San Diego Dog Training

TLDR: Danny is great and really gave our dog the structure he desperately needed. Jasper is an anxious good boy who was born on the streets of rural Apple Valley. We rescued him when he was one year old and was a bit of a nervous wreck. We put him on Prozac to turn down the stress for him, and after a couple of years, we decided to taper him off. It went well at first, but when we stopped entirely, he started exhibiting troubling signs -- frequent whining and barking, hiding under the bed, increased reactivity with other dogs, and snapping at us. We figured this was going to be a very difficult time and we didn't want him to develop bad habits as he was "waking up", so to speak. We reached out to Danny. I chatted with him on the phone, and he was able to take Jasper the very next day. Danny's a really fun guy, and takes dog training very personally and seriously. He only takes up to two dogs at a time. Most of the training in-home is set by example of his four highly-trained service dogs, whose jobs it is to train other dogs. There's no positive or negative reinforcement in the traditional sense, just high expectations. Since dogs are pack animals, they feel social pressure and align to what the other dogs are doing. This removes the rewards / punishment system entirely. Very cool strategy! When we picked Jasper up two weeks later, Jasper was much, much better on walks. Walked by our side, went potty when we told him to, didn't pull, and was able to focus much more on us. We could see that he really did much better focusing his attention on what WE wanted, as opposed to what HE wanted. Unfortunately, we didn't see the same change at home. He was still whining, tore up his bed a couple times, hid under the bed, and didn't listen. We reached out to Danny for advice, and he was able to come over to our place for an at-home training session. Immediately, he laid out how we should establish ground rules. There's to be no barking, no whining, no jumping, no chewing on the bed, and no hiding under the bed. Each action has an IMMEDIATE consequence. Nothing is done out of anger or malice, it's just enforcement of rules. It's very simple -- actions have consequences. Once we understood this, Jasper immediately started learning. Jasper's still not perfect, but he's about 90% better with his behavior, and we're still learning on how best to act appropriately. Whenever we have questions, we know we can reach out to Danny and he will respond quickly with truly useful feedback. Thank you, Danny!

If I could give Daniel and Tori 10 stars, I would. Our Aussiedoodle, Oakley, struggled with a lot of behavioral issues driven by anxiety. She pulled constantly on the leash, jumped on people and counters, barked at other dogs, and was extremely reactive. We had tried a number of different approaches on our own, but nothing seemed to make a lasting difference. After reading all of the amazing reviews, we scheduled a consultation, and from the very beginning, we knew we had found the right people. Daniel’s energy is unmatched. He’s incredibly positive, communicates exceptionally well, and sets very clear expectations from day one. He took the time to answer every question we had, and by the time we dropped Oakley off, we felt completely confident that she was in the best hands. The transformation was honestly incredible. The moment we picked her up, we could see the difference right away. She was calmer, more confident, more attentive, and so much more under control. When we got home and started practicing the commands ourselves, she responded better than she ever had before. Which was great because that was a concern we had - whether the training would transfer back to our home. It did. What impressed us even more was how much Daniel genuinely cares about the dogs he works with. Before pickup, Oakley had developed some mats close to her skin that were making grooming difficult. Instead of simply pointing it out or leaving it for us to handle, Daniel spent FOUR HOURS carefully grooming her himself. He isn’t a professional groomer, and that wasn’t part of what we paid for, but he went above and beyond simply because he wanted to make sure Oakley was comfortable and set up for success. He did an incredible job, and that level of care says everything about the kind of person and trainer he is. Throughout the entire experience, Daniel and Tori made us feel like family. They’re friendly, trustworthy, responsive, and genuinely invested in helping both the dogs and their owners succeed long term. One of the things we appreciated most is that the relationship doesn’t end when you pick your dog up. They’ve made it clear that we’re always welcome to reach out with questions, ask for guidance, or come back if we ever need additional help. That kind of ongoing support gives us a lot of confidence that these results are built to last. We couldn’t be happier with our experience, and I would recommend them without hesitation to anyone looking for dog training. They exceeded every expectation we had, and we’re incredibly grateful for everything they did for Oakley.

We fostered Daisy before we adopted her and she showed signs of past trauma and was fearful of everything. Walks were difficult and she hid most of the day. After her time with SD dog training she really opened up and being able to give her commands so she listens was truly 180 degrees. I am thankful for finding Daniel and Tori. I would recommend them 100% if you’ve got a pup or a dog that needs reinforcement training. When we brought Daisy home they provided us a cheat sheet to help us reinforce the training she learned. It really made a difference as we work daily on the commands with our dog. We had an initial consultation and they both explained what to expect from the hand off to after two weeks of training/boarding. They gave me the price for their service and I shopped around I found them to be competitive with others but worth it with the results we got with our pup.Thank you SD dog training for helping us get the happy go lucky puppy we wanted and now have. Daisy is happier and we are too! Sincerely, the Harris Family