Matters of the Canine Kind Lenexa, Missouri

THE BEST DOG TRAINER EVER! If you are searching all over for a dog trainer, then stop right here and hire Karen! Trust me. You will not regret it! Without Karen, we wouldn’t have figured out that our miniature chocolate Cockapoo was suffering from anxiety. Karen you have helped us discover Franklins needs, and you have helped us be the best dog parents that we can be! Franklin adores you!! We can’t thank you enough for having an amazing listening ear, and for helping us strengthen our bond with Franklin. Thank you for helping us achieve many of his training goals! He’s the best pup and he gets so many compliments on how good he is! All thanks to you!!

After meeting with Karen for the first time we felt confident that she really understood the challenges we are facing with our new puppy and helped us develop a plan for how to work on his behavior issues. She spent a long time with us and made sure the plan made sense to us. It was a very positive experience and we look forward to our next training session.

Her follow up has been awesome as I work with Bailey on the techniques we talked about in our initial meeting.

Karen was immediately helpful. She made all of us, including our dog, feel comfortable. We were free to ask questions, and she had all the answers. We feel more confident now that we will be able to help our dog live his best life with the plan she laid out for us.

When we adopted Riley he had been in boarding for ten months looking for a home. Riley was anxious, pulled on his leash, jumped up on us and others, and basically needed to learn all things about being part of a family. Karen DiCostanzo has been working with us and Riley for the past several months and we have seen incredible changes. Let me name just a few...we can now go on a walk and enjoy it without Riley pulling or worrying about his reactivity. He doesn't jump up. He is so much calmer in all situations, and we have the tools we need to keep learning together. Karen is professional, patient with pups and owners, and has expert dog behavior knowledge and resources to guide the dog training process. In-home dog training was perfect for our busy schedules, and she even worked with Riley when we couldn't be there. Thank you so much!

Karen is simply GREAT. She's professional, extremely knowledgeable and easy to work with. She is very passionate about creating strong human/canine connections. After using another trainer and not seeing progress, we were fortunate to find Karen. She has really helped my fear based aggressive puppy, Gracie. She understands the psychology behind Gracie's fear and has really taught us how to help Gracie overcome this. Gracie has improved a great deal and I have no doubt that with time and Karen's knowledge and dedication, she will overcome this and become a relaxed, confident, and happy pup!! She is also working with our other rat terrier, Beau. The most important quality about Karen is her hands on approach. She is always there for you. I strongly recommend her!

Karen was great with us and our dogs. We are introducing a 9 month old German Shepherd to two older Westies. (One Westie is accomodating and the other is a bit anxious.) Karen has provided us with good instruction and training activities to help the dogs reduce their anxiety so they can be around each other. So far we have been successful in acclimating one of the Westies in only a few days of training. Karen has great suggestions on toys, leashes, activities, and challenges for the dogs. All of our family give Karen a big thumbs up and we would highly recommend her services to help train your current or next dog.

The in- home consultation and individualized behavior management plan are by far more effective than training books or generalized group training. My dog was able to have his specific needs adrdress with consideration given to his environment and personality. Karen explained and demonstrated each technique which made the process much more understandable for myself and my dog! Professional, compassionate and patient instruction for both pet and owner.

Karen is extremely knowledgeable and knows how to put it into practice! I appreciate that she came to my home and was very flexible in helping my very fearful pup. I am excited and hopeful because I can see that my dog is responding! I am so glad I called Karen.

Karen DiCostanzo recommended my company to a client with a very anxious dog. I went to several of her in home training sessions so the dog would become comfortable with me. I also learn proper techniques to handle this type of pet so the …

My dog was experiencing anxiety that was causing her to become aggressive. Karen worked with us over several months, and I now have my sweet obedient dog back. Great advice on diet, medication, behavior, reading dog body language and positive training. She taught my dog to relax, and this alone has greatly improved our lives.

Karen is excellent to work with and is very passionate about creating strong human / canine connections. I would highly recommend her!

Many told us we should return our puppy to the breeder as he was a hot mess. After losing the easiest dog ever, we drove to California to pick up the dog of our dreams, our English cream golden retriever. We were not first time dog parents but had never had a puppy so young. He was 7 weeks old and bundle of energy. We enrolled in puppy preschool and after a few weeks we knew we were in over our heads and needed help fast! We met with Karen and determined that a group setting wasn’t a good place for him so we started meeting with her weekly. Now, 18 months later we have the most amazing dog. It wasn’t always easy dealing with a hyper aroused dog but with Karen’s guidance we have seen great success. What I really appreciate about Karen is her willingness to share her knowledge and backed up what she suggested with resources for me to read that supports what we were working on. With her by our side we completed her manners classes, Chill out Fido, Beyond the Backyard, Canine Good Citizen class ( Sir Winston passed AKC test) and Controlled Unleashed. By far, his favorite class was parkour, he just loves to play and have fun! We highly recommend Karen to anyone who needs help with their dogs, she’s amazing! Thanks for all the guidance Karen.

Karen has done a great job working with us and our puppy to make sure we succeed. She offers help and advice and is very positive in her training. She makes sure the dog is the focus and that all the interactions are positive. She is instrumental in helping us have a pet that is happy and healthy! Thank You very much

I've seen improvements in my dog from the day Karen was here on. She's great

Karen is is kind, knowledgeable and reliable. She stays up to date on the most current and scientific techniques and information in the industry .

Karen truly understands the emotional and psychological needs of dogs. If you truly want the best for your dogs mental health you can't go wrong by inviting her into you and your best friends life.

Karen has been SO great! We recently rescued our dog and he has been showing some signs of aggression and severe anxiety. With one visit from Karen we have already made great strides. She has been willing to communicate with us through text outside of the session as well. Very pleased with Matters of the Canine Kind!

Exceptional teacher and very in tune with the pets and their people and their needs.

We probably wouldn't still have our rescue, Ollie, if it wasn't for Karen's guidance and support. We've still got a long way to go with him, but we wouldn't have even known where to start without her help. Also, if she recommends that you do a CED with your dog, do it. It's so worth it!

Karen was fantastic! From the moment she arrived for our training and observation session she had our lab-mix Candy working! And these were mental games - not physical - and Candy loved them! When Karen left, Candy immediately curled up for a nap - she was exhausted. Can't wait to try the many suggestions Karen offered on my own!

Hi. My name is Meli. I am a Labrador Retriever. I have a new job as Karen's teaching assistant at Matters of the Canine Kind where I am helping Karen teach my mom to speak dog. Universal Dog is not a human's first language, but my mom is making good progress, and I am proud of her. Mom and I both are learning a lot of new things, like not pulling on the leash. I admit I used to pull pretty hard, but Mom did not speak dog. I had a hard time figuring out what she was telling me. So I told you all that to tell you this, get your human signed up for lessons with Karen. Your human will learn how to communicate with you and to understand what you are trying to communicate. You will enjoy being an assistant teacher. By the way, the pay is really good...lots of yummy treats.

Karen's depth of knowledge in animal behavior combined with her training expertise has made for a wonderful training experience . She is organized and provides written, as well as online sources to enhance learning. Highly recommend!

Karen came over to help me with 2 dogs we just adopted: 5 year old pugs. There is so much to practice and learn, with them but she helped me break it down and prioritize where to start. She modeled how to work with them and then had me practice. Right away I had some behaviors to practice with them. She also provided a lot of information and resources, both hard copy and online. Super!

Karen has been working faithfully with Rosey Posey and me for the past two months. She has transformed a rascal, high energy 18 month old golden retriever, who had a mind of her own, to a relatively obedient and responsive furry friend. I have learned ALOT about handling Rose in a positive manner and have great hopes for bringing Rose to a level of serving others in care homes and other volunteer opportunities. I am grateful.

Finding a positive reinforcement trainer with fearful dog experience was not an easy task, so you can imagine how thrilled I was to find Karen. My dog has always been anxious and fearful of new situations. For this reason, I only trust a few people to walk, train or stay with my dog. Karen not only made sure my dog was safe and happy, but she also utilized TTouch methods to help calm my dog's anxiety. I would highly recommend her to anyone looking for a trainer!

Fantastic trainer! Caring, professional, friendly, and extremely knowledgeable. Highly recommended!

Karen is a very awesome dog trainer. She does extensive research and looks at specializing what will work with your dog(S). Karen has went above and beyond for my wife and I and our pups, and helped us figure out what the issue is and how to solve it. We are currently going throw a " detox" like thing with them to help calm them down and help their anxiety issues. I highly recommend Karen to anyone who is needs dog training or help with any problems they may be having troubles with their Canine. For all her hard work she deserved more than 5 stars, but that's the highest google will allow me to go. :)

Karen is an awesome trainer! She not only trained the dog but more importantly she trained me! Which is actually half the battle because I'm half the team when it comes to my dog working with me on a daily basis (service dog). I probably learned as much, if not more than, my dog! Lol and the learning continues even after I moved away (I follow her face book page)... And my dog gets lots of compliments on her behavior etc... All thanks to Karen!