Island Dog Obedience

We had adopted our dog Shadow from the Humane Society and quickly found that he had bad separation anxiety. Never having a dog with these issues before, we didn't know how to deal with it. We found Island Dog Obedience just by searching Google for dog trainers and were amazed at all the great reviews, and decided to give them a try. We contacted them through their website and was promptly contacted by Kristi. She setup a consultation with us to meet Shadow and see what would work best for him. Since he also had no basic obedience training we decided to go with the 2 week board & train. Shadow is very shy and had a hard time adapting to a new person and new environment. With his separation anxiety, it was probably extra devastating for him as well. We felt so terrible and guilty about it for the first week, thinking he must be scared and confused about what happened. However, Kristi sent us daily updates, with pictures and videos, which were so comforting. It was the highlight of the day for us! Shadow was behind on the normal training schedule because of his difficulty adjusting to his new situation. However, Kristi was somehow able to catch him up to speed! In the last few days, we saw videos of him running around like his normal happy self, but also obeying commands! It was proof that Shadow can get over separation anxiety, if he could be happy without us there. Kristi also took him to various locations to train, places that we might go to. We also learned that he has fun on the beach (would never have guessed!) At Shadow's graduation, Kristi taught us everything we needed to know to continue his training. She explained to us how to deal with and work through his separation anxiety issues. Once we got home, we let Shadow rest for a few hours, then we tested the methods and could already see a huge improvement with his separation anxiety! We know it will take a lot of continued effort but it's such a relief to see that he CAN do it! Thank you so much Kristi for being so very patient and loving and not giving up on our Shadow!

We couldn’t have asked for a better outcome and experience from Island Dog Obedience’s 2-week board & train program. Not only did the trainers go above and beyond to accommodate our schedule and unique situation, but they have changed our quality of life by taking our extremely anxious dog and transforming him into an obedient, more relaxed, and less stubborn boy. Our golden retriever had great potential, but was a jumper when greeting new people, had extreme anxiety in new situations, and would pull like crazy on walks. Our boy now walks off leash, downs in stressful situations, and greets new people in the most gentle manner. Island Dog Obedience is the real deal, and they’ll treat you and your baby like family!

Our Australian Shepherd, Poseidon, completed the two weeks course with Island Dog Obedience. He learned many commands and was so happy during the training. Maria and her rest of the trainers that worked with Poseidon were attentive to my concerns and treated my puppy extremely well. This company cares for dogs and you can really sense the passion and hard work that goes into training our puppies. If you are looking for a great trainer, this is it!!

Maria did an outstanding job in training my 5-month old Goldendoodle puppy, Sophie. Maria's expertise, patience, and dedication have truly transformed Sophie into a well-behaved and skilled companion. Sophie was a piranha puppy, always biting me and everyone she interacted with, but now we can enjoy her. My older dog did not get along with Sophie because she's too excitable and cannot control her impulses. Now Sophie is more tamed; no more biting or jumping on dogs and people. The progress Sophie has made under Maria's guidance is remarkable. From basic commands to more advanced skills, it's evident that Maria's training methods are effective. I appreciate the regular updates and insights Maria provided throughout the training process, which helped me understand the techniques used and helped me improve my communication with Sophie.

If you are looking for the best dog trainers in Oahu, then look no further. We have tried few different dog trainers but picked Island Dog Obedience because we liked their approach. Initially we did few lessons and loved how our dog responded but we finally wanted to see how he would do with board and train. As dog parents, we were hesitant to just leave him for two weeks, but Maria and Kristi were wonderful at answering all of our questions and concern. Once kristi picked our dog, we got daily updates (picture and video) and knew that he was having a blast but also learning good behavior. When we picked him up after 2 weeks, he was a different dog! And it wasn't just a simple handoff, we received a detailed progress report, commands and future homework. We would highly recommend Island Dog Obedience for not just board and train but overall trainers in general. Big Mahalo to Kristi for taking care of our dog and all the progress he made in 2 weeks!