My husband and I were going to train a rescue we got who had issues with other dogs thru this company, our daughter ended up taking the dog so the services were canceled, but they continued to charge the fees in error and now it is just pending in my bank account inevitably. I try calling this place and they screen my calls and never answer the phone. I was gonna look into training our other dogs here after the holidays but I don't like the lack of customer service. Be careful with this company, they have no regard for taking hundreds of dollars from you due to an error on their end and then letting it pend in your bank account forever... read more

This place is excellent for dog training. It made a huge difference for us, we were at the end of our rope with a rescue from county who had a lot of behavioral issues. We did not know what to do and were desperate for a solution. Karen was our trainer and she was the absolute best. She was so good with our dog and the training. We could not have hoped for a better experience, it solved all of our problems. We have recommended Karen to anyone we know that is looking into dog training. 100% worth the money. Would do it again no question. read more

I took my great Dane in for a service/therapy dog evaluation. I wish I would've been told upfront that they only use the shock mode on the E collar. I am not a fan of using a painful stimulus in training nor should a dog be subjected to pain when reinforcing behaviors. When trying to have a discussion with the evaluator, I was advised that that is an absolute requirement in their program. read more

The young girls (about 20's) that work here are rude as hell. They will ignore you when you try to have a conversation with them and it's baffles me that they treat people like this. I don't recommend coming here ever again being treated like this. read more

We had a great experience with our trainers. Initially we hired them to help us with a rescue pitbull but it didn't work out and we were forced to do something different for our family with young kids. The remaining balance of our pre-paid training was applied to our new puppy and the experience has been remarkable! I've had dogs my entire life and always considered myself well informed and able to manage my dogs. Dog Training Elite took what I knew to the next level... maybe a few levels. It's been amazing to have a young puppy so well behaved. I would recommend these trainers to anyone looking for help with their dog. read more

Dog Training Elite - Bandit = 3/4 Golden Retriever + 1/4 Doberman - Pet Training Near Me - Mesa, Arizona

I'm very satisfied with my dog training results. Right out of the bat everything has changed, Within the first two week my dog is already walking off the leash, communication with Jeff and my dog trainer Karen has been great. The training is more for the dog owner than for the dog per se. Special thanks to Karen for making training so much easier and smooth and also to Jeff for being so easy to reach. read more

Beware of any person or conglomerate of company's that think using any form of aggression toward your pet is acceptable!! It is NOT an acceptable way of training!!! There is never a need to use an electric shock collar on a dog for aggression, obedience or basic training. If you think that paying someone over 2 or 3 thousand dollars and they use electric collars to do the training, is acceptable, then you as an individual should be wearing the shock collar read more

I instantly give Dog Training Elite five stars, and I have already recommended them to others. For a brief summary, they have been great to work with logistically, and Savanna has stood out as being professional and fantastic at working with our German Shepherd mix puppy. We cannot stress enough how great of an experience it has been working with her and having her teach us how to teach our dog. The transformation has been enormous. Full story: In early September, my wife and I brought home an adorable little Shepherd-mix we named Jack Shepherd. We did the DNA test on him, and it came back German Shepherd, American Pit Bull Terrier, Australian Cattle Dog, Shar Pei, Akita, and Boxer - all of these come together to make for an active and very stubborn dog. One day in line at Dutch Bros in Surprise, I saw a Dutch Shepherd puppy (maybe 4-6 months old) sitting without being distracted by all the people around. I asked the woman who was with the dog if she got training, and she recommended Dog Training Elite and specifically Savanna. I reached out to DTE and set something up right away because this dog was so well-behaved. The setup process was extremely easy. Neil came to the house with his own malinois named Bailey. It was important for him to bring her with to demonstrate her own obedience and skills. He provided a demonstration and an explanation of the different tiers they offer for training purposes. Scheduling was super easy over the phone, and they send out reminder messages before each session. The phone number that sends the reminder messages also acts as a help line if you need to reach out for any help or questions. During the first session, Savanna was extremely loving towards our Jack. DTE trains with an e-collar, and before ever putting it on Jack, she explained it thoroughly to my wife and I. This first session was rough for Jack - not because of the collar or because of Savanna, but because he is so stubborn. When the leash was attached to his standard flat collar, he was almost doing flips in the air trying to get out of it. This just shows how much work there was for him going forward, but Savanna was patient and calm with him the entire time. At the end of that session, he was responding positively to the command "Come". As sessions continued, Jack was more comfortable. A big reason for this is because DTE is not training your dog as much as they are training YOU! You are the one who will be working with your own dog between sessions. They teach you and show you and guide you in extremely helpful ways, but you will get out of it much more than what you put into it. Jack thrives when he wears his e-collar. He enjoys praise upon doing a good job, and Savanna provided tons of tips specifically for working with him and his big personality and natural stubbornness. We plan on continuing with DTE and Savanna as Jack received additional task training for therapy purposes to be a working dog. We plan on upgrading our training as we have done five in-home sessions, and we also have several group sessions to attend. My review here does not include group class experience, as we have not attended them yet, but I am confident they will also be good experiences. Savanna has been patient, flexible, professional, and above all she has been caring for our Jack. Ultimately, Jack is "just an animal", but he is part of our family, and that is how Savanna has treated him even as she has shown us how to train him. Jack put up a fight at times by trying to act out, but she cautioned us about this and now he enjoys doing his training with us multiple times per week. If you are considering doing your own training, be persistent and consistent, and I would highly recommend DTE because of the way Savanna has represented the company. I included the photo of Savannah loving on Jack during a training session. Jack has low food motivation, so he responded best with lots of praise. She described "throwing him mini parties" every time he did his task well, and he does great with this! The other photo shows Jack as he grew up. read more

Dog Training Elite - Pet Training Near Me - Mesa, Arizona

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Thank you Dog Training Elite. We got our Belgian Malinois, Cain, when he was 12 weeks old and we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. He had crazy energy, no personal space and we couldn't take him out of the house without him losing his mind. He would go crazy whining, pulling on the leash, and if someone would approach us, he would bark and snarl, causing a scene. On top of that, at home, he had no personal space and was the literal definition of a "fur missile". No matter what we did or how long we would play, he would not sleep at night because we could not burn enough of his energy during the day. We took him to an 8 week puppy training course with another private trainer and it helped his basic obedience, but it really made no major change to his demeanor. At that point, we were considered rehoming him, even though we already fell in love with him. By luck, we met Neal and DTE!!! He was like the dog whisperer. After watching Neal completely tame our psychotic Malinois puppy within the first 90 seconds of meeting him, we were sold on DTE's services. We immediately schedule an in-home demonstration of Neal's Belgian, Bailey. Once he demonstrated her abilities and being shown that Cain had the same potential, we signed up that morning for the Level Two Obedience and Protection Training courses. After the first in-home obedience session, we were 110% reassured that we made the correct decision in hiring DTE. Cain was already a COMPLETELY different dog. (Honestly, I would have paid the money after the progress of the first session and would have been completely happy!) It was incredible to see the progression after each session and how well the DTE training methods worked. Cain was absolutely thriving on these sessions and loved every minute of it! After training with Neal and the DTE team for over a year, Cain has become an amazing dog. He goes everywhere with us, is incredibly well behaved, and we get compliments on him and his training EVERY time we go out. I can't thank Neal and the DTE team enough for their amazing work with Cain. They are awesome people to work with and treat every client as family and every dog as if they are their own. HIGHLY RECOMMEND USING DTE FOR ANY DOG TRAINING. read more

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Our dog has been going through the program for a few months now and has made tremendous progress! Berkeley is a rescue with extreme anxiety which comes across as aggressive in certain situations. Within the first practice he made great progress. Now we are into our group classes and couldn't be more excited. We have worked with Marcells the whole time and he is fantastic!! He takes his time and really get to know us, our concerns and Berkeley. We have loved this program and can't refer them enough!! read more

We went to dog training elite to train a service dog and we're not disappointed. The trainers at dog training elite are amazing they train you to train your dog. If you follow the program and do your homework the results are incredible. People are always shocked at how well behaved our dogs are and we always tell them it's thanks to Dog Training Elite. read more

Dog Training Elite - Tanzy - Pet Training Near Me - Mesa, Arizona

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I love my dog's training sessions at Dog Training Elite! They are always professional and accommodating. My dog has had remarkable transformations in his behavior over the months we have been with DTE. I appreciate that there is always room in the training sessions for my dog to figure what is required for him to do. I highly recommend DTE's services. Neil and his team are wonderful! read more

Every one there, literally everyone is amazing. All of the trainers are awesome and super friendly. They show that they are genuinely interested in asking your dog a more well rounded pet. I just finished the 6 week puppy course and my pup is doing so great. I can't say enough about how amazing this group of trainers are. Ashley stood out as super energetic and super friendly. She came to do the evaluation on my dog and demonstrated what we could hope to expect with her dog. All at my home. And she was involved in every class. Aspen was awesome also. Everyone was great I just can't remember all of their names. But Ashley and Aspen stood out. Thank you guys so much for helping me train my pup. Can't wait to go on to the more advanced classes. read more

The owner and the trainer Neil is an amazing guy. He knows his stuff! His dog training skills and experience are beyond compare and he is super nice and loves what he does. Group classes are a little bit different and less organized, laid back in my opinion when Neil is not the one doing the class. Too many breaks and the classes are usually cut short. They are supposed to be an hour long but they are not. Suggestion: since the obedience classes are held in a park, trainers should arrive 10 minutes earlier to clean up the area from dog poop so that the owners don't have to watch every step they take and try not to step in it. The trainers do not show much effort to memorize "students'" names, it seems they always only refer to the same dogs because they only know these names. read more

I can not give enough praise to DTE AZ and all of their staff! Each trainer is skilled and knowledgeable. Not only has my dog accomplished basic and advanced obedience, but has now completed task and protection work. Thoroughly pleased with the work Neal and his entire team has achieved. read more

They have been with me every step along this journey. Izzie will start her service animal training very soon. I look forward to training right along side her. Thank you Yada and every one at dog training elite read more

Paid and substantial amount for training for them to NOT complete training. Have received a promise to refund our payment in writing but this has been over 3 months and still no payment and no further communication. Very upsetting as they came highly recommended. I would not book with this company, they will take your money but not fulfill their obligation. read more

So my husband and I have a German Shepard husky mix. When we started training my dog was a year old. We completed one session and it went well. The second session went terrible. Neil was working with my dog and my dog did not take well to the shock and nipped at Neil. Neil's reaction was less than pleasant. He kicked my dog and wrestled him to the ground and tried to put a muzzle on him. We decided not to continue training. When I called for a refund I was told no refunds after the 1st session. I will keep pressing a refund and if I have to get a lawyer to receive it I will. I get protecting yourself but kicking an innocent animal is unacceptable. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY read more

If you read through the many complaints of this company, mine included, you will notice that many people that paid A LOT of money to have their dog trained, lost that money because they did not want to have their dog subjected to negative treatments that cause many underlying issues. For my dog, it was aggression towards other dogs, including dogs he grew up with. It was a direct result of being forced to follow training that scared him, like being next to a loud garbage can when it was moving, or being forced to go up onto a high platform. He had loose stools after training as well, due to the fear. They say that the eCollar is like the tems device, however, when turned up high, that works similar to shocking a dog- and resulting in interference with the nervous system and muscles. Maybe if those of us that had just a few lessons got together, we could ALL get our money back. I do not recommend this company. read more

Do not, I repeat do not use this company - I had a fear aggressive shepard .... these two trainers through their training methods taught my dog only to be more fearful of strangers because every time he would look at a stranger, or growl we were taught to shock the dog... as a result the dog learned to stop the warning signs... but in turn it made him more fearful of humans. My dog bit and had to be taken to the pound for an assessment. The pound did a behavior assessment and determined my dog could not be released because he was aggressive with strangers - rather than teach our dog not to be fearful of other people this company taught our dog to be more fearful by teaching the dog that every time a stranger approached the dog would be shocked. our shepard was the best family dog and he had so much potential but aversive therapy caused our dog to be killed. Dog trainers are not regulated. There is a push in the industry to have regulation for dog training so companies like this one can not exist. This is a franchise and the trainers do not have proper dog training knowledge. Do not fall victim to their sale pitches. This company does not utilize appropriate training techniques and sadly I did not learn this until our dog was dead because of their techniques. I have since spoken to several dog behaviorists throughout the west coast and they ALL told me that had these trainers used positive reinforcements our dog would have learned not to be fear aggressive and hence, still alive. These trainers at Dog training Elite do not understand canine behavior and certainly did not know what they were doing. For $2000 it was a complete rip off. Also, there were many weekends these trainers did not show up for the group lessons - sometimes they notified us.... many times they did not and just left us and others waiting .... We did not get those days made up - but given what I know now, that is probably best!. PLEASE do your research and find a reputable trainer. Research aversive training before you subject your dog to this method. Talk to other trainers and your vet before you make the mistake that I made. read more

Dog Training Elite - Zeus - - Pet Training Near Me - Mesa, Arizona

Neal is amazing! If you want your dog to be the best this company is the way to go! They have a lot of experience with Malinois and service dogs. 100% recommended read more

We first saw DTE working at The Phoenix Home Show. I was convinced at that moment, when I was ready for a dog, DTE was going to be my trainer. I've had eight previous dogs but was never able to get the dogs trained properly. I've tried group lessons, reading books etc., but working with Neal and Chris at DTE delivered the results I was looking for in a trainer. We rescued Vixen (Malinois)on a Saturday. Neal was at our house on Tuesday. It took almost 45 minutes before Neal could take Vixen's leash from me. Vixen very quickly learned her manners and commands. In less than a month we were comfortable taking her out on errands and having friends to our house. Their program works if you follow their instructions, practice with your dog and attend the Saturday group sessions. One of the best investments I've ever made! Thank you Neal and Chris! read more

Dog Training Elite - Vixen in 4x4 mode! - Pet Training Near Me - Mesa, Arizona

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We went ahead and signed up for the expensive package. We've had two home visits. Between the first and second the trainer was a bit at a previous session and was unable to make the session. Second session finally rescheduled and went well. Could not schedule for the following week or so because they were "booked out" Between their schedule and my schedule I was finally able to book another appointment for today and I actually cut her trip short to be here. I called after trainer was not here 20 minutes after scheduled appointment. I had to leave a voicemail and finally got a return call stating that the trainer would be here in 15 or so minutes. I canceled the appointment and I wish to cancel the remainder of the training sessions and get reimbursed for unused training. When you pay approximately $1500-$1600 plus $200+ for collar I expected more reliability. As of now the request for reimbursement is pending. I hope to find another trainer that will be more reliable read more

Have you ever woken up from a dead sleep, and wondered, "Why do we have THAT dog???" Well, we did, and can now say, NEVER GIVE UP! We've enlisted the help of Neal Mestas to help turn our little terrorist one year old German Shorthair pup into anything close to a well mannered dog. We've been working with Neal for a little over a month and saw almost immediate behavioral changes to Buckwheat. Those little improvements have grown significantly with our weekly home visits by Neal, and we are so incredibly blessed to have found Dog Training Elite. Neal has the patience of a saint and is nothing but encouraging to the pup and to us. THANK YOU NEAL!!! read more

They are absolutely amazing! They have trained 2 of our dogs, one of which they trained and tested as a service dog! They worked with me on payments we could afford. Everyone always comments on how well behaved my dogs are! I would and have recommend them to everyone! read more

The best, great experience and great people. Our 7 month Mal Roxie has show incredible growth because of their instruction. Thank you for all your efforts. read more

Could not be happier with Dog Training Elite. We have a 3 year old bloodhound that could not leave the house without pulling, howling and acting insane. He also couldn't be around crowds, because he would pull us everywhere. We saw them at the home show and hired a few months later. After only 2 weeks of training we were able to go out for walks without any pulling or howling. Once we finished training he is now a model dog and does everything we ask and can take him anywhere without any problems. Neal and Tasha have been wonderful. Our family has come together now that our dog can be with us. Dog Training Elite is amazing!! read more

Dog Training Elite - Home show with Dog Training Elite!!! - Pet Training Near Me - Mesa, Arizona

I have a 1.5 year old Dutch Shepherd. My fiancé and I got her from a breeder back in Virginia and have had problems with human and animal aggression since she was a puppy. We had previously gone through months of training at a facility not capable of training her in a way that produced permanent change. When we moved out to Arizona, I was in panic mode because I still had a dog that was untrained and aggressive. That's when I did some research and found DTE. Neal came out to my house for our free consultation and I couldn't help but hold my breath. See, I didn't have high hopes as I was at the point of believing my dog could not be helped. Man, was I wrong. Within 2 training sessions, my dog gained a confidence she didn't realize was possible. She became incredible obedient and was no longer compelled to react to people and animals we encountered on walks. After multiple individual training sessions, socialization group classes, and protection classes, I can honestly say my dog is one of the most well-behaved dogs I've ever seen. I cannot say enough good things about this company as a whole, but maybe that's because they have honesty changed my life. I highly recommend this company for any level of training, but especially if you have a dog similar to mine. read more

I rarely rate 5 stars, here is why Dog Training Elite deserves theirs. I homed screened 3 dog training companies in the greater phoenix area to help me with my 6 month-old Blue Nose Pitbull, my family calls Blueberry. Not satisfied, I remembered I saw a dog trainer at the Home and Garden in Scottsdale, Dog Training Elite. Neal came to the house and am I glad I remembered them. Neal and Chris have been instrumental in the transformation and development of our dog. Their understanding, communication, and techniques are readily understandable as they worked with my dog and me. As his handler, I had a few things to learn in order for Blue to progress correctly. They have made it seamless. Blueberry has graduated from the obedience class and now participates in the Tactical classes that are offered. Thanks again to the Team at DTE for an awesome experience as we continue on our journey. Highly Recommended! read more

Signed on with this outfit to train our Lab. Very expensive but we were willing to make the investment to continue her growth and development. Shock collar was a required purchase. At least 1 of our "1 hour" sessions turned into 20 minutes. Didn't have the same trainer at each session. Shocking a pet into submission is not our idea of training. Quit after 4 sessions even though we paid for 5. read more

Neal the owner of dog training elite has done a masterful job training our dogs. My wife has seizures and needed a service dog to assist her. He trained the perfect dog (a chocolate lab Ghiraradelli) for my wife and he has been a wonderful help for my wife. We have enjoyed having our dog go with us everywhere and our dog is impeccably obedient. We have now added an additional dog to our family (Kasper a Belgian Malinois) and Neal again has worked wonders with training this high energy dog and we are having a blast with both of our dogs. I would recommend Dog Training Elite to anyone who wants a special relationship with their dogs and can have the confidence to take them everywhere with you! read more