2 weeks of board and train with Pat has made huge improvements in reducing reactivity in my German…read moreshepherd mix rescue dog. Over the four years I have had her, she has progressively gotten more reactive to the point that I can no longer let her off leash except in the most controlled circumstances and walks were stressful and unpredictable. Whenever we encountered another dog or any other animal, I would have to brace myself for lunging, barking, and potentially getting dragged down the street. When I picked her up from board and train a week ago, she showed much improvement. I had been concerned that corrections could dampen her spirit but that was not the case. She's still as sweet and spirited as ever. Also, I noticed she had bonded closely with Pat which was a good sign. The improvement in her reactively became very apparent when I took her to Pat's group class for the first time today. In the past, she would have started barking from the car at the dogs in the park and I would not have been able to walk her anywhere near a park full of dogs. Today, I was able to walk her into the park without incident, and during exercises where the dogs had to walk near each other and sit within 3 feet of each other, I was amazed that she could do the exercises without a lot of stress and even seemed somewhat relaxed. That never would have happened before Pat! I look forward to taking my dog to as many group classes as we can! Thank you Pat!

Pat is fantastic! I…read moreenrolled Harley, my very reactive doxie puppy, in one-on-one sessions followed by a 2-week board and train program and it was the best decision I've ever made. Pat uses these awesome analogies to help you understand the way dogs think and react. You can tell he is extremely knowledgeable and breaks down the training process in a way where it's straightforward for both you and your pup. I can see how it may be awkward to meet a total stranger who is then teaching you how to train your "child", but it never felt that way with Pat. He is super down to earth, hilarious and extremeley personable. I continue to use his dog sitting services until this day and I can tell my Harley girl adores him!

We had adopted our Kody boy 8 months ago from a shelter. It was a very hard five months trying to…read moreget him settled with a routine. We all had different ways of how to train him and it was causing a rift in the family. I was turned down by some trainers until I came across Jonathan Wong's page. He was local, he was fast to get back to me and he was willing to give us a chance after everything I told him. Kody still has a long way to go and I will continue with Jonathan as his trainer, but it is night and day after three months of training with Jonathan. He was dog and people aggressive, to the point we had to avoid them entirely. We can now go for walks, albeit we move opposite of any dog and can keep walking without any barking or pulling. He was always actively pulling on the leash and bad at recall. He is loose leashed now and responds with recall with our daughter. In the end I had to get use to the idea that Kody was a crate or muzzle dog when it came to large crowds or people in our home. I felt awful but Jonathan was so supportive and positive as I came to terms with it. I hope as we continue to train with Jonathan and Kody builds his confidence that soon things might change for him. Jonathan has such a kind soul and so encouraging when it comes to both us and Kody. I cannot thank Jonathan enough for what he has done for us. He left solid foundations for us to grow on. Kody is such a sweet and smart boy, and we always want the best for him. Jonathan truly is the best.

Yep, Jonathan knows his stuff. Highly recommend. Truth be told, my puppy (7 month Labrador) isn't…read moretoo difficult, but Jonathan got through to her quickly and made me feel like the pup wasn't such a menace.

My first review just for Chantale! Here's the scene. My friend and I signed up for our sessions…read moretogether since our dogs play crazy rough with each other. I have a 6 month akita and my friend has a 1 year old husky. You know how in cartoon's when two character's fight you see nothing but a tornado cloud and random interjections flying around like $#$%. YUP! that was our dogs. Chantale corrected that immediately and by the end of the session both dogs were able to walk next to each other calmly. She also never made it seem like there was a time limit on her session. She answered ALL my questions, and I sure as heck had a lot. It wasn't just training that she provided I noticed the attitude change in my pup. She did a lot more head snapping (looking towards me for commands) and she's beginning to recall without treats! We love Chantale and will be back to her for a family training session =)

Chantale was great! Our dog is pretty well behaved, but has some issues with obedience when he's…read moredistracted. Chantale taught us that he understands what we want of him, but likes to test our authority. She had some great ideas about how we can better assert ourselves as alphas. The best part is that setting limitations for our dog like she suggested will actually make him happier and help exercise his brain. Chantale was punctual, polite, knowledgable, and my dog loved her. What else could you want?

K9K is not the first trainer we've worked with, but after moving back to Berkeley, this time with a…read morevery dog-reactive dog, we knew we needed to do more work with our dog. Our work with Buster isn't finished, but here's what's made Rachel and the K9Kommitment trainer we're working so fantastic. During the entire process, they've been incredibly positive and encouraging. Really getting us excited about working with our dog. You would think that should be a give, but it's not. A lot of trainers give the impression that their job is to teach you what is wrong with your dog, and how they can fix both dog and owner. It's a subtle distinction, but an important one. The philosophy with K9K is closer encouraging you to WORK better with your dog and establish better communication. Less about fixing, and more about guiding. At least that's my experience. More than that, Rachel offers tons of options for weekly group classes and drop-in events, so Buster gets a ton of experience around other (also reactive!) dogs. Again, Buster isn't there yet, he has a long way to go, but I've learned so much, and he's gotten so much better at managing all the stuff that stresses him out. He's a delight at home, and he's getting there outside the house. Rachel and the trainers that work with her are amazing. Consistently calm and encouraging, knowledgable, and super dog-positive (again, why isn't this a given w/ dog trainers?). I would highly highly recommend.

As a first-time dog owner, I felt overwhelmed when I obtained a rescue dog. I had no idea how to…read moretrain Miso nor deal with her strong reaction to other dogs. Rachel came highly recommended by Miso's foster mom. I immediately hired her and was thankful that I did! Rachel provided me with insight on what was going on and several tips and tricks on how to socialize Miso. Miso is improving every day. She will often use her own dogs to help train Miso and is flexible in schedules and location. She will even provide support for the simplest tasks like dog washing if needed. I highly recommend her!

My husband and I are not novice dog owners by any means, but we needed help with our newest (at the…read moretime) addition; our Aussie who presents with anxiety. Our usual tricks with trying to redirect her attention or to stop the herding behavior (with the kids, we don't herd the kids, Lola!) were going unmatched and we knew we needed help. We started with in home private lessons with Rochelle. Some of what she taught us was a bit "duh" because we weren't thinking outside of the box, but also much of it was teaching us to be better dog owners, to tune into our dog and meet her where she was at. The 1:1 training was truly beneficial as Rochelle was able to come into our home and witness the behaviors we needed help with. Over the course of several weeks we became better dog owners and Lola learned lots of new things. We then transitioned to group classes with Rochelle which I admit the mere idea of stressed me out. Lola had never done well in public and was often triggered by too many (often random) things. But to my surprise Lola performed amazingly. She often lost her marbles about 30-40 mins into each group class but the other amount of time she was spot on and eager to learn. I am so proud that she was able to be handled by Rochelle on a few occasions and has become a confident dog who thrives in the outside social world. I will forever be grateful to Rochelle for teaching ME how to be a better dog owner and for showing me the potential Lola always had.

Mitch and Patrick are amazing! We had 5 home sessions with our two Havanese dogs. We worked on…read moretraining them to be better at greeting people and on how to get them to not make at the door when the doorbell goes off. We also worked on walking and now they don't pull! So nice to be able to go on a walk without being pulled. We then did dog greeting and reactivity and got a lot of tips on what to do to help the dogs feel more comfortable. Mitch and Patrick really went above and beyond to help us!

I trust Amanda and Kseniya more with my dogs than I do anyone else around. They are professional…read moreyet funny and kind.

If I could give 10 stars, then I would give 11…read more Ksenyia and Amanda are professional and trusted dog-trainers. For the past five years, these ladies have walked, trained and cared for our family dog, Hummus, who is a pit-bull mix. We adopted him from the San Francisco SPCA. Like many pit-bull mixed pups, his opportunities for finding a loving home were slim. He was anxious, nervous and afraid of others. Aggression is the first word that came to mind, but for us, he was just misunderstood. Kas and Amanda are patient, reliable and kind. Since we brought Hummus home they gave continuously worked with his anxiety and affliction to other dogs. We would be lying if we said he was perfect, but like humans, dogs are not perfect. Nonetheless, he has a come a long way from lunging, barking and growling at other animals. Kas and Amabda have made vast improvements in his temperament. We now have two human pups of our own. He is respectful and has nothing but love and compassion for them. Hummus boards with Kas and Amanda for periods of a time while we travel. They have always been reliable and responsive to our needs, not to mention flexible when situations arise. These ladies started out as our dog walkers, but as we continued to grow in family size our relationship grew as well. We are honored and proud to call them our dog trainers, but most importantly, trusted family friends. Their youth, passion and dedication are truly inspirational.

I cannot say enough good things about Dog Over Breed. I have entrusted my dogs over many years to…read moretheir care - first with Max & Zoey, then with my current dogs, Destiny and Montana. Mohit and his staff have made a tremendous difference in the behavior and confidence of my dogs. Through training, socialization, structure, and positive reinforcement, they have helped my dogs become better pets at home. The facility is clean, well maintained, and professionally managed. What I appreciate most is that dogs are treated as individuals, and the staff take the time to understand their unique personalities and needs. My dogs currently attend daycare on a regular basis, but have also done short-term boarding and benefited from the socialization and training offered. Dog Over Breed also provides regular grooming! I trust Dog Over Breed completely and would highly recommend them to anyone looking for quality care, training, daycare, boarding or grooming for their dogs.

This place is absolutely unacceptable, and I regret ever trusting them with my dog…read more Even two years later, I still feel strongly enough to warn others. After I left an honest review about my experience, they responded by threatening to sue both me and a rescue I volunteered with at the time. That alone should raise serious concerns about how they handle accountability. I visited daily for the entire month my dog was there, so what I'm saying is based on what I personally saw over and over again--not a one-time impression. Their "training" methods included physically poking dogs in the side and neck. The dogs did not appear to be properly fed and did not have consistent access to water. Over that month, I watched dogs lose weight, become withdrawn, and show clear signs of stress and shutdown behavior. I also personally saw a dog who was extremely underweight, had visible sores, and smelled strongly of urine and feces, as if she had been left sitting in it. No dog should ever be in that condition--especially in a place people are paying to care for and train their animals. It honestly concerns me that they still have positive reviews, because in my experience, the longer a dog stays there, the more concerning the changes become. I'm posting this again now because someone I know recently considered bringing a foster dog there. I made it very clear that no dog in my care will ever go anywhere near this place. If you care about your dog, do your research, ask questions, and trust what you see. I would strongly urge anyone considering this facility to visit frequently and unannounced.

Sofia is amazing!! We first sent our two dogs to her last year for a board and train and we came…read moreout of that experience with a better understanding of how to communicate with our dogs effectively. And the place command has been a huge life saver! Since the board and train, we've done regular training sessions with Sofia to keep up the skills our dogs learned while with her. She is quick to hop on a phone call if we need advice or have questions and she never makes us feel bad about mistakes or wrong decisions we may have made (since we are still learning!). We also board our dogs with her while we are on vacation - it is so valuable knowing they have a safe, reliable place to go to while we are away. We will continue working with Sofia for as long as she'll have us!

We recently engaged Sofia to train our 1-year old Sharpei/French Bulldog rescue puppy. He was…read morestarting to show signs of aggression and we lacked the time and knowledge to formally train him. Sofia clearly demonstrated her knowledge and experience in our initial phone call. She earned our confidence and trust immediately. Sofia compared him to a teenager who just needed some formal training and discipline. We agreed. After visiting our house and meeting him in person in his surroundings, she was able to assess the situation and needs. She set expectations for a 3-5 week process. At first we weren't sure that much time was required. It seemed like a lot. But she explained her process and the need for many reps. We were convinced. So we sent him with her for a 4-week "boot-camp". It was hard dropping him off, but we knew it was the right thing. She provided a list of items we would need to ensure success. Our dog responded to her immediately. He loves food and treats are used to incentivize. Sofia gave us many updates, both via text and videos! We could see the progress of our little dude as well as her technique in action. Sofia took him to places like the Lafayette Reservoir and Heather Farms which are both full of activity. Good for his training. It was clear that she has command of her craft with the utmost care for her critters. After 4 weeks, Sofia brought him back to our house and provided a detail handoff to our family members for smooth transition. Our dude came back with discipline while maintaining his natural goofiness and curiosity. We walk him every day in our neighborhood using the techniques Sofia taught. What a difference it has been! Mission accomplished. We highly recommend Sofia for anyone looking for professional help in training your dog with care.