Cynthia Howell

“Cynthia is an incredible trainer. She is super passionate and caring towards my dogs and works with us to create manageable skills that support the whole household. I really trust her and her deep knowledge of training.”

— Wayne Z.

“We first worked with Cynthia with in a group class with our poodle, Ellie, who was extremely shy. Cynthia was great with Ellie, being very careful to pair her with other dogs whose temperament would be accepting and allow Ellie some time and space to get to know them. At the end of the series of classes, Ellie was able to play with many of the other dogs without getting nervous of overwhelmed. A few months later, I asked Cynthia to help me with getting Ellie to remain calm on walks. I take her to work with me almost everyday, but walks along the busy street were stressful and sometimes frightening for her. Cynthia started from the very basics to build Ellie’s confidence; first in the roof garden of my building, then on to a relatively empty trail, to busier streets and even stopping at a cafe. Since then, I’ve continued to work with Ellie on the techniques I learned from Cynthia. We can now walk along the busy street outside of my studio and she is happy to take the lead, tail always up, and having a great time on our walk. She’s also more accepting of animals, able to either stop and greet them on a walk or able to ignore them and walk right past without an issue. Without Cynthia's help, I don’t think Ellie would be doing as well as she is today. I highly recommend working with Cynthia; she’s knowledgeable, intuitive, and you can tell she really loves the work she does. And the results have proven it!”

— Charles C.

“Cynthia is a rare gem and an integral part of our extended dog-family! We’ve relied on her for years for our type-A, high anxiety doodle, and we recently turned to her, once again, for help navigating the addition of a second dog. She has both an intrinsic understanding of dog behavioral needs and a commitment to continually expanding her expertise through study. We are the fortunate beneficiaries of her knowledge and skills; she continually amazes us with insights into the psyche of our animals and a seemingly endless toolkit to solve every scenario we encounter—from reactivity to puppy rearing. The result of working with her is a deepened connection with our dogs and simple, practical techniques (ask her to teach you the “1-2-3”!) that make daily life happier and calmer for us all.”

— Annie A.

“Diamond Dogs helped me reframe my understanding of what dogs need, particularly my dog. Cyn taught me how to listen/understand/observe my unique dog where now we do things that I know is bringing us both joy instead of what I thought we should be doing based on old ways of thinking/training. It has transformed our relationship and lives! We are still on our journey to get where we want to be but we have a solid roadmap. I’m very thankful Cyn saw what a wonderful creature Brandi is and how she could thrive more peacefully.”

— Amy M.