Xcaliber Dog Training

I rarely do reviews but I’ll leave my honest feedback for anyone interested in Xcaliber. We met the owner, Mitchell, 7 months back not long after we got our German Shepherd puppy. Although we got her from a well established breeder that we’d gotten a dog from a decade ago, this pup had a completely different personality. I am certainly no dog trainer, but I am also not a complete stranger to training either. From the moment we got our young pup we could tell she had issues beyond regular puppy biting. I don’t think it was a flaw necessarily, she just had a habit of using her mouth to communicate beyond what is appropriate. She also had a habit of running from us as if everything was a game and was fixated on our cats as prey. No matter what correction method we used, she looked at us and laughed inside (or so it appeared). As our girl approached 9 months, the habits were becoming perminant traits. When we first learned about Xcaliber, we had the owner come out for a few lessons. Ultimately we decided to go with a 3-week board and train program and she is now a different dog. We were very apprehensive about sending her away for a few weeks and her not bonding with our family when she returned, but Mitchell assured us that would not be the case (he was right). One thing that was paramount for us was that she be trained in an ethical way and we were happy to see Mitchell’s standards aligned with ours. Mitchell would send us update videos that eased our mind knowing she was getting daily and sometimes hourly training. Fast forward 3 weeks and our pup is now home! On a scale of 1-10, 1 being the poorest performance, her obedience went from a 3 to an 8. Her biting went from a 1 to a 9. And she no longer runs from us as if everything is a game. Being 100% honest, she still loves to stalk the cats but at least now she is manageable with them. I didn’t expect Mitchell to reverse 150 years of German Shepherd DNA and think the dog would have a tea party with the cats after a 3 week training. What I needed from him was a manageable, obedient, family dog that quickly realized her problem behaviors were no longer acceptable and that is exactly what he gave us. We told ourselves we could train her but I don’t know that we could have acheived this level without Mitchell. Did we want to pay for her to be trained, no. Was it worth the money to have Mitchell train her, absolutely.Take this info as you will, all I can say is I’d rather pay a little now than a lot later. I leave you with these final images….one photo is what our pup did to our couch when left alone for 10 minutes at 10 months old, the next photo is her when she returned from Xcaliber training. You be the judge and best of luck.

If you’re thinking about training your doggo, Xcaliber Dog Training is the ONLY option. Choosing a trainer for your pup is obviously a difficult decision and takes a ton of research. We chose Mitch because he is extremely knowledgeable, dedicated, trust worthy, and personable. Even my boyfriend said he knew Mitch was the best option after their first conversation and didn’t get that feeling with other trainers he spoke with. Scamp was an insecure doggo who wasn’t socialized very well when he was a puppy. The goal was to give him more direction, work on social skills, and be more confident in himself! The first few days of his 3-week board and train with Mitch were already so promising! By the second week, he was inside Home Depot with no barking or whining, something we could not get him to do no matter what we did. Scamp came out more confident, obedient, and social! We also sent our other dog, Koda (who is a previous client of Xcaliber) to properly socialize with Scamp (more aggression on Scamp’s end) for Week 3. Man, did both of those dogs come out of training on a different foot. Scamp was most definitely not a fan of Koda at first but learned that Koda isn’t that bad of a guy! Obviously getting them to a perfect spot was not realistic in 5 days with how bad the situation was but, y’all, Mitch really worked his magic within that timeframe. Mitch is extremely honest with his clients and tries to be as transparent as possible, which is very much appreciated with something as serious as our doggos. We received daily video/photo updates, if not every other day, and our questions were always answered thoroughly with no hesitation or sense of feeling dumb. Mitch genuinely enjoys what he does and that makes the experience that much more enjoyable. I can go on and on about how awesome Xcaliber is, but you just gotta find out for yourself! You will not regret your choice. Mitch, we’re so appreciative for everything you’ve done. Thanks x10000! Scamp and Koda said thanks, too!