When our Weimaraner's bad behavior with other dogs became dangerous, we were considering the sad…read moreoption of putting him down. Our vet recommended calling Linda first, and she was amazing. She saw the potential he really had, and taught me how to work with him. Years later, about a year before Simon died at a wonderful old age, he had made friends with a little male Westie and enjoyed "hanging out" with CoCo on the farm. In my book, Linda is a miracle-worker.

Experience, Talent, Integrity, Credentials Linda has…read moretrained 2 service dogs for my Autistic Daughter. They both responded beautifully to her positive reinforcement method with the "clicker". She also made sure that I could replicate her method and receive similar results independently. There are a bunch of "fly by night" trainers out there that don't have the same credentials or results that Linda has. Do your research and you will see that she rises above and is the clear choice if you are looking for positive results.

Absolutely highly recommend ACTS -Matt takes time with both you and your dog-its obvious at first…read moremeeting that he has experience in training. He really takes time to help you and gives easy at home training techniques for you to follow. He has motivated me to continue with training-seeing the results with my year old golden is a good feeling- a trained dog is so enjoyable!!! Matt is great, you will not be disappointed-also, he extends himself as a constant resource to you even after your training- genuine person clearly in the right line of work! - Maura E.

Matt is an amazing trainer! I would definitely recommend him as a trainer. My boyfriend and I have…read morea Siberian Husky who had major behavioral problems. He would not listen at all. He was constantly eating the furniture, jumping on everyone and everything, he didn't listen when it was time to come inside and I would eventually have to carry him in the house, and he would cry and scream when it was time to put him in the crate if we were leaving or going to bed. We didn't know what to do but after looking for trainers, we came across Matt's website. After meeting with him and having him go over a few training techniques with our puppy, we knew he would be a big help. When we got the puppy back, we could see a huge change in his behavior. When Matt started his training, our puppy was 6 months old. He is now 13 months and is still just as great as when we got him back. He listens on the first command, there's no longer a struggle to come inside or go in his crate, and now he understand were the boss.

Nicole is motivating me to do the right things for my dog-after the 1st zoom-I have used some…read moretools-it has already made a difference -so happy/so far(lol)

I would highly recommend bark busters. Very professional. Our trainer Nicole was extremely caring…read moreand attentive to our specific needs with our 1 year old beagle. After the first session we knew we were on our way to achieving our goals. We always felt supported and had weekly emails with helpful information and tips. We also have piece of mind knowing we have continued support if we ever need it

Sarah is a kind, loving, highly effective dog trainer. She understands both sides of the pet…read moreownership equation and has a unique ability to connect to both sides of it. I have been around Sarah for a number of years and personally witnessed her ability to connect with puppies, dogs and their owners. For my own family, she helped us find and welcome our beloved French bulldog, Daisy, into the family. When we got Daisy, she had resource guarding issues and Sarah helped us learn how to minimize these occurrences and help Daisy learn some self-control...in a kind and gentle way. :) We most recently asked Sarah for help integrating a rescue into our fur-family. She helped us come to the heart-breaking conclusion that we didn't have the right home for her and that Maddie needed a home with no other pets. Sarah helped my teenage daughters understand that we had to do the right thing for all animals, including Daisy and Bella, our Cocker Spaniel. She explained to my daughters that sometimes we are the portal and sometimes we are the destination. A true life lesson that applies to more than just dogs! Sarah said that we need a "dopey boy dog" and she knew just the one. Our newest family member is arriving this week and we couldn't be more excited to welcome him. We have already signed up for Sarah's puppy training classes and recommend you do the same. Thank you Sarah!

Sarah is the absolute best!! She is in tune with all the dogs. It's incredible to see how they…read morerespond to her. She has away of instructing that makes all tasks very attainable. I have been to several of her trainings and have read her books and no matter where I go people always comment on my well behaved dogs!! She is so worth it!! Check her out!!!!

Angelo saved our dog's life -- and I mean that in the most literal sense possible…read more Oliver is a rescue who had been surrendered by two families before us. We took him in, loved him, and still found ourselves in crisis -- biting, aggression, resource guarding. We were scared of our dog and desperate for help. Oliver was our fifth dog and as a family we were seasoned users of positive reinforcement as the primary training method. We turned to Angelo at Art of K9 and made the decision to board Oliver for 8 weeks. He took on Oliver after a thorough consultation. Angelo worked through Oliver's aggression and resource guarding using the e-collar and other training tools. These methods gave us the ability to communicate with and control our dog in a way positive reinforcement couldn't. The transformation is hard to put into words. Oliver is now relaxed, cuddly, and genuinely at peace. He still has his moments -- but now we have the tools to handle them. This has changed everything. If you have a dog with serious aggression or resource guarding and you're at your breaking point, I highly recommend Angelo. He didn't just train Oliver -- he saved his life and we are so thankful.

We sent our dog Monsi to Angelo- originally because of socialization problems, yet she surprised us…read moreand came out with so many higher level qualities we didn't anticipate or know was possible. At first, we second guessed our choice to leave Monsi for 6-weeks because we missed her. Every time we checked in with Angelo, he updated us, but we missed our fur baby so much. Now, afterwards, I can't stop recommending this program to everyone I know. It's a worthwhile investment IF you plan to KEEP UP with it. All of Angelo's work can easily be undone with dog owners that do not upkeep the foundation he creates. Currently our dog listens to each command after one time saying it, she is walking off leash behind us, does not lurk around the table while we eat or cook, stays in place for 2-hours and counting, and more. Overall, she has many service dog qualities. I need to give credit where it is due because our dog was unsure of herself, very anxious, annoying at times because she didn't know what to do during quiet hours at home and needed way too much physical exercise (4+ hours daily). He taught us, and our dog Monsi, that exercise and socialization looks different than we thought. Monsi is the dog we dreamed of and didn't know how to achieve. He tapped into her potential. She does not impede our life in anyway. She adds on to the quality and is stress free now that we know how to maintain and handle her. Not only that, but my parents sent their dog at the same time as our dog. So now we have two dogs that listen to the same command. We can bring our dogs on vacation and have complete calm and fun with them present. This was the greatest gift to a life of joy with a well trained fur family member! Thank you Angelo and Art of K9. I know picking a program at such a cost is nerve recking since there is not enough information or proof online but promise me, this is the place. We put a lot of trust into prior reviews and tiktok/Instagram videos.... We got lucky finding this place. It's a hidden gem of Westchester. If anyone needs more details to convince you this program is worth it, contact me. I'll convince you- haha!

We adopted our puppy from here at 11 weeks. She had been brought up from a kill shelter down south…read morewith her brother and had been with them for about 2 weeks prior to adoption. They did a wonderful job with socializing her and starting her off on training. The facility itself is beautiful. It's very clean and well staffed. We were able to spend time with different puppies out in the main area, which gave us the chance to see how they did with other dogs, people, etc. We probably spent two hours there and never felt rushed into making a decision. Highly recommend!

Awesome experience. We adopted 2 brothers. Brianna was helpful and available to answer any question…read moreI had. The staff was very friendly and attentive. This is the place to go to adopt some awesome pets

It turns out First Friends is a little far from me so I wasn't able to work directly with Jean,…read morehowever, in my first week of having my new puppy Jean helped me immensely. I was so overwhelmed and just needed some guidance from a trusted and professional source. Jean called me back and while we weren't able to work in home together she helped me identify ways to start some training and find another training organization who was in my local area that she felt comfortable with me engaging with. I went from being a complete basket case to feeling more confident and supported in just 1 phone call. Thank you, Jean!

Prior to working with Jean, life with Sadie was difficult. After returning from a walk, Sadie was…read morehaving accidents all over the house. As an adult dog, she pulled on the leash, barked at everyone, jumped on people and knocked everything out of my hands. Within a few weeks, Sadie is so well behaved. The top thing is to read Sadie's body language. I know what to look for when Sadie is getting anxious and Jean taught me how to deescalate the situation before bad behavior begins. Another thing I learned is how train Sadie while having fun. I enjoyed our lessons very much. The training program exceeded my expectations. Sadie is potty trained, respects other people and we can finally have an enjoyable walk together.

WARM & WONDERFUL!! I would recommend Virginia Dare to anyone who has any type of dog training…read moreneed. She is professional, warm, easy with pets and children as well as adults. Virginia is non-judgmental, patient, attentive and truly loves animals. Her pricing is reasonable and if I have any future needs, I am going back to her! There are levels of training - even if your dog is already good with basic commands, she can get him/her and you to the next level. I have a rescue who had a number of behavior problems (jumping, nipping, uncontrolled enthusiasm) - much of this is related to his age, but Virginia gave us tools that reduced and even eliminated his poor behavior. Training approach - Rewards-based (although there are alternative methods she will work with you on if you'd like) Technique - Praise / non-responsive to poor behavior (no military-style approach!) Responsiveness & Availability - Any question I had I was able to ask her either during the training session or in follow up (email or phone). Virginia's goal was to ensure we were getting the behavior we wanted to see. Whenever I had to reschedule a training session, she was very flexible and understanding. Overall character - Virginia is someone I'd love to call a friend - she is warm and friendly and is kind and consistent with everyone! I'd though my children (both 9) would be 'in the way', however, Virginia included them in the training sessions and it was great! My daughter became very skilled in training our Ivan. Virginia is very gentle with everyone and has a refreshingly open view of living with dogs. Follow-up - Virginia always followed up after each training session to ask if there were questions. She provided detailed reference for us that we could review and more deeply understand the 'why' of the training. She did explain everything during the training, but it was very helpful to have written material to refer to afterwards.

From the owner: North Star Canines provides private training lessons for good manners and obedience skills, and…read morebehavior consultations to resolve a large variety of problem behaviors. Training techniques are very effective, humane, and based on positive reinforcement. Certified trainer Virginia Dare has over 30 years of experience in the field. Serving Scottsville, VA and surrounding areas in Central Virginia.