Excellent trainer with an unbelievable knowledge of canine behavior as well as who's who in the dog…read moretraining world.

I sent my two year old pit bull mix, Layla, to the two week Board and Train program with Amhursh K9…read morefor extreme reactivity issues and I cannot say enough about how thrilled I am with the results of the program. I had all but reached my wit's end in trying to address Layla's problem behaviors on my own. Annemarie came to our home to evaluate Layla to ensure that she would be a good fit for the Board and Train program. Layla's reactivity issues were a big source of stress in my life, and I was worried that she might have grown into an aggressive dog. Daily walks around the neighborhood and hosting guests at our home were daunting because Layla would drop her otherwise sweet, cuddly demeanor to bark and lunge at people, dogs, and really just about anything that moved. Annemarie assured me that Layla was in fact a great-tempered dog and was simply lacking confidence and structure in her life. Because Layla is a pit bull mix, I am extremely picky about who I trust with my dog, but Annemarie expressed that she has ample experience with the breed. Her confidence in Layla's ability to learn correct and acceptable behavior really put me at ease. After Layla completed the training program, Annemarie brought her back to our home for an extensive lesson on her new commands, proper reinforcement and correction, etc. It was immediately evident that Layla was a "different" dog in the way that she carried herself. Instead of constantly scanning her environment for things to bark/lunge at, Layla was focused and calm. She walks beautifully on a loose leash and is respectful of people's boundaries (before training, Layla always had to be the CENTER of attention. Everywhere. All of the time.) Not only did Annemarie assist in Layla's confidence building, but Layla's progress has helped me feel more confident handling her - a self-perpetuating cycle. As it turns out, while I was worried that I might have created an aggressive dog, Annemarie was able to show me that Layla isn't an aggressive dog at all, but an extremely sensitive and emotional one. Amhursh K9 didn't just train my dog, they educated me on how to better understand my dog. I have a completely new relationship with Layla, and I am so extremely grateful for the results of the training. We are now talking about taking Layla on a trip to Petsmart - something I previously never dreamed of being possible. Amhursh K9 also offers boarding services, so I now also have a place I feel comfortable sending Layla to stay anytime I need to travel out of town. If it isn't already evident, I really cannot say enough good things about Annemarie and Amhursh K9.

We live in DC and it's a 45-minute drive to Your Dog's Friend, but chose them anyway after *lots*…read moreof research about the best puppy kindergarten and dog training classes in the DC area. I love that they are a nonprofit organization, how experienced their trainers are (with all relevant certifications), and that they are positive-only (as recommended by AVSAB- American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior - and is best supported by research). We started with puppy kindergarten with our golden retriever (6 sessions, starting around 14 weeks) and LOVED it. I can't say enough good things. The trainers at Your Dog's Friend are so knowledgeable about research-based, positive training and socialization. Everything we learned from Sarah Stoycos and the other trainers we have put into practice with our puppy, Griffey. After puppy K, we signed up for puppy first-grade and will be starting this weekend. We hope to keep going all the way through Canine Good Citizen and potentially do some of their nosework and agility classes, as we think Griffey would enjoy them!

We had a great experience with the basic obedience class! The instructions were really clear and…read morethe lessons moved quickly enough that my dog stayed engaged the whole time. I'm already seeing improvement in her recall when we're at the park! Highly recommend these trainers and will be back for more classes.

Strangers always comment on how well-trained my dog is and friends always ask me to train their…read moredogs for them. The truth is that a well-trained dog is just as much about training the handler as the dog. My family has taken 5 dogs through Dog Sense, 3 all the way through Advanced Obedience, and our dogs were taught to follow US instead of us chasing after them. My mother took our first family dog there and when my sister and I returned with our dogs, some of the same experienced trainers were still there 19 years later, a testament to their years of experience. Don't waste your money on the pet store classes, Dog Sense is the place to go in Montgomery County. A well-behaved dog is a real gem to have around!

l like it a lot because they attend to my puppy promptly and do keep him caged like in other places…read more they are very professional

Obsessed with Senior Trainer Jimmy Got a simple dog you need…read moreto just sit and stay? Go to Petsmart on a Saturday with all the other commoners and basic dogs - follow pee smell to the paper sign-up form. Stop reading here. Got a four-legged friend you want to see become their best furry selves, motivated to behave, and eager to build a trusting relationship with you? Go see Jimmy. Continue to page 2 of ramble for why. What you get from Pack Place K9: Tactical and actionable guidance backed by canine ethology explanations and anchored with strategic relationship building and communication maturing goals True, true, true and deep expertise BEYOND breed stereotypes, Cesar Milan soundbites, and other Frankensteined tips Astute insights to help you understand behavioral nuances so your training works for him/her FISCALLY responsible and wallet-respectful advice and programming that works Also, it's really nice to have a service that has a modernized customer experience (centralized portal, automation, etc) and is simply well-ran/organized. What you DONT get from Pack Place K9: Aggressive upsells of unnecessary products or irrelevant services Pushy training schedules and timeboxes counter-productive to your pet's learning (or your busy life) Canned, generic, and rigid training programs don't deliver results you thought you paid for My Story Max-Gaston is a 3 year old oversized Husky mix too wicked smart and skillful for his own good. That's OK - he ain't my first dog; I figured we'd figure it out. At 9 weeks, Max already scaled his playpen on the first try. By 3mo, Max mastered all fundamental commands. By 5mos, he figured out how to open doors. Around 6mos, he figured out how to turn the key to UNLOCK the door in order to open it because we started locking those damn doors. Currently weighing around 100lbs, Max matched my size but was equipped with a pulling instinct possessed by Togo himself. Walking him became an impossible task. With 90%+ obedience rate across a rich vocabulary spanning 3 languages, Max was perfect....indoors. As soon we exited those doors, he forgets his own name. I thought I'd have to Rapunzel this guy forever. By the time I got to Pack Place K9, I already sought services with a 5-starred celebrity hunting dog trainer and former SeaWorld animal trainer - they were great but not meant for Max. I've invested in swimming and boarding and other memberships and about anything you can waste money on - Max had fun; Max was not impressed. At the end of my Pack Place K9 FREE evaluation with Jimmy, I was handed practical tips to achieve Goal #1 without wasting any sessions on it. By the time I got to session #1, it was already night-and-day. Honestly, by the end of Session 1, I questioned every cent I've wasted in the three years of nonsense that I thought I was happy with. I walked away from Session 1 understanding Max's behavioral drivers and nuanced body language within reactivity that was substantiated with environmental props...of other dogs positioned as stimuli. I am out of character count to rave about Session 2. Jimmy is changing Max's life...literally because I no longer have to Mother Gothel this furry son and there's hope he won't have to be a "house husky." TL;DR: My furry nieces and nephews are getting Pack Place K9 training this Christmas. I will try to buy some sessions of their humans too.

Pack Place K9 has been treating my baby boy, Benito, the absolute best. He's a puppy with so much…read moreenergy and very confident in himself, so I needed a place to teach him basic obedience and other areas we were struggling with at home. He has been working closely with Julia (thank you Julia!) who has taught my baby boy so much and she is able to keep up with his crazy energy! After he completed his 3 week new member orientation, Julia patiently demonstrated to us the training to continue doing at home so Benito can enhance his skills. I continue to use their daycare/training service so Benito has the opportunity to continue learning and socialize with other pups. Plus, Benito is always so excited when we walk up to the front door of the facility, and always greets staff with excitement-- which is a definite green flag when putting trust in leaving your fur babies all day somewhere without you there. Pack Place K9 has staff who are very professional and trustworthy.

Beth came to our house initially a few years ago for a private consult to help with my…read morereactive/fearful Aussie. She was incredibly compassionate and knowledgable. Foremost she is a certified positive trainer. I was most impressed by how she looked at every detail- my dog, me, my husband. the house, neighborhood etc so she could really drill down and create a plan for us. SO much better than reading a book and trying to apply theory when just starting out. (books are good too but I like a teacher) Beth suggested we could benefit from her Reactive Dog Class and it changed our lives and that is no exaggeration. It was an hour drive and 100% worth it. Boots on the ground, in a group setting with one on one help. Not at all easy to find reactive dog classes like hers! First you have an awesome experienced trainer, her team is fantastic, a safe outdoor location where you can learn in real time the ways to help your dog (and you) feel more confident bc you have been there with Beth (Fiona and trusted helpers are great) with other dogs and owners. You get to see their improvements too. Anyway, I took the class 4 times maybe. While so many times isn't necessary I loved the structure. Don't hesitate to contact Beth.

Olivia Bainter gets the highest superlatives for kindness, caring, warmth, knowledge, and teaching…read morenot only for Skipper, our eight month old dog, but also for my wife and me. Someone well versed in Pat Miller's Positive Reinforcement Method already recommended Olivia as not only being knowledgeable, but also warm and empathetic. The person who made this recommendation was right. If you are looking for a fabulous trainer, and with whom you and your dog will have a lot of fun, Olivia at Unleashed Joy belongs at the top of your list. My wife agrees. And Skipper agrees!

Awesome trainers hands down and New facility location nestled in the Potomac Valley shopping…read morecenter! While the location of facility is just recently opened, the business itself has actually been around since 2017. We decided to go with them in 2022, signed up for the Board and Train and hands down, the best investment I've ever made for my pooch (and myself ofc). I wish I knew them then with my first doodle. We had David then for our 2 weeks B&T, fast forward 2 years later we are still getting on going support from Caroline, David, Dylan (aka the treat guy for Bailey..lol) with weekly pack walks, pop up training class, group lessons, etc. If you are serious about getting your dog trained and better behavior or you simply need guidance to be a better dog owner, get in touch with them! Signed, ~Bailey, the pooch with attitude who used to bite/tug on his leash during walk, to a confident dog who can behave in public and proudly earned his CGC after :)

Very clean training facility with easy parking. Andrew was very responsive and described the…read moreprogram well. Our dog was afraid of him. The training/boarding program is expensive, and we were worried that it wouldn't lead to our long-term goals.

Dianna took our overgrown German Shepherd, that was overwhelming in every aspect, and help us turn…read morehim into a member of the family. He was impossible in every way until we had the privilege to work with Dianna. She taught us how to train him, and how to work with him so he wasn't dog aggressive. Dianna has such tremendous love for animals, and it reflected in how compassionately she helped us learn to communicate with Jonah. Dianna helped him became a cherished member of our family. I fell so blessed. Sherry Been

From the owner: Gentle, science-based training and behavior modification by a nationally certified trainer and…read morebehavior consultant. Shy and/or Fearful dogs are my specialty. Conveniently scheduled, in-home obedience training and behavior modification. sessions Problem prevention counseling and behavior modification protocols. American Treibball Association sanctioned Treibball classes. New puppy ABC's/Potty training. New Dog 101 Basic Manners training for your new adoptee. AKC Canine Good Citizen and Star Puppy Training and Testing.

VERY BAD EXPERIENCE. DO NOT SEND YOUR DOG TO THIS PLACE…read more We signed up our dog here for the two week board and train program back in September. We dropped her there on Friday morning and tried calling them over the weekend to check on our dog as she had separation anxiety issues. The people kept transferring us to the voicemail and and didn't even mention that the person who is responsible to answer phone calls is out of office for the weekend. We tried tell the people we just want to make sure our dog is okay. We were very close to go back on Monday and take are dog back as this was very unprofessional and not the communication we wanted. Someone from their office called us back on Monday and apologized and told us that our puppy was okay. After 2 weeks when we went to pick our dog, the trainer who handed over our dog didn't know how to show us her training. Our dog did not learn anything and MOST IMPORTANTLY THEY GAVE HER BACK TO US WITH A BAD DIAREAHA AND WITH HER VOICE GONE. They didn't even give us a heads up about her condition . Andrew W. called us and we explained him everything and told him how disappointed we were. We still wanted to give this place another chance. At the time of the call Andrew seemed apologetic. Andrew asked for videos of our dog's response to the commands they taught her so that he can come up with a plan. We did as he asked and provided him with videos he requested. Its January and we never heard back from him or anyone from CTC. There hasn't been a follow up or any attempts to reach us. All I will say is that this place is BAD at COMMUNICATING, NOT RESPONSIVE, CANNOT BE TRUSTED WITH YOUR DOG. I WILL NOT RECOMMENDD THIS PLACE TO ANYONE. THEY ARE NOT RELIABLE AT ALL. Think twice before you spend over $2000 to send your dog to them.

I have waisted $2100 on them and caution you to do the same as when I expressed the lack of…read moretraining my dog has to them they reminded me that I signed a contract and my money is non refundable. My newfoundland needed some basic ground work done so I decided to board and train with CTC. Andrew agreed that this was the best option for him. I was asked and discussed what I wanted with him by 3 different people, his admin, him, and the trainer that I dropped him off with. None of which told me that his mounting issue with other dogs was something that could not be trained and would NOT be addressed during training. I made it very clear this was a strong issue for me because he wasn't allowed back at daycare because of it. When we picked him up and asked about it, that is when we learned that it was not addressed and couldn't be trained out of him. At pick up my dog was clearly exhausted. Obviously they had worked him hard before we got there. Even still, he didn't listen to Andrew and heel properly. He kept trying to come back to my car even though Andrew said he wouldn't recognize it. Or he would refuse to lay down to the point he was yanking the leash down hard to get him on the hot pavement. Definitely not a dog you would expect to have been trained for 2 weeks for over $2k for the basics. From the beginning my dog has always been calm around other dogs. He is no longer that way. Since getting him back he lunges at other dogs. He suddenly is terrified of loud noises when he wasn't before/ The ecollar training is not building a bond, in fact I feel like it is breaking the bond between me and my dog. I have read other negative reviews about his training technique doing this and I wish I would have read them before going there. Due to Covid we had to do pickup from our car and watch as Andrew did his demonstration with our dog. We were on our bluetooth while he talked to us from his phone. Social distancing can still happen from one end of the driveway to the other and still see if we're doing the directions properly. Instead we were sent home without any directions, just videos from his website. Which he told us when we were there that he has since changed some of the methods he trains with from those methods. He doesn't use the button at the times he used to in the videos so if you follow only the videos you're using it too much. My first email was a response to Andrew's only email to me asking how he was where I immediately said good but I was having trouble with heel. He never responded. I waited and a week later started sending messages about how upset I was that my dog was not trained. Finally Andrew responded with an at home training where he said my dog actually had to start with a step BEFORE heel. Where I need to constantly put treats in front of his face. This too hasn't worked and I haven't heard from him since that training, a month ago. I have followed his training methods without any results and will go to another trainer.

What a wonderful trainer! Bailey has come a long way in his 6 sessions…read more Angie is so perceptive. She really does speak dog.

From the owner: DogSpeak, LLC offers online dog training classes based on the Control Unleashed(R) program. As a…read morecertified professional dog trainer, Angie Madden, CPDT-KA, CCUI uses science-based, force-free, positive reinforcement training techniques.

So wonderful! My pup was so happy with Bahar and he looked/ smelled lovely! I would absolutely…read morerecommend her she's been a groomer for years and was very patient and kind with my pup.

From the owner: new dog grooming in Germantown.call to schedule an appointment today.read more