Stefanie is such an amazing trainer! We took a 4-week virtual course for our puppy and learned so…read moremuch! We couldn't believe how many key skills our pup had learned in such a short time frame. I especially loved how positive Stefanie's attitude was and how you can tell she's very compassionate with dogs - it was really important to us that any training we use with our dog is structured that way. Stefanie took time to learn about our dog and her quirks and unique behaviors to make sure she oriented the training tips to her needs. She always took lots of time to answer our questions and sent detailed follow up emails after every class so we had the tools to keep practicing. We will definitely take the next level course with Stefanie to keep building on what we learned and have already recommended her to our family and friends with pups!

We took online classes in 2020 with Stephanie. She trained us very well on how to train our dog. I…read morestill use her methods in and out of our home. Dory is an anxious dog, but she trained just fine. Stephanie really understands dogs as individuals rather than making a strict regimen that can be overwhelming for nervous/anxious dogs. Our dog has even grown more confident outside the home and I feel it has bonded us more. Stephanie uses positive reinforcement, and the results have been great for our dog. Dory looked forward to every training time.

f you're looking for a dog trainer who will teach your dog solid foundational skills...and you're…read morewilling to put in the work...Alexia is our girl!! Before adopting my rescue Cane Corso, I knew she would need professional training. I put my trust in Alexia, and I can honestly say she exceeded every expectation. In just two weeks, my dog learned so much more than I ever imagined possible. Alexia is not only incredibly knowledgeable, but she's also kind, patient, and genuinely cares about both the dogs and their owners. She doesn't just train your dog, she takes the time to teach you how to continue the training at home so you can be successful together. I have three kids, and when she brought my dog home after her first two-week stay, she spent time showing my children how to safely and confidently work with our dog too. That meant so much me and my kids! I can't thank you enough, Alexia, for everything you've done for us. We're so grateful for your dedication, and we can't wait to continue working with you!

We love PotreroK9! We first met Alexia about two years ago when she stepped in to board our dog…read moreafter we had a last minute cancellation. While our dog has come a long way with her reactivity, having a trainer who isn't going to put her in unsafe situations while still giving her proper enrichment was important to us and PotreroK9 always hits the mark. Since then we've boarded & trained with PotreroK9 numerous times and have had a great experience every time! We also now have an adolescent working malinois and PotreroK9 is one of the few places we're able to entrust him to when we're out of town. Both of our dogs absolutely love Alexia and we would recommend to anyone!

My wife and I couldn't be happier with Jodie's training. Every moment of her instruction was…read moredelightful, informative, and invaluable. The improvements our pup, Ruby, has made since starting our sessions with Jodie are quantifiable and even life-changing . We went from being unsure of leaving her alone with our older dog and afraid of taking her to dog parks to being able to confidently take her wherever we like, secure in her safety and others. If you're in need of any kind of training whatsoever for your pup, you will not find anyone better than Jodie.

Jodi provided great insights into our rescue dog's agressive behavior and managing his triggers as…read morehe joins our multi-dog family. I have years of dog experience and am trained to handle SSPCA shelter dogs, but this little rescue had me stumped. With Jodi's advice and follow up, we're on the path to success. THANK YOU

I cannot recommend Tammy enough!! I rescued an 8 yr old chihuahua terrier mix back in March. He had…read morea skin infection, had bad kennel cough (he would sneeze out large amounts of blood) and was recovering from being neutered. I gave him so much love and attention. What I did not realize at the time was that I was setting him up with bad habits. I let him control our house and do whatever he wanted. He wasn't ruining our things and was potty trained so I figured why not. He then started to growl if we bothered him while he was sleeping and then he started to bite us. Once he started to bite our guests, I was horrified. He ended up biting my parents dog so bad that he needed to get stitches and I was devastated. I felt responsible for all this harm but I also knew if I returned him back to the shelter, he would probably be euthanized. I did so much research to see if this was fixable. That's when I found Tammy. Her background is phenomenal. She is knowledgable and trustworthy. She helped us understand that our small dog is acting out because he is so nervous and we just needed to show him that we were in control. When we left him for her train and boarding program, I was expecting him to wear his muzzle the whole entire time. I was shocked to find out that she only needed it for a couple hours. She had her own dogs and cat living with her but she was able to make him feel safe and control any bad behavior. That nice thing about going to her instead of a big company is that she will be with your dog to correct him/her whenever they act oūut. When Tammy brought him back he was completely different. He was a lot calmer and we could walk him without him pulling and barking at other animals or people. He was also finally able to sit and stay. I never realized how important sitting is until he was trained. She also trained him not to mark his territory so hes not constantly trying to pull us to pee on random things anymore. He just squats to pee whenever we take him out to pee. She has taught us so much about how to read dog behavior and gain control so our dog no longer feels the need to control. Once in a while he tries to test us and go back into his old behavior but her board and training comes with 5 separate hour long sessions. And shes also available over text. She has never made us feel like we're bothering her with our questions. You can tell she genuinely wants to help people train their dogs and is not in it just for the money.

Tammy is GREAT! She helped us with our Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy 2years ago. These are very strong…read moredogs with lots of personality. Tammy recognized her issues in the first 10 minutes and made changes in her in the 1st session! Tammy taught us the correct way to run our dog on the treadmill and proper walking techniques. We live in south Lake Tahoe. Tammy said she wanted to make sure when our puppy was 80lbs she wasn't pulling us down on the ice and snow. Thank goodness! My daughter was 10 at the time and had no problem controlling our dog. Friends come over all the time and always comment on how good our dog is, we owe a lot of it to Tammy and her techniques! We are getting another ridgeback puppy next week and Tammy took time on the phone today to give me some tips. I will definitely use her again with this new pup! THANK YOU TAMMY!!!

Heidi with Canefida is amazing!…read more I originally signed up for her class last year a couple months after I adopted my dog Lobo. I was only able to attend the first session before I had to drop out because his neuter surgery got moved up unexpectedly. Fast forward about a year later, we were finally able to come back and complete the training -- and I'm really glad we did. Heidi is very kind, patient, and clearly knows what she's doing. She explains things in a way that actually makes sense and takes the time to help both the dogs and the owners feel comfortable. Lobo absolutely loved her and was always excited to see her. Our class was right after her puppy class, so I got to watch for a few minutes, and she was just as great with the puppies and their owners. You can tell she really cares and wants people to succeed with their dogs. Lobo's review: "she gives directions, I listen, I get rewarded... 10/10 would attend again." If you're looking for a solid trainer, I definitely recommend checking her out. She offers classes at Pet Food Express on Freeport and also in Roseville.

Heidi's classes came highly recommended by the staff at the pet store. Our puppy was in the 8-week…read morepuppy program and we came away with lots of knowledge and tips. Not only were the trainers experienced, they were also kind and patient and able to give individualized attention to the puppies in our class!

We hired Alycia to help us with our new lab puppy. We brought her into our home when our puppy was…read more10 weeks old and have committed the time to meet with Alycia to train him (and us!) Alycia is great. She's so patient with us, and is so good with the dogs. Everything she has taught us has worked. Our puppy is only 5 months old but he's learned so much thanks to her techniques. It takes commitment from the owners to make it work, and Alycia is worth every penny and more. I can't recommend her enough! We've done both the private and group classes, and got a lot out of both! Hire her you won't regret it!

Hiring Alycia is hands down the best decision we could have ever made for our 6 month old Cocker…read moreSpaniel Tiffany. With only 2 sessions, Alycia has made so many drastic changes and corrections that we are absolutely convinced that she is today's Dog Whisperer! She is the most loving, kind, yet firm, professional dog trainer we could ever imagine and hope for. Our precious puppy has anxiety/separation anxiety and she tended to bark at people and other dogs (not out of aggression but) out of nervousness and excitement. She loves attention/affection but her first reaction was to bark, run around and be hyper. In minutes Alycia calmed Tiffany down and she really responded well to Alycia's commands. She taught us about boundaries and gave our puppy a boundary at the front door. Previously, Tiffany would want to run to the door and possibly run outside. After 2 tries, she mastered how to stay back even with he door wide open and with no leash on! Such an important safety lesson. Next session we went to our local pet store and also walked around outside of the strip mall. There was lots of activity, people, noises, cars, dogs, etc. I was so nervous, but to our astonishment, Tiffany did NOT bark once! Alycia taught her how to heel, make turns, and how to stay on the curb until we let her know it was ok to cross the street, We also had trouble with Tiffany pulling her leash in front of us while walking. Alycia literally taught her in a couple of minutes how to walk calmly beside us. The last lesson of the day was teaching Tiffany how to remain calm in the car. Previously, Tiffany would whimper, try and jump or walk around nervously even while being safe in her car restraint belt. I don't know how Alycia did it, but for the first time in 6 months, we had a quiet calm puppy, laying down calmly in the back seat by herself the whole ride home! One word....AMAZING! Keep in mind that all of these corrections were literally done in minutes! Our puppy has shown so much improvement and retains the information. She's becoming more confident, showing less signs of her normal anxiety and she's loving all the new things she's learning. We can't say enough about Aylcia and her style of training, loving nature and expertise! Thank you Alycia of Thinking Dogs! If anyone is looking for a dog trainer, please contact Alycia today. I promise it will be the most positive experience for you and your fur babies!

We haven't signed up for the formal training program yet, but Chloe has shown sincere care and…read moreconcern for our puppy and shared helpful tips and resources with us during even the first consultation. We know that if we get to the point of having to take a more formal and structured approach, Chloe will be with us every step of the way to make sure our puppy gains the confidence and resilience she needs to have a happy life.

My rough collie Mackinac and I attended Leo and Lab's Harmonius Hounds 6 week dog training course…read morewith Chloe. It was great class! Well organized, clear and easily understood instructions for humans and dogs, detailed handouts, and weekly follow up instructions after the lesson. Chloe's technique uses positive reinforcement and fear-free interactions (and lots of dog treats/kibble ). Chloe was always willing to answer questions that were off topic to help us! Highly recommend!

My dog was probably one of the last dogs before they closed the location. After more than 3 years,…read moreI still regret so much for taking my dog there. I adopted my dog and he was extremely nervous. Zero contact with humans since he was born. Only like other dogs. I left him 2 weeks initially but Tierney would tell me that he needs one more week and he ended up being 5 weeks there. I cooked and gave them his homemade food. I provided the food for the whole time there. I was not able to visit him and they brought him back to my house. When I saw him, I was shock. He was in his bones. I could see all this skeleton. She said that he just didn't eat a lot. ...why didn't they call me ? Then, in the house with the handover of my dog, she acted like a Military, basically my dog fear her. I didn't even want to see trick that she showed him" because I could see the dog was suffering only with her presence. She left and I was glad that at least I had my dog back. I had to take him to vet to check and he was in extremely bad health condition. I gave her my dog perfectly healthy. I really regret taking my dog here and I recommend that if your dog is humble and afraid dog, don't take them here. This is not the place for those type of dogs. After this training, he didn't change at all- still bark, still pull and more afraid of people than before .

I have gone back and forth about writing this review, because I know small business owners need…read moresupport. It is actually been sitting in my draft folder for a few years, However, I feel like I want to share my experience. I had rescued a cattle dog who was a good boy but was afraid of everything (he had lived in a kennel for most of his life) and needed some work walking on a leash and some recall. I booked a 2 week Bootcamp with Tierney, and I was told by Justine - her partner that lived on the East Coast - that it was perfect timing because my boy would be the only dog. Apparently, Tierney was moving, but said she had plenty of time to work with my boy. What I didn't know - and was not divulged when I signed up - was the the move was an hour away! (And they actually did have a second dog they were working with). This means a 2 hour round-trip, not including loading and unloading and pit-stops. My boy was a pretty easy dog - and he did not get the training that I paid for. I voiced my concerns, especially when I came up for a visit lesson and noticed not much improvement. They said she would keep him for an extra week. The second issue I had was a lack of communication. I got a handful of photos and that was it. It was always me having to reach out to find out what was going on with my dog. Super frustrating! I mean, I am trusting you with my baby and you can't update me? Nothing on the Facebook page, nothing on Instagram, and only a few photos through Messenger. And that was after three weeks of having my dog. And then with the follow up sessions...there was always some reason why she had to re-schedule. I get it, life happens, but it just got so frustrating trying to constantly reschedule sessions that I was supposed to get, that I ended up just finally canceling on the last one. All of the things that I received back that I dropped off with him, it was either super dirty and smelly, or didn't get it back at all. Hopefully things will get better, and hope they are at better facilities than when I was there, from a duplex when I dropped him off, to picking him up in a barn they were living in, with no bathroom any indoor space away from dirt. I do hope things get better for her, because I think she has skills with working with dogs, but definitely need to work on organization, punctuality and communication. (I gave two stars instead of one because I was trying to be nice, but I know several people were not happy but didn't post reviews so I felt like there should be one representing those of us who had bad experiences instead of just all the five star reviews that are there now)