10x better following her training program. Many people told me I’d have to rehome him and I’m grateful I found her training before it ever came to that. Definitely 5 stars!”

“It was a big decision for us to hire a personal trainer for Macy Grey, our AussieDoodle puppy, vs. going to group dog training class....which we’ve done before w/ our rescue dog. Bottom line is that Maritza’s expertise and dedication to us and Macy made our decision a no brainer. Early on we learned that we didn’t have to take notes during our sessions, since Maritza maintains detailed notes of each session & emails to us for reference....this allowed us to focus on the moment, and her notes were very detailed to Macy vs. generic training guidelines. Maritza is always very responsive to our questions via text or email, even though we’ve completed our sessions she makes herself available.
We could tell right away that Maritza takes ownership in teaching us how dogs view & react to the world they are in, the ‘fear free’ style of training was a perfect fit for how we prefer to treat our dogs. The cost of a package goes way beyond the six sessions we had...this is stuff that we’ll carry on for the life of our dogs. We appreciate Maritza’s approach and style far more than words on this review can project. Thank you Maritza!”

“We are so glad to have chosen West Coast Canine Connections & Maritza for help with our mini Aussie.
She was much more high spirited than our border collie from years past. We thought we could handle it but got almost to the point of regret. Now we have the tools & information that you just cannot get from a video, book or past experience. We started her at 4 months & so glad we did not wait till later. We love our puppy much more & know with proper consistency & patience, we will get an even better relationship. We definitely recommend Maritza & scheduling was easy. ”

“It is my honor to share why Maritza is a great dog trainer. Quickly after hiring her, Maritza came over to our house to discuss and observe some of Billow’s issues. Right away we were impressed with Maritza’s initial recommendations to limit stress during Billow’s walks. Not only did Maritza provide us with recommendations, she instructed us on the proper way to use tools. These quick changes immediately alleviated some of Billow’s reactivity during walks. In addition, we were very impressed with the training plan that Maritza provided. Maritza introduced us to the basics of Behavior Adjustment Training (BAT) and its application to reduce dog’s reactivity to triggers. Every week, Maritza provided us with a list of tasks to complete in between training sessions and a space to document progress and problems. It became clear she did her research into these issues and cared about Billow and our own experiences. It has been four months since we started training and the progress is immense. I also want to note that in the middle of our training, the COVID-19 pandemic became a reality. We were impressed with Maritza’s efforts to keep training and making progress with Billow while practicing social distancing. We are grateful for Maritza’s hard work and look forward to continuing to work with her. We highly recommend her to anyone searching for a professional and knowledgeable dog trainer!”

“Maritza was an excellent trainer, helping me learn HOW to train my pup to be a well mannered adult.

With a clear plan, excellent communication, great follow up on every session, regular check ins, reassuring, flexible, and providing written material to support each session, we were in good hands With Maritza.

Very much worth the investment.”

“Maritza truly has a gift and passion for helping dogs and people. Her natural connection with dogs and their behavior is complemented by her continuing education and drive to improve lives. Her patience while teaching people to read their furry friends and developing your own dog-specific plan is invaluable. She’s helped our rescued Australian Cattle Dog progress from nerves and over-excitement around anything that moves to being more controlled and confident. Can’t recommend her more highly!”

“We reached out to West Coast Canine Connections when Rowan, our dog was just a puppy. We were looking for someone who could help guide us through both training Rowan and helping with emerging behavioral challenges. Maritza did an excellent job showing us how to work with Rowan, teaching him proper manners, not to pick up everything he saw and working on behavioral challenges like separation anxiety, barking and Rowan’s interaction with our cat. After each lesson, Maritza would send a worksheet covering what we went over during the training session, as well as other helpful guides. She checked up on us between sessions and was always available to give feedback when needed. I am very grateful for Maritza’s guidance. We would not be where we are now without her support. We now have a very well-mannered dog and a handful of tools in our back pocket to help him throughout his life.”