Dog Squad Training

We love Dog Squad Training, I highly recommend!!! I’ve got a super nervous dog and she takes a bit to warm up, but they’ve done wonders with her! Emily (Trainer) took the time to understand her needs and worked at a pace that made her feel safe and confident. The feedback and tools she provided me to continue the training at home have been so helpful. I feel empowered and supported to keep building on the progress we’ve made.

I will send any and every dog owner I know to Dog Squad for behavioral training. They completely changed our relationship with our dog, who—at one point—we thought we might have to re-home. It was a Google review like this one that convinced us to give Dog Squad a try. We adopted our dog Ernie (a 65-pound mix) from a rescue organization when he was between eight and nine months old. He certainly had some quirks, but he’d always been pretty close to a perfect boy. Once he reached his “teenager” age, we noticed he was developing some reactivity, including fixating on other dogs on walks—not out of aggression, but out of uncertainty and excitement, though sometimes his outward manifestations appeared to be aggressive—which was very stressful for us. It got to the point where my fiancé and I were having serious conversations about our ability to meet his needs long-term; we talked many times about having to give him up. Dog Squad Training at Blaine Kennels was our Hail Mary pass; it completely changed our relationship with our dog. With their initial work during his four-week overnight stay, we were set up for total success. We learned so much during our lesson visits and got to work with him around other dogs to practice real-life scenarios we'd encounter upon bringing him home (multiple staff members have seen me cry out of amazement as his progress). And with their follow-up support, we had a smooth transition back home. He’s still Ernie. His personality that we know and love was not stifled by the training. But he is a more confident, secure, and a calmer version of himself, which means he responds to situations on leash extremely differently. And in addition, if he shows signs of stress in an on-leash situation, we have tools and knowledge we did not have before Dog Squad; I feel confident in just about any situation with Ernie because of what he’s learned and what my fiancé and I learned from Dog Squad. We continue to send him to Blaine Kennels' Move Your Mutts daycare once each week to ensure consistency, and we have been absolutely thrilled with the additional results we’ve seen. Thank you to the entire training staff for your commitment to our pup!