Testimonials

Shadow found and adopted us about 2 years ago.  As first time dog owners and trying to deal with Shadow's issues, we were recommended to Rayna Barker (Good Scents! Dog Training). The issues being aggression towards "men" and "other dogs".

With Rayna's help and encouragement, we have greatly improved Shadow's people skills and trust issues by receiving positive meeting techniques.  We are currently working on the "other dogs:" problem and have found that when Shadow does flash, we are able to settle her down (distract) more quickly.  We know this will be a long process, but we will continue to work with Rayna as she has given us "hope" and we are looking forward to the day we can walk past another dog without issue.  We will forever be grateful to her.

Bill & Sue Spieker
Canyon Country, CA

Rayna,

Thank you so much for all of the help that you have given me and my dogs. When I asked you to help me train my puppy pit-bull, I had no idea that it was going to have such a positive affect on my 2 year old pit-bull. With your help and guidance I now have 2 well behaved, happy dogs. People can come into my house with out being afraid of 2  “crazy, out of control” dogs. My dogs eat without aggression, they play without fighting, they sleep next to each other, and they can even have dog bones and not be afraid that the other will steal it. A much different scenario than before I called you. Thank you for teaching me how to be a better dog owner. I know that I am happier and in turn so are they. A great big thank you!!! Love, Karen, Rex, and Roxy

K. Goldman
Stevenson Ranch, CA
Prior to being referred to Rayna, we had used 2 other trainers and interviewed many others. We would explain the aggressive tendencies of our Italian Mastiffs and all the trainers said the same thing, "the dogs needed a
firm handler". After a few sessions of the “firm handling” our male mastiff seemed to be getting worse and more often aggressive towards dogs and even some people. Fast forward to today and 7 months after working with Rayna and we now have dogs we take on daily walks, runs, and out when we have
visitors. Rayna earned our respect by earning the trust and love of our dogs! We had erroneously believed our male mastiff would never be able to be trusted around people, but we have no doubts that he can now ~ thanks to Rayna. She taught us to create a positive environment through gentle handling and to be patient with the dogs. During those periods of patience, she showed us how to read the dogs’ body language to know whether they were comfortable or not, or feeling aggressive or not. In addition, Rayna was always open to our ideas and suggestions on situations we wanted to train in~ at the dog park, at home, in our neighborhood, with guests in our house, and even socializing with her own dogs. She gave us creative and practical exercises we could replicate on a daily basis to enhance the dogs’ progress. In addition to training, Rayna was well-informed on a number of other topics from food to toys to vet visits. She has a great rapport with big reactive dogs and we will forever be grateful for her help in creating a peaceful home filled with mastiffs.

Marcy Calnan, J.D., M.Ed.
Valencia, CA
Rayna helped me so much with my 90 pound rescue dog that was reactive to other dogs (loud incessant barking, jumping, and lunging) when on leash taking a walk.  She taught me some great and simple techniques, all used in conjunction with positive reinforcement, to break his annoying and embarassing habit and teach him a calmer way to behave when seeing a dog on a walk.  Within days of using her techiniques, walking him was much calmer and it was obvious that the techniques worked.  Now, over a year later, we daily pass by dogs within 10 feet (sometimes even closer) without any incident.  In fact, walks have become so calm that I (a 130 pound woman) am able to take him, my 65 pound dog, and my 15 month-old child in his stroller on all our walks and enjoy our time together.  I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Rayna--she is a very skilled trainer with both dogs and their people. 

Julia Holt
Los Angeles, CA

Rayna did wonders with our  "Jake"!   

We rescued him from a shelter last August and could not take him on walks and he was digging up the yard.  We learned  techniques and positive praise to help us work and be successful with Jake.  He is so big and strong that none of us could handle him in the community, he would take us for walks and so excited that he would jump up on other people and dogs.  He is a good dog, but now he is a  great dog and we are a happier family because of it.

Maria DiLiberto
Burbank, CA

GOOD SCENTS!
Dog Training
Watching Rayna work with the rescue animals we volunteer with inspired me to have her work with my own companions.  Her methods are gentle, easy, and when applied with consistency get results.  I recommend her to anyone and everyone who has a companion animal of their own.

Elaine Hendrix
Los Angeles, CA