The Trusted Companion

We enrolled our 1 1/2-year-old Great Dane, Ella, in the 3-week Board and Train program with Brant at The Trusted Companion, and the results are outstanding! We had worked with different trainers in the past, using various techniques but didn’t have great success. This was our first time doing a board and train and the experience exceeded our expectations! Prior to training, Ella was fairly well behaved and knew some simple commands; however, when distracted she would listen to us less. Especially in public, when encountering other dogs, people, or anything she wanted to approach or chase. At 120 pounds, it was challenging for us to manage her, so we realized we needed help. After completing the 3-week program, Ella is still the fun-loving dog that she always was but is now confident, focused, and responds to our commands with ease. The transformation has been incredible! We attribute our wonderful experience largely to Brant. His communication throughout the entire process was excellent! Before we decided to board Ella, he spent considerable time explaining everything to us and answering our many questions. During the training session, we received daily videos and regular updates of Ella with Brant so we could see the progress they were making together. After the training, Brant spent more time with us, explaining all the things Ella had learned and taught us how to maintain her progress. We are now diligently practicing the new techniques and have had to email him a couple of questions. He always responds promptly and thoroughly. Brant’s patience and detailed explanations have been invaluable. Ella is still the same joyful companion we adore but now, thanks to her training, she's also wonderfully disciplined and obedient. We are extremely pleased with the entire experience and highly recommend The Trusted Companion!

The short of it - the team is patient, reassuring and knowledgeable. My wife and I worked with Brant and Allie to make sure our puppy Gus grew up understanding boundaries and obedience. Gus is our first dog together; I grew up with dogs, my wife did not. The team at The Trusted Companion helped us learn alongside Gus through play to help him develop the skills needed to bounce back after corrections without long term fear or aggression. This team knows what they're doing and will answer any questions you have along the way.

Brant at The Trusted Companion was great with my tricky pup. She is deaf, a rescue and a pitbull so it was important to have someone experienced evaluate her. When I contacted him, she was showing fearful aggression towards strangers and was desperately territorial of my home, car and person. She spent 5 weeks living with him with daily contact and video updates. After the in-home portion, he spent a lot of time with us both, educating me and assessing our interactions and playtime to provide feedback. He made some recommendations for lifestyle and training, answered all my random questions and offered his feedback in the future if needed. Since being home for a few weeks, we have been able maintain and build on the skills he started and see strangers out and about without concern. I would use him again.

We are beyond impressed and grateful to the Trusted Companion for Brant’s outstanding dog training! We sent our two dogs (a 5-year-old spaniel mix and a GSD puppy) to Brant for the three-week board & train. The dogs came back more calm, confident, and obedient. Brant’s emphasis on play, along with his deep knowledge of dog psychology, is incredibly effective. He also trained us well, helping us continue the training ourselves. Brant is also very responsive and continues to be available for questions and support. Can’t recommend enough!

We sent two of our dogs June and Penny to Brant for the Board and Train program because their behavioral issues were significant. We realized that a few training sessions here and there wouldn’t be enough. We needed a comprehensive reset with professional oversight, free from the errors that non-dog training professionals might inadvertently make. Our older dog was a sweetheart as a puppy, but over time, she developed reactivity. About a year and a half in, we adopted another dog named Penny. Penny is also a lovebug, but a bit too pushy. Initially, they didn’t have major issues, but then an incident occurred at a dog park where June got into a bad fight with another dog. After that, they became leash reactive and started fighting with each other during walks whenever they saw a dog that triggered them. It reached a point where we dreaded taking them out together. What truly convinced us that we couldn’t handle the situation on our own was when they had a couple of serious fights at home. After working with Brant, not only have they developed pretty spotless obedience, they’ve also gained a ton confidence. We can now take them on walks and actually enjoy it. They get along well, respect each other’s boundaries, and listen to us. In stressful situations, they look to us for guidance. They’ve been back with us for only a few days, and their progress is remarkable. While we’re still working on their reactions to a couple of long-term “nemeses” dogs, it is WAY better than it used to be. And is improving quite a lot with each encounter and is no longer a serious issue. We’re confident that in a few weeks, we’ll fully eliminate their reactivity to their long term "enemies" through exposure. Moreover, in the meantime their obedience is so great that they would listen to us even if a plane is falling from the sky or an elephant is walking down the street. Yes, they still can get stressed as any dog can, but now they trust us to protect them. If your dog is experiencing any issues with anxiety, reactivity/aggression or you need just typical obedience training, we would HIGHLY recommend Brant at The Trusted Companion. He understands dogs, how they think and why they do what they do. We truly would not have been able to fix the issues on our own. If you feel similarly to how we felt, The Trusted Companion is the way to go. Feel free to ask as any questions.