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    Underdogs Long Beach

    5.0 (79 reviews)
    Open Open 24 hours

    Services - Underdogs Long Beach

    Private dog training

    Underdogs Long Beach Photos

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    Reviews With Photos

    The pup in question
    Michael R.

    Wanted to take a minute to recognize how great an experience we had. My daughter and I have a 2 month old puppy and enrolled in their classes. We made the first session and it was an amazing experience. Professional and helpful. Unfortunately there was a dynamic that neither underdog and I could control and we had to leave the class. Jill the owner was thoughtful and receptive to my emails. I plan on coming back as soon as we can. Highly recommend.

    Harley
    Karissa P.

    Richie has been working closely with our family and our new puppy Harley for the past two months and the results of his efforts in guiding us have been night and day. Harley was a terror when she first arrived to our home and Richie has helped us tremendously with understanding Harley's behaviors and how to navigate them. His insight and guidance have not only been a huge relief to our family but to Harley as well who loves to work with Richie. We are so grateful for the training he's provided us thus far and look forward to continue to work with him. Thank you Jill and Richie!

    Practicing Leave it
    Sandra E.

    After getting our golden retriever puppy we knew we wanted to start socialization and training early on. We did our research and found Underdogs nearby. We loved that they use positive reinforcement methods and that the trainers were certified and knowledgeable in animal behaviors. We started with puppy socialization classes, then 2 more Fundamental classes, and we plan on continuing with Underdogs for more classes. Our puppy is now 7 month old and has developed and learned so much! He has learned many basic commands, but also worked on being confident, calm, and focused on us. We too have learned so much about how to train and work with our puppy. The team is great. Jill responded right away to all my questions and concerns and Bry (our main trainer) is just the best!!! She is so knowledgeable in her field and works so well with our fur baby and us. She answered all our questions and gave lots of helpful advice. I also like that the classes are kept to small groups to allow for better training sessions. Definitely recommend!

    Ginger's beach field trip!
    Scarlett Y.

    Jill's been incredible and our dog (Ginger) absolutely loves her. Ginger has progressed so much over the course of the sessions we've had, but so have my partner and I as dog owners! It's clear that Jill cares not just about her work during our sessions, but the continued quality of life for the dogs and owners she works with. We've learned so much from her about dog behaviors (which we've found have been incredibly helpful to recognize, not just in Ginger, but other dogs before we put her in a situation that will make her fearful; or vice versa). But most importantly, we learned 1) to be 100% consistent in our training, which means the whole family, and 2) to have more patience with this process and realistic expectations. That there will probably always be small setbacks for a variety of reasons, but as long as there's gradual progress overall, it's amazing. I'll be the first to admit that we were impatient and frustrated at the beginning, less with Ginger and more so ourselves and only in so far that we just want her to feel well-adjusted and comfortable in life. It's not that we expected quick immediate results, but we would feel stuck because we weren't recognizing what were signs of progress. Having Jill there to give us guidance and point those out really kept us motivated and made a big difference. I love that our sessions haven't just been about her training Ginger, but actually coaching us so we can continue training her. Thanks to Jill, I really feel like we're set up for long-term success to give Ginger a happy life and help her move past her trauma as much as we can. I wrote more about why we sought out training below. This is super long already because I truly cannot express how fantastic Jill has made this process, but I hope if you read this and go "Hey, that sounds like my dog!" that you reach out to her - you won't regret it. __________ We adopted Ginger through a rescue four months ago. She ended up at the shelter as a stray, but they don't know how long she had been out there fending for herself. From the get-go, she was an absolutely sweet and loving dog who connected with us so quickly, but clearly had intense trust, fear, and abandonment issues. Over the first few weeks, we noticed clear signs of PTSD behaviors that seem like they stemmed from abuse: sudden cowering from different triggers (loud voices regardless of tone, cleaning items/products like brooms or spray bottles, sudden movements, running water, and sadly, me when I ran over and told her to drop a very suspect, entirely intact Egg McMuffin someone left on the floor of the dog park), a distrust towards anything new (treats, toys, something new in the room, and definitely people), separation anxiety, etc. All this combined together was manifesting as fear-based, defensive behaviors towards new situations or strangers/dogs who are overeager to pet or play with her and get in her space without it being on her terms. We reached out to Jill after a few weeks because we were determined to help Ginger through her trauma, make her comfortable with the world around her, and also lessen any risk of someone complaining that she is aggressive when she clearly is trying to defend herself from something she feels is threatening. It was heartbreaking to see her live life so fearfully. We specifically sought out a trainer committed to a force-free, positive re-enforcement philosophy of dog training with methodologies based on scientific research (frankly, everyone should) and has experience in rehabilitating dogs with trauma and fear-based aggression. We did a ton of research and read the reviews of pretty much every trainer in the Long Beach area because we were so worried about someone re-traumatizing our dog. We're so lucky we found Jill to work with us on these issues, and she also noticed an additional element that we would not have otherwise: she probably was taken from the litter way too young, therefore has puppy behaviors that dogs typically get checked on by their mother or siblings. Because she has underdeveloped dog social skills, she sometimes triggers other dogs with behaviors she hasn't figured out yet that they don't like (like when another dog doesn't want to play anymore, or that in her overeagerness to socialize her intense staring at them makes them think she's being aggressive). All this is to say that we haven't even completed our package of sessions yet, but all the dog owners whose dogs she regularly plays with and met her the first couple weeks we adopted her have been telling us how amazed and happy they are to see her really come into her own and how far she's progressed with her confidence, which is a wonderful thing to hear. (FYI, I posted a picture of Jill and Ginger on our field trip to the beach - an incredible sight considering this poor dog would cower away from ANY form of running water when we first got her - including water I poured from a bottle into a cup for her to drink on a walk.)

    Kimber L.

    I cannot say enough good things about Jill. I reached out to her in January for a consult and we started working together in February. My dog Leena is a rescue and has reactivity issues with other dogs and needed some work in loose leash walking (but primarily reactivity). As a pittie, it was super important for me to address her reactivity ASAP so she could be a great ambassador for her breed. I was previously working with another trainer who used a "balanced" approach, but it seemed to actually be making Leena's reactivity worse. So I spent a long time researching trainers in the area and contacted Jill. We did our consult and she explained that she uses force-free, science-back methods that essentially work with the dog's trigger thresholds and utilize counter conditioning and desensitization. She asked that we send a 1-2 minute progress video each day to show how we were doing between training sessions. She is also fully accredited and lists all of her licenses on her website. I was sold, so we booked a 7 session package. Overall, it was entirely money well spent and I'm overjoyed at the progress we have made with Leena. She used to react to any dog within 100 ft of her, but now we've halved that distance for barking/reacting dogs and have even gotten to within 6' of an easygoing dog while Leena stayed relaxed! Jill cares deeply about each and every client and approaches training with compassion, humor, and fun. She explains complex things well and gives great direction on how to improve your training. Force-free/R+ is not a method that produces rapid, immediate results, but what it does do is progressively build on successes in a sustainable way while building the trust between you and your dog, which is ultimately more successful than other methods. I ended up adding 3 additional sessions onto our package so we could work specifically on dog interactions and it was SO helpful in the next steps of our training. We are continuing to utilize what we've learned from Jill and are better for it! Leena's confidence in herself and trust in me has grown so much during our time with Jill and we continue to stay in touch with her for guidance. I HIGHLY recommend Jill to any pet parent seeking training!

    Puppy K class
    Lynn S.

    We have a new puppy and knew we wanted to start on the right track with him. Our previous dog we loved, but he was fearful and high anxiety and we wanted to help raise a calm and happy dog this time around. Jill and Richie have helped us so much! We loved their puppy k program and socializing our pup was SO important. He was mostly fearful of people and he has already made huge progress. They've taught us so many helpful tools. We will definitely be reaching out as August grows. I highly recommend Underdogs Long Beach!

    Outside training with Simba
    Liz T.

    We were looking for a positive reinforcement re-training for our 2 year old golden since he was going through teenage stages. We worked mostly with Richie but also with Jill. Simba has so much improvement over the past months. They taught us how to understand his needs and ways to stimulate his mind. His excitability definitely decreased and he is able to self soothe much easier. We love how they really try to understand his day to day, target possible problems, and give us alternate solutions. We even had our sitter involved in our training & we are getting good results. Thanks so much!

    Mora and Richard
    Asya G.

    I would have given 10 stars if I could. Jill is absolutely the best. She is not just training your dog. She is teaching you to understand your dog and communicate better. We have 2 dogs. One has been adopted very recently and needed some help. Jill was so patient and so kind with her. At some point she worked with both of our dogs. Now our dogs get along better, behave better and we could not be happier. Working with Jill worth every penny and I will recommend her to anyone with no doubt in mind.

    i'm a first time dog owner who didn't know a lot but was willing to put the work in and very quickly found dog training and working with dogs as something that brings me lots joy. i appreciate underdogs approach and patience with meeting dogs where they're at and setting them up for success with whatever that looks like for that individual dog and circumstance. my now 2 year old dog had been attacked a few times and as a result is much more fearful and dog selective but loves humans to the moon. since working with jill and joining their pack socialization walks, i've gained lots of practical knowledge and tips while also getting a better understanding of what my dog may be experiencing and why and how to help her in a long term big picture sense. thanks a ton

    Lola popped out after hard work training

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    4 years ago

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    Jill G.

    Thanks, Laura! You and your family have been so much fun to work with!

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    3 years ago

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    Jill G.

    Thank you, Rudy!!! We appreciate the kind words!

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    We loved her Puppy Class! It was for the humans and the puppies. Would highly recommend it to new puppy parents.

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    5 years ago

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    Thank you so much, Haley! I appreciate your kind words!

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    Best training I have had with my dog. Jill is exceptional with how to have your dog enjoy doing commands. Highly recommend

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    6 years ago

    Jill has been so helpful to us with our girl Sadie she is a rescue perfect at home but has some issues with other dogs thank you Jill

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    Page 2 of 2

    Ask the Community - Underdogs Long Beach

    Do you guys train for service dogs?

    Hi Kimberly, Thank you for asking. Although we have worked with service dogs and training, we do… Read more

    Does the consultation fee get credited towards the session if we sign up?

    No, it does not. It's a service of its own.

    How do I get in touch with you?

    Thank you for reaching out! You can start by visiting our website, underdogslb.com… Read more

    Don’t See Your Question? Ask Away!

    Review Highlights - Underdogs Long Beach

    I just finished up my second week of Puppy Kindergarten with Jill and Richie and I can't say how pleased I am.

    Mentioned in 73 reviews

    Read more highlights

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    We definitely recommend Andi!…read more We originally reached out to Andi for consultations regarding both of our Maltipoos, Kiki and Coco. During our initial phone consultation, Andi was incredibly honest and genuine. After learning more about our dogs, she felt that Kiki was the one who would benefit most from formal training and suggested that we could apply what we learned with Kiki to Coco as well. We really appreciated that she didn't try to upsell us on training for both dogs when she easily could have. That immediately showed us how much she genuinely cares about helping dogs and their families. At the time, Kiki was about six months old and was extremely reactive to just about everything in the outside world. We were looking for someone whose methods aligned with our values, and we loved Andi's positive reinforcement approach. Kiki completed Andi's six-week program, and the growth we've seen has been incredible. What sets Andi apart is that she isn't focused solely on teaching dogs tricks or obedience commands. She truly cares about each dog's emotional well-being and how they're feeling throughout the process. We learned so much--not just about Kiki, but about ourselves as dog owners. Andi helped us understand how our own behaviors and responses can shape our dogs, which was eye-opening and incredibly valuable. Of course, the work doesn't stop when the training sessions end. It takes consistency and ongoing practice at home, but Andi gave us the tools and confidence to continue building on Kiki's progress. The effort has been absolutely worth it. One of the best parts is that we were able to use many of the same training methods with our older Maltipoo, Coco, and she learned and benefited from them as well. Andi actively encouraged this, which we really appreciated. If you're looking for a knowledgeable, compassionate, and ethical trainer who truly puts dogs' well-being first, we wholeheartedly recommend Andi and Diamond Dog Training.

    I cannot recommend Andi enough! She worked with our two golden Labrador puppies and, from our…read moreinitial call, took the time to walk us through her training philosophy, courses, and our goals. Our main issue was walking and pulling on leash. After our six-week training course, our pups improved tremendously. Not only do they no longer pull on walks, but the other techniques Andi shared have also improved our communication with our dogs. Andi is incredibly patient and has a straightforward, easy-to-follow way of explaining things. She followed up after every session with detailed notes and references, which made a huge difference .Again, I cannot recommend Andi and Diamond Dogs Training enough.

    Zenni Dogs - I never thought I could walk Dante without a harness, a lead around his snout, and with another dog! Thank you, Yasmeen!

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    We saw improvements with our dogs after our first session with Yasmeen! We highly recommend working…read morewith her if you want to learn more about your dog and what you can do to make improvements with behavior.

    We couldn't be happier with our experience working with Yasmeen at Zenni Dogs!…read more My husband and I are first-time dog owners with a happy, energetic black lab. When we started looking for a trainer, we received two separate referrals for Yasmeen -- and we quickly understood why. At about seven months old, our pup had unfortunately been bitten by another dog, and we wanted help reintroducing him to social settings with both people and other dogs. We also wanted to learn tools and techniques to feel more confident managing him both inside and outside our home. From day one, Yasmeen was patient, knowledgeable, and genuinely invested in helping our dog (and us!) succeed. She took the time to understand his personality and tailored her training approach perfectly -- we started seeing improvement after just the second session. Her positive, effective methods made training fun and engaging for our whole family. She also shared practical tips we could easily use every day, which made a huge difference in reinforcing progress at home. Thanks to Yasmeen, we now feel so much more confident with our dog and better understand his needs and reactions in different situations. We're so grateful we decided to work with her -- highly recommend to anyone looking for a skilled, compassionate, and professional trainer who truly earns the trust and respect of both her clients and their dogs.

    Dogfather Dog Institute - COCOBEAR

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    One hundred thousand percent yes!! The answer to your question if you're wondering about alex and…read moredogfather. We have a mini Aussie who's 9 months also and was very reactive. Not his fault because it's in their genetics, plus in the fear stage but we wanted to do our best and provide the training so we can set him up for life. Alex is really one of a kind. after 5 weeks, our little guy knows boundaries of doors, sit, wait, down, plays fetch, come, stay, place, walk - what more could we ask for? What I like the most too is that you go to his location at least once a week and you train alongside him so you can also learn and do right by your puppy which is just as important. Don't look anywhere else! Alex is amazing.

    Working with Alex was truly a game changer for our dog Charlie and for us. Given Charlie's issues…read morewe decided to do a board and train program. Charlie was reactive (barking and pulling at the leash upon seeing other dogs) mouthy with constant nips to the hands, resource guarding (which really freaked us out) and really struggled with confidence and basic manners. We knew Charlie is a sweet, loving boy but training him was out of our wheelhouse. Upon meeting Alex, we immediately were made to feel supported and hopeful. What stood out the most was how calm, patient, and warm Alex was with our Charlie. He clearly understands canine behavior and approaches training in a way that builds trust and confidence rather than fear. You could see our Charlie begin to relax and learn almost immediately under his guidance. His mouthing stopped immediately, and the unique new schedule Alex provided has brought order and calm to Charlie's day. Not only are his guidelines used to create order, but also to strengthen the bond and relationship we want with our dog. Most importantly Alex is patient while trying to train US. He did an incredible job communicating with us throughout the entire process. Every day he sent videos, updates, and check-ins so we could see our dog's progress and understand what he was working on. Weekly at home training sessions helped us with Charlie's behaviors specific to our home. Alex made us feel included in the process and helped us learn how to continue reinforcing the training at home. The transformation in Charlie been amazing. He's more confident, far less reactive, and his manners have improved tremendously. We're so grateful for the care, dedication, and expertise Alex put into helping our dog succeed. I am sure Alex will be in Charlie's life for a very long time. I would absolutely recommend him to anyone looking for a knowledgeable, compassionate trainer who truly cares about both the dog his family.

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    We started with Vladae when our Vizsla puppy was just a few months old and progressed quickly. It…read moreall made sense and yielded quick results. We were so happy with everything that we decided to progress further by sending her to his 2 week boot camp at 16 months old. When I asked why such a good dog would go to boot camp, Vladae responded with, "Same reason that the smartest kids go to university, to become all they can be and hone their skills." That made sense to me! If it was any other boot camp I would have been nervous about my baby. I know how well Vladae treats his campers though and his focus on health and exercise. "Only the tired dog is the good dog" Thank you Vladae!

    I wanted to address your recent claims regarding my review of your services. I assure you that I…read morewas a legitimate customer who genuinely shared my honest experience, which I believe is critical for other potential clients. While it's understandable to feel upset when receiving negative feedback, it's important to reflect on the reasons behind my review. I noticed that during our initial interaction, you made a comment about my background that many found to be a stereotypical and racist remark. In fact, I saw that you previously posted video footage of our encounter on your Instagram, but you removed it after receiving backlash for those comments. This indicates that others found your remarks concerning as well. I want to emphasize that my intention was never to harm your business; rather, it was to share my experience. Thankfully, I have since found another trainer who practices positive reinforcement, which aligns much better with my values and my dog's needs.

    Underdogs Long Beach - pet_training - Updated June 2026

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