“We’ve had three Airedales trained by Sioban. They were all very different. Teton was tough. Jackson I was sweet. Jackson II is crazy but still young. Sioban’s ability to handle different temperaments is invaluable. She is patient and resourceful and has great common sense. We even had exciting adventures working the dogs in Briones. Great trainer. Great person. Could not recommend her more highly.”
— Airedale Terrier, (Jackson 11), Marc and Marilyn Kaplan
“We brought Maisie home during the height of the Covid-19 lockdown, so we weren’t able to socialize her in public as much as we would’ve liked. She was a sweet and spunky pup who would enter into a crazed puppy witching hour every night! Sioban came in at the perfect time, helping us lay a great foundation with obedience, offering lifestyle tweaks we could make to improve Maisie’s habits and behavior, and giving Maisie confidence and good manners in public while also giving us the tools to manage her.
Sioban did all this with kindness and humor, and helped us make Maisie the best pandemic pup we could’ve asked for!”
—West Highland white terrier, Maisie’s family, Lafayette
“Sioban Bowyer is the only Bay Area dog trainer that I would trust with my dog. Too many dog trainers put a lot of pressure on dogs and ruin them before they even get started. Sioban has the most important quality in a dog trainer besides being knowledgeable about dog attributes: she is kind. When you train with kindness and respect, you get what you want out of a dog and so much more. Sioban helped me when I was struggling with a black Lab puppy who loved to bite and jump up on people.
She taught me how to deal with these problems in a way that is fair to a puppy and we got quick results! Another thing that Sioban helped me with was the difficult task of training a dog to sit when giving the sit command from a long distance away from the dog. My dog mastered this lesson on day one thanks to Sioban's help. If you want an obedient dog and are looking for a trainer who won't put too much pressure and still get the results you are looking for trust Sioban.”
—Working Labrador retriever, Carla’s family, Alamo
“Cooper and Kirby came to us by way of the Guide Dogs career change program. Even though both of them went through a significant amount of training for the first year of their lives, they were both dismissed from the Guide Dog program. Cooper was deemed too distractible and Kirby had terrible house manners (counter surfing and trash scavenging), and both were terrible leash walkers. After just a few sessions with Sioban, I was able to learn valuable and effective techniques on how to work with each dog and help them succeed.
Sioban is as much a people trainer as she is a dog trainer because a huge component of successful dog training is making sure owners understand how much of a dog’s success is directly related to the owner’s ability to be consistent, clear, and committed to the process.
Sioban also has such wisdom when it comes to understanding dog behavior, and an invaluable part of working with her is gaining insight into how dogs think and using that knowledge in a productive way. Sioban is the best dog trainer, and I’ve recommended her to everyone I know.”
— Golden retrievers, Cooper and Kirby’s family, Lafayette
“Our family started working with Sioban a year ago when we adopted a puppy. Our dog Maurice is a boxer mix; he is very smart and also physically strong so we felt it important to have formal dog training. Sioban's professional approach made an immediate impact, our dog responded well to her training learning how to heel, sit and stay quickly and she helped us stop early negative behaviors like leash pulling and biting.
She was able to answer all of our questions and address specific situations (barking at a neighbor dog) and showed us not only how to train our dog but what we needed to do as dog owners to have a well-behaved family dog. The training she provided us was excellent, we get regular comments on how well he behaves in social situations and around other dogs and we've already referred several friends to work with her.”
— Boxer-mix, Maurice’s family, Martinez