I reached out to Gary for help with my dog Peaches and her leash reactivity, and he was extremely…read moreprompt in responding. The initial consultation went very well, and I learned so much about dog communication and how to better support Peaches. I also learned that she is a highly anxious dog, which explained many of the challenges I had been concerned about. We enrolled in Gary's six-week program and finished with the tools and knowledge needed to keep Peaches on the right track toward recovery. Just like humans, dogs rehabilitate at their own pace, and over those six weeks Peaches made significant progress. We're looking forward to enrolling in advanced training once she's ready so she can enjoy more freedom off-leash. Gary is not like other trainers we've worked with. He doesn't rely on obedience-based shortcuts or gimmicks. Instead, he teaches you how to work through real situations and explains the theory behind his approach so you truly understand what's happening and how to handle stressful moments. Most importantly, Gary teaches you how to become the focal point for your dog, which has made a lasting difference for us.

We worked with Gary Maria for six weeks to help our 3-year-old rescue, Giorgi, who struggles with…read morefear and anxiety. Honestly, Gary was incredible. From day one, it was clear he knows his stuff and loves what he does. A lot of the time, Giorgi was too overwhelmed to participate. On day 1, Giorgi hid under a table the whole session. But that's ok because Gary was really training us. By the last session, Giorgi was walking around, watching other dogs and people walk by, and still listening to commands. Gary taught us how to help Giorgi feel safe, calm him down when he's stressed, and build trust. We've already seen such a difference at home. Gary is knowledgeable, patient, direct (in the best way), funny, and available when you have questions. He celebrated every little win with us! You can tell he truly cares about the dogs he works with. We still have more work to do, but thanks to Gary, we know how to keep moving forward. If you have a dog with anxiety or fear, seriously, go to Gary. He's the real deal.

My dog Riesling and I absolutely adore Annalise! We first met her through our time at Camp Bow Wow…read morein San Ramon (also an amazing place). Riesling is a 3-year-old miniature poodle--super smart, but she struggles with separation anxiety and can be a bit reactive when strangers enter our home. In just three lessons, I've already seen a huge improvement. Annalise breaks everything down in a simple, practical way, and her methods work. After our first lesson, Riesling had already learned sit, stay, come, and touch. During our second lesson, we reinforced those skills and began working on her reactivity. Annalise came to our home and showed me easy, effective strategies to prevent issues before they arise, always with kindness. My favorite part of her training style is that it's entirely based on positive reinforcement--no punishments, no techniques that feel harsh or uncomfortable. Riesling genuinely enjoys our training sessions, especially the high-value cheese treats. Annalise is incredibly patient, not only with Riesling but with me as well. She takes the time to explain the "why" behind every exercise, and she provides detailed printouts of each lesson so I don't have to take notes during training. It really allows you to stay present and focused. I highly recommend Athens Dog Training to anyone needing support with their reactive dog. Annalise is truly wonderful. And I'm excited to see how much further we can go!

Athens Dog Training offers a comprehensive group of training and other services for canines of all…read moreages. I adopted a 3-4 year old German shepherde Malinois cross from the Oakland shelter and discovered he had absolutely no training with people or dogs. I was afraid I'd have to return him despite having had dogs all my life and fostered rescued Chows for over 20 years. Thanks to Mitch Moore's exceptional knowledge, patience and skill my pup is proving to be a gem. Hilo loves the training sessions and learns very quickly with Mitch's techniques. Mitch also trains me and leaves documentation to help me retain what he's demonstrated. I'm so very fortunate to have had such a positive experience with Athens and I recommend them without reservation.

We have a 2 1/2 year old Mini Goldendoodle - Louie and overall he's a good dog and we just needed…read morehelp with certain commands. I watched numerous training videos online and did a group training (I don't recommend that either) - nothing helps since you need hands on private training and that's how I found Patti on here. We did 6 sessions and she helped us train Louie and focused on his reactivity, basic walking commands, door bell reactions and recall. Patti came over to our house for a few sessions and the rest of the sessions we met at a park or a public place so that she can teach us the real world situations when we're out with Louie. She explains everything very well and why dogs behave the way they do. She'll take photos and videos and send follow up notes as well to help us remember everything we learned each session. It's a lot to learn and you have to continue to practice everything and you'll see a difference in your dog's behavior. We've seen a difference in Louie and very happy with the results. I definitely recommend Patti if you need help training your dog. Thank you so much Patti!

Amazing dog training sessions with Patti. She gave me incredible one on one training with my 8…read moremonth old French bulldog Rocky. She explained the importance of consistent positive dog training. Patti did a great job of not only showing me how to train my dog, but building my confidence through the fantastic results I was receiving from her training methods. I would highly recommend Patti for any dog owner who wants one on one in home dog training at a affordable price.

I was just raving about this place to a friend and then realize I had never taken the time to write…read morea yelp review! We love camp bow wow and so does our fur baby, Mellow. She is thrilled to go there weekly and they take such good care of her. She is a slow to warm dog but they worked with us until she got comfortable enough in their environment (they are diligent in their interviews) to start going there and now she is a big fan and so are we! The crew is consistently kind and awesome, which to me shows the owners are setting a great tone and have cultivated a wonderful culture.

I never placed our previous dog in daycare but we our current dog is a camper. We like bringing…read morehim to Camp Bow Wow to learn to "dog" and socialize. What eases our minds is they have cameras on during business hours so we can check on him. There are no camera kennels except for the dogs in the private rooms. For overnight boarding, I bring his food, bed and a toy. They have doggie bed cots but I like to bring the comforts of home with him. I have utilized the enrichment course so he can have one on one time. They also offer baths so you can pick up a clean dog. If I have a problem with an online order, I can always follow up via email/phone and they are responsive. Hours are 7am - 7pm.

Update: After another month or two of sessions with Grace,…read morewe are now doing off-leash hikes and beach trips with Hershey! Wooo! I couldn't believe it! We were able to achieve our end goal of walking off-leash with him. In my mind, I had thought it was going to take years for your dog to know not to run off once they are free. (probably PTSD from when my previous family dog, Lucky, who, if he escaped the backyard, it will take forever for him to come back because he thinks that me chasing him is a game.) But Grace really was thorough in giving us the tools and time we needed to get Hershey accustomed to being off-leashed. Seeing how Hershey is more relaxed now as well, we now no longer think we need to attend obedience classes. We are so lucky we went with Grace!

I don't know where we would be with our fearful Taiwan Dog if I had not reached out to Grace!…read more Cruz arrived in early February 2021 and we immediately knew he was unlike any dog we had had before. For the first week, he wouldn't come out of his crate, we had to carry him outside to potty, he would barely venture out of his crate even to eat, and he most definitely was not going on any walks; while everyone else's Taiwan Dog seemed to come around much quicker or almost instantly, Cruz was extremely scared and not looking to bond with us anytime soon. Everyone told us "they will come around with love and patience" but I could tell it was going to take more work than that, and we weren't about to let months or years go by without being proactive with him. With Grace's training, we have learned how to truly bond with Cruz, and how to help him relax in situations where he is scared. We know how to "read" him and anticipate how to react/respond to help him. I love that her focus is on emotion coaching our dog (something coincidentally enough we are also working on with our children) and helping our dog help himself so he can work through his fears in any situation. Her understanding of fearful street dogs is profound; she really knows how they think, why they are reactive and how to calm them in stressful situations. Cruz continues to grow exponentially every week. The dog who wouldn't come out of his crate 5 months ago now loves to jog, hike and camp. He wakes up every morning full of wags and kisses for us, happily gets in the car to go somewhere, and [drum roll please] we just had our first very successful beach trip with him where he was so excited to play with us and the other dogs there, he didn't show any signs of fear, he happily walked up to other humans to say hello, was off-leash most of the time, and he knew his boundaries and always came to us to "check in". He still has work to do but at the rate he is growing, he will far exceed our expectations of the perfect family dog. Our family highly recommends Grace!

Our silly Princess rolled on something in the backyard that made her a stinky girl. Dinner prep had…read moreto wait while we put her in the van and headed over to Pet Food Express for her monthly bath, 5 days early. Fortunately, the traffic wasn't too bad and when we arrived, there were three stations open including one with an oxygenated hydrogen peroxide comb fitting. We used that fitting once before when Princess got skunked. The purpose of the comb is so you can get the cleaning liquid through all the fur to the skin. Especially useful when washing a dog with double coat. After five minutes of that, we switched to the shampoo of the season and proceeded with a regular wash, rinse and dry. When we were done, Princess was back to smelling like a dog!

Very well run store. The Staff is outstanding and always ready to help. We love their self-help…read moredog bathing facility. It is priced very fairly for the length of time and all the services offered with it; includes a selection of shampoos, towels, color, and even cookies or treats for the dogs using the facility. The store has a great selection of foods, shampoos, treats, mattresses, leashes, etc. and very knowledgeable staff. The store also partners with VIP veterinarian service and offers vaccines and lab tests. Overall, the store is a one stop shop with excellent and very knowledgeable staff.

Jayne is amazing! I actually called Jayne bc I was worried abt my young pom bc he jumped on another…read moredog on one of our walks. I was so worried and embarrassed! I called my vet as soon as i got home! My vet suggested I call this particular behavioral trainer she knew and so I did. (It wasn't Jayne). This behavioral trainer told me I should return my dog to breeder. I should never fall asleep with this breed on my bed (Pomeranians) as they could bite my face off. She continued to tell me all these horrible stories abt poms. I was so confused and upset when I hung up. My husband insisted I get another opinion. I found Jayne's info online the next day and called her. She came over same day because she knew how upset I was and she wanted to meet my fur baby. Needless to say, she is amazing! I am so happy I made that call! My pom is now 5 yo and he is fabulous! Sweet, entertaining, and so well-behaved because of Jayne's training!

We found Jayne through Yelp, and from the moment she arrived for our consultation, She was…read moregenuinely excited to meet us and our dog, making the experience comfortable and enjoyable. Jayne was highly professional, easy to talk to, and went above and beyond by offering additional helpful information for our dog, which we truly appreciated. We highly recommend her program to anyone looking for quality care and expertise. Thank you, Jayne, for your amazing customer service!

Mitch and Patrick are amazing! We had 5 home sessions with our two Havanese dogs. We worked on…read moretraining them to be better at greeting people and on how to get them to not make at the door when the doorbell goes off. We also worked on walking and now they don't pull! So nice to be able to go on a walk without being pulled. We then did dog greeting and reactivity and got a lot of tips on what to do to help the dogs feel more comfortable. Mitch and Patrick really went above and beyond to help us!

We purchased the puppy package and worked with Mitch. Our experience was exactly what we were…read morehoping for and more. Mitch is knowledgeable, patient, and encouraging. He has a great way of pushing for progress in training and giving direct feedback while balancing it with knowing when everyone-humans and dog- need a break. Mitch was a lifeline in the early weeks of having our puppy and not knowing much about what to do. He has also gone above and beyond to listen to our concerns as they arise and help us problem solve. We just started attending puppy classes at Pet Food Express in Castro Valley, and those are excellent as well.

Adam is professional, knowledgeable, and very responsive to all of my questions. His rates are very…read morereasonable for a 5-week training course. One thing I especially appreciate is that he offers both indoor and outdoor training, since my dog, Oscar, behaves very differently outside with distractions around him. While he listens well indoors, my commands sometimes seem to go "in one ear and out the other" outside, and Adam really focuses on addressing those real-life challenges. I also have two dogs, and even though the training is primarily for Oscar, Adam has gladly provided helpful tips and guidance for my second dog as well. After each session, he sends detailed notes so I can continue practicing with Oscar throughout the week, which has been incredibly helpful. Adam is flexible, accommodating with scheduling, and genuinely enjoyable to work with. I recommend Pawsitive Interactions to anyone looking for a skilled and supportive dog trainer.

Adam is very professional, very knowledgable and has vast experience with pet training. We are on…read moreour 4th week of the 5 week training and our family have had such a wonderful experience with Adam. Oscar, our pet loves Adam so very much. Both Oscar & we have learnt a lot in this training program. Adam is very pleasant, very patient, easy to work with, flexible to accommodate changes, very responsive and available for all questions. He takes time not only in training the pet but also explaining us thoroughly all the different steps we need follow in enforcing the good habits. Overall its been an amazing experience with Adam. I will highly recommend Adam's training.

We boarded our 4-year-old English Springer Spaniel, Dior, at Uncle PawPaw for 5 nights -- his first…read moretime ever being boarded -- and Roy was absolutely amazing. From day one, Roy made us feel completely at ease. He sent daily photos and videos of Dior having the time of his life with his furry friends, which was huge for us since Dior never really got to socialize like that before. Seeing him so happy, relaxed, and genuinely enjoying himself made all the difference. Roy clearly loves what he does and treats the dogs like his own. We couldn't have asked for a better first boarding experience and will 100% be booking again. Highly recommend to anyone looking for a place where their dog will be truly cared for.

I had a rare chance to travel and needed to board my Corgi/Australian Cattle Dog, Poppyseed. I was…read moreso nervous and scared to leave her alone with a stranger and it is the first time she's been boarded without her sister, who passed last March. But WOW!! Roy at PawPaw is truly amazing and the only person I trust. I came home to a beautiful, clean and better dog than when I left!! It's like she remembers her early training again-- she sits on command, is quiet on command (now HOW did you do that??!!) and is just perfect!! Holy cow!! Roy sends pictures and videos every day so you know that she is safe and happy. I loved seeing her "tucked in" at night with the other pups. I don't trust anyone else with my dog other than family and Roy. Thank you for taking such great care of my dog. I appreciate it more than you know.