Fantastic program and incredible instructors! I called ahead to determine what class would be best for my reactive rescue pup who had some private training prior. The team recommended the attitudes course which focuses less on learning new tricks but rather on keeping dogs calm in all situations. We graduated the beginners course and enjoyed it so much that we continued on to the intermediate attitudes class which we did on and off for months until we moved out of the area. I've tried a handful of trainers and programs but these classes made the biggest difference in my dog's reactivity. Would highly recommend for any reactive dog owner looking for an affordable and impactful training option. read more

The folks working were awesome people! Super friendly. I believe this is a non-profit establishment. Prices are great. Having said that, you do get what you pay for. The trainers know their stuff very well and have trained for a long time, but it is outdoors with a bunch of other dogs. Some courses are drop ins only. 100% on the yellow jackets and other flying bugs as noted by someone in 2017. Well it's 2024 and they are still there. I do like the fact that this is a huge place and parking is great. This is more of a socializing type of setting. Bu the instructors are great. This isn't hard core training for your puppy. If that is what you are looking for then this isn't it. For the price, you really can't lose though. Go check it out and then decide. This wasn't for us, but still great to meet so wonderful folks. read more

I highly recommend this school if you need training for your puppy/ adult dog or have behavioral issues with your dog. After the foundational training, the school provides continual drop in classes to support the training. The instructors are very experienced. I have taken my last 3 dogs here. read more

This prograM has truly evolved in the 5 plus years I have been bringing different dogs for training. I have found that the trainers are extremely adaptable and yet aren't afraid to be honest with the owners. I love the balance of drop in classes and series. My fav teachers are Ron, Mel and Deena. They are not afraid to be Frank and honest letting the owner know how your demeanor effects the dog. I have hounds and have found it hard to find good trainers that have experience with hounds. Hounds are very smart, yet very stubborn. You have to be a leader but a patient leader that doesn't always own a dog like a lab that likes all people and all dogs. It's so important to find a trainer that is comfortable with all breeds not just happy go lucky labs or the hippy small breeds. read more

San Bruno Dog Obedience School is the highlight of the week for my Portuguese Water Dog, Carly. We have been coming for 3 years, starting in intermediate and progressing to off leash work in the advanced class. Our instructors have been great. Our current instructor, Kathy, keeps up to 20 dogs and handlers busy, motivated and improving week by week. Carly and I have become a Pet Therapy Team working with children at a local shelter. The confidence and good manners that she practices weekly at this school makes her an excellent therapy dog for children. Carly and I may not always be top of the class, but we are loyal students. Carly is a rescue dog who was afraid of her own shadow as a puppy lost on the streets of Lodi. San Bruno Dog School has brought out the humor, focus and work ethic that this breed is known for. Thanks so much! read more

San Bruno Dog Obedience School - Happy Birthday at Dog School! Dec 2010 (Doodle sisters are 1) - Pet Training Near Me - San Mateo, California

I really love these classes. I have a pitbull and I need her to be trained because of many stigmas in the bay. She is very excitable but she needs training to calm down. They give me tips and tricks on how to train my dog. My dog is reactive to other dogs and she is slowly getting desensitized because she is seeing other dogs and know they are not a threat. They work with what happens at the class and you are welcome to ask questions. The really aggressive dogs they put on chains so that everyone is safe. There first concert is safety but they are always helpful. There are levels of classes. After the first five or six weeks of basic training you can go to intermediate training. My dog is slowly but surely becoming more obedient. read more

This school takes place outside in the parking lot of the College of San Mateo which leads to significant problems and can pose serious threats to your puppy: 1) Yellow Jackets - these bee like insects hang around the parking lot and are attracted to meat-based treats and therefore will hound you and your puppy throughout the lesson making it not only hard to listen to the lesson but also dangerous to you and your puppy - we got stung! 2) the parking lot gets HOT and the ground may be too hot for your young puppy's paws. It's uncomfortable and not the best environment for a lesson with a restless pup Although the lessons themselves were okay, we felt that the instructors didn't adequately warn us about the above and did not care about the welfare of us or our puppy. read more

To me, there's nothing worse than a Pittie with bad manners - or any dog for that matter. I'm a real stickler for well behaved dogs. When I adopted Sato from Bad Rap, he was lucky enough to have some good basic skills under his belt. I knew that he would need to work on honing those skills if he wanted to win friends and influence the nay sayers. San Bruno Dog School has been around forever. I had the pleasure of taking my other dog through their program, and knew that any dog I was the proud owner of would also attend classes here. They offer everything from basic puppy obedience, basic non-puppy obedience (if you neglected to take your pup and find yourself with an out of control adolescent doggy), intermediate, canine good citizen training, agility training and, for the bad eggs, they offer a "dogs with attitudes" class. Great class if you have dog with an attitude. Begining puppy classes are offered every weekend at the school. The 8 week course will run you about $95. Totally worth it! Intermediate and advanced classes are also held every Saturday on a drop in basis for only $8 a class. The instructors love what they do and it shows. Great place to teach and socialize your dog. Sato and I highly recommend it!! read more

My rescue dog Ollie went through the basic training class and graduated. Now we are moving on to take classes that work on his manners around other dogs and better leash work. But I have to say they were focused, had handouts and always gave personal attention and advice during the class. I felt like I could ask a question or get some suggestions about training during and after the classes. Would recommend highly to others looking for training - particularly classes on the weekend. read more

San Bruno Dog Obedience School - Ollie in his down dog position waiting for the next command and possibly, a treat! - Pet Training Near Me - San Mateo, California

Very frustrated with my experience there. It was out in exposed sunlight where yellowjackets operate. I was stung while in class. The instructor told us to bring treats for our dogs, and then when I told the instructor that the yellowjackets were attacking us and our dog, she said that was because of the type of treats we brought. THANKS A LOT FOR SO LITTLE SO LATE. The policy is that you can cancel before the end of the second class for a full refund; this is written into the contract. I walked away at the beginning of the second class because of the yellowjackets, as well as unclear teaching -- asked a staffmember about the refund, she told me she would get back to me because she didn't have the cash on hand. Three months later, after numerous unreturned phone calls and handoffs from various people to other various, I had no refund. At various points I was told: "I'm just a volunteer so I don't know how to get you your refund" "I'll pass your message onto the treasurer and they will get back to you" "There's no record of you cancelling" "You left after the third class so you're ineligible for a refund" To be clear, everyone I dealt with was very nice. However, really disorganized experience, extremely frustrating, and in the end they only gave me a partial refund because, well, they just didn't believe me, I suppose. So if you have any qualms about giving this place your money, just don't bother. read more

This is the ideal place to go to for the love and support of your dog!!! I could not be happier and satisfied with their training and support!!! read more

San Bruno Dog Obedience School - Pet Training Near Me - San Mateo, California

I just finished my puppy training there and the trainers are amazing! No matter who you get as your teacher, you will leave with a better behaved dog once you complete the lessons. Yes, the classes are held outdoors in the CSM parking lot but to me, it's not the location, it's the trainers that are worth the money. All the dogs are distracted by the sights and smells from the parking lot but if you can get your dog to do the basics there, then you are going to have an easy time training your dog at home with less distractions. There are usually 4 classes going on at the same time and one for dogs with "attitudes" so everyone can go there. Most of the trainers make themselves available to speak to you after class for additional tips. If you are looking for a place to get good training tips, give this group a chance. Just bring plenty of water and treats. read more

I have had nothing but an excellent experience with this school. My grandmother first introduced me to this school when she brought her golden retriever here that she adopted back in the 1980's. Mel owned the school back then but his kids helped him run it. She had an excellent pet from this experience. I brought my pugs here 12 years ago and had a wonderful experience too. These people are passionate about animals and want the owners to be the same way. I would absolutely recommend this school to any dog owner. I have two puppies that are going through the puppy class now. It's a bit costly but in my mind quality training is absolutely worth it. I'd rather pay more and know that I'm getting good training for my money, then pay a cheap price and get bad results. Rony and the other trainers that are there are awesome people. I will absolutely recommend them to everyone. read more

Love this dog school. The instructors are great and the atmosphere is pretty sweet too. Our pup loves coming here every saturfay , he definitely has tons of fun learning new things here. Its also very convenient that you can drop in on ant saturday morning and join a class or you can sign up for a 6 week (or longer I think) class. read more

San Bruno Dog Obedience School - Pet Training Near Me - San Mateo, California

SB Obedience School is a weekly play date for my dogs since I started them there as puppies (and previously I also trained my now 11-year-old Lab with them). The instructors do not train the dogs; they teach the owners how to train their dogs. And they teach and encourage you to train your dogs in a fun way--whoop it up when your dog does well and a simple "uh uh" when they don't provide the correct behavior. MUCH BETTER than shock collar training (I notice some people now referring to this as an "E-collar" (perhaps this term is their way of minimizing this cruel treatment of their dogs)). Yes, dogs can be trained through pain and intimidation but since I want my dogs to be happy and well-adjusted, I wholeheartedly believe in the SBDOS methods of dog training and I think this has become the trend. I started out with the intention of taking my dogs through 6-12 mos of training. However, soon after signing up Henry almost three years ago (and then little brother Eli 1.5 years ago), I learned that many of the instructors are Delta Society members who have trained their own dogs to be therapy dogs. Many of the attendees of the school were/are also Delta Society teams or teams in training. Now I attend the drop-in class nearly every Saturday, so that not only do my dogs get a play date with a bunch of great dogs but I hope we will eventually pass the Delta Society test and become pet therapy teams as well. But more importantly, I just want to learn to teach and properly handle my dogs AND have fun in the process. I highly recommend SBDOS. --Lynn read more

I use to be a huge fan of San Bruno Dog School. 9 years ago Mal had a thriving school that had some incredible instructors. Barbara, Dina and Ron helped me with two tough throwaway dogs that were aggressive and not socialized well with other dogs or people. With their help I was able to get these knuckleheads under control and obedient 90% of the time. A real win in my book. Over the past years I have recommended them to many dozens and dozens of people. Conversions of these referrals has been 67%. Yup, I'm a data nerd, it's part of what I do. I enrolled with the sole intent to be able to get my newest into the agility program. Can't enroll unless you do the beginner class. Ok, by me, I looked at this as being more of an adventure outing for both pups. I use E-collars, believe in effective training. Ron, one of the instructors has also used one for years with his own dogs. First class I'm there with both wearing collars, no one had issue with it. This past Saturday the trainer for beginning class clearly stated in front of other people taking the class that this was unacceptable and that I would have to move to dangerous dog class. I was then interrogated as to why I would use such a device. It would have been a Kodak moment, but clearly with the technology much better for Youtube. It's been a long, long time since someone has humiliated me in front of others. I then went toe to toe with the trainer asking her qualification and justification. It cam dow to being personal preference. Not ok, considering the nut jobs I have encountered freely giving opinions and stating there is scientific fact that backs-up that e-collars are harmful. Most of these studies are not really scientific, being funded by the people who are looking for specific data and conclusion before the study takes place. It's like having DOW Chemical qualifying there own safety record. Google "Dow Bohpal" and you get a clear picture. Real science has no agenda, it's all about absolute truths, this woman was giving only opinion based on non-sense. So my options: 1. Be with the the dangerous, ill-beahvaed dogs and possibly have my pups bitten; possible learned aggressive behaviors from other dogs in the class. 2. Take another beginner class in 8 weeks with an instructor that has no issue with e-collars. 3.Leave and not come back. My Issue 1. Before signup and money exchanged complete disclosure. 2. At the first class it should have been stated what was permissible and what was not. 3. Prejudice of training equipment based unsubstantiated research. 4.Berating me and my methods. 5. Taking pleasure in public humiliation. If this were my employee there would be only one response. Reminds me the the recent DMV employee who wanted to give their opinion over someones lifestyle. Prejudice is prejudice not matter the attribute, it's all based in ignorance. read more

We took Papi here when he was a puppy. The trainers here were very knowledeable. It also helped that my boy was the star pupil in class. I've recommended a few friends to this training school. read more

Great school! Great value! I don't know what the new location is like. We were enrolled in the actual San Bruno location, they are a wonderful group of people and doggies. read more

THE BEST! This review is LONG over-due. SBDOS taught ME how to handle my dog and be a better dog owner. When I started training my Chow I knew nothing. We joined the Dog's With Attitude class and I learned so much from Barbara and Dina. If it weren't for them, my dog and I wouldn't have had the bond we did. I added a Chihuahua to the mix who I knew from the start was aggressive. But I knew that with the help of Dina and SBDOS she could adjust. She's almost 15 now and well-adjusted with people and the dogs in her pack. read more

We have been attending San Bruno Dog Obedience School since Leila was a puppy. She just turned four and we are now enrolled in the Advanced Obedience class. The knowledge, patience, gentleness, and sense of fun imparted by all of the skilled instructers has made me a responsible owner and Leila a delightful pet. read more

Started my husky puppy in the beginner's classes and he learned a great deal of basic obedience. The classes were small and the instructor, Patty, truly cared about the dog. The focus was not only on the dog, but on us as well, and how we can be better dog owners. Since our dog is a rescue as well as very high energy, we knew he needed more training. We were taken under the wings of Dina. She has already done wonders with our dog, and us! She is teaching us how to stop the bad behaviors and replace them with good behaviors. She also works with us on how to act with different scenarios so our puppy knows we are the owners. She is also helping us understand our dog, which is always so hard to do. The trainers here are very caring and obviously care for the dogs in their classes. Even the trainers that are not teaching the classes are helpful as we are waiting for class to start or leaving to go home. We have learned so much from this school and are excited to develop our new dog and have him comfortable in our family with the continued training. read more

Complete waste of time and money for me and my German Shepherd who is a great dog. Frustrating. And, if you do it in the summer, as I did, hot and thirsty. In short, I hated it and would like my money and time back. read more

This is an excellent school! The trainers are extremely knowledgeable about all types of dogs and dog training from puppies to adult dogs, beginning to advanced & competition levels and other areas such as therapy and companion dogs. You will not find a better school and their prices are very reasonable. I started my Maltese in the basic puppy class and had such a great experience, we continued on to the intermediate level. As my darling dog grew into an adult, he developed an "attitude" bigger than his size so we moved over to the "dogs with attitudes" classes and it has been great. The instructors take the time to learn what issues the dogs have and work one on one with you to help work through them. So whether you have a gentle Bull Mastiff or a snarling Maltese, this school will cover all your dog training needs. read more

This review is long overdue. We rescued a Rottie who had leash aggression. We took her to the school's "Attitudes" class where they really helped us address our dog's aggression problem with being around other dogs. The teachers are very experienced and know how to train both the dogs and their owners. We loved the fact that you can take a class series and then go back on a drop-in basis to tune up your dog. Over 20 years ago, we had the privilege of getting training from the original owner, Mal Lightfoot. Our rescue dog at the time had separation anxiety where she was destructive and howled often when I was not around. Mal helped me understand that other than that, I had a wonderful dog. He had some good tips for correcting the behavior problem which resulted in the best behaved dog ever. The people who have continued after Mal passed away all have a passion for training dogs so that they become good doggie citizens. They provide an amazing service to society. read more

Just an update from my previous review. Still the best school around. There is training for all levels of dogs in addition to specialized classes in nose work, tricks, first aid. And the classes are fun-the instructors top notch. 4 dogs and 26 years later ( first dog was in 1988) this is still the #1 school it has always been. read more

This is the 4th dog I've taken through training at SBDOS. They have wonderful, very experienced trainers. They have classes to meet the needs of any dog and handler. For all that, the cost is about the lowest in the area that I've found. High value for low cost. read more

I'm once again back with a new puppy and the great trainers at San Bruno DOS. This is the 4th dog I've taken through their courses and have been very pleased each time with the results. The trainers are extremely knowledgeable and caring. I like the new site at CSM - nice and big. Other dog schools charge much more and don't have the experienced trainers that San Bruno does. read more

A wonderful school in an outdoor setting where all the dogs and owners have the opportunity to interact with their dogs and learn how to teach them to look and listen to you. All the while, everyone is having a wonderful time. Each week so many people return with their dogs to learn and practice from these excellent instructors (i.e Kathy, Sue and Patty) in the intermediate and advanced classes. Each dog meanwhile also learning how to socialize with each other and follow the proper manners for becoming a great dog. Some of these dogs learn through these classes to become a canine good citizen dog. Instructors always offer feedback which is always right on target. Everyone can sees how each dog progresses and supports each other in a fun filled hour. Kimi has enjoyed this school and my past dogs have gone there in previous years as well. An opportunity for all breeds of dogs to learn in an interactive environment. read more