If I could give him 20 stars, I would.
Dave Eggers is, hands down, the absolute best dog trainer I've ever worked with (and I've worked with a few at this point).
Lemme explain.
I am a dog magnet.
I found both my dogs on the street. Sweetie, my mixed-breed girl, showed up at my front door one day; she came from a family (who ended up giving her to me once they contacted me about my having found her), and was relatively well-behaved.
I found Baby, my pit bull, trying to cross a busy street one day, filthy, crusty-eared, and terrified of going through doors, getting into cars, walking on a leash, you name it. Baby was a complete blank slate when I found her-- she'd clearly either been in someone's backyard 24/7 and never paid attention to, or a street dog of some kind. I worked with a few different trainers with her ($$$$$$$$$$$$$) and she quickly learned how to sit and lie down. But she was still fairly problematic-- she was terrified of most men, loud noises, bikes, skateboards... pretty much anything that moved quickly, made noise, or was unfamiliar. She was also extremely destructive, tearing through several pieces of furniture, shoes, remote controls... it was bad. She actually has her own YouTube channel in which she details all the things she ate that day.
I called Dave Eggers in a fit of desperation. He was recommended to me through several people in the music community (I'm a singer in several bands; Dave is an AMAZING guitarist with a great band called Burn Cycle). Here's what I LOVE about him:
-He does not use treats to control the dogs all the time. Most dog trainers use treats or clickers or similar devices; the fact of the matter is, though, you're not always going to have that stuff on you. And furthermore, Baby is food aggressive, so if I'm walking both of them, treats aren't going to work.
-He is patient and works with them for as long as he thinks they need to be worked with. He's not going to hold you to a strict clock-- "Well, my hour's up. See ya." If it takes 2 hours, he'll be there for 2 hours.
-He is ALL ABOUT THE DOGS. He cares about the well-being of your dog like a family member. He goes out of his way to help dogs in need, and isn't afraid to speak up about injustices done to dogs by various organizations.
-Most importantly, my dogs absolutely adore him. Remember when I said Baby is afraid of most men? She's especially afraid of tall men. Dave is a tall man. The only person Baby loves as much as me is Dave Eggers. When she catches a glimpse of him through the window, she wiggles so hard she practically levitates. She climbs in his lap, lets him pick her up (!!!!), and just adores him. And when he talks, she listens.
Baby has never been so well-behaved. I'm not going to say she's perfect. I've learned how to "Baby-proof" my house so she doesn't destroy everything in sight-- some things you just have to work around. But she's incredibly well-behaved on the leash, sits and lies down better than she ever has, doesn't freak out as much about unfamiliar things, and is just generally happier and less anxious. Dave has even done some work with Sweetie's stubborn butt-- she can be dog-aggressive on walks, and he's been doing great work with her on that. She's a 10 year old dog and is making improvements.
Dave is beyond reasonably priced, always on time, and just an awesome guy. He also boards dogs, and Baby LOVES hanging out at his place. I cannot recommend him enough. If you have a dog, you owe it to yourself to call Dave Eggers.
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