Petco Dog Training

Steph is an excellent trainer! My dog Lily and I have taken 5 classes with her and it has changed Lily immensely. She was timid and scared of many things in the store, but absolutely fell in love with Steph and would do what ever Steph wanted her to do. And, Steph trained me how to train Lily. Now, Lily is very confident and outgoing and can do many things. She is good at walking on the leash, she will come, do touch, stay, wait, leave it, and go to her bed and stay. She will stay at home by herself and not chew things up or bark. She can do center, and high five and fist bump, she can spin, walk backwards and bow! She is now welcome in people’s homes because she is well behaved. I have taken her into stores, eaten at outside restaurants with her, taken her camping, stayed in hotels with her and she paddle boards with me. It has changed mine and Lily’s relationship as she and I love to practice our skills, she is proud of herself, I have learned to be patient and calm and she responds with good behavior and a great attitude. I am always recommending Steph to people I run into at the park and everywhere else. She is excellent at training and all of the dogs adore her.

I HAD THE WORSE EXPERIENCE WITH THE DOG TRAINER HERE!! He was an older heavy set white male with a huge German Shepherd by his side. (I forget his name) He started by telling us that we should not get our dog at the pound because we’ll get a damaged dog, and that we should go to a breeder instead. When we heard this my wife and I just wanted to leave, we happen to have a rescue dog, and she is the most loving wonderful being. His comment was offensive, inaccurate, inhumane, just plain wrong. However, we had already paid over $100 for several sessions so we decided to stay. He trickled one command per session and spent the rest of the time rambling about totally useless topics. By the third meeting, everybody had dropped the class, it was just my wife and I (probably the only 2 suckers who paid in advance for several sessions). The guy took us to the middle of the store and seemed to be getting ready to teach us something, then all of a sudden, he took off with a random customer and left us standing there while he made a sale. After having us wait for a long time he came back and told us that it would be better (probably for him) if we joined with another group since we were the only ones left of our original group. He made us waste that day and was rude beyond belief. I called the store manager, she was very sympathetic and concerned about what had happened. I also asked her for a partial refund since we only got half of the classes that we had paid for. She never followed up with me nor gave me any refund, and just avoided taking to me from then on. Another thing about Petco that gives me the creeps is that they have pyramid stacks of plastic containers similar to those used for parmesan cheese with one tiny fish per container. Many of the fish are already floating belly up. It is one thing to take the fish from the aquarium and put them in such small container for brief transportation to the new aquarium, but to have them living in that tiny container permanently is right down cruel torture, no wonder why so many of the little fish are already dead! It is a very disturbing sight. Do yourself a favor and avoid this place, go instead to Pet Food Express in Alameda, they have very friendly people working there, and we had a great experience with their dog trainer. Plus they do not torture animals.

This is a five-star rating for the Dog Training Service. The Alameda South Shore dog trainer, Steph, is nothing short of amazing. She is incredibly knowledgeable and patient; she’s personable and has a pure passion for the work she does. Steph’s training is completely based on principles of positive reinforcement, which I greatly appreciate because this strategy teaches my dog to be obedient without instilling fear, stress, or agitation. I would highly recommend Steph as a dog trainer for others. I’m beyond grateful for the time she spends and the love she has shown my pup.