Canine Sports Dog Training

Working with Emily has been awesome. Just the right balance of assertive but calm leadership my reactive fearful dog needs, he’s light years more confident now than he was a year ago. From a somewhat experienced perspective (I’ve owned many dogs and also ride/train horses) Emily is great at explaining complex training concepts and guiding us toward intuitive learning. My dog is a member of our family so he deserves nothing but the best, Emily is the best!!

I have nothing but great things to say about Canine Sports! My 2.5 year old rescue dog, Dally, was bit by another dog over the summer and quickly became leash reactive and extremely fearful; so much so he wouldn't leave our building lobby. I emailed Canine Sports and got a prompt response from the awesome Emily to set up a time the following week. The first meeting Natalie showed up right at the scheduled time, on the dot. It it is such a simple thing but goes a LONG way for me. She spent time reviewing Dally's needs and the program and answering all of my questions. Based on the severity of my dog's condition she was able to confirm his program for a start date within 3 weeks of the meeting. It was a huge relief knowing that we no longer had to live in our tiny bubble for much longer. I chose a 3 week immersive training and while difficult not having my dog for that time, he did a total 180 with his fear and anxiety. After the 3 weeks, Natalie dropped him off and it was amazing. We couldn't walk around the block before he left for Canine Sports, now he is walking past scary garbage trucks, snow blowers and other work trucks; and right at my heel to boot! The biggest peace of mind Canine Sports gave me was offering lifetime classes and lessons for any lingering needs. Natalie comes once a week now that we are a few weeks out of the immersive training and the support she gives me and reinforcement for Dally is invaluable. There have been situations that come up that I need training on in order to reinforce Dally's training and Natalie answers every need with easy to understand tools. I HIGHLY recommend Canine Sports. To top it all off, this is a female owned, Chicago based, small business and it just feels good supporting them.

We loved our experience with Canine Sports. Our pandemic puppy, Luna needed a lot of help with her nerves. We initially thought having a puppy while working from home would be a great time to train, it is, but we didn't anticipate that it might set Luna up for issues later in adulthood if the world resumed to a normal pace. We wanted to make sure she felt safe outside of our home and help her deal with separation anxiety. She had trouble taking walks in the city. I couldn't get her down our block without her wanting to bolt in the other direction or freeze completely. As a city dog, we knew it was crucial for us to set her up for success and we needed help navigating that safely. The investment for the Puppy Prodigy program accomplished our goals with our Luna girl. We knew the immersion training was the best thing we could do for our pup. They took her training at her pace, went slowly to build her confidence up and gave us good tips for working with her. Her first week, she was scared of everything. By the end of the program, Luna was begging to see her furry friends and trainers. She's now properly crate trained. We can leave the house without separation anxiety. She enjoys her walks and takes her cues from us. While she is still a cautious dog and that is likely the personality of her breed, she is enjoying life in the city WAY more than she was. We have a family that all has dogs and we wanted to make sure she felt safe hanging with them. By the end of the program she made friends with all our family dogs. Every dog is different and has different needs. The trainers at Canine Sports understand this and was flexible with us. We also appreciate that our initial investment allows us access to answer questions from trainers well after she completed the program. You'll still have LOTS Of homework and you'll need practice in-between sessions but we enjoyed the work. Thanks to all our trainers!

I first turned to Canine Sports for dog training back in April at the height of the pandemic. I was unexpectedly given the opportunity to rescue/adopt an 8 week old Belgian Malinois puppy. I knew that Malinois were a working dog breed and required a lot of physical and mental stimulation; albeit I still felt ill-equipped and I knew I needed a support structure. I reached out to Emily and Natalie with a puppy program inquiry shortly after and the sense of urgency they had was comforting as other trainers that I approached didn't respond for days which led me to feel that they did not deem my request time sensitive. When I brought Tito in he was a firecracker or "spicy" as the CSDT team would call it! He was afraid of the world and would bark and lunge at everything. Fast forward to now, Tito is 10 months and although we are still working through things, he has made fantastic progress and is manageable. Not only did they tailor their training methods to accommodate his working dog breed, but they have also coached me every step of the way (and I mean EVERY step of the way). I even started bringing my mini golden doodle who is 13 months there to polish up some obedience work that my previous trainer failed to instill. I have nothing but positive things to say about this group of trainers and I can truly say that I would not have been able to set my Mal Tito up for success without their help and support. They don't just train, coach, and develop your dog - they make the training inclusive and will correct YOU so that you are set up for success at home. It has been one crazy journey and it isn't over yet but I am glad to have you guys in my corner! Cheers!

Canine Sports taught my puppy how to have manners and set her up for a lifetime of success! Hazel learned so much after her 2 week board and train. The hardest part was getting me trained with the new vocabulary. She walks right next to me on a leash, stays on “PLACE”, and her recall is on point! CSDT is the only training company I found that stands behind their work by offering free training for life with many of the training options. It is nice to have the support of additional training whenever we need it.