Three months ago I adopted a 3yr old pit bull mix from a rescue in Brooklyn. He had been living in a kennel with 300 other dogs for over a year, and had a long history of abuse and being bounced around from one family to another prior to that. Needless to say when he came home he was a very fearful dog, which tended to come out as aggression. I knew that if I was going to make this work, I had to find the perfect trainer to work with us. I was hesitant to try Pawsitive Experience at first; I did not want to go to the trainer that was closest to me simply for convenience. I felt that Sam needed one-on-one sessions with someone who specialized in aggression or bully breeds, so I began asking around for the best dog trainers. After hearing "you HAVE to see John at Pawsitive Experience, he's a miracle worker" for the millionth time, I decided to give them a shot, and now can't believe I ever considered going anywhere else. John is in fact a miracle worker, and focuses more on behavior than obedience, which was very important to me. I was worried that we would be kicked out of our basic obedience group class because of Sam's behavior, but instead found that John took a particular liking to him, which put us both at ease. John was kind enough to stay an hour late with us-til 10pm-several nights in order to help me out with some of his more difficult behavioral issues. Sam definitely went in as the worst behaved dog in the class, but recently graduated Basic Obedience 1 as a much better dog, and will be back for all of John's classes in the future. The best aspect of Pawsitive Experience is that their knowledge and support doesn't end with training. Sam also came with a mess of medical problems ranging from allergies to seizures, and John's wife Erin has been a godsend in helping us deal with these issues. She is extremely knowledgeable about all types of food, and helped us switch over to a raw diet when I thought we were out of options to deal with his allergies. She spent an hour with me discussing Sam's food options, and is there to help me every time I come in to buy more food. When he became sick after switching foods and I was concerned about him, I sent Erin an email asking for her advice, and she got back to me immediately-on Thanksgiving! When I began talking to her more and described some strange behaviors I noticed in Sam, she was able to tell me that he was having petit mal seizures, which was later confirmed by our vet. I am so grateful to have found such wonderful people that understand how so many aspects of a dog's life-such as health, diet, exercise, and obedience-affect their behavior, and who can help us in every one of these areas. John, Erin, Becky, Eric, and every single staff member at Pawsitive are friendly, knowledgeable and genuinely there to help you help your dog. Sam and I could not be happier with Pawsitive Experience, and we are both so grateful for all they have done for us. Thank you guys for being the best! read more

I just read the 3 negative reviews and I find it nearly impossible to believe that we're talking about the same place. I am an experienced dog owner and have owned 7 dogs over the last 20 years. During that time I've adopted 3 pups, 1 young adult and 3 seniors. Nearly all of them have attended basic obedience at Pawsitive and a couple of them have attended doggie daycare. Most of my dogs were "easy"...except one. She wandered the streets of Queens, NY and was in an out of the shelter system. I was her third owner...and quite possibly her last chance. I only wish I went to Pawsitive first for help in training her. I hired one guy who thought using "throw chains" was the way to eliminate her aggressiveness towards other dogs. He was fired immediately. I went to another highly reputable dog training school and they believed the way to handle this behavior was to stuff her so full of hot dogs when she saw another dog she would begin to make a positive association. That only worked when I had a pocket full of hot dogs. I finally spoke with the owner at Pawsitive to see if he could help me with her behavior. He trained ME so that I could properly train my dog. She's still a bit quirky (and 11-years-old now), but she a happy, well-adjusted member of the family. And, yes...we are a 2 dog family. Megan B, my question to you would be do you know what the whole scenario was regarding that dog that was "alligator rolling"? Do you know how many aggressive dogs they deal with? And I don't mean snotty-towards-other dogs, I mean full out aggressive towards people. Do you know how many people go to Pawsitive because their dog just bit their child or someone else's child and they ask John (the owner) to make an assessment if this dog should be destroyed? And how many other trainers are out there that won't take these cases. I'm not going to attempt to find fault with the negative reviews here. Unfortunately, a bad grooming experience happens from time to time and no doubt injuries occur in daycare. But, for the last decade that I have known the folks at Pawsitive I have found them to be exceptionally caring with my dogs. In my opinion, John is the finest trainer I've found. He has a true understanding of the way dogs (and owners!) think. I would highly recommend his training classes and the daycare at Pawsitive (I've never used the grooming, so I can't speak from experience). read more

This place helped more than I ever thought it could. The staff is knowledgeable, caring and has gone out of their way to make my 6 year old dog Fester, myself and my daughter, feel safe and welcomed. I was just a tad nervous to put my dog in daycare for the first time but I was then informed that there are always staff members physically in the daycare with the all the dogs to monitor and interact with them - every second of the day. My daughter dreams of working there by her next birthday so I asked a staff member what's the protocol to work in the daycare. She replied ''Well, a love and respect for dogs, the will to learn all you can about them, and at least 2 years of daycare training to acquire the necessary hands-on knowledge to handle situations - you can't just learn this stuff in a book.'' My jaw dropped. I was pretty impressed. These folks are on the ball with everything they do. And twice a week for 1 year now, Fester can't wait to get in that daycare. He's stopped pulling on leash and growling at passing dogs. He's much calmer and somehow that gave me a little confidence to take a class ... eventually. So fast forwarding to July. I took a therapy dog class with a female trainer named Tina ( I can't recall her last name). And my old man is now a busy certified therapy dog bringing kisses to the elderly multiple times a month. THANK YOU PAWS-ITIVE!! read more

I ve been coming to Pawsitive for a little more than a year now and can t believe the turn around in my dog. I got an english mastiff back about two years ago because they were supposed to be some of the gentlest, friendliest dogs in the world, but apparently not mine. Any time I walked past another dog, Duke would start barking and lunging at them. I had no idea why he was doing this, and one of my friends told me to try out Pawsitive for training. So I signed him up for Basic Obedience and started classes right before Thanksgiving. Like usual, as I walked past the other dogs, Duke started barking like crazy and started to rip my arm off. That day John showed me how to teach Duke that it s not alright to bark at other dogs and lunge at them. Ever since the end of class, Duke hasn t once barked or lunged at another dog. Now he can go to Doggy Daycare (one of the best things about Pawsitive) and has more friends than I do. Whenever he comes back from daycare he goes right upstairs and back into bed. The daycare people really love playing with the dogs and know how to handle every dog from my giant dog to tiny little Yorkies. Another great thing is the do it yourself dog wash. They have a whole bunch of different shampoos that tell what they do on the bottle, and a very powerful blow dryer! Duke wouldn t be the great dog he is today without Pawsitive- Thanks guys!! read more

We started going to Paws when our pup was about 5-6 months old. We went through the basic training classes, which were great! John McWilliams, head trainer...is awesome....very knowledgeable, years and years of experience and so willing to stop and chat about your pup if you have questions! He has been such a huge support and help. We are more confident pup parents as a result of the training. We also bring our dog to Petite Puppy Hour for 30 lb and under pups, and then also to regular day care. Our pup can't wait to get there! We live local and took our pup for a walk one day. He took the lead and led us straight to Paws! He wouldn't leave the parking lot! I'm not kidding. It was hysterical! All the staff are so nice and helpful, and the training reinforcement our pup receives while he is there is awesome! We also go to Elena for grooming...she's great! Our pup always looks so handsome when we pick him up. We feel very lucky to have Paws right in our neighborhood and our pup does too! read more

I can't recommend them highly enough. I have a 4 year old pit who had socialization issues (he was a rescue). We started with basic 1 and John helped to break our dog of his bad habits. Since then we have done two other classes there and the experience has been better and better. Our dog recently reverted to being afraid of people, John, Eric, Becky, and everyone else there was willing to take time to work with him during doggy day care to help socialize him and bring out the best in him. We have been able to ask them anything about our dog and have them guide us in the right direction, even telling us to take a less expensive class or food since we would get more out of it. You can tell that they really do care about the dogs and are willing to go above and beyond to help whenever they can. I can't say enough positive things about them! read more

I've had the best experience Pawsitive. I had one foster who had seizures and the employees did care about her and treated her like all the other dogs in day care. I had another foster who needed socialization and improved so much there. How can anyone say such negative things about the owners and employees of Pawsitive is beyond me. If you are looking for a day care and you ask around who they recommend I'm sure Pawistive will come up more than once. One place I heard does not have an employee in the day care section while the dogs are playing but Pawsitive always has an employee in the day care section. They do care about every dog and thier safety. If there is a problem the let the owners know about it. As the clients of Pawsitive about thier opinion on thier experience there and it will be all postive notes on the business. read more

Before we adopted our dog Rufus, we brought him to John to evaluate him because he was so afraid of everything. After seeing John interact with Rufus, we realized that he wouldn't be the type of dog to act aggressively because of that fear. Also, John helped us realize that training would benefit our boy, so after we complete the adoption, we took Rufus to a training program at Paws-itive. John was a wonderful trainer - knowledgeable but with a sense of humor. Although Rufus is still a nervous dog, we have a better idea on how to help him deal with his fear. Paws-itive also is very supportive of local dog rescues, even lending their facilities to them for events. They are wonderful hosts & the owners are wonderful people. Thanks to them for being so community minded. read more

I have been bringing my dog Molly to Pawsitive for more than 2 years and it has been the best decision I have ever made for her. We have taken training classes with John who is so exceptional, I would never go to another trainer. Molly is now in daycare and is the happiest dog! She has so many friends and is so good with other dogs. The staff at Pawsitive is so caring and knowledgeable, they have just been such a godsend. Molly cannot wait to go to daycare and she is always exhausted when she gets home. I cannot say enough good things about this place and recommend them to anyone who is looking for training, daycare, grooming or just to buy food and treats for your best friend. read more

I've taken both my dogs there over the years and love them. We've gone to 5 training classes with John and think he is wonderful. We've seen him in action and he is pretty amazing in that he can go from being super patient with a scared dog and then handle a huge dog that actually bit him. The owner of that dog told us after class one night that he had gotten kicked out of two other training schools because the dog tried to attack the instructors and that John had given him hope. We were amazed that by the end of the course, John was able to shake the man's hand and give a treat to that dog. read more

I had been looking for a trainer for a while when i heard about this man John who was from Rockaway and was the best trainer in NJ. After hearing this said many times i decided to give him a try. Well it was wonderful!!!!! John and his whole staff were sweet, friendly, and knowledgeable about all types of dog issues. They helped me so much with my dog Suzie. Also a plus they have a groomer who is so nice and took him time with my baby since she had a bad experience with another groomer in the past. I am so happy that i listened to the word on the street and yes John is the best trainer in NJ. read more

Thanks to Pawsitive Experience, I now have high hopes for my new rescue dog! Abandoned at 6 months and left on a farm with no real human contact for 3 months, she was fearful of people and aggressive. I was becoming increasingly alarmed that she was going to seriously harm someone. We've already made significant strides thanks to the caring training at Pawsitive! Her growling at strangers has stopped altogether and she's finally allowing people to pet her. I highly recommend this service to anyone seeking training, day care or grooming for their four-legged loved one. read more

My English Bulldog (as stubborn as they get) and I have just completed the Basic Obedience Level 1 six week course with John, Most of the rest of the furry students in the class were younger dogs - my boy is 6 years old so I was interested to see how he'd get on. John's techniques are excellent and, providing you're consistent, they work. My dog is a better listener and, more to the point, we're better owners. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Paws-itive to anyone (as they were recommended to me). I think we'll be signing back on for another course in the Summer! Tnank you! read more

I am writing to let people know that Pawsitive Experience is very good place to bring your dog for grooming and any other needs you or your dog needs. I have a Lab/Chow mix and he can be quite the handful. I bring him to Tim the groomer and even though he is a tough dog Tim will take his time with him and the staff is wonderful. They answer any and all questions that I could ever have. John and Erin and Staff are wonderful people and they care about animals and isn't that what you want in a well rounded place of business. read more

A great big thank you to John, Erin & Pawsitive!!!! We had a private session with John last night and he is awesome! Very nice, knowledgeable, informative, patient, etc...... Spent extra time with us and we are already seeing results the next day with our dogs behavioral issues! The staff is very nice on the phone and they offer a great variety of foods and pet necessities. I highly recommend their services!!!! read more

Pawsitive has a huge selection of great quality products...pet food, treats and supplements. Love speaking with Erin and the staff as they are friendly and knowledgeable. My dog loves doggie day care and John is a great trainer. Love this place read more