Karen is wonderful ! We had a great experience with Bark Busters. The training is sound, effective…read moreand straight forward. I found it so helpful and NOT overwhelming to implement. Thank you Karen, we are grateful

I first worked with Karen about five years ago when we first brought our puppy home, and she made…read moresuch a positive difference with my dog that I didn't hesitate to reach out again recently when some new issues came up (admittedly because I had become lazy with enforcing the rules). Once again, she was fantastic to work with. She has a great way of observing what's really going on and then offering advice that is both effective and manageable to implement in everyday life, and specifically within my house. Nothing felt overwhelming or unrealistic--just clear, practical strategies that made a noticeable difference.She takes the the time to understand me, my dogs and our routine before making tailored recommendations. I'm really grateful for her help (both then and now) and would absolutely recommend her to anyone looking for thoughtful, practical dog training support.

The best!! Don David…read morehas been the best dog walker I've ever dealt with, his prices are more than fair and my puppy is totally pooped once he returns home after romping with other dogs and going on hikes. I'm pretty sure my dog has a better day than I do every time Don David takes him out. Don David keeps me updated with photos during their walks and makes sure he gets enough shade/water during the hot days. He is a genuinely sweet person and extremely easy to communicate with. I absolutely trust him with my dog and am so grateful to have found him. I now have Don David take my dog four days a week :) Oatie waits for him at the door every morning. He goes above and beyond to ensure your dog has a great day so you can rest easy while away from home. I absolutely recommend Don David to any dog owner in Marin.

What can I say about Don David? He is kind, loves animals and nature, an excellent communicator…read moreand he's a professional. I am Don David's biggest fan! He is a fabulous dog walker as he provides excellent care for my Shih Tzu on group walks. He takes the dogs on hikes and never unloads the dogs in a dog park for an hour. My small dog is in tip top shape from all his exercise. The socialization he provides for the dogs is excellent. Depending on the day he has small dog groups or a great mix of various sizes. Best of all, Don David texts us dog owners, photos throughout the week of our dogs on their hike. It is so nice to know my dog is in a safe environment and playing with dogs of all sizes. I can see that he is happy! I highly recommend Dog Trotters as your dog walking/pet sitter service.

We recently hired Leigh for a session that ended up being a bit under 2 hours to help us with our 2…read moreyear old large breed dog. We were looking for a trainer because while he's generally well behaved, he often doesn't listen when it actually matters: barking or growling and pulling on his leash while on walks when we see other dogs or wildlife, barking and growling out of the windows when he sees people walking by the house... things like that. However the big thing we wanted to address first was his behavior when we have visitors coming to our house. He would go absolutely bonkers with barking, growling and pulling hard on his leash until he could meet people (implying that yes, we always had to have him leashed when we knew guests were coming over). It's tiresome, annoying, embarrassing and truthfully due to his size, I was the only person in our house that could manage him, so our measures to curb his behavior could only happen if I was at the house, short of putting him in a room. Not a sustainable or scalable situation at all. Since I have been RTO for the past few months, we knew we needed a practical solution that could work for anyone in our house, and not embarrass us in the process. This was not our first time looking for a dog trainer, but it's the first time we committed and hired someone. I've found that many trainers - certainly the ones we reached out to - offer abstract or absurd pricing, vague promises and confusing approaches. Leigh is very reasonable and clear on all of these, which in itself was amazing. However, what really impressed us was how effective she was in producing results. It has been a week since our initial session and our dog's behavior has drastically improved. Does he still react when we have guests over? Yes, but he doesn't lose his mind! He clearly wants to revert back to his old behaviours, but Leigh's methods have influenced him and us enough to prevent him from reaching critical mass and getting to a state where he has total disregard for any commands. Simply put, he listens now even if we can tell he's not entirely onboard yet. It really is impressive to see such a change in such a short amount of time. Something else we appreciated was her continued support and availability should we have questions or concerns, and also her detailed notes and instructions for ongoing things to do after our time ended. Dog training definitely needs the right state of mind and sustained effort, but she has made it about as effortless as I believe could be possible. We will absolutely be hiring her again for the other behaviors and situations we want to correct. Thanks Leigh!

Leigh and her team (Claudia & Jenna) are amazing. Leigh trained Winston as a puppy and I'm…read moreconstantly amazed at how responsive he is - she is truly a dog whisperer! The team communication is proactive and timely for his walks - even with changing schedules. Winston loves his social time and always returns smiling, exhausted and clean. Even if he found his way into a puddle. I would highly recommend West Coast Dog Training.

Kathy is a phenomenal at training people and their dogs. She's helped us with in-home training,…read moreoff-leash practice, and everything that's come up in between. She also hosts monthly classes that are free for clients who work with her regularly and has put in lots of additional time inviting dogs (and their people) to tag along on pack walks. It's clear that she does this work because it's her passion and she cares about dogs being happy and well cared for. "Balanced" dog training includes tons of treats, lots of play, and the safety needed to make sure no one gets hurt. We weren't sure what to expect from training with Kathy, but it's been a wonderful balance of true fun, silliness, joy, and clear and firm boundaries. We're so grateful to have her in our lives.

I cannot recommend Kathy at Cause and Effect Dog Training enough! When we first reached out, our…read moreSpringer Spaniel, Checkers, was fearful, anxious, and often growled at my spouse and sometimes even at our kids. We had already tried multiple trainers, different techniques, and even followed our vet's suggestion to try antidepressants--but nothing was helping (in fact, the medication only made things worse). The moment I spoke to Kathy on the phone, I felt confident she truly understood the problem and could guide us in the right direction. And she absolutely has. Over the past year, Checkers has made tremendous progress thanks to Kathy's knowledge, patience, and the clear guidance she gave us. We followed her suggestions carefully--even switching vets based on her recommendation--and the results have been life-changing. Earlier this year, we had to travel out of the country and trusted Kathy to board Checkers. During that time, he developed a beautiful bond with her partner Dan. This was nothing short of amazing, as Checkers has always been fearful of men. Watching their relationship grow has been such a gift. With Kathy's help (and the influence of her own two balanced dogs), Checkers has learned how to be a dog--something I once thought might never happen. He now participates in pack walks and can even run off-leash in the fields, something I couldn't have imagined a year ago. If you're struggling with your dog's behavior and feel like nothing is working, do yourself and your dog a favor and call Kathy. She and Dan have changed our lives, and I am endlessly grateful for the care and dedication they've shown to Checkers and to us.

Our Reggie boy has been with Robert and sir walks a lot for over 3 years, since he was a pup. He…read morehas been with both Robert and Jonah on his walks- and he adores them both. Robert and Jonah have been so wonderful with him- even putting up with his puppy car sickness he thankfully grew out of. I have also done some training with Robert which set the strong fundamental baseline for Reggie's reactivity (only with us, never on his pack walks). Nice reminder it is time to re-book! Getting Reggie into the pack with sir walks a lot has been such a god send since day one as I returned to the office a few days a week. He is out on hikes and having adventures around the gorgeous Marin county open spaces. I have to add that Jonah went above and beyond last week. I was out of town for work, and when Jonah came to pick Reggie up he smelled something off. He went into the kitchen and noticed a burner on. He saved us from what could have had a tragic ending. For this, we are eternally grateful. Thank you to both Robert and Jonah for being such a wonderful part of Reggie's life and ours! We are so thankful we found you.

Robert and his team are wonderful. They're dependable and my dog loves going on her regular group…read morewalks. Its hard to give my dog the attention she needs with work and the family, so having a service like Sir Walks Alot is a life saver!

Basia is a lovely human being. She's patient and kind and runs a legit (as in licensed, bonded, and…read moreinsured) pet care business. We did an intake and trial day with our dog, Matilda with her. Unfortunately, it was not a match (our little girl was way too shy and reserved to be a good fit for Basia's pack). But we so appreciated Basia's proactive and kind communication throughout the process. We got to spend some time with Basia and meet some of her other doggie clients, and I was so impressed by her attention to detail with all of the dogs, her honesty and transparency about anything we asked, and the fact that her space is so neat, clean, and organized. She loves her job so much that she has pictures of the dogs she cares for all over her house, which is really sweet. I wish it had been the right match for our dog, but I appreciated Basia's honesty about why it wasn't. I would feel completely comfortable recommending her to others based on the interactions we had with her.

We have boarded and used daycare with Marin Pet Care Pros for over 10 years and 2 dogs. Our dogs…read moreLOVE MPCP and are always returned to us happy and healthy. Basia, the owner, maintains a fun and appropriate environment for her charges. We would not consider boarding our dogs anywhere else in Marin.

If we could give Mark Peña ten stars, we would! We originally reached out to Mark during a very…read morestressful time. After living together in relative peace, our two three-year-old dogs suddenly started viciously attacking one another. We were desperate for help. We consulted with several trainers, but Mark immediately stood out from the crowd. Even though he was going out of town and wouldn't be available for two weeks, we felt a strong intuitive connection to him that we decided to wait for his return. Looking back, that was the absolute best decision we could have made for our furry family. From the moment he stepped into our home for our initial "getting-to-know-you" appointment, we knew we were in expert hands. He spent a couple of generous hours patiently meeting and greeting us and our entire menagerie of animals. He shared his heart-centered training philosophy, and his deep wisdom and incredible talent were obvious right from the start. Mark is the perfect combination of professional and deeply personable. He is always punctual, bursting with positive energy, and possesses a truly rare, loving magic with animals. Our dogs absolutely adore him--their tails start wagging the moment he arrives, and they don't want to say goodbye when it's time for him to leave. We just completed our initial six-session course, and the results are stunning. Since we began incorporating his techniques, our dogs have not had a single issue with one another (except once when it was our fault with bones - so we learned our people lesson). Harmony has been restored to our household. Beyond the behavioral issues, Mark's vast knowledge even helped us successfully tackle a stubborn car sickness issue with one of our pups! What also appreciate the incredible value and ongoing support Mark provides. Included in our original package are three more sessions to use whenever we need them, because Mark truly understands that training is an ongoing journey. He is incredibly generous with his time and support--whether it's a quick phone consultation for simple questions, a Zoom check-in, or coming out in person, he is always there for us. Mark is not just a profoundly talented trainer; he is one of the nicest, genuine human beings you will ever meet. We highly recommend him to anyone looking to transform their relationship with their pets. In fact, we are already planning to have him train one of our dogs as a service dog next! Thank you, Mark, for bringing peace back to our home!

The trainer helped me and my little grandkids work with my rescue pup, who was terrified of small…read morechildren. The protocol really works!

We signed our puppy up for a four week program here and decided that we loved it so much and our…read morepuppy was thriving so we decided to sign him up for two additional weeks. After six weeks at Hillary's hound house our dog has self-control, he can play nicely with our kitten, he comes when we call him and has a lot of control over his impulses. They trained us also so we know how to handle him and continue training him after his graduation today. Hillary is there almost every single day and she leads the training classes on Saturdays. The love for her job and the great employees she has really shines through and makes a very positive experience for her clients. We appreciate them so much and would highly recommend them to anybody who has just gotten a new puppy and doesn't know how to train it or have the time to be with the puppy all day every day.

THIS PLACE IS NOT FOR ME OR MY DOG…read more Let me start by saying that Hillary and her team of dog trainers are very nice people. I have nothing personal against them. However, I have a very serious concern about what happened to my dog during her time in this program. I brought my German Shorthaired Pointer, Nuala, to Hillary's program at the request of my parents so they could better understand how to work with her. I got Nuala at exactly eight weeks old from a very reputable gun dog breeder, as she is being raised to become a hunting dog. From day one, I worked closely with her on basic training and early socialization with both people and animals, and everything was going great. An important detail: I bring my dog to the beach almost every other day. She is constantly around people, crowds, noise, and other dogs, and this has never been an issue. She has always been confident, friendly, and well-adjusted. She has no problems with other dogs at all. My parents had same experience until recently. Fast-forward about 2 1/2 weeks into her program--she is now 17 weeks old--and suddenly she is showing fear-based behavior toward people. She started barking and growling at strangers, running toward me for protection, and hiding from people. Again, she has no issues with dogs, only people. This behavior is completely out of character and not at all the dog I brought into this program. I don't know what goes on behind closed doors at this facility, but something clearly went wrong. My dog came in confident and social, and she left fearful of people. Because of this, I will absolutely not be bringing her back. Before spending $2,500, I strongly recommend doing extensive research on where you bring your puppy. Personally, I have had far more success training my dog on my own by watching trainers who specialize in my specific breed on YouTube--something I've been doing successfully since day one. Training takes time, patience, and consistency, and the best part is that those resources are free. In summary, while I don't dislike Hillary or her team on a personal level, I am deeply unhappy with what happened to my dog while she was in their care. I paid $2,500 to help my puppy grow into a confident, well-behaved dog, and instead she came back scared of people. Because of this experience, I will not be returning and would not recommend this facility to others. I am extremely upset and disappointed.

We had a phenomenal experience with Clever Canine Training, Tim and Amy, and especially our…read moretrainer, Bridget! We enrolled our pit bull puppy, Daphne, in their four-week training program when she was about four months old, along with the Grow With Me program. Like most puppies, she was extremely energetic and still working on potty training, puppy nipping, jumping, house rules, and overall manners. Daphne came home like a completely different dog--in the best way! She was calmer, more confident, better mannered, and had a much stronger understanding of what was expected of her. One thing we especially appreciated was that no electronic collar was used during this stage of her training. After having a previous experience elsewhere where we felt one was relied on too heavily, this was really important to us. We also loved that Daphne received plenty of socialization and real-world exposure. Bridget took her into different environments, and we received regular pictures and updates on her progress and the areas they were continuing to work on. We couldn't be happier with the outcome and truly feel the investment was worth it. We're already looking forward to Daphne returning around eight months old for the next phase of her Grow With Me program and eventually working toward off-leash training. Thank you to Bridget, Tim, Amy, and the entire Clever Canine team for taking such great care of our pittie! We would absolutely recommend them!

We just completed our second training camp with my clever canine. At our first experience our dog…read morewas roughly 5 months old and this time we were returning with a 1 year old pup. We had maintained a nice foundation but felt it was appropriate based on a myriad of factors. We were placed with Emily and our experience was excellent. We knew Emily from many of our group trainings but had yet to do extensive one on one with her. Emily's approach is honest, consistent, soft (but firm) and very relatable. She was communicative in every way and made us feel safe. Given we had already done one camp we felt comfortable with the facility but each trainer brings their own nuance. Emily was clear and concise with each weekly update- she was really positive and had a ton of healthy feedback. Training is a huge investment of time and money.... Something we don't take lightly, but we have felt it was incredibly worth it both times. The continued support offered is 10/10, the communication is consistent and the general vibe is that everyone really wants to be there, including all the pups. Our dog has been home one full week, and we feel really good about the tools we've been given for continued success.

Kelli is as knowledgeable, wonderful and friendly in person as she is on the phone! When I follow…read moreher advice, looking keenly at the dogs around us in any situation, it increases my awareness of what is going on with the dogs I am with and if I do as Kelli has shown me within a couple of hours or less, I know what they are up to and what could happen next! I now prevent uncomfortable situations with my young Shepard mix who wants to herd dogs even! Kelli is great in all situations and is helping me and my son have a better relationship with our dog. From the first session she is showing me how to have Princess Kitty make friends with other dogs! Kelli is a master dog communicator- from dog body language of all the dogs to subtle and quick changes in the eyes of dogs - and is a phenomenal trainer hands down the best I'm met. She understands what dogs at up to at all moments, and all the possibilities of what could happen next. Kelli may work with puppies but she easily works well with my 50 lb active shepherd as well as my son's friends terrier a 8 lb rescue from the streets of California. Kelly understands dog body language and dogs so well she can predict their next moves easily. Great trainer wonderful lady who truly speaks dog! I would highly recommend her in any situation with any dog, or even if you want to get to know your dog better and make more doggie friends! Sky's the limit with Kelli, expect Miracles!

We actually found Kelli at PuppLuv using the Thumbtack app, but for some reason they keep giving me…read morea "page not found" error every time I try to leave a review there. Hopefully folks look for her on Yelp too! The app didn't really make it clear how far Kelli would have to travel to work with us, but after talking to us she decided to come out and work with us anyway. I can't say enough about Kelli. She really cares deeply about her clients (and their humans). We have a very sweet, large and dominant dog with leash reactivity and dog aggression issues. Kelli was willing to travel a long way to make sure that our pup got the help she needed, and we didn't inadvertently exacerbate our dog's issues trying to correct them. Kelli was kind, patient, and extremely generous with her time and skills. We would definitely recommend her to anyone looking for intuitive, experienced help with doggie behavioral issues.