I really don't want to give Marie a less than stellar review because for the most part I really like Marie and I think her intentions are good. I think there are some issues that were costly to me that might help you avoid the same. I'll start with the cons and end with the pros: Marie is all about the money and herself, first and foremost. You're not entering into a partnership. She's the boss. She can bend her rules, ask you to be flexible with scheduling and rescheduling but you can not. There is a language barrier that became more obvious over time. English is not Marie's native tongue. She also doesnt hear well (I dont either) so masking isnt an option. Lack of clarity in communication was a huge issue. Pros: Marie is positive, all positive, and uses Skinner's operant conditioning as her model. Lots of treats and rewards and ignoring the negatives. She understands dogs and their language. I saw great improvement in my dogs and their reactivity and regression in their potty habits while working with her. That improvement was in the first 3-5 sessions though. After that it was practice of the same with nothing new. I would not recommend buying a package. I quit the training with prepaid training sessions left. Ive worked with excellent trainers so maybe I'm spoiled. There's a lot of good stuff on the internet that's free, like Doggy Dan. In spite of it all, Im grateful for Marie and our time together and the improved relationships with my dogs and their more relaxed way of life since I'm more relaxed. read more

I would give ProDog Hawaii 10 stars if I could! Marie has changed our lives for the better...we went from constant stress and tension to being able to relax and enjoy time with our dog. I was in search of a force free dog trainer after our 8 year old rescue dog had regressed after an event and had become fearful of pretty much everything and she became reactive towards my husband. I remembered a friend had worked with Marie years prior and she was highly recommended so I emailed through the website and received a very speedy, thorough and nice reply from Marie and quickly decided I wanted to work with her. We've also been working remotely with a Veterinary Behaviorist in San Francisco along with our local vet. Although we had not gotten her stabilized on medications, we started training right away. There were months of trying different medications and different doses, and our dog having bad side effects. We had Zoom sessions with Marie throughout this time and she was so helpful and supportive with giving us ideas and suggestions of what to try to get her from being in a frozen state of fear and building her trust and confidence. I just wanted my scared girl to stop hiding and be able to relax on the couch like she used to do. Marie has been so accommodating with our schedule (there were weeks I would postpone and reschedule due to our rescue girl not feeling well). Marie encouraged us to video our training and she would analyze the videos and she has taught me so much about our dogs body language. We have been working with Marie for about 4 months and have seen great improvement. She is off all behaviorial medications and rarely hides. She is much more tolerant of noises and is now eager and more engaged when we train. She is happier and more playful than she's ever been. We never would have gotten this far without Marie's guidance. She truly cares about her clients. She is so knowledgeable and is amazing at what she does. Thank you Marie for helping us build a better relationship with our sweet girl and helping her to gain more confidence! read more

See all

Marie is an excellent trainer. I have used her for both of my dogs. She has a deep understanding of dog development and behaviors. She also helped me understand how we (humans) can inadvertently create negative/uncomfortable situations for our dogs that result in "bad" behaviors and that with a few simple changes we can set our dogs up for success. I highly recommend her to anyone who is committed to building a strong, successful and loving relationship with their dog. read more

First, in the interest of full disclosure, I should say that I started training under Marie S. (Pro Dog Hawaii owner) as a student apprentice a little over a year ago. That being said, let me explain why I decided to learn from her rather than another trainer (of which there are many on O'ahu!). Studying with Marie has been a real eye-opener. Unlike "traditional" or "balanced" training methods that emphasize exerting control over the dog, Marie uses a modern, positive, scientific approach to obedience training and behavior modification. In addition to her hands-on experience (she's been at this for about 15 years), she is constantly adding to her already substantial knowledge base, keeping abreast of research, theories, new ideas, and, always, hands-on training. One of the most important things Marie teaches is how to train dogs to **control themselves** rather than the handler controlling the dog. She explains to her students (the human ones) how to reward dogs for making good choices--and behavior that is reinforced is repeated, leading to real results in often a relatively short time of just a few training sessions. For dogs that exhibit a lot of reactivity (to dogs, people, etc.), Marie uses an approach called Behavior Adjustment Training, which is highly effective at teaching the dog to apply a different coping mechanism when confronted with various "triggers." In other words, it teaches the dog that it's safer and better to tolerate or avoid scary stimuli rather than go at it "guns blazing" by lunging and biting! Classes offered: Marie offers classes for puppies as well as adolescent and adult dogs. The puppy class, which can be started after the dog has had the second series of puppy shots, offers a very important foundation in good socialization--to dogs, humans, and the environment, in order to develop a balanced, confident dog. Pro Dog uses Sue Ailsby's training method, The Levels, which is a combination of obedience, manners, socialization, and more. (Sue is a well-respected trainer in Canada). After progressing through the various levels (there are seven), you will have an *extremely* well-trained dog, although doing the entire thing takes about two years of ongoing training sessions. Marie also offers a class called On the Road, which allows dogs to apply and enhance their existing obedience/manners skills in many different environments, such as busy urban/shopping areas, parks, the beach, etc. This can give dogs a giant boost of self-confidence and makes their behavior more "distraction proof." On a rotating basis, Marie gives classes for training therapy dogs, tricks/games, and Studio K9 (which gives dogs a foundation for working in film and television). These classes can help dogs learn to work at a distance from their handlers and be generally more tolerant of new/strange people and things. Of course, Marie also offers private training sessions, along with doggy daycare, "jump start" training, and overnight/long-term board and train. One other method that I should mention here is that Marie uses "Tellington TTouch" to help dogs stuck in a vicious cycle of physical pain, fear, and/or emotional trauma. TTouch is a holistic, non-invasive, and gentle approach that can influence the body and mind, often resulting in remarkable behavioral changes. I've witnessed many dogs that once lived in daily terror become more confident and secure in their surroundings. As a dog trainer of my own dog and others, learning from Marie has helped me learn how better to handle dog reactivity and think of things from the dog's point of view. As a result, I have been pleasantly surprised to see real, lasting behavior modification in the dogs I train, which makes the dogs much better companions for their owners/guardians and others. If you want an intelligent and effective approach to dog training and behavior modification, I encourage you to contact Marie. You'll be glad you did! read more

Marie Selarque of Pro Dog Hawaii is an amazing trainer. Her utmost concern is training your puppy/dog in the most gentle and effective way possible. My puppy Chloe was a VERY nervous and shy dog. At 4 months old, Chloe attended the 3 weeks Board and Train with Marie. We were nervous and unsure if we were making the right choice, but knew we needed help for Chloe to overcome her fears while her personality was still being developed. Marie gently worked with Chloe along with her own dog Zora. Exposing her to different sights, sounds, people and experiences. Marie never pushed Chloe beyond her comfort zone, just allowing her to progress on her own. Marie took her on hikes, the beaches, parks, and outings in the city. Into stores, banks and anywhere else dogs were allowed. In a week and a half her gentle approach gave Chloe the confidence to overcome her nervousness. Chloe can now walk on and off leash, whereas before she had trouble getting around (because loud noises and fast movements would scare her). Marie of Pro Dog Hawaii also reinforced and solidified all of Chloe's commands (sit, down, stay, recall, etc...). Chloe has become a very confident well mannered puppy at just 41/2 months old. It would have not been possible without Pro Dog Hawaii. One of the best thing about Pro Dog Hawaii is that they try to keep to the routines that you had been doing at home. Chloe had a routine of sleeping in my bed and I was not sure how she would take to being away from home and not sleeping in a bed. Marie allowed Chloe to sleep with her in the bed, giving me the peace of mind knowing that she was in good hands. read more

See all

Me, my mom, and our pup Spot recently completed our package of 10 private training sessions with Marie, and we were so impressed by her and really learned the building blocks that we needed to start to better understand our little Spot and to develop strategies to ultimately build our relationship. We would 100% recommend for others to seek out Marie for pup training, especially for pups with more challenging behaviors to be able to work through the challenges TOGETHER (human and pup). Our pup Spot, who is nearly a year and a half old, would also agree with this recommendation! We had gone through a few basic obedience training sessions with another provider months before finding Marie. While these types of basic trainings are helpful and serve many dogs very well, our Spot is extremely high energy, has a lot of anxiety and fears, and exhibits aggressive behaviors toward other animals (e.g., other dogs, cats, chickens, etc.) as well as sometimes toward humans, so the basic obedience lessons didn't really serve our needs. All of this said, we adore him and he is part of the family, but we were getting to the point where it felt like the end of the line because of how difficult his behaviors were becoming for us to navigate and we were also extremely fearful of the possibility of him biting (or worse) another dog, human, or other creature. The search for a trainer that could help us move forward was extremely difficult. So many of the trainers out there that specifically help with "aggressive behaviors" we learned use electric collars, and a number of these programs were not up-front about this usage and later told me it was a requirement. While e-collars may be a quick solution for behaviors, we were not ok with going this route and did not want to have Spot associate us with any form of pain. We also saw bootcamp type of programs where the pup stays away at a program for a couple weeks. As we are very aware of Spot's anxieties and fears, as well as his separation and abandonment issues, we did not feel this was for us. Finding Marie was such a huge relief to us after feeling like we were at a dead end. Within the very first few lessons, we already were seeing how well Marie's training strategies function. As a clear example that really had me in awe, we told Marie that all of a sudden Spot was growling and threatening to bite if he knew that he was about to be put in the bathtub for a bath. We knew that he isn't a fan of water, so we automatically jumped to the conclusion that it was the water. But Marie helped us walk through all of the potential reasons for these behaviors - the water, the cup used to pour water on him, the towel used in the bottom of the tub, and then something similar to a tub that we had outside. He was fine with everything except for....the tub! He then went from not being able to get into the tub and crying and searching for any possible alternative, to then within days, being excited to get into the tub and literally jumping into it as quickly as he could. Learning to really figure out triggers and fears, and then breaking things down into small steps to move forward together really works. Marie taught us many lessons that we needed to learn in order to better communicate with Spot and in turn see better outcomes in challenging situations. Prior to our sessions with Marie, because of Spot's reactive behaviors, I would just avoid certain situations, or walk him and me away as quickly as possible. One huge takeaway for us was to not miss opportunities to train and learn. Everything can be a learning opportunity, and everything can be broken down into smaller steps to build up to the desired behavior - whether jumping up onto a bench, walking through a narrow space, seeing another dog, human, or very realistic human statue, etc. My prior avoidance behavior, such as was the case with a statue, actually was teaching him something without me even realizing - that there was reason to be fearful. For the statue situation, Marie provided us with steps to take in this type of scenario to desensitize Spot to the statue that he was expressing fear and anxiety over, actually to the point where he was able to return a different day and sat on the pedestal of the statue! Huge progress! I don't normally write reviews, but the guidance that Marie has provided us with has really made a huge difference for our entire household, so I would really like to raise up Marie at ProDog Hawaii because the tools that she provided us with could really benefit others. I have nothing but good things to say! THANK YOU! read more

Marie's 'Levels' class was a great sequence of exercises that offered structure yet flexibility to focus on what was needed for our dog. We learned a lot of great training techniques and tips from her vast experience that you wont find on Youtube. The results for us were immediate. We'll be using them going forward and be returning for more. Codi the "doodle", Dec 2020 read more

The proof is in the pudding. I have an 8 month old Labrador Retriever and I consistently get compliments about what a well behaved puppy I have, how nicely she walks on a leash, and how well she follows prompts. I was raised with a dominance style of dog training where one uses dominance and submission to achieve behavior so this style of training was a stretch at first. It was a whole new experience and I discovered repeatedly that Marie's techniques really work and left my puppy and myself enjoying our time together in training. I highly recommend Prodog Hawaii. read more

Marie was recommended to me by another dog trainer as someone who specialized in working with reactive dogs. I attended a BAT seminar and learned quite a lot. In May 2013, we adopted a puppy, I wanted that puppy to be well adjusted/socialized to people, dogs, children, etc. The puppy and I have been attending various classes since June, 2013, starting with a puppy preschool then on to a basic obedience and a more advanced obedience and finally a class called "On The Town" where we are working on a Canine Good Citizen so my dog can be a therapy dog and help people in Hospice and Hospital settings. I have personally observed Marie's work with puppies, anxious dogs, unruly dogs and difficult dogs. She has a huge bag of tricks and works well with them all! Obviously, we are big fans of Marie and her compassionate techniques! I highly recommend Marie and Pro-Dog Hawaii! read more

Marie has been amazing in helping me with my Deaf girl Kulani. Kulani is a double Merle catahoula deaf from birth with some vision issues. Marie has taught me to better understand her body language & to be able to introduce her to new people In a safe controlled environment. Being Kulani is deaf it has been a bit different of challenges in training than with a hearing dog. I am truly grateful for all of Maries help bi highly recommend her positive training methods. read more

Marie has helped me out a lot with my dog Rudi. I would not recommend any other dog training than hers. She has a very amazing approach to what the relationship between dog and owner should be like and it has helped me out a lot with training my puppy. read more

Honestly, if I could give 0 stars then I would. Marie has terrible social skills and came across as very condescending. We rescued a dog with severe behavior problems and we were struggling to manage him. We met Marie when she was teaching obedience classes at the Humane Society. Her primary weakness is that she just does not listen to the customer. I told her I wanted to do private sessions because of the severity of our dog's behaviors but she insisted on the group classes. My dog would bark incessantly throughout the class which seemed to annoy the other dog owners and riled up the dogs. She uses food treats to reinforce appropriate behaviors so we couldn't muzzle. Again, I requested private classes and she said we needed to try the group classes first. I should have left at that point but I trusted her expertise. One day in class, she wanted us to walk our dogs while giving them treats for walking along side us. I kept dropping the treats on the floor because my dog (who was already 50lb at 9 months) would get so excited about the treats he would dive in without any awareness of a person's hand - so I figured I would get bit at some point. In front of the entire class she tells me to put the treat in his mouth and stop dropping it on the floor. I explained my concern that he would accidentally bite me and she insisted that I feed him directly from my hand. Again, my mistake was trusting her and not listening to my gut. I tried to feed him the treat and he bit my finger. I stood there holding my finger and she said, "What's wrong?" and I said, "He bit my finger." Marie's response was, "Oh well, I guess you should have worn a glove." The blood started dripping on the floor and when she realized it she looked embarrassed and horrified. She said, "Oh my gosh, he really did get you, huh?" The other students looked a little shocked and anxious too because they had heard me telling her that I wasn't comfortable with directly feeding my dog the treats. After this awkward interaction during clas, she then tells me that she will no longer be able to use the Humane Society classroom and is wondering if I know anyone with a yard. She says, "A yard like yours" (she had been to my house for initial consultation). I later sought out training from a group who trains at a park in Mililani. They were excellent. read more

I went to Pro Dog Hawaii for a particular class. I attended orientation, filled out the paperwork and paid for the class. A few weeks later I showed up with my dog only to find out that all of the other participants had dropped out, so the class was cancelled. I was very disappointed but understood. I thought I would get my money back but they "don't do refunds". I had already done obedience training with my dog through PetSmart and didn't feel like either of us needed more obedience training. But they were keeping my money and I didn't have any other classes to choose from. I attended a few classes and stopped going as I was learning nothing I didn't already know and it just felt like a waste of time, not to mention my money. The space they use is outside in only partial shade and about halfway through each class my dog would get so overheated that he would just lie down and stop cooperating altogether. If you're looking for puppy classes or obedience training save some money and enjoy the air conditioning at PetSmart. read more

Ok service for the fees.overall customer and pets are Something more then just training. I dident feel the family like feeling working with them. Ok experience. read more

Marie of Pro-Dog Hawaii has been a great help in giving us the tools to raise a healthy, happy dog that can interact with humans as well as within dog society. Her reward-based training is compassionate and non-violent, and can be used by children, adults, and seniors. We have boarded our puppy with Marie on a number of occasions, and each time our dog has been welcomed in as an accepted part of the family. We have the utmost confidence that not only will our puppy be walked and fed, but she will also be given both the attention and the discipline that she needs and deserves. read more

Pro Dog Hawaii is wonderful for my Labradoodle Haku'ihi. After a play day, she returns well behaved , clean , tired and enriched. Terrific training in the guise of loads of fun. I just need to learn to be consistent. read more

Pro Dog Hawaii offers a humane and research-based approach to understanding and training dogs. Marie Selarque worked with our family, to include our two school-age children, so that we would all be on the same page in learning how to effectively communicate with our dog Ginger. Listening is a key component of communication and "reading" our dog's signals helps us to be more attuned to what she is feeling. We have seen tremendous results in a short amount of time. read more

This is my second review of Marie and Pro-Dog. Last year I commented about how she helped me with a dog that barked at everything. My mother recently had to go into extended care and I ended up with her beloved mutt. The only problem was that he would not get along with my younger dog. I went back to Marie and had three private lessons. Now, the dogs are getting along. So impressed. read more

I met Marie through another trainer who recommended her. Our dog was perceived as aggressive by other dogs. He would lunge and bark incessantly at them as we went for daily walks. We hired Marie for a series of private lessons. Both my wife and I are very happy we did. She uses a tested technique that gets results. But she was also very honest with us and didn't sugar coat anything when explaining that we may not always get the results we want because there are many many different factors in training a dog. The personality, the environment, etc. But we got some miracles as a result of working with Marie. She uses operant conditioning which I believe is B.F. Skinner focused. All I know is that it works and our dog is much better in most social situations. Marie never used force but rather love and logic. I swear she was training us humans more than she was training our dog! By this I mean she took the time and patience to EXPLAIN why we were doing the particular exercise at hand. Every lesson was geared directly on removing a specific behavior we wanted to avoid. Our dog is much better adjusted than I ever expected thanks be to Marie. He is three years old this past October. The reason why I like Marie's approach is she motivates the dog to change his inappropriate behavior on his own, not using force, loud voice or yelling, anything that would startle the dog or make it unhappy. I have been able to train my dog using her techniques very successfully without force or coercion. After we were finished with our series of lessons, she offered free post-training advice if we had any questions or concerns. I have since then e-mailed her and she answers immediately with sound advice for home training. Mahalo plenty Marie for your services. read more