If you are serious about training with the best in the world and want to work with caring, smart, and talented staff. Man's Best Friend is the place. You will become the leader your dog needs and the obedience, respect, and confidence your dog will have is priceless. All dogs and humans should train here. read more

Man's Best Friend is an amazing organization. I would recommend them to anyone with a dog, even if they are already well behaved. The way my dog Rowan has calmed down with the training is wonderful, I get to watch him make decisions and I love seeing his brain calm down. Rowan was already my emotional support dog, but we needed him to be very well trained for when my husband comes home with his service dog. The staff kept us up to date several times a week with pictures on their Facebook page, and Shannon also called to update us. With the training package we chose, Man's Best Friend provided us with their Top Dog Academy online videos. We have lifetime access and we watched them several times at our own pace, we also watched the videos with our kids so they were fully aware of the expectations and new rules with our dog. The 3 hour training session with Shannon was so informative, Shannon clearly loves dogs and is very passionate about her business. She was patient with me, explained things clearly, answered all my questions, and really made me feel like I CAN be the leader my Rowan needs me to be. I know in my heart that Man's Best Friend will be there for us for the life of my Rowan. This training is worth every single penny and I am so grateful that I can trust myself and my Rowan to be a part of every aspect of my life. Thank you Shannon & everyone at Man's Best Friend! We LOVE you! read more

See all

We brought our dog, Teddy, here for training. We received many updates via Facebook with pictures throughout his time there. We were encouraged to call as often as we liked to check up on him. Each time we received excellent updates and all of our questions were thoroughly answered. It can definitely be nerve wracking leaving your pet with someone else- especially for an extended amount of time. I can say that I truly trust Shannon and her team to care for your pet and provide excellent care! When looking at thorough dog training, you don't want to cut corners- you pay for what you get. If you are interested in your dog developing positive skills that keep them safe and keep you sane, I 100% recommend checking them out! read more

Anya and I just completed and passed the CGC test with Shannon and Jarod. I was VERY IMPRESSED with the process and methodology they follow and by the care they exhibit towards the animal. They work and stress the relationship between the handler and animal and very often I as the handler was unknowingly doing things incorrectly. They took the time to ensure I was being fair to the dog as a part of the process. Anya and I enjoy a much stronger relationship now... Would highly recommend this program and business and will not hesitate to utilize other services they offer in the future. If you are considering using the reviews on Yelp to determine if you want to bring your pet here, consider the reviews of customers that have actually used the services. I am sure that you will find they take great care with your dog and make the best decisions for the health of the animal. read more

Harley and I are officially Canine Good Citizens - we passed our test today!! Thank you Fancy Pants Labradoodles for recommending we take training classes at Man's Best Friend in Battle Ground, WA. So grateful to owners Shannon and Jarod Walker for everything they taught me. They assist local police departments with their K9 training, as well as train and donate service dogs to veterans through Northwest Battle Buddies, so it comes without saying that they are good at what they do. Harley and I will never aspire to that level of awesomeness, but we are grateful for the opportunity to learn from the best. Thank you, Shannon and Jarod, for teaching me how to be a fair and mindful dog parent. I am most appreciative!!! read more

The staff at Man's best friend are exceptional in every sense of the word. I was highly impressed by the quality of training and level of expertise. read more

Before we placed our male GSD, Moose, into the behavior class he was crazy and didn't listen. He was a very hyper and independent 1 year old. I had just had a baby and was very overwhelmed by his behavior. I knew we had to do something! I found Mans Best Friend on Facebook and a couple of months later we were on the way to drop off Moose for the 30 day program. 30 some days later when we went to pick up Moose I could immediately tell a huuuuge difference. The trainer came out with Moose and walked him right past us, the whole time he walked right by her side! I was so amazed! My dog was seriously walking next to her and not pulling at all! The next couple hours the trainer showed us everything Moose had learned (the down command and recall). Now that Moose has had this class he is a totally different dog! I feel comfortable having him outside knowing what when I call him he will come to me right away and lay down when I tell him to (and not get up until i say so) If you are considering this trainer I highly recommend her! It is WORTH it. (Photo of my boy for attention) read more

Man's Best Friend - Pet Training Near Me - Battle Ground, Washington

My husband and I waited a very long time after we lost our last dog ( 19 yrs). We finally got a puppy (Oliver) and fell in love with this little guy. After the cuteness wore off we discovered we had a very disrespectful dog, becoming the boss in our family. Both of us were bitten multiple times on our hands, unable to walk him without him fighting the leash, and I became so intimidated. I felt so bad, but we didn't have the tools to begin to correct the situation. Our daughter recommended Mans Best Friend as they had exceptional experience for 3 of their dogs. Upon reviewing their website, I discovered that MBF also offered a 1 hour Puppy Evaluation. We made an appointment and met with Shannon Walker. She was so thorough explaining her methods and philosophy that she has used during her 27 years of dog training experience. We loved the way she interacted with Oliver. She was calm and never raised her voice while learning some of his issues. She instructed us on how to begin to correct his bad habits. After two weeks at home trying to correct Oliver, we called Shannon to discuss our lack of progress. She was extremely supportive and understood how we were feeling toward our puppy. It was a mutual agreement to enroll him into the 30 day boarded training. It was a difficult decision but the outcome was beyond amazing!! We now have a very well trained 6 month old puppy who draws such attention when we walk him. "He is so well behaved", " such a great walker", "how do you get him to sit or lay down" are the comments we hear daily. There is no more biting, jumping on us or our guests or other bad habits he would exhibit on a daily basis. He is no longer the "leader of our pack". In short Shannon Walker and the other trainers and staff at Mans Best Friend turned our unruly puppy into a calm, well mannered member of our family. We cannot express adequately how his training has changed our lives and Olivers. If this sounds familiar to anyone, do yourself and family a favor... call Shannon Walker at Mans Best Friend. She will take your dog and work with him or her in a professional, respectful and caring way. You will be glad you did. read more

See all

Horrible customer service. Careless receptionists and careless employees. Incredibly rude to customers and animals alike. I would not recommend this business by any means Someone I know utilized this business and had a horrible experience, 10/10 would NOT recommend read more

I had a terrible experience here and I would not recommend this place for your dog. The Service and staff were horribl and the environment was just not a ideal place for a dog. read more

They are an excellent trainer! We have run three of our dogs through their AKC Canine Good Citizenship testing. I 100% approve of their training philosophy! It is effective. The most important thing they teach is training is at least 50% of the training is of the human handler. It's so true. read more

This is not a safe place for your dog. The boarding and kennel areas are kept in terrible condition, the dogs are not treated nicely by employees and are screamed at constantly. Don't put your dog through this, letting them lay in their own waste all night and living in bleach soaked room that makes your eyes burn. Find a higher quality place to board and train, your dog will thank you. They also will not be afraid to hang up the phone on you when you ask questions. No accountability for anything just hang up and ignore people. read more

I'm sure they are great for training but we will not be bringing our dog here again. We brought in a healthy dog & when we got her back a week later she had sores on her legs & was vomiting. We have taken her to the vet twice. We were not allowed to view the kennel. I have sent two messages to the facility with no response. read more

I cannot say enough how amazing Shannon and her staff are. My pup loves going here and playing with her friends. The staff knows my dogs and are always happy when she comes in, offering love and affection. If you do your due diligence and research Shannon Walker you will find she has a gift with dogs, she truly knows her stuff and is willing to teach and educate others. In addition to Man's Best Friend she runs a non-profit which trains and gifts service dogs at no cost to Veterans, our American Heroes. She changes lives and holds herself, her business, and her staff to high standards. read more

Totally worth every penny! It was so hard to drop my dog off & not see him for 3 weeks, but man, he's like a whole new dog! I have a doberman & he is sooo stubborn & willful. Now he is very well mannered, well behaved, and respectful. Shannon not only trained my dog, she trained me. You leave with everything you need to have success. read more

After a few visits to the vet and some attempted crating, two friends highly recommended I take my husky mix to Man's Best Friend for training. I didn't know what else to do at the time, so I did, hoping they could help. Over time my dog has learned that he can escape and will do so given any opportunity, to the point where he has to be constantly supervised. He tears through window screens,scratches door frames and window sills, jumps out second story windows, and destroys any crate I try to put him in. I explained in detail exactly what the problem was, took him out to Battle Ground to sign the boarding/training agreement. After more than 20 days at MBF, they advised he was doing great and I was hopeful. I went to pick him up, had a walk-through where I learned the 'down' and 'here' commands and how to use the electronic collar that is the key part of training. He came when called (with the e-collar), which he would never do before. They also advised he slept in a crate every night with no issues and did not try to escape once. The first night he was home with me, I crated him (in a wire crate) at night and left for half an hour. When I got back, he had destroyed the crate and was just about to get free. I had asked MBF what kind of crate they used and they said plastic, so I returned the wire crate and got a plastic one. The second night I crated him, went out for about two hours and came home to find he had pulled the door off the hinges of the plastic crate and was just about to escape. First thing the next day, I called MBF and left a message letting them know my dog was still destroying crates and attempting to escape. I did not receive a call back. So I have a dog who will come when called with his e-collar on, but nothing else has changed. I sleep on the couch every night trying to police my dog, blocking off all but two exit points (front door and living room window). He wakes me up nightly between 3-5 a.m., scratching at the blinds on the window that's accessible and I have to buzz him with the e-collar to get him to back down. When I need to leave my house, I drop him off at a friend's so she can monitor him while I'm gone, since the e-collar only works when I'm in close proximity to my dog. I considered maybe he's not getting enough exercise, but even with 3-4 walks and a 1-2 hour trip to the off-leash dog park daily, he exhibits the same behavior. MBF couldn't help with his behavioral issues, and I feel they're overconfident that their e-collar training model is a universal fix that will work for every dog. I'll even give the benefit of the doubt and say that for boarding they're probably great; for training their method might work for most dogs with specific behavioral problems. However, not receiving a call back (post-training, when I asked for help or suggestions) left me with the impression they're either "too busy", didn't care, or had no suggestions to offer while they claim to give free after-care/follow up. They certainly cash my checks on time though for the non-refundable $1100 plus. As far as my dog not escaping during his stay at MBF, it's like when you take your car to a mechanic and the weird noise your car was making mysteriously goes away, until you drive away from the mechanic and it starts making the noise again. Regarding not being able to help with his specific issue, it's like if the transmission went out on my car, I took the car to a mechanic and he or she gave it back with a new clutch instead of working on the transmission. Would you pay for the work? Probably not. Dogs aren't cars, but when it comes to training, Man's Best Friend seems to view them that way. After another couple visits to my local vet, he heard the story, was skeptical about the training my dog received, said he had never heard of MBF, and referred me to a Board Certified Veterinary Behaviorist (far more costly than MBF and currently I'm still paying for their training). If it weren't for the boarding aspect of MBF, I'd expect a refund as I would with any other product or service that didn't do what it was supposed to. The one positive if you're going to deal with MBF's training is Ora. She's a great person and will do everything she can to help. However, if your dog has similar behavior issues to what I've described, I'd suggest reading up on e-collar training (there's a ton of info out there) as Man's Best Friend uses them as their primary tool and gives you two basic commands that can only be used in conjunction with the collar. Then it seems you're on your own. read more

We had started to lose hope for our mini Australian shepherd mowgli who is 14 months old, he became very human aggressive and had actually bitten a few people who came over to our place. We couldn't take him anywhere. We were even scared to take him on walks cause he would lung,bark, and snarl at people. We took him to mans best friend for a board and train, and our dog came back so well trained. He is the same fun loving dog he just now knows he's not in control of the pack. I am able to walk him around anyone now, and we are not worried about visitors anymore. Shannon gave us an amazing lesson with tools to continue setting mowgli up for success! read more

Man's Best Friend - Pet Training Near Me - Battle Ground, Washington

See all

I took my first dog a Rottweiler to Man's Best Friend because I heard that she trained dogs as well. My dog was already trained so I hoped for a big Rottie to play with. When I heard the last time I was there that mine was the 8th Rottie. I said oh boy now she has someone to play with but they were all in for aggression and other training issues so Mazie had to play with another big dog! Even though it has been 10 years ago I am going to board my 11 month old Springer Spaniel puppy there. I read about the owner who trains Service Dogs for the Veteran's with PTSD. My dog will hopefully get certified Service Dog because I have PTSD. Shannon really helps the Veterans and gets 5 stars for everything from the facility to the people who operate this facilities. read more

All I can say is wow! My wife and I were ready to give up on our 9 month old boarder collie/ hanging cow tree dog. He would literally terrorize our home by chewing things, digging holes, shreading stuff and knocking everything over. We dropped him off at Man's Best Friend because one of our other close friends recommended Shannon to us. They said Shannon did a lot of work with the military/veterans and she was able to polish a turd into a diamond. It was a gamble for us because of the price (totally worth every penny), but I wasn't willing to give up on the dog. What we got back 30 days later blew my mind. Our dog walks with us off leash and on leash. He can be chasing something and I give a command and he drops it. The dog respects everyone's space and listens to my wife, my kid (3yrs old) and me. I can now leave the dog alone in the house and not worry that I will come back to a war zone of hell. Shannon literally did a full over haul on our dog and we couldn't be happier. We were so happy we are letting her take a crack at our other two dogs. If she can reteach a 10 and 8 year old shiba inus then we will know she walks on water. I can't say enough good things about Man's Best Friend. I will say this book the date for training prior to getting the dog it is worth it. read more

My dog is 8 and has been dog aggressive for 7 years. When it started I didn't know how to handle it, I took him to training. Didn't work. In fact, I took him to 5 different trainers, none of them were able to help me get my dog to behave. I had given up on ever having a well-behaved dog. Then I moved to Battle Ground and had to board my dog while going out of town and found Man's Best Friend. Their facility is impressive and the dogs are well cared for. After the second time I boarded my dog I met the owner, Shannon, I was so impressed with her that when I got a second dog, I decided to go to her for help with the first and his aggression. I had a couple private lessons with Shannon and after just the first my dog stopped pulling at his leash on walks. After the second, he stopped barking at our second dog and lay calmly while we walked the other dog nearby. I just picked him up from a two week training and he will now come when called off leash and is much calmer. I finally have hopes that the dog I wanted is possible. I know it is still a work in progress - I have bad habits to change (my own not the dog's), but working with Shannon has given me a whole new perspective on what I can expect from him. I can't thank Shannon enough for all her hard work. How wonderful it would be if there were more dog trainers like her out there, it would have been great for me to get the help I needed years ago. read more

We boarded our 2 labs there the 26-28th of August and exactly 1 week later our dogs have terrible kennel cough. All vaccinations are up to date and our dogs are never around any other dogs so we know it was from there. We called to advise Mans Best Friend as a precautionary gesture so they can clean or advise other family members. Their response was"nothing we can do!" I expected at least I'm sorry. She was obviously coached because her response was robotic and exactly the same "nothing we can do!" We asked don't you want to at least clean or advise people? Answer was the same "nothing we can do!" I can assure you we will tell EVERYONE to be careful. read more

I needed a service dog after returning home from war wounded in action and they went above and beyond for me and my dog. I wish I had words to explain how much they did for me but it gets me emotional. Thank you ALL so much, god bless each of you. Truly, SPC Kevin Williams MP (Ret) read more

I can't thank enough Shannon, Ora, and their wonderful staff. My beautiful German Shepherd, Coda, built like a race car and super-intense, challenged every other trainer I took him to and I didn't know what to do with him anymore. My vet recommended Man's Best Friend and I was really nervous when I left him there for an entire month. It was the best decision I've ever made. I went to pick him up and finally saw the fantastic dog he was meant to be all along :) We make a wonderful team now and knowing that we can trust each other is allowing me to start training again for Search and Rescue. The best part of the training was training me as well! I'm also glad to have found a boarding place where I can trust he's going to have a great time and is safe. Please keep being awesome! read more

I picked up my two dogs, (German Shepherd Dog and a Rat Terrier/Jack Russell Mix) who were in training for the past month. These dogs couldn't be more different from their confidence to their intelligence and temperament. I couldn't be more happy with the training they got at Man's Best Friend. They are both more relaxed and have more confidence and less anxiety. Most of all they are happy, listening and doing what is asked of them. This writer, the human, is still working on her training skills and will be for some time. Thank you Shannon and Chris and all others who trained my dogs and loved on them. It was obvious they were well cared for and loved and Ted and Caija loved running up to Shannon and get some pets and praise. As I write this my two young dogs are in the 35th minute of a one hour down. Neither has moved even an inch. My house is peaceful!!! read more

Recently we had our dog Lemei (Pit/Heeler mix) spent 20+ days at Man's Best Friend going through the training program. She went in as a playful mess needing confidence and training to protect herself and others. She came out the same playful mess, but well disciplined and very confident. It is well worth the investment. I can't say enough for the fantastic care and training the staff at Man's Best Friend gave our dog. Their reputation speaks for itself and I highly recommend Man's Best Friend for their boarding or training services. read more