Purposeful Canines LLC

When we rescued our dog Arlo, he was only 8 months old and in really rough shape. He would constantly spin in circles and obsessively lick and chew his tail. It was heartbreaking, and no one could tell us what was wrong. All we knew was that his problem was not neurological, it was behavioral. At one point, a veterinarian even suggested euthanasia because they believed he couldn’t be helped. We took him to a few different vets and the emergency vet and no one had an answer. Then we contacted several trainers, but none wouldn’t even try to work with him. Then we found Purposeful Canines through a referral from friend that said Rob really helped her dog. He was the first person who didn’t see a hopeless case, but a dog who deserved a chance. With incredible patience, compassion, and knowledge, Rob never gave up on him. Because of his dedication, he has made amazing progress and is living a much happier life. We will forever be grateful to Rob, who gave our dog a second chance when so many others had already written him off. If you have a dog with serious behavioral challenges, this is the trainer you want.

Purposeful Canines has given our dog and our family the tools and guidance to live our best life! My husband and I adopted our 3-year-old staffy mix, Petunia, almost one year ago. After about two months with her, she turned from the most friendly, sweet and social little girl to growling, lunging and snapping at almost anyone (human and dog) that would approach her (except for my husband and I). We knew this was behavior we needed to address asap, but did not know how. We tried 1:1 sessions with a trainer at a facility in Philadelphia that came highly rated. Even though Petunia “graduated” their program after 5 sessions, the trainer didn’t get behind the leash once, and we realized her behavior hadn’t changed much either, which was a real let down after the money we paid. As we had time away planned, we were getting anxious on how we were going to secure a safe place for Petunia to be cared for and boarded while we were away, as we were sure she wouldn’t have allowed any staff or other dogs near her. We also realized we needed to still address her reactive behavior. Rob at Purposeful Canines was introduced to us by an acquaintance whose aggressive dog had successfully completely a board and train program with Rob. He came over for a consultation and sold us immediately - he was able to assess our dog’s behavior within a few minutes, and even took control of her leash and corrected some problem behavior right in front of us within 30 minutes. We knew he was the real deal. Rob was very flexible and accommodating in boarding and training our girl for 5 weeks over the holidays and new year. He provided videos and photos as updates, and answered any questions we had when checking in. It was so nice to see the progress she was making while away. Petunia has been back home for almost 2 months now and we are blown away with how she has settled back in. She is still our cute spunky girl, but is way more peaceful, relaxed, confident and neutral around strangers (both humans and dogs). Taking her for walks around the city is a pleasure, and our friends are able to come over to the house and sometimes even cuddle with her now. She is thriving, and we are too! We are very grateful for the foundation Rob was able to lay with her, and the guidance and structure he continues to provide via regular check ins. Thanks to Rob we are able to give Petunia the best life!

Rob is amazing, he is dedicated to his craft, Rob transformed our Pepper from an over anxious hard to manage dog to a well behaved member of our family. Rob's professional, calm and supportive style of training is exactly what our family needed. Purposeful Canines and Rob's board and train program was a life saver, his follow up is wonderful and he is always there to answer questions and provide support.