Amazing and thorough. Already feeling hopeful and determined with Richard's guidance. He's very down to earth and practical, and he's definitely a strong advocate for what the pups need as a priority. I appreciate his punctuality, his wisdom, and his patience with my family as we learn how to better care for our pups. I look forward to continuing to work with him. read more

Richard is absolutely wonderful. I have a now 8-month old Great Dane who was really coming into his own and becoming a lot for me to handle. I desperately needed help with puppy training. Richard was recommended to me by a friend and I've been working with him for the past two months now. Richard is patient, understanding, and uses positive reinforcement. He empathizes with dog owners and I really feel as though he has seen it all. During my feelings of frustration, Richard helped me gain more confidence as a giant breed owner which was something I really needed during our sessions. He understands dogs and people, and helps you understand your dog even more. I am so thankful for him. If we were not moving to another state, we would still continue to use Richard. Great highlight to note: We first met at my house and did an intro session. Then we worked in many different settings, which was so important to me-- in the house, in the backyard, at the park, during walks throughout the neighborhood, and at a different park. Richard wanted to make sure that my pup and me were comfortable in a variety of different settings. I found this extremely applicable and personable. Highly, highly recommend. read more

We adopted a dog that was 5 months old--to old for puppy class, already five months into life without any training. Enter giant puppy and two people. If anyone says having a puppy is like having a baby, that is correct. I think. It is nuts. Enter Richard. He responds quickly via email or phone call and will come first assess your situation at su casa and help you with specific things. It is about $115/hour/private session, and we did about three or four just to help our puppy learn not to chew on household items and etc. Richard also offers Basic Manners classes which are six sessions of training. For $185/entire course, it is great. You're in a safe space and you and your dog are allowed to be yourselves but strive to improve. You also get to meet other people going through the same struggles as you, and it generally is hilarious. We did the private sessions and afterwards did the group class. Let Richard help you with your dog situation. He works magic. We thought we had educated ourselves in reading and preparing for our puppy, but we somehow just didn't know or didn't correctly execute our training all the time. Now we know! read more

I've been working with Richard for the past few weeks with my foster dog who has separation anxiety. He comes to my home and works one-on-one with me and the pup. Very knowledgeable about behavioral techniques to slowly acclimate her to being alone. He uses exclusively positive reinforcement and is very patient with both the dog and the owner. You can tell he really cares about the well being of the animal! read more

Good Dog Atlanta - Pet Training Near Me

Richard is great! I've grown up with dogs all my life, but this was my first time owning a puppy that is all my responsibility. He was such a great help with building foundations in the Puppy Kindergarten class. He was helpfully with also helping to understand the psychology of puppies and how they learn. Richard is very knowledgeable. We enjoyed the Puppy Kindergarten class so much, we also took the Basic Manners class afterwards. I thought I'd educated myself enough by reading the internet on dogs and training before getting my puppy, but I wouldn't have been able to do it without Richard's help. read more

Just wanted to add one more 5-star review about Richard. He is as amazing as everyone says and he helped us immeasurably with training our brand new, highly energetic Tibetan terrier puppy. He is patient, positive and has an effective solution for any and all issues. In addition, the fact that he came to our house for private training was very beneficial as we were able to train our dog in her own environment. He follows up every training session with a detailed email with instructions as to how we should continue training on our own, which was very helpful. We joked about the fact that he was really training us but in fact, he did exactly that to teach us how to deal correctly with our puppy! We cannot thank him enough and recommend him without hesitation. Thank you, Richard! read more

We reached out to Richard on the recommendation of the Briarcliff Animal Clinic to help address some anxiety and fear aggression issues we were having with our dog and the improvement we saw in a few short weeks was outstanding. Our dog is an 80-pound Boxer/American Bulldog mix, so managing his anxiety was a huge priority for us. Richard worked around our schedule and came directly to our apartment to work one-on-one with the dog but also with us as the owners. Richard helped us identify signs that indicate the dog was getting anxious and gave us very specific strategies to help mitigate the anxiety. He thoroughly explained not only what we should do but also took the time to educate us as owners about how to help the dog understand what we wanted him to do. After the first few lessons working on fundamentals in the apartment, Richard took us outside and helped us practice with real world distractions (other dogs, small children, etc.). He gave us very specific feedback in terms of what we should look for and how we should work with the dog to allow him to avoid getting anxious, afraid, or defensive. Lastly, Richard was very respectful of our time and honest and forward with us when he felt the dog had "graduated" past the need for regular training sessions. We were already very pleased with the training but this was the final proof point that Richard truly had our best interests and Braveheart's best interests in mind with his training regimen. I don't often leave reviews but I would highly recommend Richard for any dog owner, whether your dog has existing behavioral issues like we did or simply looking to train a puppy to pre-empt these concerns. read more

We needed help with a biting puppy and spent $175 for an in home visit. All we were told was that he would outgrow it and didn't get any advice on how to stop the biting. Sadly we spent another $150 on Puppy Kindergarten and the entire first class was what we had just spent the $175 for the in home visit. It was a waste of our time and money. read more

Richard is amazing. Very calm, patient, and good with my puppy. He showed me how to teach my puppy in a way that was positive and encouraging in order to set her up for success. He helped me create a good solid foundation for her to continue to grow into a dog that people enjoy having around. read more

We took our Rescue Dog Malo on Basic Manners 1 and he performed really well and we enjoyed it too! I would definitely recommend Richard as a trainer! read more

Richard is fabulous! We called him about our 9 month old Lab/Australian Shepherd mix. He came to our home for 1.5 hours and it changed our lives. Puppy training is as much about training the people as it is the dog. It has been 12 years since we trained a dog so we were rusty and weren't able to adequately community with our puppy. Now we all understand each other much better and are very happy! Highly recommend! read more

Richard is amazing! I went from thinking my dog's issues were permanent to seeing HUGE improvement in two sessions. What I like about Richard is that he works with people as much as their pets. I plan to check in with him every now and then to stany on the right path. Yet I can't believe how much we accomplished in a short period of time. read more

Great Pyrenees Rescue of Atlanta recommended Richard to me, and boy, they were totally right! Richard is straightforward, easy to work with, reliable, and most importantly knows dogs AND people. I asked him to evaluate a potentially nasty dynamic between my Pyrenees mix and my Corgi mix that had resulted in neither dog being able to be around the other. It was to the point where I was afraid I would have to rehome one of them. Richard worked very patiently with both girls (and my wiggly, licky, goofy Lab-Akita mix). He was skilled at decoding the situation, helping me feel better about having missed those signals, and most importantly helping me learn what to do (and what NOT to do) ongoing. It took a very long time and a lot of work, and the girls may never be totally easy with each other -- but neither one is trying to provoke or flat out eat the other, and they even are occasionally tolerating each other's company with tails up and mouths open (and Momma watching!). It has been over a year now, and I have been able to take what I learned and maintain their relationship well without either backsliding -- even through the occasional stress. THREE CHEERS and a HUZZAH. Worth every cent, in my book. read more

We called Richard to help us with our new puppy who had some issues barking at strangers and other dogs. Richard worked with her several times, adding in more stimulation each time. Richard is great with the dogs and equally wonderful at training the owners! It can be stressful trying to wrangle your dog, your treats, the leash, and giving the right commands all at the same time, but Richard is patient and helpful. Our puppy is well-behaved in public now thanks to Richard. Highly recommend! read more

Richard was our answer for a local dog whisperer! We adopted a very active weimaraner puppy and Richard has helped us with every step. Richard comes to our house for training, He's always punctual and warm to us and our dog. The puppy listens intently to Richard and his repetitive and positive techniques. He sends follow-up emails after each session to review the work and help "train" us (the parents). We can see the improvement with our active puppy and will continue to work with Richard as he grows. I would highly recommend Richard for all training needs! read more

Richard was extremely helpful in working with our fearful/aggressive dog and us. He came out to our house and took some history and then observed our dog in actual scenarios at home/walking in our neighborhood. We discussed strategies and then put them to practice. He gave encouragement and helpful feedback. As both we and our dog became more confident we did some training with Richard at an area park/trail. The combination of working at home/neighborhood and unfamiliar/new environments was really helpful. We feel like we have strategies for making our home life more peaceful, as well as the confidence to try some new places with our dog. Richard was personable and approachable. We feel very comfortable calling him up again for any future training needs. Highly recommended! read more