I cannot say enough about Dan and his skills as a dog (and dog parent) trainer! I adopted my dog,…read moreDoug, from a golden retriever rescue in March 2026, believing he was a golden retriever mix. From the very beginning, Dan gently pointed out that Doug might have more cattle dog in him, based on his markings and behavior. When the DNA test confirmed Dan was right, it gave me a whole new understanding of my sweet boy. Doug turned out to be a beautiful mix of cattle dog and other herding breeds, and that insight has made such a difference in helping me understand him better. Dan has been incredibly patient--not only with Doug, but with me too--as I've learned to recognize Doug's triggers, better understand his behavior, and figure out how to help him thrive. Dan's experience with stray and rescue dogs is extremely valuable. Doug is such a sweet dog, about 2 years old, with plenty of puppy energy still in him. He's affectionate, eager for attention, and wonderfully responsive to training. Dan has helped me learn how to channel Doug's energy in positive ways and appreciate just how smart and spirited he really is. Doug keeps me on my toes, and Dan has reminded me that patience and consistency are some of the greatest gifts I can give him. After just three in-home sessions with Dan, I've already seen such encouraging progress. Doug is doing beautifully--he's a star at the dog park, walks nicely on leash, and has learned to respect the boundaries I've set around attention and behavior. Things like digging up the backyard and jumping into my face have stopped, which has been such a relief. Dan's guidance has made a meaningful difference, and staying consistent with the lessons has been key to Doug's success. Dan's availability by phone or text is a game-changer as I don't have to wait until our next scheduled visit to get guidance if new, unexpected and undesirable behavior arises between visits. Next week marks Doug's and my three-month anniversary together, which feels both exciting and emotional. We still have more to learn, but I'm so proud of how far we've come already. I'm grateful for Dan's support and look forward to continuing this journey--helping Doug grow into the very best boy I know he can be.

Dan has been great to work with and our dog has become so much easier and more fun to be around…read more The barking at the dinner table has stopped. The leash pulling has stopped. We are enjoying him so much more. Dan has been clear, patient, helpful and easy to work with. A real game changer.

We have been taking several training classes here and it has been a great experience!read more

We loved training with Rachelle here. She's a great teacher and so good with the dogs AND the…read morepeople. The small classes are nice and help keep the dogs focused. Our pup was totally different after his first round of classes here, and we will be back soon for another round!

We took in a 5+ month old puppy from a challenging situation and needed help as the pup was…read morereactive, not socialized, and terrified of everything. Gary was just the right amount of direct but supportive. He taught us lessons that built upon themselves and after the full course, we now have the tools to help our pup live his best life. Totally worth it. Very flexible with schedule and good communication. Already our new family member has made huge strides. Thanks, Gary!!

I reached out to Gary for help with my dog Peaches and her leash reactivity, and he was extremely…read moreprompt in responding. The initial consultation went very well, and I learned so much about dog communication and how to better support Peaches. I also learned that she is a highly anxious dog, which explained many of the challenges I had been concerned about. We enrolled in Gary's six-week program and finished with the tools and knowledge needed to keep Peaches on the right track toward recovery. Just like humans, dogs rehabilitate at their own pace, and over those six weeks Peaches made significant progress. We're looking forward to enrolling in advanced training once she's ready so she can enjoy more freedom off-leash. Gary is not like other trainers we've worked with. He doesn't rely on obedience-based shortcuts or gimmicks. Instead, he teaches you how to work through real situations and explains the theory behind his approach so you truly understand what's happening and how to handle stressful moments. Most importantly, Gary teaches you how to become the focal point for your dog, which has made a lasting difference for us.

We highly recommend Jayne, she is a very experienced dog trainer. Very flexible with scheduling…read more Also very responsive over text.

Disappointing experience -- not what I paid $2,000 for…read more I hired this trainer specifically to work on my dog's reactivity toward other dogs and her difficulty socializing. This was the main reason I was looking for a professional trainer, and I discussed this during our initial consultation. I paid $2,000 for an unlimited-session package. At the time, I was a nursing student working part-time, so I was grateful that she offered a payment plan because $2,000 was a significant amount of money for me. The first couple of sessions were in my home, which I understood because I assumed she wanted to meet my dog and get a better understanding of her behavior. However, the sessions were only around 30 minutes. Around the 4th or 5th session, she had me drive to a park in Oakland to meet her, which was already a considerable drive for me. She brought her own dog so we could finally work on my dog's reactivity around another dog. After she brought her dog to meet mine, the experience and sessions changed significantly. The interaction was very short--around 10-15 minutes--and the session ended shortly afterward. From my perspective, it seemed like she was not comfortable or confident handling my dog's reactivity once she actually experienced it firsthand. I reached out afterward because I wanted clarification about whether she was actually equipped to work with my dog's reactivity. She told me that she only taught manners in the home. That was extremely frustrating because dog reactivity was the primary reason I hired her in the first place. I explained what I needed during our consultation, and I would not have paid $2,000 for an unlimited package if I had understood that working on dog reactivity was outside the scope of what she provided. I ultimately requested a refund because I felt that the service I received did not match what I understood I was paying for. She told me that reactivity training (behavior modification) was not included in the contract. my concern is that this was specifically discussed during our consultation before I committed to the package. I was a student working part-time when I hired her, and $2,000 was a significant investment for me. I trusted that I was paying for help with the exact behavioral issue I had explained from the beginning. I'm sharing my experience so other dog owners--especially those with reactive dogs--can make sure they get very clear, written confirmation that dog reactivity training is specifically included in the services before committing to an expensive training package.

Happy Go Lucky Pet Care deserves more than five stars! I could go on fur-ever about how exceptional…read morethey are. My dog has been with Happy Go Lucky for four years, and in that time Paula has shown nothing but genuine love and care for every dog in her pack and you can tell they adore her right back. Since joining Paula's walks, my dog has gained confidence on the trail, improved training skills, and become a happier, healthier pup overall. She gets great exercise, socialization, and plenty of positive stimulation. Seeing Paula and her pack of furry friends is truly one of the highlights of my dog's day. Not only is Paula wonderful with the dogs, she's also incredibly professional, organized, and communicative. A clear, hard-working person you can always depend on. She truly does it all and does it so well. I wholeheartedly recommend Happy Go Lucky Pet Care for your pet care needs. There's no one else I trust more with my pup!

Lisa walks my cavalier twice a week. She's cheerful and wonderful with the dogs. At the end of each…read moreday of walking, we get a lovely photograph of the group of dogs that she walked that day. They are wonderful and I recommend them highly.

We had adopted our Kody boy 8 months ago from a shelter. It was a very hard five months trying to…read moreget him settled with a routine. We all had different ways of how to train him and it was causing a rift in the family. I was turned down by some trainers until I came across Jonathan Wong's page. He was local, he was fast to get back to me and he was willing to give us a chance after everything I told him. Kody still has a long way to go and I will continue with Jonathan as his trainer, but it is night and day after three months of training with Jonathan. He was dog and people aggressive, to the point we had to avoid them entirely. We can now go for walks, albeit we move opposite of any dog and can keep walking without any barking or pulling. He was always actively pulling on the leash and bad at recall. He is loose leashed now and responds with recall with our daughter. In the end I had to get use to the idea that Kody was a crate or muzzle dog when it came to large crowds or people in our home. I felt awful but Jonathan was so supportive and positive as I came to terms with it. I hope as we continue to train with Jonathan and Kody builds his confidence that soon things might change for him. Jonathan has such a kind soul and so encouraging when it comes to both us and Kody. I cannot thank Jonathan enough for what he has done for us. He left solid foundations for us to grow on. Kody is such a sweet and smart boy, and we always want the best for him. Jonathan truly is the best.

Yep, Jonathan knows his stuff. Highly recommend. Truth be told, my puppy (7 month Labrador) isn't…read moretoo difficult, but Jonathan got through to her quickly and made me feel like the pup wasn't such a menace.

The long version: We…read moreadopted a very timid, quiet pup at the beginning of October who, once he'd settled in, turned into a smart, energetic, stubborn and barking pup. That wasn't an option as we live in an apartment with WFH neighbors and going potty means walks around town with lots of other dogs. Overwhelmed, I started googling and found so many 5* reviews for Meryl from Bay Area Balanced Dog training. After a very thorough phone consultation where she took the time to talk about her process/our options and answer our many questions/concerns (we were nervous/uninformed about ecollars), we opted to do a 4 week board and train with a few private lessons beforehand. It was more than I had budgeted, but I was upfront about that, and she worked with us on a payment plan leading up to his stay. The private lessons were so helpful, and I highly recommend doing that before your dog's stay. So much about his good behavior relied on me being a good handler. This practice was also like a bandaid before his training, seriously reducing my stress on our daily outings, and made the transition after his stay easy as I already knew the basics of how to ask him for what I expected in a way he understood/had learned with the trainer. The board and train itself was easy, though be aware there's some additional cost to supply all the tools pup will need during his training. That was rough for me at Christmas. Speaking of Christmas, she was happy to keep and train him during the holidays when we would be traveling anyway. Very convenient and saved me additional boarding bills. She provided lots of daily video and picture updates on Instagram which was nice/really lessened my guilt about leaving him with someone for four weeks. He came home the same happy, sweet dog we'd sent away, except now he can walk nicely on a leash without barking his head off at every animal he sees. She also worked on recall training which is such a relief for a high energy dog I just know would chase a bear on a hike as off leash skills are really important to me in a dog. We work daily on everything he's learned and he loves it so much. It's a lot of money for what was an average dog with average bad behaviors, but we really believe that starting your dog off on the right path with the best guidance is the way to ensure a healthy, happy, safe dog. We went on our first hike just a few days ago, and after all that practice, he got to experiment with being fully off leash. He listened to every command, every time, even when there were tempting birds. I want to have a dog that is as fully involved in my family's life as possible, and now that we both have these skills, I know with consistency and practice, that's what I'll get. Tldr: The board and train is expensive, but you get what you pay for. Highly recommend. It truly saved my sanity.

I cannot recommend Bay Area Balanced Dog Training and Meryl enough!…read more In November of 2023 my husband and I adopted our adorable 3-year-old Pitbull-mix, Midnight, from our local shelter. Unfortunately, pretty much everything the shelter told us in regards to his behaviors/needs was incorrect. For example: he was over-aroused all day every day, had lots of destructive behaviors with our furniture/household items, did not respond to verbal commands/corrections, jumped on us and on top of tables/counters frequently, had zoomies where he would body slam us and progressively get more aggressive, tried to run full force after any dog/cat/squirrel/bird we saw on walks, tried to redirect bite me on walks and landed one of them (which broke my skin), frequently ate inedible things (like leaves and cat poop - yuck!) no matter how hard we tried to prevent him from doing so, and landed a bite that broke the skin on my husband's hand too when he was resource guarding a treat-stuffed toy. My husband and I have owned and trained pet dogs in the past, but Midnight's behaviors/needs were at a level that was way over our heads. After six weeks of trying to work with Midnight on our own, we were beside ourselves from trying to figure out how to safely meet his needs and began to fear that we may have to try to rehome him or bring him back to the shelter, which we desperately didn't want to do. So, I did some research and found Bay Area Balanced Dog Training's website. I reached out to Meryl and from our first phone conversation she put me at ease and began educating my husband and I about Midnight's behavior and needs. Midnight did a 4-week board and train program with Meryl, during which time she continued to educate my husband and I on how we could be the best owners possible for our energetic, willful pup. When Midnight came back home with us, he and we were finally speaking the same language and understood each other so much better, all because of Meryl's training. My household is peaceful again, Midnight is so much happier/content, and we have been able to bond with him in a much deeper way than we were able to before. Walks are a dream (he even ignores cats now!), my husband and I are doing a much better job of properly taking care of Midnight's activity/energy needs, and we feel certain since Meryl's training that we are a good fit for him and he is a good fit for us. Our little family is going to be just fine, due to the gift of Meryl's expertise and skill. Although things are going so well with Midnight, I still worried about who would take care of him if we have to go out of town and can't take him with us, due to his unique behavioral needs. Meryl boarded him for a week for us recently and Midnight had the best time! The little videos Meryl sent us of how he was doing erased any worries I still had in the back of my mind about him, and I felt so much relief knowing that Midnight was being cared for so well with so much love. Another time we needed to board Midnight was last-minute, and unfortunately Meryl was all booked up and didn't have space at that time. Meryl went above and beyond in suggesting another skilled trainer that she knows well that had space during the time we would be away - that boarding experience was great too, and Meryl was spot-on in regards to the other trainer being a great boarding fit for Midnight. Meryl has been an absolute blessing for Midnight, my husband and me. We look forward to taking more lessons from her in the future and feel lucky to have her support and expertise in our corner. Please, if you find yourselves in a situation even somewhat like ours, don't hesitate to reach out to Bay Area Balanced Dog Training - it'll be the best call you can make for you and your dog.

Meryl saved our rescue dog Kona. That's not an exaggeration. After we adopted Kona, we realized she…read morehad major fear and aggression to other people (other than our family). The vet told us she was an untrustworthy Dog, and we should reconsider. Thank GOD we didn't listen to the vet. Instead we hired Meryl, who really worked hard to earn Kona's trust. Since Kona likes other dogs, she went home and brought back Marco - and voila it was magic - Kona instantly bonded with Meryl. 4 More sessions, and Kona learned to meet new people, stop her aggressive attacks, and most importantly "wait". We were back at the vet recently, and the tech remarked "wow, Kona is a new Dog". It's true, we now know how to manage Kona and she s a happy confident dog

Amazing!!! If you need help, please go with Meryl. This gal is truly gifted and highly recommended…read moreby myself and our rescue organization. Having worked in the Animal fields for many many years with many trainers, I have to stress that Meryl is far more experienced and superior than your average dog trainer! She has helped us with many dogs with moderate to incredibly severe behavioral issues, as well as an array of dogs who required extra help to learn to pay attention to their people/listen and Meryl is also great at helping people understand how to manage many situations. Meryl is one the very few trainers around who truly understands canine behavior in and out.. she is not a basic cookie cutter trainer who will just teach the basics of how to get your dog to sit, down, etc, although she is great at that as well. I always appreciate how honest and upfront she is about everything and what the options are for each dog. I would highly recommend her to anyone needing basic training, a behavior assessment, or serious guidance and behavior modification help with their dogs. If you follow what she tells you to do, and put in the work, you will be amazed at the results and the improvement in your relationship with your canine.

Such a great company- always giving back to the community and the shelter animals…read more They have a great energy and compassion towards the dogs they work with. I first met them at an adoption event where they partnered with the Martinez animal shelter. They gave complimentary baths to all the shelter pups at the event. Even my foster pup- Susannah. They even put an adorable adopt me scarf on her and promoted her on their page I have been sharing their contact info with friends and neighbors

I had a bad experience with my small senior (17.5yrs old) dog at Diablo Dog in Martinez this past…read moreFriday. I'm not here to bash a small business. I'm here to share what happened to me and possibly help someone else out there, not have it happen to them. After looking at their website and social media posts, I was impressed with what seemed to be a top notch establishment. I only groom my senior chihuahua mix occasionally and I wanted to make sure they would treat him with gentleness and care. It was easy to see when I got him back from his appointment, that didn't seem to happen. He went in for a trim. I chose a #7 blade, which I now know was far too short. It woukd have been appreciated if the groomer would have made a blade suggestion or mentioned that choice was very short, because I wasn't familiar with all that, but that's on me and not my complaint. My complaint is that the groomer hurt my dog. I didn't notice it at first when I picked him up because honestly it was so chaotic in that small space with two big dogs coming in for service, a bunch of big dogs in the back barking and guys yelling at the dogs to shut up, I just needed to get my very nervous and stressed little guy outta there. It wasn't until I got home that I noticed the cut around and under his neck. I was literally stunned. I've never seen anything like that before and my dog was still shaking. I scooped him up and headed to the emergency vet. He is now on antibiotics and doing better, but it was a rough weekend. Between me crying and feeling like a bad dog mom for handing him over to them and him throwing up all day Saturday, I was not in a good place. I needed to wait a few days before I could even do this review. I love small businesses and want to support them more than anything, but I have to say I would not recommend this business for grooming small or senior dogs. I have no experience with them in any other area and larger dogs might do well here, I don't know. But this is what happened to me and if it happened to me....you know the rest. It was a really hard day that day. Pictures speak louder than words. The last photo is Jazz a couple of weeks ago how he looked when I took him in, all the others are from Friday at home and in the lobby of the emergency vet after his groom. Please think twice before you go here with your small or senior dog.

joybound is an awesome place to find loving pets. the staff are great , frie,kind, and very…read morehelpful in finding the right pets for you. We had the best service and manager was so helpful to my daughter, sweet and kind. we are so happy with you kitten blossom. A very clean place and the animals are very loved there. A pladant environment!

About a month ago, I went to Joybound People & Pets to adopt a kitten, and I had such a wonderful…read moreexperience. Everyone was so kind, welcoming, and helpful throughout the whole process. I was looking for a baby kitten, and thankfully I found exactly the little cat I was hoping for. The adoption process was easy and smooth, and you can really tell how much the staff cares about the animals. The cats are very well treated, and the conditions they are kept in are excellent. Everything was clean, organized, and the animals looked healthy, happy, and loved. Thank you to everyone at Joybound People & Pets for all the care and dedication you give to these animals. I truly recommend this adoption center!