I reached out to Gary for help with my dog Peaches and her leash reactivity, and he was extremely…read moreprompt in responding. The initial consultation went very well, and I learned so much about dog communication and how to better support Peaches. I also learned that she is a highly anxious dog, which explained many of the challenges I had been concerned about. We enrolled in Gary's six-week program and finished with the tools and knowledge needed to keep Peaches on the right track toward recovery. Just like humans, dogs rehabilitate at their own pace, and over those six weeks Peaches made significant progress. We're looking forward to enrolling in advanced training once she's ready so she can enjoy more freedom off-leash. Gary is not like other trainers we've worked with. He doesn't rely on obedience-based shortcuts or gimmicks. Instead, he teaches you how to work through real situations and explains the theory behind his approach so you truly understand what's happening and how to handle stressful moments. Most importantly, Gary teaches you how to become the focal point for your dog, which has made a lasting difference for us.

We worked with Gary Maria for six weeks to help our 3-year-old rescue, Giorgi, who struggles with…read morefear and anxiety. Honestly, Gary was incredible. From day one, it was clear he knows his stuff and loves what he does. A lot of the time, Giorgi was too overwhelmed to participate. On day 1, Giorgi hid under a table the whole session. But that's ok because Gary was really training us. By the last session, Giorgi was walking around, watching other dogs and people walk by, and still listening to commands. Gary taught us how to help Giorgi feel safe, calm him down when he's stressed, and build trust. We've already seen such a difference at home. Gary is knowledgeable, patient, direct (in the best way), funny, and available when you have questions. He celebrated every little win with us! You can tell he truly cares about the dogs he works with. We still have more work to do, but thanks to Gary, we know how to keep moving forward. If you have a dog with anxiety or fear, seriously, go to Gary. He's the real deal.

Boots is treated so well there and any time we need to make any special requests they are super…read moreflexible and kind about it. Boots is a 2 year old Siberian husky mix and they are able to get all his energy and stimulation needs met whenever he's there for a full day of daycare! WE LOVE CAMP BOW WOW 10/10 would recommend!!

I never placed our previous dog in daycare but we our current dog is a camper. We like bringing…read morehim to Camp Bow Wow to learn to "dog" and socialize. What eases our minds is they have cameras on during business hours so we can check on him. There are no camera kennels except for the dogs in the private rooms. For overnight boarding, I bring his food, bed and a toy. They have doggie bed cots but I like to bring the comforts of home with him. I have utilized the enrichment course so he can have one on one time. They also offer baths so you can pick up a clean dog. If I have a problem with an online order, I can always follow up via email/phone and they are responsive. Hours are 7am - 7pm.

My dog Riesling and I absolutely adore Annalise! We first met her through our time at Camp Bow Wow…read morein San Ramon (also an amazing place). Riesling is a 3-year-old miniature poodle--super smart, but she struggles with separation anxiety and can be a bit reactive when strangers enter our home. In just three lessons, I've already seen a huge improvement. Annalise breaks everything down in a simple, practical way, and her methods work. After our first lesson, Riesling had already learned sit, stay, come, and touch. During our second lesson, we reinforced those skills and began working on her reactivity. Annalise came to our home and showed me easy, effective strategies to prevent issues before they arise, always with kindness. My favorite part of her training style is that it's entirely based on positive reinforcement--no punishments, no techniques that feel harsh or uncomfortable. Riesling genuinely enjoys our training sessions, especially the high-value cheese treats. Annalise is incredibly patient, not only with Riesling but with me as well. She takes the time to explain the "why" behind every exercise, and she provides detailed printouts of each lesson so I don't have to take notes during training. It really allows you to stay present and focused. I highly recommend Athens Dog Training to anyone needing support with their reactive dog. Annalise is truly wonderful. And I'm excited to see how much further we can go!

Athens Dog Training offers a comprehensive group of training and other services for canines of all…read moreages. I adopted a 3-4 year old German shepherde Malinois cross from the Oakland shelter and discovered he had absolutely no training with people or dogs. I was afraid I'd have to return him despite having had dogs all my life and fostered rescued Chows for over 20 years. Thanks to Mitch Moore's exceptional knowledge, patience and skill my pup is proving to be a gem. Hilo loves the training sessions and learns very quickly with Mitch's techniques. Mitch also trains me and leaves documentation to help me retain what he's demonstrated. I'm so very fortunate to have had such a positive experience with Athens and I recommend them without reservation.

Update: After another month or two of sessions with Grace,…read morewe are now doing off-leash hikes and beach trips with Hershey! Wooo! I couldn't believe it! We were able to achieve our end goal of walking off-leash with him. In my mind, I had thought it was going to take years for your dog to know not to run off once they are free. (probably PTSD from when my previous family dog, Lucky, who, if he escaped the backyard, it will take forever for him to come back because he thinks that me chasing him is a game.) But Grace really was thorough in giving us the tools and time we needed to get Hershey accustomed to being off-leashed. Seeing how Hershey is more relaxed now as well, we now no longer think we need to attend obedience classes. We are so lucky we went with Grace!

I don't know where we would be with our fearful Taiwan Dog if I had not reached out to Grace!…read more Cruz arrived in early February 2021 and we immediately knew he was unlike any dog we had had before. For the first week, he wouldn't come out of his crate, we had to carry him outside to potty, he would barely venture out of his crate even to eat, and he most definitely was not going on any walks; while everyone else's Taiwan Dog seemed to come around much quicker or almost instantly, Cruz was extremely scared and not looking to bond with us anytime soon. Everyone told us "they will come around with love and patience" but I could tell it was going to take more work than that, and we weren't about to let months or years go by without being proactive with him. With Grace's training, we have learned how to truly bond with Cruz, and how to help him relax in situations where he is scared. We know how to "read" him and anticipate how to react/respond to help him. I love that her focus is on emotion coaching our dog (something coincidentally enough we are also working on with our children) and helping our dog help himself so he can work through his fears in any situation. Her understanding of fearful street dogs is profound; she really knows how they think, why they are reactive and how to calm them in stressful situations. Cruz continues to grow exponentially every week. The dog who wouldn't come out of his crate 5 months ago now loves to jog, hike and camp. He wakes up every morning full of wags and kisses for us, happily gets in the car to go somewhere, and [drum roll please] we just had our first very successful beach trip with him where he was so excited to play with us and the other dogs there, he didn't show any signs of fear, he happily walked up to other humans to say hello, was off-leash most of the time, and he knew his boundaries and always came to us to "check in". He still has work to do but at the rate he is growing, he will far exceed our expectations of the perfect family dog. Our family highly recommends Grace!

Thank you for your excellent service and taking great care of our pup during a recent family…read morevacation!

I've been taking my fur babies to Breton's for over 20 years. It's a home away from home place…read more Joyce and her husband are professional and they know how to handle dogs. Recently I had 2 of my dogs boarded there, Mika our young pup (a year old) had a difficult time adjusting, Joyce took extra care with her. I emailed Joyce several times while on vacation and she responded right away! I felt assured that Mika was in good hands! Thank you Joyce!! I'm so sad Bretons will be closing their doors at the end of this year! Big Mahalo for always taking such good care of Kimi, Colby, Klei & Mika!

For those who don't have human babies, we have fur babies…read more Big Paw Pet Care also takes care of kitties! I have a kitty furbaby and I trust Beth and Audrey implicitly to take care of her. Beth and Audrey are so good about texting me updates and pictures of kitty when I'm gone that I have peace of mind that she is happy and healthy. I'm so lucky to have Big Paw Pet Care, it's obvious Beth and Audrey care about what they do and I will not hesitate to use them again.

I could not be happier with Big Paw!…read more Over the years we have left our dogs with various different sitters and services, but none as good as Big Paw. We recently went away for 20 days and felt very apprehensive about leaving our two little Bijon/Havanese mixes at someones house for that long. After meeting Beth and visiting her home we felt much more at ease. Beth and her husband are extremely friendly and their home is clean and spacious with a nice backyard for the dogs to play in. They watch all types of dogs - big and small. Our boys slept in their bed, played with their baby and fit in like part of the family. She kept them bathed and clean despite the fact that they were lucky enough to be outdoors every day. She administered allergy meds and took great care of them. We LOVED that she sent us emails or texts every day (yes, every day) while we were gone with updates on how our boys were doing. It was so nice to get pictures of them with huge smiles on their faces and see how clean and well treated they were. She loved them like they were her own and to top it all off, her price was significantly better than others. I can not speak more highly of Beth and Big Paw. Their website is very nice and allows for you to create a profile for your pets with a section to list information like vet, medical, emergency contact, breed type, etc. I look at my dogs like they are my children, and I would not steer you wrong, you will be more than happy with Big Paw! THANK YOU BETH!!!!! Our boys miss you!

We cannot recommend Dan highly enough! We were struggling with a wide range of issues with our two…read morevery different dogs--a Red Heeler and a Chihuahua. From constant barking at the front door and leash pulling with our Heeler to 'micro-aggressions' between the two of them, our home felt chaotic. The fact that Dan offers in-home training was a huge selling point for us, and over the course of eight weeks, he systematically addressed every single concern we had. Dan's expertise and patience are unmatched. He even helped us navigate our somewhat complicated family dynamics to ensure we were all on the same page. Our dogs are now better versions of themselves--we honestly don't even recognize their old behaviors anymore! If you are looking for a trainer who truly understands dog behavior and delivers results, hire Dan.

There are not enough great words to describe Dan and his success. Our Boston Terrier, Wally, was…read morethe ultimate wild child when we got him from rescue. He was impossible to take a walk, we could not answer our front door, he terrorized the cats. The best thing about Dan is his method and approach. No prong collars, no harsh methods, no bark collars. He teaches you to "speak dog". He explained how dogs communicate with each other. He helped us understand Wally has anxiety from basically not having boundaries. His tools of choice are your "bark", a squirt bottle and baggie full of water. All gentle but so effective. We have had 3 sessions. The first was some basic commands and behavior corrections. They worked! I could answer my front door without him running out or just going crazy. The 2nd session we got potty training help. Wally had been doing well until our older dog got sick and had accidents. After that he only went in our house. We started using Dan's suggestions. The 3rd session was like magic and the skies opened giving us a new dog. We took Wally on a walk with Dan and he was a different dog. No lunging, no climbing up the leash or going berserk when he sees other dogs. Now he is a pleasure to walk-he heals, he minds us. Potty training is amazing. He has not gone in the house since the last session. Today I was in the yard with our cats. They have a fenced area. Normally Wally would be uncontrollable and trying to get to the cats. Today he just stood there when I corrected him. I cannot recommend Dan and Bark Busters enough. Gentle corrections, simple methods and immediate results. If you do what he says you get an amazing dog.

Jayne is amazing! I actually called Jayne bc I was worried abt my young pom bc he jumped on another…read moredog on one of our walks. I was so worried and embarrassed! I called my vet as soon as i got home! My vet suggested I call this particular behavioral trainer she knew and so I did. (It wasn't Jayne). This behavioral trainer told me I should return my dog to breeder. I should never fall asleep with this breed on my bed (Pomeranians) as they could bite my face off. She continued to tell me all these horrible stories abt poms. I was so confused and upset when I hung up. My husband insisted I get another opinion. I found Jayne's info online the next day and called her. She came over same day because she knew how upset I was and she wanted to meet my fur baby. Needless to say, she is amazing! I am so happy I made that call! My pom is now 5 yo and he is fabulous! Sweet, entertaining, and so well-behaved because of Jayne's training!

We found Jayne through Yelp, and from the moment she arrived for our consultation, She was…read moregenuinely excited to meet us and our dog, making the experience comfortable and enjoyable. Jayne was highly professional, easy to talk to, and went above and beyond by offering additional helpful information for our dog, which we truly appreciated. We highly recommend her program to anyone looking for quality care and expertise. Thank you, Jayne, for your amazing customer service!

I will start off by saying that the trainers my dog and I worked with were knowledgeable -- I found…read moreour sessions valuable and walked away with a lot of techniques that I still use today. However, the main issues I have are the disorganization, poor communication, and lack of respect for their clients' time. First, scheduling classes was frustrating and confusing -- there's no real system or even clear instructions. You're supposed to text a phone number to schedule classes (?) but half the time no one responds. It wasn't until I emailed the owner that I got a response. Second, 2 different trainers were late to our private sessions. I do understand that things happen unexpectedly but it would have been nice to get a heads up. A third trainer didn't even show up to our session. After waiting for 15 minutes, I emailed the owner and was told that the trainer moved the class to a different day but never even bothered to let me know. And finally - When I was in the process of signing up for training, the sales guy had confirmed that the package I was purchasing included FOUR private classes and TWO group classes. After I completed the private sessions, I reached out (a few months later) to schedule the first group class. However, I was told that the package I paid for was actually for FIVE private classes and NO group classes and that if I wanted to do a group class, I'd need to upgrade to the Lifetime Package. In all fairness, when I explained that this was NOT the package I had discussed with the salesguy and signed up for, the rep apologized and tried to make things right by honoring the 4 group classes that I had originally signed up for. I thanked her but declined. The thought of potentially having to go through all the same frustrations was not worth it in my mind. Again, I have no issue with the trainers -- they are talented and very capable. But if I can offer constructive feedback, please just be more clear and communicative with your clients.

Please do not use Sit Means Sit Dog training!! I wish I knew everything I did now…read more We enrolled our 6 month old puppy and immediately put an e-collar on her to reinforce and learn behaviors. Never ever ever should it be introduced and used in this manner. She is now almost three and had to use another trainer to reintroduce the e-collar correctly and now she understands rules to our lifestyle and basic obedience through the guidance of another trainer. I am not against e-collars, they are a great tool IF USED CORRECTLY. Unfortunately Sit Means Sit does not. Sometimes I wonder if we would have even needed one with my dog, had we gone a different route for training. But thankful for this learning experience as this is what pushed me into becoming a dog trainer.

We have a 2 1/2 year old Mini Goldendoodle - Louie and overall he's a good dog and we just needed…read morehelp with certain commands. I watched numerous training videos online and did a group training (I don't recommend that either) - nothing helps since you need hands on private training and that's how I found Patti on here. We did 6 sessions and she helped us train Louie and focused on his reactivity, basic walking commands, door bell reactions and recall. Patti came over to our house for a few sessions and the rest of the sessions we met at a park or a public place so that she can teach us the real world situations when we're out with Louie. She explains everything very well and why dogs behave the way they do. She'll take photos and videos and send follow up notes as well to help us remember everything we learned each session. It's a lot to learn and you have to continue to practice everything and you'll see a difference in your dog's behavior. We've seen a difference in Louie and very happy with the results. I definitely recommend Patti if you need help training your dog. Thank you so much Patti!

Amazing dog training sessions with Patti. She gave me incredible one on one training with my 8…read moremonth old French bulldog Rocky. She explained the importance of consistent positive dog training. Patti did a great job of not only showing me how to train my dog, but building my confidence through the fantastic results I was receiving from her training methods. I would highly recommend Patti for any dog owner who wants one on one in home dog training at a affordable price.