Barrie Finger

Barrie Finger has been professionally helping humans help their dogs in the Denver metro area for over 24 years.
Barrie’s training philosophy is firmly rooted in positive reinforcement, focusing on strengthening the relationship between dogs and humans to foster harmony and promote behavioral wellness.

Services:
Private sessions, puppy training, and consultations.

Certifications:
Certified Dog Behavior Consultant (CDBC) with the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC.com),
Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT-ka) (CCPDT.com),
Certified Fear Free Professional (www.fearfreepets.com), and
completed the esteemed Living and Learning with Animals Course (behaviorworks.com).

Specializations:
Helping especially “sensitive” dogs and has a special interest in the connections between physical/medical and behavioral issues.

Training Methods:
Positive reinforcement.

Customer Reviews:

• Leah and Tom: “We cannot thank Barrie enough for her help with our dog. Not only is she extremely knowledgeable about dog training and behavior, she also has a very natural and effective way with animals that is contagious! We’ve learned so much from her well-rounded, patient and insightful approach.”
• Chris and Greg: “Without exception Mindful Dog Training is the Gold Standard in the Denver metro area. It truly doesn’t get any better. Barrie’s approach is professional, she brings her immense knowledge when she provides training. She clearly focuses on you and your pet. We wish all professionals were this exceptional! Truly the best.”
• Lia and Mike: “Soon after adopting our puppy, we realized we didn’t know how to train him and that we needed help. Barrie understands dogs and humans and, in a very understated and humorous way, taught us how to work with our pup She is kind, skilled and helpful and we are so glad we worked with her. She gave us valuable tools and never made us feel bad for our mistakes! Her gentle, positive way of training really worked for all of us and helped us stay focused. We now have a great dog who is happy and well adjusted thanks to Barrie ! We highly recommend her both for her training methods and wonderful personality.”
• Shannon C: “Before Barrie I was always stressed about my two dogs. Stanley was aggressive and high-strung. Charlotte came from an abusive home and was petrified by all human contact. I talked to other trainers and never felt comfortable with advice like ‘spray him in the face with ice water.’
  Barrie is gentle and compassionate while also being very pragmatic. She is extremely supportive, which helped me make some difficult but necessary changes in my own behavior. I appreciate her comprehensive approach and all the helpful advice and information. After our sessions I’ve seen major improvements. Stanley is calmer and more responsive, Charlotte is more social and lets me pet her. Oh, and I’m much happier too. Thanks Barrie!”
• Amy P.: “Barrie and Mindful Dog Training are by far the best I have ever worked with. Barrie is so passionate about her work and all the clients she works with. I have worked with her for behavioral training for my dog and we have made an immense amount of progress. After our sessions, she recommended particular day cares to take him to and other services that were specific to our needs and concerns. I will continue working with Mindful Dog Training and encourage anyone who is looking for a little extra help or advice with their beloved animal to use this service as well. Thank you Barrie!!”
• Janet and Paul: “When Barrie Finger agreed to ‘civilize’ our yellow lab, she took on a handful. Molly, shipped to The Dumb Friends League from a Kansas shelter as ‘unadoptable,’ simply looked at me with those big, brown eyes and captured my heart. Once we brought her home, however, she unleashed a mountain of problem behaviors. Molly was in constant movement as she counter-surfed, toppled trash cans, ate our underwear and fought her Gentle Leader. She chose the living room as her ‘potty spot,’ put her mouth around our arms, feet, and elbows, and bit other dogs whenever she encountered them. Petting and grooming were impossible, since Molly wouldn’t let us touch her body. My husband and I had experienced numerous challenges with other dogs over the years, but with Molly, we were at our wits end when we called Mindful Dog Training. Thanks to Barrie’s gentle, consistent techniques, creative solutions to problems, and sound advice on everything from dog food to pheromones, Molly is now a happy, obedient, family member, capable of putting away her toys, sitting quietly before going through front or back doors, and even behaving well in our veterinarian’s waiting room! Barrie is an exceptional trainer. We are impressed with Barrie’s abilities and are grateful for the changes she has made in our furry companion, Molly.”
• Marjorie: “Our home erupted into chaos after adopting a puppy at the new year. Determined, yet failing to train our new puppy, calm our older dog, and protect our kittens from the puppy invasion, Barrie came highly recommended by a friend.
  We love Barrie for lots of reasons: One. you CAN teach an old dog new tricksas witnessed by the transformation in our 13 year old Akita, who was getting more challenging and anxious as his precious years rolled by. Much of what we learned had to do with how we were communicating with him. As soon as we changed our body language and patterns with him, his good behavior and calm demeanor was soon to follow.
  Number two, the puppy had taken over the lives of the other beings in our home (older dog, two kittens, humans…), and within one session we had learned better ways to direct her puppy instincts and impulses. We continued with another 4 sessions, which I would highly recommend!
  Number three, from the moment Barrie first walked through the door, both dogs responded to her direction. She is clear, calm and kind with our furry family members often communicating with simple body language instead of words, and patient with us while we learned ‘dog-speak’ without the use of sharp collars and harsh words and actions.”
• Mary and Bob: “Barrie has been awesome to work with. Our three year old standard schnoodle was a horrible walker on leash, he lunged and barked at almost everything: cars, bikes, dogs, etc. Now he’s walking great in the neighborhood and even Wash Park. We were always told that you can’t teach an adult dog obedience but that is not the case when working with Barrie. She’s fantastic!”
• Susan S.: “What distinguishes Barrie is she NEVER makes you feel guilty or wrong for past problems with your dog. Instead, she provided me with pragmatic solutions that I began using immediately. Her rapport with dogs is unprecedented. I highly, highly recommend her – as does our veterinarian. I contacted her because we were having serious problems (aggression, attacking and growling at other dogs) with our newly “rescued” border collie. I can honestly say we would have had to sadly return our dog to Border Collie Rescue if not for Barrie. Now, our dog is an amazing family pet, who even plays well with neighborhood children and other dogs.”
• Carie G.: “Barrie Finger, of Mindful Dog Training, was recommended to me by someone who had just adopted a new large dog who was getting into fights with the old dog of the house. The problem was escalating and they were afraid they would have to return the new dog. But Barrie came over and they were amazed how much improvement happened over a single session! With continued work, the two dogs were now becoming best buddies. A good trainer does wonders!
  Well, my time to call Barrie came when my American Bulldog started growling at my husband for what seemed like no apparent reason. It was happening more and more frequently, and it was such a scary feeling to get impression my dog was turning on someone I love. I called Barrie who came to my house, spent time talking to us, and observed the dog. She quickly diagnosed the problem, explained what was happening, and gave us the tools to stop the behavior. MY DOG HAS NOT GROWLED ONCE SINCE BARRIE CAME TO OUR HOUSE!!
  If you are having issues with your dog, I highly recommend Barrie. She is fun, super smart, kind to the dogs, effective in her approach, and most importantly, GETS RESULTS.”
• Amy and Gary: “We love Barrie and our dog Lindy loves Barrie. Everyone who meets Lindy comments on how wonderful she is.”
• Liz and Jeff: “Barrie is an incredible trainer and has an amazing connection with animals. She was a saviour for the abused/neglected dog we adopted!”
• Kate: “I hired Barrie to help with my dog Doc’s not-so-good temperament around children since my husband and I were expecting a baby. Barrie was extremely knowledgeable and thorough. She also explained the whole philosophy behind the training so I was more apt to reinforce all the commands on my own since the overall concept made sense to me. On top of it all, her great sense of humor made the process fun. Doc has accepted baby Harry into the household just fine and is very calm and gentle around him. Thanks Barrie!”
• Troy: “Barrie is awesome! She taught my dog (and me) patience. Her approach to dog training is positive and non-threatening, for the dog and the owner. Barrie’s philosophy of being proactive to negative situation is seen throughout each session; she is constantly ‘thinking ahead’ of the dog and assisting in creating positive behavior. I have three dogs, and Barrie has worked with all of them.”
• Catherine: “I highly recommend Barrie! I recently got my first puppy and I had NO idea what I was doing. Barrie helped me train our puppy – from basic stuff like house training to fun stuff like shaking paws and rolling over. She really helped us correct some behavior that would have become more serious problems if it wasn’t addressed – like chewing, whining, digging. I strongly recommend working with Barrie when your dog is still young – before small problems become big ones. She seriously has a solution for everything! She also has amazing intuition into dog behavior that helped me gain a much better understanding of where the behavior was coming from and therefore what to do to correct it. Each week, I’d have my list of problems with the dog, and she had insight and solutions for every single issue. Also, dogs seem to know that she “gets” them because my dog is bananas about her.”
• Tom L.: “Barrie Finger has a special gift when it comes to creating a life-long bond between a Dog and its Pet Parents. We wanted so much to get inside Sami’s head so we could understand what she was feeling, what she was thinking, and what she could not tell us. Sami is our 3 year old King Charles Spaniel. Barrie was referred to us as someone special, as someone who just might help us achieve that special relationship with Sami. Well, who would have thought… four short months later, and we are inside Sami’s head!!! What an awesome place to be. And Barrie brought the three of us to this place, one incredible step at a time. (Of course, step-one was our learning that “English is not Sami’s first language”; Surprise!). The story doesn’t end here; rather it begins here, all over again, one year later.
  Sami lost her hearing over this past year, and we had slipped out of her head; a very sad realization. But, a short version of the rest of the story… we reached out to Barrie for help with what we believed was an impossible task. Two months later, we are able to communicate with Sami using “doggie sign language”. No matter that English isn’t Sami’s first language. The three of us are so very connected again. Thank you Mindful Dog Training for doing what you do and for sharing your special talents with Pet Parents who care about their pets as much as we do.”
• Jeannie: “I would highly recommend Barrie for help training a new puppy! She is patient, knowledgeable and has made the process of training our now 7 month old puppy enjoyable and positive. She has also been great about recommending vets, equipment for training, toys etc. She is very flexible, reliable and Enzo loves her!”
• Rob and Marybeth: “Patient, kind and compassionate. Barrie is also a very good listener. She’s done a great job training us (and our dogs!)”
• Pat Blocker, www.peacefulpaws.net: “I have known and worked with Barrie for many years. She is a knowledgeable and extremely competent trainer whose integrity and training skills are surpassed only by her compassion. She is often my sounding board when I’m presented with difficult cases and the only trainer I trust to assist me in working those cases. I have had Barrie come to my aid with my own rescued dogs, all of which came with their own set of issues. I would highly recommend Barrie Finger to anyone who cares about training their dog in a fun, effective and gentle manner.”