Hudson Valley Hounds

Tessa has helped to completely transform our lives and the life of our dog!! We felt desperately helpless to our dogs reactivity when we first started. For many years our dog struggled to simply exist without fear - we could never introduce her to anyone in our lives without her becoming completely overwhelmed and walks were dreaded out of fear of her lunging and barking at other dogs. Tessa met us in our overwhelm with such empathy and understanding, gently guiding us to acquire more understanding not just of what to do but why we were doing it. We learned to read our dogs cues, intuit her needs, confidently advocate for her, and help her build resilience and honor her recovery. She helped us to change our frame of mind from seeing everything that was going wrong to seeing small - and eventually large - wins everyday. Today, our dog has a huge toolbox of skills to help her in moments of overwhelm or fear, she is engaged, trusting, and responsive with us, and she moves so much more confidently. With Tessas help we even navigated a move from rural NY to a major metropolitan area without too much distress! We are eternally grateful to Tessa for supporting us in learning to provide a life for a dog in which she doesnt have to live in fear.

Tessa is a great trainer. She is very patient and calm, and helps you through the many steps it takes to train your dog. She is encouraging and supportive. And her use of positive reinforcement worked amazingly well for both our younger dog (who was in great need of training!) and as a brush up for our older dog too. I highly recommend you use Hudson Valley Hounds for your dog training needs!

I have had my two dogs in training with Tessa at Hudson Valley Hounds since the summer of 2024. I contacted Tessa because I was beginning to have trouble managing the behaviors of my dogs - one has severe anxiety, and the other needs help with impulse control. Tessa comes for lessons in my home on a weekly basis. She is prompt, communicative, professional, and extremely talented. Nearly every suggestion that Tessa gives is targeted to a specific behavior and seems to work instantly, and when we are still struggling with certain behaviors, Tessa is happy to revisit the strategies suggested. She gives us homework to do throughout the week, and when I consistently do the homework, I see consistent results. Each time she leaves my house, I am in awe of Tessas ability to interpret my dogs behaviors and develop targeted plans for each of my very different dogs. Above all, Tessa is a lovely person: a realist; a patient and compassionate listener; optimistic; humorous; honest. If you are looking for dog training, give Hudson Valley Hounds a call!

Tessa changed our family for the better. Our buddy, Rino, came into our home as a 5-month-old Cattle Dog mix from Tennessee who was bewildered by the chaos of New York City. Fortunately, Tessa educated my wife and I in how to provide the particular tools and specific structure that would be help Rino thrive in our mad human world. He is now 3.5 and brimming with daily happiness. He has grown into such a polite and confidence young dog that we have been able to pay Tessas lessons forward to other adopters who could use guidance in helping their dogs adapt to living in the city. Whats more, Rino was with us as we welcomed a new human to the family, and his tutelage under Tessa has empowered him to effortlessly stand as a perfectly gentle, playful, irresistibly lovable older brother.Our dog and our family are happier for having met and worked with Tessa.

We would like to give Tessa of Hudson Valley Hounds TEN stars, but Google only lets us give 5. Tessa has been wonderful to work with these past few years with multiple cases of our in our rescue program. She is attentive, knowledgable, patient and so very thoughtful. Scheduling sessions is always a breeze and both our fosters and adopters have enjoyed working with her. Most importantly, our dogs really like her too, and we see results! In a world filled with balanced bro trainers, working with a professional who understands the science behind force free, positive reinforcement training has been vital for the success and safety of our dogs and the humans caring for them. We highly recommend Tessa for dog training the way it should be - without harm!

I’d never trained a dog before and didn’t realize what it takes! Tessa has been training me and my reactive 2-year-old cattle dog Ziggy and I’m so grateful to Tessa for all the progress we’ve made. She’s incredibly knowledgeable, positive, and supportive. The training has helped Ziggy build skills to be more relaxed and engaged, and really fostered my bond with her. Tessa has also been very patient with me and given me the skills I need to train Ziggy. Sometimes I say to Tessa, “you want me to do what?”, but when I do I always see the benefit. When I was looking for a trainer, I kept hearing about Tessa from friends and others, and they were right! I highly, highly recommend her! Thank you Tessa!

Ive worked with more than a handful of excellent trainers, and Tessa outshines them all. The difference? Her compassion for and understanding of dogs matches that of her human clients. She really gets the issues dog owners have, in addition to those that naturally come up for dogs because they have to adapt to the human world. She has helped me so much with my young dogs tendency to fearfulness. Her science-based, ethical, and incredibly knowledgeable approach to shaping desirable behaviors is best for dogs welfare--and it works. I feel so lucky to have found Tessa and Hudson Valley Hounds.

Tessas impact on not only our dog Unas life but our own life is unmeasurable. Due to Unas fear based reactivity were unable to have friends and family over to our home, unable to console or calm her during moments of distress, and our dog walks left us all in emotional ruin. We came to Tessa in desperation and she took us in. She taught us numerous skills, techniques, games that helped Una view the world as a little bit less scary of a place. Tessa taught us how to watch and understand the signs our dog was giving to us so we could step in before, during, and after moments of overwhelm. We recently transitioned from the hudson valley to a loud stressful stimulating big city, and even through virtual sessions she helped us all relax and trust the training. Now, she can meet new people in the home and exist in a crazy world without being completely crippled by fear. Una is a different dog after working with Tessa and we are all so incredibly grateful.

Tessa rocks. Working on a broad spectrum of skills with my new rescue and Tessa has been a tremendous help in breaking down the steps to each new skill. I was overwhelmed when I tried training independently, but Tessa makes the whole process digestible and fun. Not to mention, my dog loves her! So excited to continue working with Tessa and see my pup build confidence with all of his new wisdom.

We have been working with Tessa for over a year and she has supported our dog (and us!) tremendously. She is incredibly dedicated, knowledgeable, encouraging and kind. Our dogs anxiety has decreased and she has become more resilient thanks to all the skills and strategies Tessa has helped us implement.

Tess from Mutt and Molly is an absolute treasure. She takes such great care of our cat and dog when we are away and always provides updates/info. Tess goes above and beyond and gives our little friends the best care. Highly recommended if you need dog walking, pet sitting, or training in the area!!