We brought our puppy Charlie home, and understandably, he was not potty or crate trained. Our new…read morevet (and books, trainer, etc. pretty much everyone) agreed: crate training goes hand in hand with potty training. "Start immediately and don't give in! If you go to him when he cries, he will forever learn that this is how to get out of the crate and he will never learn how to self-soothe!" And so began 10 days and nights of sleepless hell, with a 4.5 month old puppy who screamed all night and pooped and peed the crate. every night. every morning I would wash the poop off him and the walls around the crate, and cry, and feel like this cycle would never end. my son's warm welcome home consisted of shipping him off to airBnBs for a week just so he could sleep at night. I couldn't sleep all night, my heart breaking, hearing our new puppy cry. I was struggling, trying to follow the advice of all the wise dog owners and specialists, but it was unraveling our family, and I was worried we were going to break our sweet new puppy. I have to rewind a minute and tell you that Frances offered to come meet us at the foster's home when we first picked him up, to meet Charlie and see where he was raised, and meet his mom and his siblings. She offered to help weigh in when we struggled about taking Charlie or his more mellow sister (but it was always going to be Charlie ). She took time out of our busy day to do this kindness for us, because she loves dogs, and she loves people, and she wants us all to get along. What happened after we got Charlie home and were struggling is incredible. I'm pretty strong, but I was on the edge of a nervous breakdown. The stress of having a screaming-all-night-pooping-his-crate-refusing-to-poop/pee-outdoors pup along with a human puppy who needed his sleep while dealing with a new job, it was just about too much. I had entered that unthinkable mental space of "I am just not sure I can do this. I might not be able to... gulp KEEP this sweet puppy!" I had scheduled Frances to come shortly after we brought Charlie home, to help us with basic "sit, down, stay." I wanted to make sure we had a well-behaved dog who wouldn't jump up on visitors and beg at the table. I didn't even know enough to be concerned about other issues like socialization and other subtle but hugely important things. Frances is a born dog-whisperer. She is just one of those people who understands dogs as if they were her own flesh and blood. When she was young, her fantastic mom offered her a choice between a trip to Disney or a dog. Duh!  No contest for Frances. (By the way, 18 years later, she still has this sweet dog!) Turns out, this dog was a challenge. And the story of Frances the trainer begins! Returning to the story of Charlie: Frances came by for our first training session (which is as much, possibly more, for the humans than the dog! )  and she could just tell that I was already at a breaking point. She instinctively offered to help in a much bigger way than "sit" and "down". She wanted to check in with her partner to be sure they could weather a screaming puppy, and her partner said "I think you can really help these people, and this puppy!" I was beside myself with gratitude.  I mean, they are both just, saints. So they took in our Charlie, and they had kind of a rough first night where he screamed and pooped himself, and she lovingly bathed him in the middle of the night, and then started her amazing problem-solving. "What if my incredible dog Leroy can help soothe him and show him it's ok to be in a crate overnight?" Her instincts were golden and that remains the last time Charlie pooped his crate or even cried in it. Leroy and Charlie enjoyed a fine friendship and bedtime routine: charlie inside the crate, and leroy just outside it, slumbering peacefully but right there to soothe charlie if he started to freak out. After several nights she removed Leroy to make sure charlie could handle it on his own. he could! then she started putting his crate in different rooms to make sure he'd be able to adapt. he did! Then her 3 dogs (and Frances! lol) proceeded to help teach Charlie to pee and poop outside! (I had tried and failed for 10 days!) She sent me photos and video updates, with informative and often humorous commentary. I treasured these communications as my hope and confidence grew that we might be able to handle this new puppy after all, after this intervention. We went to visit him and were greeted by a puppy who now fetched!  He was also sitting and lying down on command, and was just so much calmer and secure-seeming. Her dogs contributed to some much needed socializing, with her careful supervision. When team Frances delivered Charlie back to us, we had a puppy who was 100% crate trained, and potty trained. Nothing short of a miracle if you ask us. She is really smart and kind and funny and interesting. Our puppy adores her. Your and your dog/s would be very blessed to have Frances in your lives!

Frances is hands down the best dog trainer I have ever worked with. She is not only passionate…read moreabout her job but she invests endless time and money into continuing her education, something that is very rare amongst the dog training community. I first started working with Frances a year ago and under her guidance I went from having a chaotic teen to a well trained dog that has incredible obedience, social skills, and an amazing recall. Along with this Frances introduced me to the world of dog sports and now my dog and I spend our weeks competing in dock diving, scent work and even do some retrieve work for fun! Her passion for dog training is so contagious that I found myself wanting to learn more, train more, and explore more of the dog world. I truly don't think my dog and I would have the bond we do if it weren't for Frances. To this day we still train with her regularly and she is the only person I would trust to handle my dog. Could not recommend her enough!!!

I wholeheartedly recommend Canine Construction Dog Training services. Gwen is an exceptional dog…read moretrainer, and I'm fortunate to have trained my Labrador Moose with Gwen beginning at three months. Her deep understanding of canine psychology and her ability to connect with dogs is beyond what I have ever seen before, as is the instantaneous connection dogs have with her in return. From the first session, Moose immediately clicked with Gwen and was excited to work with her (and I was, too!). She gave me clear guidance and personalized training that shaped my behavior as a dog owner and, in turn, shaped my puppy's behavior. Moose has grown into a well-mannered, confident, and happy companion. Our bond has deepened, and I credit Gwen for helping us build a solid foundation based on trust and respect that'll last a lifetime! Gwen was professional, reliable, and punctual to each session, showing up fully present and with a positive attitude. I hope you and your pup are fortunate enough to work with Gwen. She is truly one of a kind.

Gwen is the best dog trainer my wife and I have ever worked with (and we've worked with a lot!)…read more She cares deeply about her clients and the pups she works with and goes above and beyond in every way. She's a special person and we could not recommend her more!

I specifically chose this trainer because his website said he specializes in aggressive dogs. I…read morerescued an aggressive pit bull from a shelter (not knowing about the aggression issue). This trainer wasn't even able to handle our dog because she disliked him so much. We bought the package of lessons and used 2 of them. When it was clear that our dog was getting worse and not better, I asked if we could cancel and get a refund for the remaining classes. Our refund we received was for a fraction of what we were owed. We ended up hiring sonoma county canine, and our dog is improving so rapidly. And our dog LOVES the trainers there. I guess every dog is different and needs a different kind of trainer. So, maybe don't purchase an entire training package with this trainer since you don't know if it will work out.

John Vinton is an expert dog trainer. I highly recommend him…read more He worked with us and our Scottish terrier to overcome a serious issue with crazy, outrageous behavior and barking at other dogs. We surmised that our puppy became fear-aggressive in part due to an accidental death of our older Scottie. Perhaps she had to step up and be the "protector" when she really wasn't ready for it. Anyway, John has a very well thought out and executed training program that includes multiple visits to our home and walks with our dog in our neighborhood so he could see exactly what was happening. John's methods are kind and gentle to both dog and owner and I rate them highly effective. A lot of what we learned had to do with making sure our dog has an appropriate place in the human world she lives in. Some of the training tips are surprisingly easy to implement. However, if you embark on a serious training regimen with your dog, do expect to spend time each day on the project and it will be more than worth it. A lot of what we did was basic obedience assisted in great part by John's knowledge and guidance. We also spent a lot of time walking our dog in areas where she would meet other dogs. It was extremely difficult at first as she would be crazy, out of control around other dogs. The big breakthrough came after a number of weeks of slow improvement (the outrageous behavior was moderating). John had our dog on leash and suddenly came up on another dog. John intuitively could see that the other dog was friendly so he had our dog approach (all on leash), and the two dogs had a wonderful time sniffing around. Even though our Scottie can still bark and act anxious when another dog approaches, if we permit her to get close, the encounters have always turned out positive. Thanks to John's coaching and gentle persuasion we have learned to trust that our dog really wants to get to know other dogs and she enjoys the interaction. I believe she is on the road to calm behavior around other dogs thanks to John Vinton.

Tierra is very professional! Shes done a wonderful job with training Princeton my 1 year old Pitt…read moremix . Not only that, she's has very reasonable prices with her doggy daycare on Rover she'll sit through holidays which is AMAZING. Thanks tierra !

We had a private one on one lesson with Kristin and our handling improved vastly with our 2-year…read moreold Akita last year. In his 3rd year, our Akita grew too large to handle (120 lbs) when he continually jumped at other dogs in his quest to play with them. We took the 6 week Reactivity Dogs lessons and came away with basic skills that is helping to rein in our exuberant dog. You think you know "sit" "stay" "heel" and "come," but we got lazy with these commands and our 120 lb. Akita decided to have his own way when he could. I can confidently say that if you think you know all this, take a course or private lesson with Dog Dynamics to learn, unlearn, and improve the handling of your dog. Our dog now gets away with very little. We have also become more consistent dog owners knowing that WE are the ones responsible for our dogs to be happy, obedient family members. Thanks to Bonnie, Jess, and Diana for their expertise and patience with us!

We sent a wild and crazy 5 month GSD to training with Emily at Dog Dynamics; what returned was a…read morenew dog. Honestly the 3-week training that we did with Dog Dynamics was worth it. Our GSD is intense, with the corrections that Emily made over the 3-week board and train is impressive. Our dog can now: heel on walks, wait at doors, goes to her bed, sits until is released and recalls on command. But most importantly our GSD has stopped biting. She had severe puppy biting issues (past any other GSD we've worked with). Emily fixed the major issues and showed us how to keep the training going. We have follow up training lessons to ensure we are keeping our dog training on track; which was an another huge reason we liked this company. We will most definitely do follow up enforcement/advanced training with Emily. Huge thanks to Bonnie and Emily. You ladies took a lot of stress away from our family. Sincerely, thank you.

Walkies! Is a wonderful dog walking company. Kerry, (our pup's walker) is energetic, punctual and…read moremost importantly Paris (our pup) LOVES her. We highly recommend using Walkies on a regular basis :) thank you Walkies!

I found Samantha when my new Labrador puppy (Mamba) was making me question if I was a dog person…read more After just one session with her, Mamba and I were excited at the possibilities. I loved learning from her so much I kept up training sessions whenever I could, but also had the resources after training to be able to work on it alone. Her invaluable knowledge and belief in me learning how to train Mamba laid a foundation of trust that I cannot thank her enough for. Five years later and Mamba still loves staying with Samantha and I have the tools to keep teaching my old dog new tricks, and I am, in fact, a well trained dog person.

I don't even know where to begin. We shopped around the local area, looking for the right board and…read moretrain program for our 100lb/15 month old Bernese Mountain Dog. We were looking for leash training, general obedience, excitement control, etc. After a few bad interviews, we met Sam. She came to the house and spent 2 hours with us. It was clear that she was the right fit. My husband was about to deploy, we have a 9 month old baby, and I needed somewhere I could trust to leave our pup for a month while I got used to taking care of the baby alone. She provided updates often and his training was going well! I was supposed to be getting Griffey back soon when she called to tell me he had some hot spots. They worsened, he wouldn't leave them alone, and she needed to get him to the vet. She ended up taking him to her vet since ours wasn't able to see him quick enough. She kept him for a few extra days while he was on medication/healing. She cares so much about Griffey and his health/well being. It was a breath of fresh air that she was so intent on getting him 100% trained to our wishes that she kept him a few extra days (no charge) to make sure he could heal but also continue to get some additional training. I've got Griffey back now and he's much more calm and obedient. I couldn't be happier. Ruff Pup truly went above and beyond for us. She could have easily dropped his hot spot problem on me and sent him home from training. Instead, she personally saw to his healing and continued training. She has our business forever. I'm truly thankful to them. 10/10 would recommend.

I just helped a friend adopt a dog from Family Dog Rescue, and had an excellent experience…read more Everyone I communicated with was professional and helpful. (Thank you Nicole.) Very happy with the dog! They provided documentation concerning the dog (vaccines, etc.) by email, which was good. Highly recommended.

Best experience we've ever had adopting a puppy. Good communication, follow-up and seamless…read moreadoption. The price is more than fair because it includes, chipping, all shots and neutering. Our contact was Nicole and she was wonderful!