Canine State of Mind - Chicago, Illinois

Scott Goodwin

Sasha at Canine State of Mind has been a superior coach in helping us to understand our puppies language. She has a deep understanding of dog psychology. She has been with us since we got nugget at two months old. Sasha has assisted us in creating a peaceful confident and independent puppy. Sasha gently and patiently guided us in a whole new thought process regarding raising a dog that is amazing and effective. We highly recommend Sasha and Canine State of Mind for anyone looking for a more compassionate, respectful and mindful way to raise your puppy or dog. This program is not for Training your dog, but to help develop you be a strong leader and the alpha your dog needs you to be. We believe Sasha was sent to us divinely and greatly appreciate her always being there for us. We very much enjoyed and appreciated her passion for dogs.

Melissa Contrucci

Sasha is an incredible woman with such passion for animals! We sent our toy poodle to her behavioral classes and he came home a much more peaceful and relaxed dog. Her one on one training with us helped us understand how and why dogs behave in certain ways and gave us the tools to continue working with him at home. We will always be grateful for her and her patience and love for our dog!

Ellie Sethness

Canine State of Mind and Sasha are fantastic! My dogs have been board with her for over 4 years and she is truly the only person I trust to watch them when we go away. They have also completed several trainings with her which has provided both the dogs and myself so much valuable information on how to make their lives the best.

What drew us to boarding with Sasha was knowing that the dogs wouldn’t be locked in a kennel while we were gone and that they were going to get to spend time outside. Whenever they come back they seem well looked after and tired from all of their activities.

Molly McKeon Viellieu

We’ve been working with Canine State of Mind over the past year through private training and boarding for our 18-month-old Airedale Terrier and have been pleased with the results and support we’ve received from Sasha.

We had sent our puppy to another board and train facility, focused on negative reinforcement, and have found that Sasha’s training methods are much more effective and long-lasting. Sasha has an innate understanding of canine behavior and not only taught us how to train our dog, but also how we as owners should interact with our dog to build a healthy relationship. Sasha was there every step of the way, hopping on the phone to answer our questions between sessions and communicating frequently to check in. If you’re looking for obedience, standard training or basic commands, her methods may not be for you but if you’re willing to put in the time and effort the results are well worth it. The transformation of our dog since day one has been significant - she is happier, more relaxed and better behaved - and we can’t thank Sasha enough!

We’ve also had a great experience with boarding our dog and the pick up/drop off options are really convenient. We feel at ease knowing she is under Sasha’s care and able to have the space to run around at her beautiful farm while we’re out of town. We’d love to be able to receive more updates and pictures while she’s there but would recommend Canine State of Mind as an option for longer term boarding (1 week+) stays.

Kendall Reiss

I am incredibly disappointed and upset by our experience with Canine State of Mind. I thought this was going to be a game changer for our corgi with anxiety issues; the entire experience was something out of a nightmare.

We paid $5,500 for the two week board and train; to start, our friends who dropped off our pup while we were on our honeymoon said that Sasha was an hour late to the pick up spot.

We received no updates during those two weeks while he was there other than that he was "settled in beautifully"; I offered to send over instructions for his food we sent with him, which she said was not needed.

We had a training session with Sasha the day before our dog returned to us, where her instructions were to ignore our dog and not engage with him at all directly. No eye contact, no petting, don't talk to him, basically act like he doesn't exist, besides fulfilling his basic needs. She did not give any real instruction besides ignoring him and having "calm and strong" energy.

My husband picks up our dog the next day, and we were horrified with what we saw. Our dog's butt was caked in old, dried diarrhea. His bed was incredibly dirty and smelled so bad he had to plug his nose on the way home.

His bag we sent with him was completely shredded up inside, with his toys destroyed, and all of his food and treats gone, despite sending an excess with him. Our dog has NEVER in his life destroyed a toy, furniture, etc., so we know this was done by another dog at the farm.

The bag was also filled to the brim with a HUGE pile of gray dog hair that was clearly not our dog's? (our dog is white and brown).

We completely ignored our dog, per her instructions. He mostly acted as he normally does. Sasha would occasionally send voice notes reiterating how we should not engage with him, and how we should try to reduce any anxious energy.

He continued to have liquid diarrhea for the next couple of weeks, as well as throw up bile several times. Sasha said that it was strange, as he "didn't have diahhrea during his stay". Really? The old caked on poop all over his butt and bed when we picked him up says otherwise. She said they "wash bedding every other day" and she "never noticed poop on his behind". The poop on him was OLD and caked on; it was not fresh. His bed absolutely REEKED; I cannot imagine it was washed at all, never mind every other day. Her recommendation on his new GI issues was "I wouldn't rush to the vet".

She said that her instruction for how to directly engage with him would come with time, but over a week passed, and she was still having us avoid any contact with our dog. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to not make ANY contact with my dog for over a week. If there's certain ways I need to change how I interact with him, fine, but telling me not to interact with him at all is not real dog training.

After three weeks have passed, our dog's GI issues are finally resolving, and we have ignored Sasha's last two texts to inquire how he is doing. I cannot trust her anymore after the blatant lying and gaslighting about his condition upon as return, as well as the lazy "training" method of ignoring our dog instead of addressing his issues.

Sasha told us that dogs need much LESS than their owners think they do - that is evident from how she cared for our dog. I am horrified to think of what he experienced while he was at the farm, and we will never know, because it is evident that we cannot trust Sasha, and we have no photo or video evidence that they fulfill ANY of the promises they make on their website. I am deeply regretful that we sent our dog to Canine State of Mind, and am surprised there aren't more reviews like mine online.

jon f

Simply put - Canine State of Mind/Sasha is the BEST. She is a lover of dogs and understands them on a deep level. We did the Puppy program at the Farm where Sasha took our dog away for three weeks. He came back with bad behavior gone and good behavior elevated. Puppy biting and chewing - gone. Potty trained and wonderfully social with other dogs. Sasha makes sure that your dog is around her personal dogs, so a puppy learns how to be social. We LOVE our puppy and owe a debt of gratitude to Sasha for her excellent work with him. Use her if you can.

Nick Jenkins

For compassionate and honest dog training and boarding, look no further than Sasha and her team. She helped our dog work through his issues that others could not, and we're so happy to have worked with her.

Terre Tuzzolino

This is what peace of mind looks like. It’s a photo of Murphy happy to be boarding with Sasha out in the country where he can play with his pals and enjoy being outside. We are happy he is not confined to a crate. That he is being cared for by people who understand dogs and what they need. We know he enjoys his stays at the farm because he cannot get into the van fast enough when Andrea comes to get him. Makes us chuckle to think he may be having more fun on vacation than we are. Peace of mind for us. Fun for Murph. So grateful we found Sasha and Canine State of Mind.