For dog owners looking for effective training and a heartfelt connection, we highly recommend Donna and Polite Pups. Our journey has been amazing, and we're so thankful for Donna's impact. 

With respect to the training aspect Donna provided exceptional information that we could easily replicate after she left for the day, in addition Donna left great reference notes and index cards for us after each training session so that we could continue with the training in between sessions with Donna. We still use those notes and index cards to this day when we need to refresh our approach or resolve behavioral training with Willow. During the early days of training sessions one of the things I really respected about Donna and her approach was that nothing was ever forced upon us, she would give us the information and the positives behind it and let us decide which approach, commands etc. that we wanted to use with Willow.

Our classes with Donna were so fun and positive, but most of all, they provided the care and knowledge that gave us the tools we so desperately needed to be able to thoroughly enjoy our girl. I still read the training cards and information Donna gave us and I’m still amazed that with consistency and Donna’s well studied and tested methods,
you really can have a happy, POLITE PUPPY 

Yes, I’m a senior.  And the wonderful world with a happy, busy, and very ‘untrained’ Hazel began. I was in way over my head and as luck would have it, I saw Donna working with neighbors and their new dog.

Our classes with Donna were so fun and positive, but most of all, they provided the care and knowledge that gave us the tools we so desperately needed to be able to thoroughly enjoy our girl. I still read the training cards and information Donna gave us and I’m still amazed that with consistency and Donna’s well studied and tested methods,
you really can have a happy, POLITE PUPPY 

Donna has been a godsend in helping us train our wonderful Whoodle puppy, Bailey. (A “Whoodle” is a Wheaten Terrier and Poodle mix.)

Roy is a well-rounded, sociable, and polite dog who is thoroughly enjoyed by everyone who meets him thanks in large part to Donna! I recommend her one thousand percent!

Donna gave us practical training, study cards to remind us what we learned and was always just a text away if we had questions.

The training was fun and doing short training practice with our dogs between visits was easy. Donna’s training techniques are completely built on positive reinforcement. I really believe this approach has led to our dogs trusting us and therefore, being better behaved when we ask for their compliance, as well as making our relationship with our dogs closer, more loving and fun. I would (and have) recommended Donna to work through issues with a dog, or just to head off problems from the start with a new family pet.

 During each session with Donna, I could see the progress Hudson would make. And with the tips and tricks Donna gave me, Hudson learned remarkably between sessions. She was also an amazing resource. I could send her clips of Hudson and ask what a behavior meant or how to manage something. Even when she wasn’t familiar with a subject, she would find information on it for me. I would have been lost without her. 

Donna’s positive reinforcement methods fit perfectly for us. Her reassurance made it easy to incorporate the training into our lives and for us to feel more confident about handling our Winston on our own. In addition to being a great trainer, we found Donna as invested in Winston as we were, working with us with patience, diligence, and so much kindness for us and love for him.

Donna was extremely helpful. She gave us so much time, patience, and information. She would even lend us training aids if we needed something right away. Her trainings were calm, gentle, patient, and so educational. I have a lifetime of experience training our pets, but I still learned so much from watching Donna.

We were introduced to Donna Barret through a client of her Polite Pups Training. Her gentle, positive, training was exactly what we were seeking. Not only did Donna understand Coal and his needs, but also understood us as his owners.

We are so appreciative to Donna, who continues to follow up on Coal’s progress throughout his maturing months. We absolutely recommend Donna and Polite Pups Training as a knowledgeable and valuable trainer.

Due to Donna’s training and gentle hands on approach, our boy North is a happy, healthy, well-adjusted dog. He still enjoys his twice weekly walks with Donna, and knows when she is scheduled to come walk North. As long as Donna is able we will continue to welcome her knowledge, expertise and kindness for as long as North is part of our family. SHE CHANGED HIS LIFE!!!!

Donna has a gift with dogs and their owners.  Quickly identifying the disconnect between my dog and I, she was able offer practical solutions through example, repetition and homework.

While walking our corgis in our neighbourhood, we’d heard about a “Donna” from several people on the block and after a few months of searching, ran into somebody that gave us the name of her Enterprise – Polite Pups. We searched and found the most amazing person that we have had the opportunity to come to know. Frodo and Sam at 1.5 years were being walked by her once a week and each and every time she brought them home, we would get a complete run down on what she had been working and how to continue their training during the days she was not working with them

Donna is amazing! She truly loves her job and goes above and beyond when caring for your dog. Gordie loves his play dates at the private dog park in Airdrie. Donna’s service is worth every penny!!

Donna takes Dylan twice a week and engages him in both physical activity and mental, through the “brain-games” she trains with. Anyone that has a dog from a herding breed knows how important it is to keep their keen minds occupied, as well as keeping them physically active. Donna’s train and walk program provides both.

My partner and I were new to being pawrents and our friend recommended Donna to us. I remembered feeling so lost the first few days of bringing Brooklyn home as we did not know what to do. All the reading can never really prepare you for physically caring for another life. Once we met Donna though, we instantly felt relief.

I whole heartedly believe in Donna’s passion, knowledge and application on how to work with and train both dogs and their owners.

Donna is not only an amazing person to be around, she is amazing at what she does and my two pups absolutely loved her.

We have been fortunate to be working with Donna since our pup was 10 weeks and with her help, guidance and encouragement Otis has grown into a confident, levelheaded dog - I suspect her calm demeanour rubbed off on him!

I wholeheartedly recommend Donna Barrett and the positive reinforcement training methods she has taught us. We have had dogs for many years but while we knew a lot, we knew we needed help with a puppy we adopted in December of 2020. Ruby was an 8 month female Red Heeler X and it quickly became clear that she had been living feral although she had been fed and was in reasonably good physical health. She displayed both fearful and reactive behaviour.

I absolutely loved working with Donna for dog training!

She was knowledgeable and wonderful with our new puppy Zelda. I wanted to create a strong foundation for our puppy to become the best dog she can be. Donna was instrumental in starting this foundation with the positive reinforcement training approach.

I was relieved the moment I spoke to Donna on the phone. I appreciated Donna’s straightforward and honest approach – she told me that she would ‘train’ me to train my pooch, and that’s all I needed to know. I was ready to learn. She also said she would use treats and rewards, no physical punishment like a flick on the nose or wrap on the bum, which aligns 100% with my ethics and world view.

I remember the day I reached out to Donna, I was not sure she would respond after I wrote in my subject line, “Jack the Nipper”. But she did! From the moment Jack, myself and my husband met Donna we knew she was our angel and would lead Jack in the right direction. COVID but a damper on some of the training she normally does. Having said that, she gave us the tools tips and tricks that helped Jack settle down and be the wonderful puppy he is today.

You can not go wrong by engaging Donna Barrett to help you with your dog. Donna clearly explained her objectives and how her lessons matched the stages of puppy development. Donna also showed us how Tessa's reactions to new or different situations could give us clues to her personality. She has helped us to develop good practices when working with a puppy, and has given us lots of tips and techniques to help keep Tessa happy.

Donna was an absolute pleasure to work with! Her knowledge, passion, experience and wisdom were such valuable resources for our family and puppy, Dolly. Positive reinforcement training, coupled with Donna's genuine approach and experience have not only encouraged Dolly to develop into a positive canine citizen, this experience has also developed us into positive canine owners!

Donna definitely understands how to relate to pooches and jumped right in at teaching us how to relate to Jack. We were continually provided explanations on what dog body language to watch for, in fact we received cue cards at every session as a reference to what we had learned. Donna's approach was timely each week with the progression we were seeing with Jack. Donna made herself available at any time for our questions and concerns by sending her off a quick note.

As we only had a dog when I was a teenager, and knowing what breed we would get, we instantly knew we needed to do training, especially since my husband has never had a dog and we have young daughter who needed it too.

Let me just start by saying Donna with Polite Pups is so wonderful, and so professional.

We learned so much from Donna regarding Mochas breeds. Donna went above and beyond her role by including literature for us to read with information on Mochas breeds and bringing a variety of brain games explaining how these items could be used for puzzles and mental stimulation for Mocha.

Due to mine and my husband’s (at times) demanding schedules, it became apparent that we would require someone to stop by and look after our dog. It was hard to think of putting Jet in someone else’s care, but along came Donna.

Donna has been an invaluable resource for me and my family, not only with her training sessions but her overall support with animal husbandry and dog psychology

We contacted Donna when Milo was just a young puppy - we were working with him on our own but were feeling concerned about him jumping up on our young daughter. Donna came to us for a meet and greet and we knew right away we needed her help! She is kind, genuine, and passionate about her work. I have already, and will continue to recommend Donna’s services to all of my friends and family!

We have known Donna Barrett for almost a year now. She helped us with our special fur baby. When we got him, he had been through a lot in his early life and experienced some trauma. He was orally fixated on walks, anxious of other dogs, and impulsive. But, with Donna’s guiding hand, our little guy has come so far; in just one year he has been transformed.

Donna is an exceptional dog walker because she doesn’t just take our Duck Toller, Stella, for a walk. As an experienced dog trainer, Donna knows how important it is to exercise a dog’s mind as much as their body. She plans a variety of mind puzzles and challenges for Stella that she incorporates into the walks and also knows how to properly address any unwanted behaviours while out and about.

Donna at Polite Pups Training has been walking our fur baby (and Corgi) Notley for about a year and a half now. I cannot recommend this company and Donna enough.

Corgis are herding dogs that need work to keep their minds busy as well as their bodies. I have had dogs for more than 30 years and walked Notley daily myself. However, I got ill a year and a half ago and was virtually unable to walk and needed Donna to walk Notley for me. By hiring Donna, Notley was still able to get his needed exercise. I have gained some mobility back and can once again walk Notley, but still I can’t give him the long walks with the speed that Donna does. So even now I continue to have Donna walk him to supplement the exercise I can give him.

I am recently retired and happily have lots of time to spend with my two-year old terrier, but while I was still working, Donna was instrumental in providing both exercise and training for Rio.

Rio loved her “Donna days” and so did I. Donna does not just walk your dog. She closely observes your dog and provides your pet with an enriched physical, mental and sensory experience.

Our family contacted Donna from Polite Pups when we started seeing some troubling behaviour from our one-year old rescue dog, Max. Max was being aggressive with food as well as barking and lunging at other dogs when walking. Walks were very stressful for us all and we stopped walking him altogether.

With Donna’s help through weekly training sessions over a few weeks, our family learned strategies to deal with Max’s aggression around food.

We chose to invest in puppy training to enhance communication between us and our pup, to help establish boundaries and expectations. Also, for the safety and security of our pup, it was/is important for us to have her trained. We believed that understanding commands would certainly help keep our puppy safe while living within the respectful boundaries/expectations we set out for her.

When we first got Oswald as a puppy we knew right away we didn’t want him home alone all the time while we were at work. We contacted Donna at Polite Pups and after our initial meeting we knew she would be the perfect fit for us. Donna has a trustworthy and warm personality - Exactly the kind of person you feel safe having in your home, and trusting your furbaby with. Since October 2018 Donna has been walking Oswald twice a week.

Investing in puppy training - even if you have had a dog before - is being a responsible pet owner and could save you time and money later….and could even prevent you and your dog from getting into a very serious situation.

We learned how to communicate effectively with our dog - she is always looking to please us. But if we don’t let her know what behaviours we are looking for it can be very frustrating for all.

We have a standard poodle (with her full tail). Even at the age of 6 months, Maggie was very headstrong ....... after all, she is still a very young pup. Some of the problems were nipping, biting, and jumping up on people and objects. When taking her for walks she was always pulling on the leash.The good news is that with Donna's training, these bad habits are disappearing. Donna has taught us to be consistent with our commands

We have one mastiff cross rescue, Pepper, and when we adopted a second younger mastiff cross, Enzo, this year we knew we might need some help with managing their different training and energy needs between the two dogs.

Having had a few dogs before, we know that to invest time in training them while they're young will pay dividends for the rest of our lives together. We found that Donna provided a structured and positive learning experience for both Louis and us!

With our previous dogs, we did not use professional training and we did not want to make the same mistakes with Jax. We knew he was going to grow upwards of 100 pounds and wanted to have a well behaved dog that we could bring anywhere with us.

Through positive reinforcement, Donna has taught our Luna how to calm/settle herself faster in high arousal situations. Donna also trained Luna to follow commands and has done an excellent job. Not only has she worked so well with our dog, but she has also included our four-year-old daughter in the process of teaching, rewarding, and gameplay.