We adopted our rescue Springer Spaniel, Tucker last year and booooy was he a nightmare. You name it and Tucker could not do it! He didn't know how to sit, stay, come, or anything! Poor buddy was raised in a car and had no idea how life in a home worked. Needless to say we were worried about introducing Tucker to our other rescue spaniel, Barley, who is very picky about other dogs. We immediately looked around for the best dog training company on yelp and chose Karma dog training. After speaking with the owner of the company, Jeff, he recommended Holly. After a short interview on Skype to make sure she was the right trainer for us we booked her next available appointment. We brought Tucker home the day of our first appointment with Holly (she recommended it and I think it's something I will do now every time we add a new animal to our family since it worked so well) and i don't think the introduction could have gone any smoother. She showed us how to get everything started off on the right foot and any "red flags" to watch out for. We bought a five pack of lessons from her and got to work. I've never been a note taker but now I've got pages of notes and homework all about dog training! Seriously, have a pen and paper ready, especially for the first lesson. Holly is an encyclopedia about dog stuff, and honestly, I trust her more than I trust my vet I think. From training to vaccinations to diseases and nutrition she seems to know something about everything. And she's always honest about what she thinks is best, even if it doesn't benefit her. When we brought home our last rescue we went to a basic Petco class. The price was, admittedly, way cheaper than hiring a private trainer but I can't stress this enough. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!! We had both Holly's cell and email and that made such a huge difference compared to our last trainer. She was always there when we had questions. We're sad to see Holly leave LA but we'd recommend her anytime! read more

This review is about Holly Chen who has been our dog trainer since we got our puppy in November 2014. I have only the highest praise for Holly. We adopted a rescue terrier mix puppy who is now three years old and Holly worked with us in group and private lessons with her from the time Chelsea was 3 months old until she was about a year old. After that, we worked off and on with Holly in private lessons over the next year and 1/2. Chelsea responds remarkably well to Holly's training (it's like Holly reads her doggie mind), and what she learns translates to our home (with our direction and practice, of course). Holly is amazing in her ability to understand Chelsea and communicate with her, and us, too! She uses only positive training, no punishment or pain needed for remarkable results. Recently, Holly came to work with a friend's puppy in West Vancouver and they were amazed at what successful suggestions she gave them for house training and to get the puppy to come, currently their two biggest issues, during their first session. They have signed up for 4 more sessions. Holly works very well with dogs of all ages and their owners, always offering wonderfully helpful suggestions to improve the dog's behavior and strengthen the human/dog connection. Then it's up to the owner to follow the suggestions to get the desired results. However Holly is remarkably forgiving if we don't keep up with her suggestions, we just pick up with where we left off the next time we meet together and keep working on getting the best results possible. I highly recommend Holly Chen for dog training. Having worked with a variety of trainers in different settings (with my previous dogs through the years before I met Holly and when she was not available for training with Chelsea), I can see how superior Holly is to many other dog trainers. Throughout the years, I have often told her that she is a "gifted" dog trainer. And the dogs love her just as much as we humans do! read more

My trainer Holly Chen is phenomenal in more ways than one. We had 9 sessions over 2 months and my sweet little puppy Nina now has an IQ higher then mine (103) I will give you a top 10 list of Holly's strengths to make it crystal clear how good she is at her job: 1) She is more punctual then my grandma at her Monday night Bingo 2) Her sense of humor is an essential piece in being able to laugh your way through your dog struggling at the implementation of new tricks 3) Her knowledge of dog breeds and the particular behaviors that are unique to each is impressive. She offered up insight every step of the way 4) She really took in Nina and was able to adjust lessons on the fly based on the behavior Nina was offering up 5) She has a lovely and calm, kind demeanor that my dog effortlessly acquiesced to 6) She loves Dogs like dogs loves balls and squirrels 7) Army Crawl, Complain, Touch the box, leash walking, roll over, bang, just to name a few tricks we learned 8) The most important lesson Holly taught is that I am in charge! She was not here to train my dog, but to train me on how to train my dog. She gave me the confidence I needed to implement my own tricks without her being present 9) Holly has a great sense of style..she always looks very cool.. that was a plus 10) The results speak for themselves. I hired her because I wanted my dog to be amazing in every way and I must say as unbiasedly as I can, Nina is in the top 1 percentile of awesome doggies on the west coast. Thank you Holly for helping my little Nina navigate her way into young adulthood. We appreciate your efforts and wish you well in Vancouver! All the best, Travis read more

We'd recommend Karma to anyone! My boyfriend and I, Peter, picked up our Corgi puppy from a breeder in Bakersfield. We brought Quincy to his first Puppy Kindergarten class at 8 weeks and had a blast! He was scared at first but by the second playtime session he LOVED it! The trainers did a great job making sure all the puppies were having fun and only had positive interactions with each other. Anytime a puppy would get scared or aggressive they would swoop in to sort everything out! At first we were a bit worried about bringing a puppy so young to class (I grew up in a house with tons of rescues, my mom used to work with rescues and shelters so I know how scary diseases can be) but socializing our puppy before the window closes at 3 months was too important! We felt very safe seeing the disinfectant they used and dipping the soles of our shoes (Don't wear sandals! Lol) into it to make sure we didn't track any germs in. Puppy Kindergarten really set us up for success with our new puppy. It was a great learning experience and an amazing support group (nothing like talking with other puppy parents who really know your pain & suffering). We've learned SO much in class and in our private lessons with Holly! She is knowledgeable and funny and the private lessons we got with her were a fantastic way to take what we learned in class and really take it to the next level!! She taught us advanced level stuff and went above and beyond teaching us about stuff we didn't even know we didn't know! I HIGHLY recommend anyone with a new dog take Karmas group class and pair it with a couple private lessons. Good luck in Canada, boo! read more

I am WAY behind in getting this review out!!! We worked with Karma Dog Training, and specifically trainer Kristina, (out of Vancouver) in February of 2020, and had the most incredible experience. I honestly cannot say enough about the trainer and the school. Kristina came and stayed in our home for 5 days to work with our new puppy Frankie, who made enormous leaps and gains in her learning and behaviour in that short time. Was also attended puppy classes for several weeks, which were invaluable for both Frankie's socialization and our continued learning. Karma was highly professional, extremely prompt in getting back to us, and I strongly believe that we made the perfect choice in selecting them to work with our puppy. They have an absolute gem in Kristina, who through her kindness, intelligence and intuition, immediately senses what both dog and owner need, in order to achieve training success and to bond together with this new member of their family. Thank you so much Karma and Kristina!!!! read more

Me and my pup Oliver have been working with Kristina in both the 8 week basic obedience class and private lessons for a bit now. She is creative, encouraging, and incredibly patient when it comes to training dogs. When Ollie and I first attended class, we realized that he had some leash reactivity, which Kristina suggested we examine more in a private session. We're now back in classes and Ollie is rocking it! I didn't realize what a quick learner he was until I started doing classes/training with Kristina. Karma Dog Training's trial first class is great too, especially when you're still figuring out what kind of training your dog needs; and the online resource center you get access to is fantastic for tips on training outside of sessions! read more

I cannot say enough good things about Karma Dog Training and recommend them more to anyone looking for dog training. I was a nervous first time puppy owner and was put at ease right away once I found Karma. Every trainer at puppy school or during our reverse board and train days was amazing, they answered my endless questions about potty training and every issue that made me nervous as a new puppy owner. They also gave me the tools to work on training once class had finished. read more

We adopted a dog from mexico and fostered 2 all from the same rescue. They are all lovely pups. However, food aggression was a real thing in our home, after 1 one on 1 session meal time is calm. Our adopted dog has some shyness with big dogs well walking on the leash (we worked on this the same session) he's gaining confidence every walk! We enjoyed our session very much. I highly recommend there training services. read more

We worked with Holly earlier this year, and she is just amazing. We were first-time dog owners, and she immediately gave us tools and understanding from the very first session. We still use her tricks and trainings every day, and are such better dog owners for it! Plus she was so good with our dog, who loved her, and so kind and patient with us. Can't say enough good things! read more

I started my Vizsla pup Leo at puppy kindergarten at Karma's Vancouver, BC Canada location with trainer Kristina Hampton and assistant trainer Wanyi! Both are SUPER amazing, so professional and also very knowledgeable. We've very much enjoyed our classes so far :) would highly recommend to those looking for a basic training course for a new pup. read more