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 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.

I have been bringing my dog here for grooming for the past few years and have always had a great…read moreexperience. My dog isn't scared or anxious after leaving or when I bring him. The groomers always come out to meet me and ask what I'm looking for. I've tried out other places in the area and this is the best place.

My puppy stayed for two weeks at Paw Sweet Paw, and I have to say the marketing does a better job…read morethan how the business actually operates. Prior to the stay, I was told first-timers get 1 week of free boarding. Knowing that we'd be out of the country for 2 weeks, this was perfect, on top of thinking the workers were nice. I also made sure they would be sending photo updates EVERY DAY via email and that there are cameras in the play area for us to check on him. As the front desk lady could tell, I made sure to make their lives easier, so I printed out 2 A4 sheets of things to know about my pup, being as detailed as possible so they wouldn't be confused about what to do since he's still a puppy. Two weeks later, we had to ask our friend to pick him up because they said no one could help release the pup on Easter Day. When they went to pick him up, both the bowl and the bed were missing, and they couldn't find them on the spot. They had to be delivered the day after, and ONLY because I made that phone call to confirm if they could find my puppy's bowl and his ginormous bed. During those two weeks, we clearly informed them that we would be out of the country and that SMS wouldn't work, yet they didn't remember until I emailed them, twice. Over the 15 days, I could barely see my pup on the camera, and I only received THREE email updates and one 10-second video of my puppy, which didn't even show anything meaningful. It felt like it was recorded just for the sake of sending something. One of the updates was also sent only after I emailed them the second time. Being told we'd be getting one week of free pet boarding for first-timers was WHY we chose to stay here. The staff also told us we could call for a refund if we were mischarged. Two weeks later, when we called, the lady told me they were going through reorganization, so workers were moving around, maybe that's why things were missing, and that the free first week only applied to daycare. I would have to speak to the manager about my concern. The manager obviously had the answer in mind and avoided my phone calls a couple of times, on top of my calls getting hung up more than 2-3 times during transfer. When she finally picked up, without hesitation to my question, she said she couldn't refund me for the first free week, but she could offer me a discount, or a free daycare day or some other discounts. Lol. What's the difference between giving me back a 1-week refund as your team promised versus a discount? Why not solve the problem instead of dancing around it? Why am I getting "punished" when your workers told me the wrong thing? Sure, you might lose a couple hundred bucks, but what's more valuable is that you're losing is a customer who will no longer trust your business, and the word-of-mouth effect that could've helped bring in more customers. As a business owner, you should understand better why pet owners trust you with their dogs and what they expect, especially in Orange County. Unfortunately, our first experience was horrendous and extremely disappointing. The level of disorganization and hassle is beyond disappointing. If you're looking for a pet boarding hotel, I strongly suggest finding somewhere else. Like the lady said, they're going through reorganization, so they might be too busy taking care of customers right now anyway.

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.

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 have 2 dogs, a chaotic puppy and a fear reactive German shepherd. Before working with Josh, I…read morefelt like I was always managing my dogs but still couldn't fully trust them in real life. Now they're calm, confident, and make way better decisions on their own. I can take them pretty much anywhere, which wasn't the case before. He also helped my German Shepherd become a lot more comfortable around people and other dogs. Biggest shift honestly was me. I'm way more confident, less stressed, and actually know how to communicate and teach my dogs without relying on tools. If you want a dog you can actually live life with, I'd 100% recommend Josh!

USE JOSH - This guy is amazing!…read more My dog Nuggets, is a 6 year old 15 pound, timid, terrier mix, sweetheart, but when she is on leash she displays some pretty nasty aggressive tendencies and her demons come out. As a first time dog dad, I haven't sharpened my tools around understanding my dogs emotional state and how threatened she feels and how to react or treat such aggression. So its harder for me to empathize and as such know how to handle it. I ran into Josh while walking my dog. I always see him walking his dogs, and they are so well behaved and so focused on him. So, I inquired about their training and he and i scheduled a session. Josh shared tools to improve these behaviors first from a actual tools piece like replacing a harness with a collar and a firm leash rather than a flex leash. Next, he helped me understand the psychological state of my dog and why she does what she does, it was enlightening and helped me better understand Nuggets. Finally, Josh taught me exercises to employ to redirect Nuggets focus to me. I couldn't be more grateful for the service Josh provided. You can tell Josh loves what he does and it shows by how good he is at it. That being said, I struggle to understand how anyone could complain about Bark Busters, my experience was one in which Josh , an incredible professional, was trying to help me be a better dog parent, and for that I am eternally grateful.

Sit Means Sit has provided wonderful training and our pup Milo has shown tremendous positive…read moreprogress in his behavior in just a few sessions of training. What we like the most is how the trainers observe the behavior of an owner with their furry companion and educate the owner as well as the dog with behavioral tips to help the overall training. This training has helped grow Milo as a dog and my wife and I as his owners. We definitely recommend seeking obtaining professional dog training guidance from these experts.

Just wanted to let everyone know, how AMAZING this group is!…read more Our Kat (Katerina) is a 70 lbs golden retriever that when she sees something she goes full throttle. At first, I was a little apprehensive about leaving her for a full week. My visions of the ASPCA commercial were playing in the back of my head. But when we arrived, Chris, Ryan (our trainer), and Bill were eagerly awaiting our arrival. I voiced my concerns; they gave me a tour of the kennel - none of the dogs were crying or barking. All were well behaved. It didn't smell like a kennel, it had A/C. When they stay overnight, your suppose to pack their food in individual servings. They asked if they don't eat, would it be ok, if they added broth or chicken pieces to their meals. Feeling that they were really concerned about our pets well being, I had no hesitation of leaving our baby girl with them. After a week apart, she was so excited to see us. I learned the rules, and she has been so great, no more pulling and makes eye contact with us anxiously awaiting direction! We returned two weeks later for a refresher (mainly on me). We are excited to start group classes. If we were to ever get another dog, their would be no hesitation on scheduling a training with SIT Means SIT.

I came to Tye for my rescues first haircut and she was amazing! He may have had some trauma from…read morehis past life but apparently he did well after she gained his trust. His haircut was amazing, check the picture for proof! I will definitely be coming back when my Zuko needs another haircut!

Dan is the best. He knows dogs and how to train them. Answers all of my questions and concerns and…read moreshows me how to follow through at home. We just left her with him for 7 days and couldn't be happier. I don't trust anyone else to care for her and keep her safe.

One thing I'm most thankful for this Thanksgiving is Sogand!! She is amazing. We didn't know what…read moreto do or who to turn to with our dog Clyde. He was usually good with people but super reactive with other dogs and animals. We got him as a puppy, he was always super high energy and reactive, even to animals on TV. We had to always try to walk him where there were no dogs or people. This past summer we went on vacation and our oldest son was watching him. He took Clyde on a walk when they saw another dog across the street, Clyde went crazy, started barking and lunging for the dog. My son got in front of him and Clyde ended up biting him several times. When we found out about the incident on vacation we had no idea what to do. We thought we had to give him up, it broke our hearts. Then I found Sogand when I was searching for trainers and options. Her reviews were great, but what sold us was our first conversation with her. We had talked to several other trainers during our initial search but no one gave us hope yet realistically assessed where Clyde was like Sogand. We were at the airport waiting to board our flight home. I'll never forget our first conversation with her. She patiently listened to us and then reassured us that Clyde was not a lost cause. She was direct and honest about her approach, and confidently said she could help Clyde. From our first session with her we knew we had made the right decision. She commanded obedience from Clyde like he had been her dog his whole life. Within 10 mins, she had him interacting with her dog and not going ballistic. This has never happened before. We have had to avoid other dogs all the time. In this first session she was able to assess several of Clyde's bad behavior and patterns and correct it. Because of the severity of his behavior and having bit our son so badly, she recommended we do the board and train for intense training. This was the best decision we ever made. Clyde came back a changed dog, and more importantly she trained us in how to train Clyde. With her help we have been able to keep up Clyde's training. We still meet with her for one on one sessions once a month to complete Clyde's trainings. The best result came yesterday at Thanksgiving, we had 22 guests and one other dog. I texted Sogand and she gave us guidance on how to handle the the event with Clyde. We followed her instructions and Clyde did amazing. People who have known Clyde said he was like a different dog. I can't recommends her enough! Her approach was just what we needed. She doesn't just train dogs, she becomes an integral part of the dog and owner's life and journey. Because of Sogand, Clyde has a new lease on life and we are able to keep our beloved dog without always fearing that something horrible will happen!!!

Sogi was a miracle trainer to help my dog Dumpling get over his aggression issues towards other…read moredogs and people. We chose her 2 week board and train - aggression rehabilitation service, after a week her and her staff noticed my dog still being very aggressive in protecting his food bowl and she extended his training another week (no extra charge!) so she could really focus on that aspect to make sure Dumpling's aggression was addressed. Wife and I also highly recommend her private sessions after the board and train. 2-3 weeks is definitely not enough time to make sure behavior issues are completely addressed, so her sessions helped make sure we properly did our daily trainings with Dumping. Her sessions also evolved the trainings we did at home as our dog's aggression level kept going down and focus on his high alert/anxiety responses to stimuli, and try to help him associate his dopamine response to being relaxed. She also helped identify a food allergy that made him itchy, which added to his higher anxiety level. All these things added up and now our dog is a lot happier and hasn't displayed a snarl or showed his teeth in anger to anyone or any dogs in months! Thanks Sogi for helping Dumpling and us and hope this review helps others choose you over other trainers out there for their dogs.