Out of the Bark - Dog & Puppy Training

I have never written a review before, but I cannot express enough how much Megha and Out of the Bark have and continue to help us with our dog. We originally contacted Out of the Bark because our dog was resource guarding "stolen" items like socks, sponges, etc. After researching more, I was devastated my puppy was demonstrating these concerning behaviors and felt so desperate for help. We contacted Out of the Bark; Megha was immediately helpful and directive about the learning we had to do as pet parents. We enrolled in private sessions and continued onto the Manners Made Easy series. Megha has taught us it wasn't our dog necessarily, but us as pet parents. She equipped us with the tools and knowledge to help us build a better relationship with our dog and foster the behaviors we want. Our dog hasn't shown concerning resource guarding since we've started with Megha. We continued onto the Manners Made Easy series, which helped us learn how to establish clear boundaries and expectations with our dog. He has gotten SO much better at polite walking, settling, recall, and more. The Manners Made Easy series is helping us create an even better relationship with our dog, and now, he is so much easier. Also, Megha provides such great recommendations for tools for your dog (leashes, collars, types of chews, etc.) that really helped us so much. Writing this review made me realize I had no idea what I was doing before Megha! Thank you, Out of the Bark team!!

This review was long overdue. When we got our first puppy home, despite hours of prep from youtube videos, we were overwhelmed. After speaking to quite a few trainers, Megha immediately resonated with me and my family's needs. Their puppy programs as well as group classes are the best and their Livermore facility is fantastic and perfectly sized. For any new pet parent, or even someone looking to get back to the basics with the training of their pet, I would 100% recommend Out of the bark.

We've had such a wonderful experience with Out of the Bark - if you're looking for a dedicated, knowledgeable dog trainer, you can't do better than Dan! In December of 2020, we adopted a puppy who’d likely been abused, and over the course of lockdown we worked hard to gain her trust and help her acclimate to family life. We made great progress except with one thing - we could not for the life of us fix Belle’s leash reactivity and fear aggression when encountering other dogs and people. We tried a few times to find a dog trainer, but everyone we’d interviewed had leaned more towards “negative reinforcement” methods (one even suggested I try a shock collar - I promptly hung up!). At the beginning of the year, after my 15 year old soul dog passed, we decided to try looking again for a trainer for Belle - and found Dan. Within the first ten minutes of working with him I knew we’d finally found exactly what we needed. He is so in tune with her body language and reactions, and we’ve learned so much in just a couple of weeks. More than that, we can see such a huge change in Belle - she used to pull so hard she’d nearly knock me off my feet, and now we can take short walks with her perfectly in heel. I’m so excited to see how she continues to learn and grow over the next few weeks of classes! We’re so grateful we found Dan and Out of the Bark!!!

We had such a great experience with Out of the Bark and would highly recommend! Our 11-month-old Border Aussie, Nico, has become noticeably more confident and has made huge improvements in several areas, including polite greetings, settling in place, and leash walking after completing Dog 1. Megha is an amazing trainer who uses methods we truly believe in, focusing on positive reinforcement and building trust and connection. Nico absolutely loves her and gets so excited every time we go to class! Not only has Nico learned so many valuable skills, but I’ve also learned a lot as a dog owner about how to train and communicate with my dog. We’ve really seen how valuable this environment is for her, and we’re definitely planning to continue with the rest of the series!

We had such a wonderful experience with Out of the Bark during our puppy’s assessment. Megha and Dan took the time to really get to know our puppy’s personality. What impressed us most was how knowledgeable and patient they were. They explained everything clearly, offered helpful insights, and gave us practical guidance we could start using right away. Our puppy responded so well to their calm, positive approach, and we feel super excited and confident to start our training journey ahead. Thank you Megha and Dan for such a Fantastic assessment. Our puppy and our family can’t wait to begin our sessions.