Student Endorsements ITC: Teaching & Training

“ITC Surpassed my expectations. I have never taken a course (dog related or not) that was so positive and uplifting all of the time! For me, it was truly transformational. And the people skills I learned are just invaluable…. Pia and Sue’s knowledge, experience, humor and positive attitudes earned my deepest respect and admiration.

“Dear Dana, I just wanted to thank you for creating the ITC course in 1999 that opened my eyes and changed my world. I passed my Certified Pet Dog Trainer test and have often looked back on those courses as foundation and inspiration. Your vision was a very special gift to me, and for that I will always be grateful.” AC

“I just returned from a 4-day seminar….Although I think the speaker is a great trainer/behaviorist, I have to say that the ITC course I took was much more enjoyable and informative! Your great ability to organize 1) people teams with dogs, 2) training/teaching sessions, and 3) Instruction sessions, made the course one of the best I have ever attended! And, of course, you assembled an excellent group of trainers! Anyway, I just thought I’d pass on the kudos… as I was thinking about the ITC course last week, and what a great job you’ve done with it!” AN

“Dana, wish I could go to ITC again, so much fun but……. $$ you know how that goes.
Best course I ever went to for dog training – kudos to you, Pia and Sue – simply fabulous!! – RT, 2012

Thank you for the opportunity to learn in such a supportive environment. Trish (guest instructor) and Pia are rock stars! And Dana provided the back stage passes. This was such a great week! LF 2011

“I look forward to next years AITC. Sue left an impression with me that I will carry forward and share with pets and people throughout my career. Pia was a fantastic instructor and my work as a dog trainer will be better due to what she has taught me. Thank You.”

“I liked the laid back, relaxed, positive atmosphere combined with the well planned structure and organization.”

“This was the most intense learning experience that I have ever been through (That includes 6 years of college and multiple continuing ed courses). I felt that every creative juice that I did not have was tapped. It was very well organized and the hands on activities interspersed between lectures helped to keep me from losing focus or getting bored. I experienced a roller coaster of emotions from being extremely physically and mentally exhausted and laughing harder than I can ever remember….It took two full days to recover but then I was energized.”

“I really enjoyed training the shelter dogs as it gave me the experience of working with an unfamiliar dog (which is what one would encounter in a class setting) and also allowed me to work with a dog with a different temperament than ones I am familiar.”

“Hazel and I corresponded this week and we were discussing how much we miss Millie (their shelter dog). You’ll never believe it but I adopted a dog from our shelter a week after ITC. I had been looking since last September but didn’t know how to go about choosing a dog. I was walking past the kennels and spotted a pup that reminded me so much of Millie I was really taken by surprise. She’s a 4 month old German Shepherd mix. I put her through some of the Sue Sternberg paces and she passed with flying colors! She’s been doing extremely well and my Chocolate Lab (8 years) is accepting her much better than expected. I am really hoping to train her for pet therapy work (i.e., school and nursing home visitations). Right now I’m having a blast trying out all the new things we learned at ITC. By the way–the pup’s name is Millie in honor of ITC Millie!” – Risa Davidson, 2003

“I thought the course was an amazing experience. At the beginning of the week I was feeling overwhelmed, but I received a great deal of support from Dana, Sue, and my peers. Even though I was the youngest person there (20), I still felt respected as a trainer. I know the experience I have gained from this course will be a huge boost to my fledgling career.”

“Wow! What an intense experience ITC proved to be! After attending AITC, I was a bit concerned that ITC would be “boring”, but actually I found the ITC to be even a more challenging learning experience than AITC had been! Would love to do it again!”

“I just wanted to send you a thank you for helping guide me in a great direction with my dog training career. After having attended ITC last year and numerous seminars since then, I feel much more versed in training and behavior and have been able to implement and use the tools and training techniques to aid in my client training.
I am still very involved with the shelter in Oakland NJ and continuing to improve the Pet Training Club I launched for students in alternative schools with behavioral or educational disabilities. I’ve taken 70+ dogs through the program and love the progress both students and dogs make. I feel blessed I have the time and opportunity to work with the kids and dogs together. My love is working with these dogs in the shelter.. I learn the most from working with these dogs…I feel they teach me more than I teach them…

I have referred anyone who asks about dog training to ITC as I feel it was well rounded and you have perfected the program to cover a lot of areas in that short time. Kudos to all involved. ”

Sincerely,
Jean DeCesaris ITC 2010

“Absolutely loved the experience of bonding/working with the shelter dog, as well as “struggling through” the pressure of the group projects!”

“I cant believe that it was only 1 year ago that I attended the workshop. That got me on the path that changed my life. It’s so fulfilling and rewarding to be able to do something so interesting and fun – as well as be excited to keep learning. I read my first letter awhile ago and managed to accomplish everything I wrote 1 year ago. I’m amazed at how far I have come and I feel like I’ve been doing this for years.

I’ve learned so much with all of apprenticing, reading, workshops and teaching my own classes. My students compliment all the time and no one would ever guess I’ve been doing this for such a short time. I’m still very aware of all that I don’t know and careful not to overstep my abilities, but things keep moving forward at a perfect pace.. my learning and my teaching.

I wanted to write and share my thoughts with you and thank you again for helping me get started down this fascinating career path.” JL 2007

“…you, Sue, Pia and the other members… have all together given me the confidence to go the step further, and make my own website.. I had just been doing word of mouth referrals from the vet etc.. I then had cards made, brochures, and then the website,, some of my clients wrote some nice things that I posted as testimonials.

I just want to say that had I NOT gone to ITC, I would not have done this… I’d be stuck forever spinning my wheels, going no where..
thank you thank you” SM 2009