Testimonials (old)

“I have had the pleasure of working with Emily for several years. She is a diligent and compassionate animal behavior consultant who is very knowledgeable about contemporary, positive reinforcement based principles and practices. One of the most admirable attributes is her respect for her clients. She is committed to sharing understanding and is confident about their ability to learn and improve what they do to help their animals. Emily is also committed to her own ongoing education and skill building, which makes her an outstanding professional in the field. I recommend her highly. -Dr. Susan Friedman, PhD, behaviorworks.org

“I have had the pleasure of frequently teaming with Allie Bender. Allie assists many of my veterinary clients to implement the behavior modification plans I have recommended for their pets. These patients include many with very serious diagnoses involving anxiety, fear, and aggression. Allie has an excellent teaching style and develops great rapport with my clients. She provides email support beyond her sessions that is invaluable. Her education, knowledge, and experience in animal behavior, learning theory, and behavior modification techniques are extensive and impressive. Allie has helped me achieve many successful outcomes and my clients could not be happier! It is a pleasure to have such a wonderful colleague. Our relationship sets an excellent example of the value of collaboration between veterinarians and professional behavioral trainers, that brings even greater benefit to our mutual clients.” -Dr. Fiia Jokela, DVM, DABVP (canine/feline), Owner and Veterinary Behavior Resident: Chicagoland Veterinary Behavior Consultants

“Emily is a knowledgeable and compassionate behavior consultant. She strives to continue to learn and has a solid understanding of animals and their behavior. If she feels something is beyond her capabilities, she seeks assistance and guidance from other behavior professionals. She is a great resource if you are facing challenges with your pet.” -Debbie Martin, KPA-CTP, CPDT-KA, LVT, Veterinary Technician Specialist in Behavior, Co-Owner of TEAM Education in Animal Behavior, Animal Behavior Technician at Veterinary Behavior Consultations, LLC

“Cortez is doing amazing, with utilizing the positive reinforcement training, counter conditioning, and shaping he has improved so much!! His reactions to kids and other dogs has decreased by a landslide, I am a proud mother!! Just wanted to let you know I referred one of my friends to you.” -Cortez’s mom

“Best money ever spent!!!!!! Your training was phenomenal and has made a tremendous difference.” -Livie’s mom

” I cannot say enough about Emily Strong. She came to my home on various occasions to help me with an array of issues surrounding the adoption of a new cat and my FIV kitty. She gave me a number of specific actions I could take to improve my situation, and even sent detailed follow-up notes from each visit… I trust Emily’s ideas, expertise and her spirit when it comes to animals and would recommend her to anyone who wants to get more involved in the complete health of their pets.” -Mimi’s mom

“Thank you so much for all of your help. I can’t tell you how helpful this training plan was and we still haven’t even gotten around to trying everything on it! I also discovered that I really love training her when at first I thought it just be painstaking and frustrating (not that it can’t be at times).” -Phoebe’s mom

“Emily understands how dogs think. She counseled us concerning our young beagle mix, Amber, who had several undesirable behavior issues, including occasional fights with our older beagle mix, guarding behavior, stealing food off counters, and separation anxiety. Emily suggested some simple changes that we could implement. She carefully explained why these changes would make a difference and stressed that consistency was important. Emily’s advice was exactly what we needed. The changes provided Amber with reasonable boundaries and enabled her to “unlearn” her bad behavior. We now have a calm, settled dog, who willingly and happily obeys the rules of the house.” -Amber’s mom

“I just wanted to take the time and thank [Allie] for getting me in. I can’t even begin to tell you all that I learned and I’m beyond excited to put it all to work (as I have already trained my husband on the do’s and don’ts). I was extremely impressed by the whole process and more than anything…I walked away with hope and excitement!! Thank you again!!” – Livie’s mom

“My husband and I have two parrots and 3 dogs. We have hired Emily for Parrot Behavior Consultations for both of our parrots and her advice has been excellent and her knowledge of parrots is extensive. She explains everything so thoroughly and she genuinely cares about our parrots. I cannot recommend Emily enough for animal behavior consultations.” -Zoey’s mom

“Thanks to You Allie we are making progress. We took her to visit our daughter in Ohio over the weekend, using all our tools when approaching the troubled spots we saw a big improvement. Our daughter said she was calmer. ” -Lily’s mom

“I want to let you know that Holly is still much better with her barking at people and the delivery vehicles that pass our house.  We have been working with her when she is on the deck at our camper and she is doing well there, too!  Our time with [Allie] was so beneficial.  And the resources you shared are great.  I go back and visit them on occasion to be sure that I am on target with how we are working with her. ” -Holly’s mom