Stand Proud Dog Training

I can't say enough about the team at Stand Proud Training. I moved here from California about a year ago and decided to foster a dog for one of the local shelters. When I first met Panda, she was shaking and completely shut down in her kennel. When she came into my home and was allowed time to decompress, her true personality came out. Panda had an extreme case of what we call "stranger danger" and everything in the world terrified her. It terrified her to the point of her thinking she needed to react first in order to protect herself. She was reactive to everything, loud noises, dogs, squirrels, bikes and yes, strangers. But if you were in her "circle" she was silly and affectionate and I could see that she desperately wanted to please her person, she just didn't quite know what to do. After working with a couple of trainers, I felt lost. I had no professional resources as I was new to the area and my rescue resources were hours away in California. Well, its funny how the universe works. A family interested in adopting Panda had a dog that had the same behavioral issues as Panda. They told me about Stand Proud. I knew it was a long shot but I was desperate and decided to send them an email asking if they could help. You see, I was just fostering Panda so I was certain they would only help pups that were in their forever home. So I sent the email and told my story but I didn't get an email back.....I got a phone call! They were willing to help Panda! Fast forward a couple of months and Panda is now ready for her new home. When I picked Panda up I could see that she had formed a bond with Ian, one of the trainers. She was so happy to work with him and show off her new skills to me. I saw a happy, calm dog who loved her trainer! She had structure. The work and foundation they built was very apparent. I was able to walk her around lots of distractions including strangers. Before Stand Proud, I tried a gentle leader and a martingale (that constantly choked her...awful) but I could not control her. She would get so worked up and would literally spin and lunge at everything. Not anymore. Even being an experienced handler, I struggled when trying to handle her. Now I look forward to our daily exercises. This was not possible without Brandon, Ian, Austin, Danielle, Abby and everyone that put so much effort into helping Panda. Yes, Stand Proud uses prong collars....and for those that are critical of that tool, there is no need to be. It is an amazing tool when used properly. In my opinion, I would use a prong over a martingale collar every single time. I do not want to crush my dogs trachea or put constant pressure on my dogs throat like the martingales do. No thank you! I would recommend Stand Proud to everyone and anyone asking for help with their pup! They are definitely a dogs #1 ally. Yep, they are a training group, but they are also rescuers in my eyes. Now Panda will have a chance at finding her forever home. (When I get to the point of getting my next forever dog, they will absolutely be spending some time with Stand Proud. Even if I am hours away.......)

Our Great Dane Juniper was an anxious and obnoxiously affectionate mess. The love of a dog is great; the aggressive hugs of a 120 lb Great Dane are a bit much. We signed up for a board and train program at Stand Proud and after two weeks, we got back a dog that is a joy to be around and to take places. We learned how to get her to behave and how to guide her behavior so she isn’t anxious. The tips we learned, we’ve also applied to our other Great Dane and it is working like a charm for him as well. I wholeheartedly trust and recommend Stand Proud if you have some doggy behaviors you need to change. They know what they’re doing and they do it well.

We sent our sweet Australian Shepard, Shadow, to board and train for two weeks at Stand Proud. He is the sweetest boy but we could not take him on a leashed walk without him ripping our arms off. We had trained several other training programs in town but nothing seemed to work. We got frustrated at him for something he didn't know he was doing wrong. We also wanted to tone down his vocalization and excitement and teach him how to be an off-leash dog for hiking and running. We had our initial consult with Brandon, who took the time to learn exactly what we wanted out of this program. Within a week, Shadow started his "boot camp" training. Both Danielle and Debbie provided with us updates and pictures every few days. When the time came to pick Shadow up, we met with Austin for an hour to go over everything he had learned. He first showed us what Shadow had accomplished, and then observed us as we trained him around the facility. They showed us what we needed to do to harness Shadow's energy inside the house and also sent us home with "homework, " instructions for each command that was learned. When we first brought Shadow home, we had PTSD from his past behavior. We were so nervous to take him out for the first time in fear that he would pull our arms off. That was not the case and has not been the case for the past almost three weeks that he has been home. This is not to say that every day and every moment is absolutely perfect. We were told that 25% is training the dog, and 75% is training the human. This could not be more true! We work with Shadow daily on everything he has learned. We had our first in home lesson with Brandon who helped us to reinforce certain commands and phrases inside the house. We have our second session coming up in which we will work with Shadow to be off leash. This program has been incredible and has actually helped us to bond with Shadow even more than we already had. It has been so fun to watch him grow into the incredible dog that he is and has always deserved to be. I cannot recommend Stand Proud and its trainers enough. Danielle, Debbie, Brandon, and Austin have been more than receptive to our needs. They respond in a timely manner and are always happy to answer questions. Thank you Stand Proud for helping Shadow be the best version of himself. We can't wait to continue working with you!