Amanda Gagnon Dog Training

My vet recommended AGDT to me when I got a new puppy in March, and I could not be happier I listened to the doctor's orders! The puppy training is top notch, the staff and trainers are professional, helpful, kind and super responsive. I have participated in the Puppy Training classes and virtual private training, and have learned so much. But for me, the young puppy drop-off socials and Puppy Day School were truly essential. Unvaccinated puppies in the city have little opportunity to play with other dogs or people not in their household (and this was even worse during COVID), but this is exactly when they need to be learning critical social skills! The puppy play classes offered by AGDT are rare - if not unique -socialization opportunities for unvaccinated puppies in a safe and hygienic setting. This is not day care; these classes are structured group activities led by professional trainers that teach and reinforce positive behaviors and build on the skills taught in the puppy training classes. I credit these classes, especially the Puppy Day School, for helping my pup become the fun-loving, friendly, and relaxed adolescent he is now. He is calm and confident around new people, dogs, children, sights and sounds. He doesn't lunge or bark when walking around the VERY stimulating city streets and parks. He is a joy for our family and gets positive reactions to his good behavior everywhere we go, and I always give the credit to AGDT! I cannot recommend the puppy offerings highly enough. We are now moving into the Adolescent Day School, and will report back with a new review in a few months.

Cannot express enough how much we love AGDT. We enrolled our puppy in Puppy Socials, Puppy Kindergarten, Puppy Day School and now we have graduated into Adolescent Day School. Not only has our puppy received wonderful training from the team but we have learned how to train our puppy as well. As first time dog owners, we were very nervous about our ability to train a puppy but the team at AGDT taught us so much and has helped us feel confident with our puppy. Our puppy really looks forward to his time at AGDT - he cannot get into the building fast enough and never wants to leave! Thank you AGDT!

We love AGDT! We rescued a 10-week old puppy from Muddy Paws Rescue in February 2021. AGDT came highly recommended, offered a discount for Muddy Paws Rescue alums, AND was conveniently located just 2.5 blocks away from us in the UWS -- what a win! As new puppy parents, we were eager to socialize him in a safe way before he had received all of his puppy vaccinations, and the drop-off puppy socials were PERFECT. These socials allowed our pup to socialize, play, and learn for an hour at a time and we gained valuable feedback from the trainers about how he did, what we can work on, etc. Our pup attended drop-off puppy socials 1-2 times per week until he was about 4.5 months old; even after he had received all of his puppy shots, we continued to drop him off at the puppy socials to continue with socialization and learning in an ideal environment. With feedback from the trainers (he was rapidly growing and ready for play with older pups), we switched him to adolescent socials and it's been a great fit! He knows when we're headed to the 85 St facility and he is SO EXCITED to go in every time. In addition to the drop-off socials, we enrolled our pup in the Adolescent Dog Training (outdoors in Central Park!). The 5-week course was a great way to learn the basics and set a good foundation for us to build on. We are so grateful for the AGDT team and would highly recommend the classes and socials to anyone looking for quality training in the UWS area!

My beagle puppy was extremely shy and nervous around new people and other dogs. My puppy's confidence grew so much by taking her to AGDT's puppy socialization and puppy kindergarten classes! The trainers helped encourage my puppy to play with new dogs and were very kind to her. My dog is now comfortable meeting new people, and she enjoys sniffing and interacting with new dogs too. I also took my puppy to the leash training workshop and pushy dog workshop to work on behavioral problems with Gwen Moyer. Gwen has been a wonderful trainer and is very understanding. I appreciated her judgment-free advice and practical tips to help train my dog. My dog is now less fearful of the world around her, and our bond has grown immensely from all of the training we do together. I highly recommend taking your dogs here!

We have absolutely loved the team at AGDT! They have loved on our Yorkie puppy from day 1 and treat him as if he’s their own. He adores everyone there and practically runs to the door with excitement! He’s done both puppy socials and puppy day school and loves them both. He was so hesitant at his first social but the trainers were patient with him. By his 2nd visit, he was eased in with another hesitant pup and from then on, it’s been party time! They are so patient and kind and are wonderful trainers. A real gem in the neighborhood for dog owners. Can’t say enough great things about them!