Canine Communication Dog Behavior

Benji is worth his weight in gold! I have worked with him with my many foster puppies as well as my 3 dogs. He is so helpful, knowledgeable, and patient! Behaviorists are not trainers, they are better!! Benji will definitely teach you how to speak dog and help build your relationship with your fur baby or babies. I have learned so much working with him that I hired him to do a group class for my clients. In a couple hours, he made an impact with each of the dogs in attendance!

My husband and I had been fostering through a rescue for a year and the day finally came that we foster failed and decided to adopt our foster dog. After we adopted him we noticed some behavioral issues that we weren't sure how to address ourselves (leash reactivity, chewing remotes when we weren't home, barking/growling at other dogs, etc.) and quickly got overwhelmed with all the information online. I decided to start looking for a trainer, but specifically wanted to go through an individual trainer rather than a big dog training business. I am so glad I found Benji on Thumbtack! Prior to our first session Benji scheduled a complimentary Zoom call for almost an hour to get a better understanding of what we were struggling with and what we wanted to achieve. He was also transparent about his pricing structure/lesson packages. He said after our first session he would recommend if he thought we needed 6 or 10 lessons. We have 2 dogs, an 11 (almost 12) year old Australian Shepherd and 2 year old Border Collie/Australian Shepherd. Benji also has a Border Collie mix so he understands herding breeds very well and what they need to be fulfilled/satisfied. Our first lesson Benji met us at our house and met our 2 dogs. At the end of the lesson he suggested 6 total lessons and recommended we get a treadmill for the dog we had just adopted. Throughout the 6 lessons Benji worked with us on a variety of issues: - not reacting to the doorbell - place command - training our younger dog on the treadmill (we are up to 2 hour long sessions a day!) - not pulling on the leash - leash reactivity - eating slowly/calmly (this is something we didn't even know was a problem that Benji was able to identify with our older dog and it has made such a difference!) The lessons are very customizable as well. Benji brought his dog to a lesson one day to help with leash reactivity and he met us at a coffee shop patio one lesson to work on helping our dogs be more calm in public settings. I truly cannot say enough positive things about our time working with Benji! We feel better equipped with understanding our dogs and ensuring they're fulfilled. It has made such a difference! We have also texted Benji outside of lessons to provide updates/ask questions if we need extra support. We will definitely reach out to Benji in the future for any questions/additional lessons!

Benji is an amazing trainer. You can tell he is extremely knowledgeable and truly loves what he does. He helped us with our dog that was having reactivity and behavior issues and she has made strides since we started working with Benji. He is more focused on training the humans on how to behave around the dog, and what to do to set her up for success, which is exactly what we needed. For example, we were having issues with fence aggression and Benji recommended that we get a cot (like in the picture) to set that boundary for her and it literally worked instantly; little things like that, that make a huge difference! Cannot recommended Benji enough!

We have had Benji as our dog trainer for 3 years. We tried several other trainers for a few months for our two border collie we adopted 4 years ago. Benji is kind, intelligent, patient, highly educated and has a natural talent for working with dogs. We meet him as a group trainer then started using his personal training service. He started coming to our home. Teaching both Ruby&Kelly our dogs and all 3 of us humans:) Kelly was especially hard to train as she would be aggressive towards Strangers and other dogs. Now we can leave her at dog kennel with groups of dogs. When we got our new swimming pool and we’re worried about our dog’s safety. The dogs were afraid of the pool. Especially the sound of the waterfalls. It only took one session for him to get both dog’s diving into the pool. Fetching toys and now they love it. He also taught the the dogs how to runs on our exercise treadmill! Dogs need exercise when the weather is bad also. Me, my wife Karen, and our Granddaughter Taryn and our dogs love this man! He has taught all of us so much. We would recommend him for any type of dog training. Earnest and Karen.