Had an amazing experience with Mark! The progress my dog has made with him is amazing and in short…read moreperiod of time! I use to struggle to take him on walks or go to an outdoor restaurant without him barking, whining, and getting overwhelmed. Now he sits under me and watches calmly. I also feel like my dog trust me so much more because Mark taught me the importance of advocating for him and how to. He has an extensive knowledge on dogs and does an amazing job of teaching you about your dog and their behavior. Would 1000% recommend!

I hesitated to write this for nearly a year because I believe Cheryl is passionate about what she…read moredoes, however, her training was not a good fit for us, and we did not see results, despite spending $1700. For what it's worth, she's respectful, prompt, and brought her own dog to a few sessions to help my puppy with anxiety. She also has a good game for place training, and when I switched away from her methods this was the only thing we kept doing. This review will be long, but this is the main takeaway. I'd caution anyone from considering this "balanced training". It is not. The primary goal is conditioning a prong collar correction to a verbal "No!". It is purely punitive, not balanced. It's no different (& arguably worse) than the traditional 'crank & yank' style described in her book, just dressed up nicer. I'd advise future customers to use *EXTREME* caution if considering using an e-collar with Raise the Bar. An e-collar is NOT a punishment tool that you can slap on and hammer a dog with. For any behavior. Increasing punishment without clarifying the alternative desired behavior creates conflict. It's bad for the owner-dog relationship. Despite this, when unclear prong collar corrections didn't work, escalating to the e-collar was suggested at every single session. When I had concerns about shut down dogs/frustration, or feeling uncomfortable with the w/the level of corrections, I was met with contempt and told that based on 30yr of experience, this is just how it's done. Years of experience don't equal best practice. 1. Prong collar- it needs to be properly fitted. A loose prong (recommended by Cheryl) delivers inconsistent corrections and takes away the physics of the collars design, so you're no longer protecting the trachea or distributing pressure evenly. She recommended increasing the gauge of prong when corrections weren't working. I tried to discuss that this would require more force to deliver a similar correction, but shut down and told a 2.25 is a "puppy collar". In reality it delivers a higher level correction or "bite" with less leash pop. Most dogs should not be using a 4mm prong, especially loose, bc it's virtually ineffective. 2. Balanced training uses all quadrants of operant conditioning. Raise the Bar is almost entirely punishment based. Praise is not positive reinforcement. You can't be balanced and anti-treat/reward. When you hire a private trainer, you're paying for someone to train you, not your dog, and when asked 'why' she does things, she's not able to articulate it well. 3. Leash pressure- she couldnt get 1 of my dogs on the placeboard and gave up when he put the brakes on and reared back on the leash. She couldn't see that he just didn't understand leash pressure (which I've now taught him). He needed to be encouraged to go on in a way he understood. Next visit when he was on it she asked how, & I told her I was able to get him on in minutes with treats and free shaping, she was disappointed I had used food despite her method being ineffective. 4. **E-COLLAR**- please do NOT let Cheryl put an e-collar on your dog. I am SO glad I was enrolled in an e-collar course before she started suggesting it. She lacks fundamental knowledge of modern day e-collar use, likely bc it relies on foundations she doesn't use (ie a positive marker word & reward, low-level stim overlayed on well known commands via neg reinforcement, working under threshold). For crate anxiety she suggested putting an e-collar on my fearful puppy, & stimming at high levels until quiet, also suggested dropping a heavy textbook on the crate. Frankly this is abhorrent training. My dogs are now all e-collar trained and it's rarely ever necessary to use at aversive levels , esp not paired with "No" to induce handler fear and certainly not on a fearful/reactive dog. I could go on, because I don't think this is individualized training, but will digress. This training is conflict & punishment based & we did not reach any goals with her methods. I am pro-balanced, but this is compulsion. I'd suggest she expand her knowledge because her current methods have the potential to do serious harm. My relationship with my dogs was never worse than when we trained with Raise the Bar. The best thing about this experience, was that it lit a fire in me to learn to train dogs myself. They're now off leash heeling, hiking, no more reactivity, even went on a trip with us. Our results speak for themselves. I'll leave it there.

Rachel is a true animal lover! Very patient and loving with the dogs she trains. Her dog Kinichie…read moreis a great example. Kinichie was in Rachel's wedding in August, and everyone was amazed! People commented on the fact that they had never seen such a well behaved dog, especially in a large group of people. I know Rachel takes lots of classes, so she's always current on all the latest in dog training

From the owner: Passionate. Patient. Persistent. These are just a few of the attributes that describe my training…read morestyle. I know each animal is different, and I'll work with yours to give them guidance that is tailored to their individual needs.

My husband and I enrolled our 4 month old puppy in a puppy obedience class here and feel we got…read moretremendous value from it. It's a one hour weekly class lasting for six weeks. It was helpful to have a dedicated time and place to focus on training our dog with expert oversight when corrections were needed. Le and the team were calmly persistent with puppies and focused on achievable and useful training: sit, stay, down, leave it, and leash training. They offered collar (for leash training) treat, and behavior recommendations and achieved a good balance of individual pup and group instruction. Our pup loved the socialization as well.

From the owner: Dog Aggression, Puppy Training, Basic Obedience, and Off Leash Trainingread more

Darah was referred to me by a neighbor, and she was the first trainer we ever used and she will be…read morethe last because her work with dogs is exceptional. Our goldendoodle is incredibly dominant and we needed a lot of help. We did a mix of personal in home visits and small group training. While Winnie isn't perfect she has come SO far. Darah is so knowledgeable and helped me, a first time dog owner, understand what I was doing wrong as an owner. I was literally doing it all wrong. I now have a proper relationship with my dog. We would fully recommend Darah/underdog k9 academy!

Darah recently did a board and train for our rescue with Colbie, an Australian Shepard who spent…read morethe first 6 years of her life in a puppy mill. Sarah kept us updated throughout the entire process, with pictures, videos, and progress reports. Colbie came back to us like a brand new dog. She finally had life in her eyes. Darah taught Colbie to trust humans, something we weren't sure she would be able to do. We will always recommend Darah, she is communicative, knowledgeable, and truly cares for each dog she works with.

I started as a foster with PORT in their early days of conception and fostered with them for…read moreseveral months before they decided to completely ghost me. I ran into a situation where I needed some work done at my home, and I could not continue to foster the FOURTEEN foster pets that I had through them at the time. Rather than work with me, help me, and have empathy for my situation, I experienced a lot of pushback, and negative reactions to needing a break from fostering. My phone calls and texts were not being returned. When they were returned, I was met with attitude and a complete lack of understanding or compassion. After much resistance, they finally took the fosters back. They don't supply their fosters with food or supplies as they claim. Not once was I given any supplies for the dozens of animals that I fostered through them, even when I expressed that the puppies I was fostering were going through more food than I could manage. They also don't spay and neuter most of their animals before adoption. Now that I am back in my home, neither Regan, nor Jaime, (the founders of PORT), will return my messages asking about the well-being of my former fosters. If you bend over and break your back for them, you'll be great. But God forbid life happens and you find yourself unable to help, because you then mean NOTHING to them. Proceed with caution should you decide to do any sort of business with PORT. Don't expect a lot of help. Definitely don't expect compassion and empathy when life happens. Edit in response to PORT's reply: Port requires a minimum of 5 days notice for return, except in cases of emergency. I had an emergency. I explained this to you guys over and over and over again and your response was, "that must be tough." I had a dog through you that was being aggressive with a child. But you guys didn't consider a threat to someone's safety an emergency and were of no help. In some cases, I waited more than 5 days for you to help; I waited literally weeks! Not to mention that that dog was pregnant, and when I took her, you never advised me that that was a possibility. So I ended up with eight puppies, when I agreed to one. It was never "clear to you" that our foster relationship had come to its conclusion and that I wished to step away. I quite literally told you that once I was back in my home, I would take the animals back if they still needed placement. I notified you on July 10th that I could not handle all of the puppies. You did not take them until July 18th, and that was only after I showed up to get their shots and microchips, and had to PLEAD with you to help me. I notified both of you that Rusty was a safety risk, and you literally did not care. Even after notifying you of the unsafe circumstances, it took you two days to take her, and that was only after I refused to give you any more leeway. That was also after I had notified you on July 10th that I could not handle all of the animals that I had. You did not take Rusty back until July 31st. I let you know on July 28th that I was having trouble getting the kittens adopted. I notified you on August 4th that we needed to move the kittens. You did not take them until August 15th. As for the spay/neuter, it's irresponsible for a rescue not to spay and neuter before adoption, regardless of any contract. I also asked, several times, about getting my fosters fixed, and you never followed through. Don't gaslight me. You did enough of that when I was actually fostering with you.

we have to relocate and can't take Tilly. I need to know she's safe. she's so sweet has only lived…read morein our house. no others

Megan, our trainer, did an amazing job with Bowie! He now listens, doesn't jump on people and comes…read morewhen he is called. Thank you so much for all of your help! I recommend Unleashed to anyone who needs help with training their dog, they do such a wonderful job.

Virginia Simpson and her staff are extremely professional and attentive to the dog owner and the…read moredog. Her training of our German Shepherd was excellent and she continues to help our with training if something comes up. We have been with Virginia for almost a year and I cannot say enough good things about her knowledge of training dogs. What I like the most is that once the 2 or 3 week training is complete she doesn't just say goodbye and you never see her again. She continues to support and that is of utmost importance to me.

I cannot say enough good things about K9 DNA and especially Doug…read more We had just rescued our 2-year-old fluffy Frenchie, TJ, and to be completely honest, we felt like we had made a mistake. He pushed every boundary imaginable. His energy was out of control, jumping on everyone, unable to be around people or other dogs, and even knocking elderly people over. It was overwhelming and stressful, and we truly didn't know what to do. Then Doug came in, and in just two sessions, everything changed. He helped correct TJ's behavior, but more importantly, he taught us how to be better leaders. He showed us how to properly correct bad behavior while still loving our dog. What meant the most to me was how seen and understood I felt. Doug didn't make me feel like a bad dog parent for struggling or for not instantly feeling that perfect bond after adopting TJ. He understood. He helped me realize that TJ is a good boy who wants structure, leadership, and a pack to belong to. Doug gave us the tools, the confidence, and the consistency we needed, and the results have been incredible. When I say TJ is better, that is an understatement. We can now have people in our home without worrying. He greets guests without jumping all over them or scratching them. We no longer have to put him away when people come over. He is calmer, more respectful, and honestly happier. He is not stealing food off plates or biting hands for snacks anymore. He comes back inside without trying to go after other dogs at the fence. Our entire home feels more peaceful. Even our 2-year-old son interacts more gently with TJ now, because TJ is respecting boundaries in a way he never did before. Most importantly, TJ now has a permanent, loving home, and that is because of Doug. I was genuinely worried about my elderly grandma getting hurt before, and now I feel confident that TJ will be calm and respectful around her. That peace of mind is priceless. Doug is incredibly knowledgeable, patient, and effective. He does not just train your dog, he equips you with everything you need to continue that progress long-term. Thank you, DNA K9 for not just training our dog, but for helping us truly fall in love with him. I would recommend them to anyone. And I promise, the price is better than you think, especially for the life-changing results you get.

Review for DNA K9 If…read moredogs could write Yelp reviews, Daisy (my mischievous little Shihpoo) would be pawing at the keyboard right now to gush about Doug and Tracy. Before training, Daisy had perfected the art of "selective hearing" when her mom called. But after just one week with Tracy, she's now a pro at come, sit, paw, and even place (which basically means she's ready to audition for Cirque du Soleil with her stepping-up skills). Tracy is truly the dog-whisperer--patient, skilled, and clearly dedicated to every pup that walks through the door. And Doug? Let's just say Daisy may have developed a tiny crush. She perks up whenever he's around, and I'm starting to think she listens better to him than to me! What makes DNA K9 special is that they treat every dog like their own. You can feel the love and commitment in everything they do. I cannot recommend Tracy (the training mastermind) and Doug (the doggie heartthrob) enough. Daisy and I are both grateful--and maybe just a little smitten.

I decided to have my dog professionally groomed for the first time on Friday, I debated for months…read moreon taking her, but the sweeping of our floors 4-5 times a day was wearing me out, I had to find a solution and quick! I looked up several groomers and decided on Dogtown, when first entering Dogtown I was greeted by adorable Rowan then by two staff members, they were both professional and friendly engaging in conversation listening to my needs answering any questions or concerns I had, coming up with an on going maintenance plan. When Sugar came out from her grooming appointment you could definitely see the difference, no fur hanging off of her like before. It's only been three days, but have definitely noticed less fur on the floors which means less sweeping for me! I'm so glad I decided to go, Dogtown definitely made me a future customer!

Very cute and warm atmosphere! I love that I can check in on my dog and see what she is up to while…read moreI'm working. The staff is great and I trust them with my baby.

Kats is amazing trainer. I have been following her for almost a year. She came to me when other…read moreplaces didn't seem to have a answer as to why my dog was so preterified that He scream daily and didn't not want to come out his crate. Kate dignosed him with PTSD . After several months. Samsonite came over his fear in cars, people, other dogs and daily objects. Kate customized a training plan that fit Samsonite needs, personality and breeding purpose. Today, Samsonite goes on all kind of adventures like the creek, park and the beach. Our bond is inseparable and Samsonite has a new best friend. We never had been able to go places and going to the vet was dramatic . Today Samsonite is fearless confident and a happy boy! And oh does his face show it. There is nothing worse then feeling helpless and not being able comfort your dog. Kate saved Samsonite and showed him that life worth a second chance.

From the owner: Poised Paws helps frustrated families turn their dogs into engaged and reliable companions that…read morethey can be proud to show off to friends and family. We provide customized training plans geared towards long-term goals for your dog, help you build strong communication skills with your dog, and combine a unique blend of in-person private training with online courses so that you can get the most out of our time together.