I almost didn't book with The Dog Guru because I saw a review calling him "verbally abusive," and…read moreafter working with him personally, I honestly could not disagree more. Pay ZERO attention to that review. As a psychologist, I pay very close attention to behavior, regulation, communication, and emotional energy, and at no point did I witness cruelty, aggression, intimidation, or abusive behavior toward me or my dog. What honestly amazed me most was that he never said one word to my dog. There was no yelling, chaos, or "training performance." It was all action, energy, body language, timing, and an understanding of canine psychology that I have never personally seen before. Before we started working together, Daisy was going after every dog she saw. Within two hours, we were calmly walking and standing next to dogs that were within a foot of her, even sniffing her, and she was completely relaxed. The transformation was honestly remarkable. I think some people may misunderstand firmness, honesty, or structure as being "mean," especially when dealing with difficult dog behaviors, but there is a huge difference between abuse and someone confidently leading both owner and dog. My experience felt safe, effective, loving, and honestly incredible. For the first time in a long time, I left feeling hopeful and relaxed instead of anxious. I am extremely grateful I trusted my own experience instead of one negative review.

Initial impression - First thought . There is only one…read moreCaesar Milan. Second thought. No doubt an excellent trainer for the military and if that's what you're looking for he may be just your speed ! His accolades can be found in so many of his advertisements which I'm sure are no doubt accurate. If you're going to pay a sum in advance to schedule a conversation, (as I did) , you may have to call him to remind him to call you on the last day that the call was promised . While, this truth may not sit well and I didn't actually hire him, no matter because your mileage may vary. He is a busy guy. All the best to you all.

We had an amazing experience with Julie and her 7-day board and train program for our 5-month-old…read morepuppy. Before training, our pup had all the typical puppy chaos--pulling on the leash, struggling to settle, and not consistently following basic commands. After just one week with Julie, the transformation was honestly impressive. He came back walking calmly on a leash, able to self-soothe, and with a strong foundation in basic obedience. Julie was a pleasure to work with from start to finish--super knowledgeable, patient, and clearly experienced. She also took the time to make sure we understood how to reinforce everything at home, which made a huge difference. If you're considering a board and train, especially for a young dog, I highly recommend Julie. It gave us structure, confidence, and a much calmer, happier pup.

Julie provides a safe and fun experience for dogs in her care. I found out that dog parks can be…read moredangerous, because some unsupervised & untrained dogs can get aggressive. Once I had a scary experience at Dog Beach. However Julie is a great trainer and keeps things mellow and fun to small groups of supervised playful dogs that are already socialized and trained at her home. I have a 5-year old goldendoodle who she trained with a special gentle lead leash when he was pretty young. I was at my wit's end with his wild behavior but am pleased to say his behavior is much improved now after lessons & daycare with Julie.

We started with Vladae when our Vizsla puppy was just a few months old and progressed quickly. It…read moreall made sense and yielded quick results. We were so happy with everything that we decided to progress further by sending her to his 2 week boot camp at 16 months old. When I asked why such a good dog would go to boot camp, Vladae responded with, "Same reason that the smartest kids go to university, to become all they can be and hone their skills." That made sense to me! If it was any other boot camp I would have been nervous about my baby. I know how well Vladae treats his campers though and his focus on health and exercise. "Only the tired dog is the good dog" Thank you Vladae!

As a first-time Cavapoo owner, I felt completely overwhelmed with the process of dog training and…read morehad no idea what to expect. It honestly brought back the feeling of being a first-time parent--questioning every decision, but without a nurse hotline for guidance. My husband and I were especially struggling with how to manage Chloe around our young kids. She was very unruly, reactive on walks, and difficult to control around other dogs. We found SoCal Dog Training through a friend's referral, and choosing Vladae ended up being one of the best decisions we've made. I'll admit, I was skeptical at first--so many trainers promise results--but Vladae truly delivers. The onboarding process was seamless. The initial FaceTime consultation helped set clear expectations, and I really appreciated how upfront and honest he was about the work required. What stood out most to me was his long-term commitment--knowing I could always come back for refreshers gave me a lot of confidence that I wasn't just getting a short-term fix. The training sessions are where the transformation really happens. After each session, it genuinely felt like we had a new dog--but that's also where the responsibility comes in. You have to consistently follow through with the exercises he gives you. In many ways, it reminded me that investing in my dog's future takes the same consistency and commitment as investing in my two kids. She's now quite literally my third kid. Chloe used to be extremely reactive--barking, pulling on the leash, and even jumping up on our toddlers. Vladae helped me understand the root of her behavior and showed me how to properly address it. Now she's calm, more confident, and walking her has become something I actually enjoy. Seeing that transformation has been incredibly rewarding. It wasn't an easy process, but it was absolutely worth it. Also, a special shout-out to Antonina for being so kind, responsive, and accommodating with scheduling.

Dave came to train our pup, Hanky who had serious issues with anxiety, aggression, and resource…read moreguarding. Dave was compassionate, informative, and incredibly helpful. He took time to get to know our family and tailor Hank's training to his personality and needs. He is incredibly knowledgeable and we have seen a huge improvement in our dog's behavior. Hanky is happier and now we know how to support him in order to avoid aggression. We also started taking both of our dogs to EveryDog Daycamp and it has been amazing to have a safe place where our dogs can play with other pups without me worrying something might happen to them. I can't recommend Dave and EveryDog enough!

I was visiting from Southern California and stopped in the store just to use the bathroom. Such a…read morecute store! The worker was so warm and friendly. So many unique items. They had a good selection of MLB neckerchiefs that easily attached thru his collar that I ended up buying a Dodger one for my dog.

We boarded our puppy for three weeks with The Bark Collective and the difference it has made is…read moretruly remarkable. After just one week, we came in for a training session and already noticed a significant improvement. We then went away for two more weeks, and every single day we received photos, videos, and detailed updates. The communication was exceptional! You can really feel the heart, love, and care they pour into every dog, and that makes all the difference. A special thank you to Casandra and AJ, who are incredible trainers so kind, thoughtful, and genuinely gifted at what they do. They gave our dog the most impactful framework and boundaries, and it's clear they pour their hearts into every animal in their care. That level of dedication is exactly what you want when deciding where to send your dog. We look forward to daycare, continued training, and group dog walks. We are forever grateful to The Bark Collective. We can't recommend them highly enough!

Our dog Hank loves bark collective. They always take such good care of Hank and he is soo happy…read morewhenever we pick him up. I know he's been well cared for. We also just had or first training session with AJ and I'm so excited to implement her training methods that don't require and e-collar. The e-collar is optional and can be used on certain situations, but I saw her techniques with him work without the ecollar.. I'm so glad I scheduled the training session and will continue to schedule training session with her! Her training techniques are soo effective.

Tommy helped us with our Miniature Australian Shepherd puppy when no one else would! He came to…read moreour house when she was 11 weeks old (other trainers wanted to wait until she had all her puppy shots) and immediately got us off on the right foot for behavior training. He trained my husband and me as well as our puppy! So grateful. Tommy has a gift for knowing how dogs think and he shares that knowledge as part of the session. We never felt rushed to finish a lesson when he came to the house, he just dealt with our issues and reminded us to keep practicing with our dog until next time. We even decided to enroll in his weekly puppy class so that our puppy would learn to behave around other dogs. His private dog park is a god-send as we live in a condo and don't have a yard for our puppy to play in. She loved going there and we'll be back! We highly recommend Tommy. He showed us how to anticipate what our puppy was going to do before she did it and correct her misdeeds before they take place. Five stars!

Tommy came for our first private session and it went better than I imagined. My husband and I…read morelearned a lot from Tommy. He is very relatable and has a unique way of teaching that is very enjoyable and actually entertaining, all at the same time! Now that is talent! Tommy was made for this job and well worth his price. You get what you pay for. He definitely does not watch the clock and gives you more than 1 hr and does not leave until he has answered all your questions. My dog is already doing better on our walks. Tommy teaches but you have to do what he says or you have wasted your money. I signed up for 5 lessons and looking forward to the rest. I will update when we are finished.

I adopted Maya, a young Belgian Malinois mix, a few months ago. She came from an extremely abusive…read moresituation and had pretty severe behavioral and reactivity issues that needed to be addressed. I searched around extensively and contacted a few different trainers and specialists, but remained skeptical (worried about finding someone good enough to handle Maya). However, I finally managed to come across Bryndon who seemed to fit the bill perfectly. Within minutes of the first introductory session, I could tell Bryndon knew exactly what he was doing and gave me the confidence that I had made the right choice. He experienced first-hand what Maya's reactivity was like, and yet by the end of the first introductory session, he already managed to showcase how we could help her improve. I knew that her issues were bad enough that it would take a very long time for her to get better, but to my surprise she showed massive improvements literally within the first few sessions. Most importantly, he showed and taught me what I needed to do to help guide her along, which was my biggest worry. We've both learned a lot (and got to learn a lot of tricks along the way lol). I cannot express enough how grateful I am to have chosen him as Maya's trainer. He listens to your needs and concerns and actually addresses them, is extremely well informed, and gives you and your dog the confidence they need to be better. He has a good mentality towards training dogs and utilizes positive reinforcement to help correct the source of issues rather than training that only serves to suppress and hide the bad behaviors/triggers. I don't say this lightly, but I cannot recommend Bryndon enough! If you are someone like me who was both highly skeptical and unsure, try meeting him for an intro, he is very approachable and friendly, and is genuinely honest enough to tell you if he's the right fit or not. Thank you Bryndon!!!

Bryndon is a kind, very knowledgeable and professional trainer. My dog absolutely loved him! He…read morewas great with both of us and gave me some really great insight. I will be reaching out for additional training needs in future and would definitely recommend him. Thank you so much Bryndon!!

Such a quick and thorough explanation. Very helpful and informative. My sister had a great…read moreexperience with this organization and her young golden doodle. I just got a new bernedoodle rescue and would like this service.

Karen is such a skilled, professional dog trainer. I highly recommend using this training academy!…read more I could see the love and caring of training my crazy schnauzer. It is a great start in getting him to be less reactive. Now the hard part in the follow through of us continuing in the foundation that was made! Thank you!

Xavier is amazing. Cooper had some major issues, leash aggression with dogs, skateboarders, people…read more(if they tried to say hi to cooper from a safe distance) etc. Coops change in behavior started after our first session with him. If you are willing to listen, do the work, be consistent and actually do everything he says to you will not be disappointed. It was worth every $ spent. @ xavier hernandez dog behaviorist on Yelp if you want to see more reviews specific to him. I am no longer dreading taking them on walks. Turns out Cooper just had some anxiety and can get over excited. I thought I had an aggressive dog until we met with a Xavier. Very thankful and grateful.

I have a Large Cane Corso Masstiff female who just turned 1 year old in January. She is going thru…read moreher teenage years has been very dog aggressive lately. She was attacked by a much smaller dog ever since she goes crazy whenever we see another dog. I found a, "Highly Recommended" Dog trainer online according his website. After 3 sessions with him, his advice was to punch my dog in the face and head until she worried more about me than other dogs. As you can imagine that did not work and we stopped going. I started calling around to other trainers I found online but nobody wanted to work with such a big aggressive dog. One trainer referred me to Tony. After talking with Tony and watching his webinar he referred us to Xavier who from the first 15 minutes had my dog sitting down calmly and accepting directions. I can't speak highly enough for how professional results oriented both Tony and Xavier have been. We were considering returning her back to the breeder before meeting Tony and Xavier. Thank you both so very much!

I chose Mike/K9 Mentor because he had a Great Pyrenees (named Dakota) like my dog Maximus. So I…read morefigured he would do best or better than others knowing the breed. In short: Best investment ever for my dog. Mike arrived at 8am. We had a 50-55 minute learning session on DOGs from their culture, through the do's & don'ts, then we brought Maximus in and slowly applied the training methods. What Mike taught us, and what he did with Maximus, is absolutely fabulous. Maximus is more calm & less "high-strung", listens better, responds to me better, seems happier than before K9 Mentor training. PLUS, his aggressiveness has seemed to diminish greatly since the training session. Mike's training is simple, straight-forward, easy to learn (& eventually master) methods. I am completely satisfied with Mike/K9 Mentor Dog Training and would highly recommend him, especially with large dogs. Happy Dog Training & Fight On!

Thanks to Marti for being a great evaluator for both Canine Good Citizen and Trick dog. This…read morehandler was a bit nervous as there was a lot of distractions. Marti just asked us to start doing things instead of reading it off of the list and my nerves subsided. We passed! Yay! This young boy even exceeded my expectations! Much thanks to Marti for our sweet scarf and ribbon too! Love it! Highly recommend!