The Polite Dog

Mark is a truly exceptional dog trainer of the highest caliber as well as a wonderful person. I would give him 10 stars if I could. I have worked with numerous dog trainers over 4 decades and Mark is by far the best I have experienced. He is extremely patient, gentle, and exceptionally clear-both with our dog, and with his demonstrations and explanations to us. It was also vital to us that we work with a trainer who uses only positive reinforcement methods. Mark also possesses superior dog psychology skills! He has also been very flexible and understanding to work with our family through somewhat unusual circumstances. Mark is a superb trainer of the humans in your dog's life, as well, which is critical to your dog's success. He takes the time to observe your dog's most subtle reactions or cues and has had excellent suggestions for solutions that go above and beyond what my other trainers ever offered. Pugs can be very independent minded and not necessarily easy to train, but Tomato is absolutely overjoyed any time he sees Mark and is always ready to try his best to please him. Mark's positive methods and demeanor have made Tomato an eager and happy student and we have been delighted with his progress! We were fortunate that Tomato already had a good foundation from his breeder, but Mark has successfully taught him many new, important skills and helped us continue to reinforce what Tomato has learned on a daily basis. We used both Mark's school program -- where he takes our dog out to to parks or other locations, besides working with us at our home and neighborhood-as well as other individual training sessions. Scheduling and communication have been easy and his prices are reasonable for the level of services Mark provides. Again, I can't recommend Mark more highly-as a trainer, or, as a person.

We enrolled our Golden Doodle puppy, Josie, in Mark’s Day School when she was 5 months old. While she was very sweet, she urgently needed both indoor and outdoor training. Mark’s profound understanding of dog behavior and his gentle yet effective methods are extraordinary. He not only trains your dog but he makes sure you understand and have the tools needed to work with your dog. He varies the training sessions from inside the house to trips in the car to various locations to get her used to many different situations. Her transformation was remarkable. We know Josie enjoyed her sessions because all we had to say is “Mark is coming” and she would get very excited and run to the window to look for his car! We highly recommend The Polite Dog for your training needs.