The Art of Dog

TL;DR: Dave and staff did a great job taking Charlie from a rascal (see below) puppy to a well behaved dog who we love and enjoy doing all the things with (e.g. farmer's market, brewery patios, walking, etc.)Charlie is a Landseer Newfoundland, who Dave and staff trained for 3 weeks in May at the age of 6 months.Who Charlie was:Charlie was a counter surfing barker with a host of non-sense puppy behaviors. He would bark in your face when he wanted attention, when he was hungry, and when in general he was overwhelmed. If Charlie felt an emotion or instinct or was responding to a drive he barked. At 6 months, Charlie was already able to see onto counters, jump up, and eat even the stuff pushed waaaaayyyy back.Who Charlie is now:My wife and I honestly didn't know what to expect sending Charlie to a board-and-train. We always did the whole 1 year twice a week show up for puppy training classes. Would Charlie come back able to hop on one leg or do some other cool stuff?When people ask us what he learned or some variant of this. Our answer is pretty simple: Charlie learned how to be comfortable being uncomfortable and how to properly deal with his drives/instincts/feelings. Sure he knows how to sit, walk, lay down, etc., but that's not the secret in the Art of the Dog's sauce. The secret is Charlie being able to walk around Bidwell farmer's market without reacting to every dog he sees, all the smells, and people he meets. In short, he's just a more comfortable and confident dog.The other question we get a lot is: is it worth it? After writing this review, I'm contacting Dave to find out when he thinks Charlie will be ready for advanced training. Hands down, it is worth it.

Our 6 month old Golden retriever pulled me and my girlfriend everywhere! Chased Every leaf like his life depended on it! Never listened and easily distracted. We were so frustrated and worried about him getting injured because of this. We tried so many forms of training with positive reinforcement but they all ended up failing. So we put our trust with David for two weeks and when he came back he was amazing! No more chasing, perfect walk, we can even walk perfectly in pace with no leash! He’s a sharp listener and extremely obedient. He still loves to do all things he did before like swimming and an insane love for fetch but now we can do all those things and then some! He is 1 years old now and 5 months after his training, he’s perfect. David built the foundation for our dream dog! When we get a new puppy we will definitely go through David again.

Our experience with Dave and Art of Dog was crucial being first time GSD owners. We chose to do private lessons starting when Basil was only 10 weeks old. Dave taught us the training knowledge and introduced the proper tools at appropriate stages.We can completely trust Basil off leash from the time she was only about 6 months old!If you want to give your dog freedom, structure and overall a happier and healthier life, train with Art of Dog.

My first experience was great. I gave it 5 stars. 10 months later a new issue popped up and I reached out again. The young lady that originally worked with my dog met with us and we chatted for about 30 minutes. We set a date to get together again. She was a no show. We rescheduled. The problem I have is she wasn't addressing the issue I'm having with my dog. After a number of back and forth texts I have decided to go elsewhere. She became VERY condescending. I have trained THOUSANDS of dogs". She hasn't been on earth long enough to train thousands of dogs. This was the first time I used a dog trainer and I've owned dogs all my life... I'm 66. If you're having issues with your dog and are ok with pinch collars and e-collars

Our family wanted to learn as many tips and tricks as possible when it comes to training our new puppy. Once we reached out to The Art of Dog, Dave was extremely quick with responding to us and answering all of our questions. Once we started the private training program, we were lucky enough to get Mallory as our Trainer. She is always punctual, very kind, compassionate to our concerns, and is great with explaining things in an easy to understand manner. She has so much knowledge of animals and I am extremely thankful she taught us the proper/safe way to utilize training tools as we did not have prior experience. I also sent her messages between training sessions to double check a couple things and she always replied quickly and gave me so many helpful ideas!

I was hesitant at first to send my pup to the board and train program as I’ve never boarded him in the past. Dave does a really good job at putting you at ease. He is very approachable and is very open to communicating your dogs progress to you while you are away. The results are unbelievable, I couldn’t stop smiling at the difference I saw the day I picked my dog up. The obedience on the leash is unbelievable and the place command has done wonders to calm my dog when he gets overstimulated with company over. Highly recommend to anyone considering!

Dave is Buffalo’s dog whisperer. Our 6 month old puppy started developing very aggressive traits and we had no idea where to turn. After only the first few lessons with Dave his behavior took a complete 180 and he turned the great pup we knew he could be. Dave doesn’t train your dog, he trains you the owner and gives you the tools you need to help your dog grow throughout their life.

Our sweet Stormie Gray really struggled with being dog & people reactive. We couldn’t walk her without her trying to lunge at the other dogs or continuously bark at people. We were embarrassed by her behavior and were losing hope. Thankfully we were told about The Art of Dog and instantly looked into them. From the moment Dave answered us, I knew everything was going to be okay. He paired us up with Mallory and we couldn’t of been more thankful for her. She was laid back, gentle and so informative. Mallory gave us the peace of mind we truly needed. She constantly reassured us (which I needed the most through this whole process).But as of today we finished our last class at The Art of Dog and Stormie has done a complete 180. She’s a brand new dog. We are no longer nervous to take her on walks or let her be outside. We are forever grateful for Dave and Mallory for everything they’ve done for us and Storm.

highly recommend! this training has been life-changing for my pups & me! before this, I was honestly convinced they could not be tamed- but within weeks of consistent practice they have learned to be well-mannered & actually listen to me! plus they seem happier & more confident! Marisa is a wonderful trainer! she goes above & beyond to make sure we get as much as we can out of the training. she is compassionate, kind, & patient; helping to add structure while still accepting silly little quirks of my pups that I enjoy. I highly recommend Art of Dog to anyone looking for more structure & guidance for their pups :)

I knew about Dave through some friends and asked him if he could help me with my dog. He was very pleasant, easy-going, and confident.My dogs problems:1. Hates the cat2. Pulls relentlessly on walks3. Aggressive with other dogs4. Doesn’t listen to commandsDave gave me the knowledge of how to better communicate with my dog. He thoroughly explained what we were doing, and made sure I knew what I was doing. I recommend the board and train. It significantly sped up our training progress.Today, Lola is relaxed on walks. She now eagerly awaits commands. She plays well with others at the park, and enjoys naps with the cat.