Above the Standard Dog Training

These folks are truly “dog whisperers”. They know what the dog is thinking or is going to do before it does. Maggie, our 6-month old English Springer, spent a month with them and we came and interacted every week so we could get trained. We take her wherever dogs are allowed and she is very mindful of what we expect from her and she is rewarded for that which keeps it going. We are enjoying her so much more now really enjoying her personality and having fun as well as learning new things without the distractions of having to discipline all the time. There are some challenges now and then but they’re manageable. Hats off to Jay, Jenny and Emily. They really know what they’re doing. Jay came by for a follow up to make sure everything was going as planned. We met them and a group of past clients in Defuniak for a dog walk at wound the lake. If you want to enjoy your pooch to the fullest, meet with them for an evaluation. They’ll tell you the truth about your dog and what you can expect as well as what’s expected of you.

This review is long overdue, by like 4 years! I first reached out to Emily and the ATS team after I lost my 9 y/o male golden and my then 2 y/o female golden was struggling without him. We couldn’t even get around the block without her collapsing/shaking. After talking with Emily and meeting with her and Jay, I signed Harley up for a 4-week board and train to include off leash, confidence building and working around some reactivity. She has been living her best beach bum life ever since then and has the most reliable obedience and recall of any dog I have ever had. Jay worked one-on-one with Harley and she happily remembers him to this day! Fast forward 2 months: Harley was in a good place so we introduced a new brother - Howie! ATS has been involved with Howie’s training since he was ~10 weeks old and they are a huge reason for his success not only as a young golden retriever, but as my service dog. Howie has worked primarily with Jay over the last 3 years, but also with the entire ATS team in the capacity of puppy raising, obedience, advanced obedience, off leash, tasking, public access and more. He’s been down to see the team in Florida twice already for months at a time, and I regret not a single thing. I’ve cheered ATS on as they grew the team and moved the business to Florida. Watching Jim join the team and Jen fully step into dog training over the years has been so cool to see! They each pour their skills and love into every board and train and every service dog prospect, as well as raising the smartest poodle puppies who are changing people’s lives. I recently got to visit the team and the facility in FL and observed the magic in person. I already want to go back but I don’t have a reason to because Jay, Jen and the whole team knocked it out of the park with Howie! Is a 4-week board & train a long time? Sure. In the grand scheme of your dog’s entire life, it’s a small part of it and the investment in them is absolutely worth it. And you won’t find better people or a better team to help you and your dog.

We cannot say enough good things about Jay and Emily and the ASDT crew! Our boy, Ryker, went in as a very rambunctious, stubborn, non obedient bully of a pup. What Jay did with him (and us) in just one month is truly amazing! You could tell Ryker really enjoyed learning and going on new adventures to practice his new skills. They treated him like their own. We recommend them to everyone who compliments us on our well behaved dog!!!

When we first started the process of acquiring a service dog...I wasn't sure what to expect. I am a certified cat person with very little interest in dogs, but also chose a partner that is very clearly a dog person with multiple dogs. I was full of questions, concerns, and about a dozen self-imposed misperceptions on what a service dog really does. Yes, I truly pictured a military canine descending from a helicopter to airlift my girlfriend to safety. I couldn't really picture or understand how a dog would help with her medical conditions. But clearly knew they existed to help. I know I've seen people with service dogs. But can't say I saw one in-action or in-service before. Now this is where Above the Standard changed all that. They took the time to introduce us to our future service dog, Obi. They took the time to answer even the silliest of questions I had. They spent the time working with my girlfriend to figure out what tasks the dog could perform to assist her best. They spent the time to show us what our little student was learning every day, every week, and every month. I saw this puppy that just wanted to have fun turn into probably the smartest dog I've ever seen....without losing that puppy spirit. This was not a military canine...but a dog first and a service dog second. I was amazed to see the difference between our service dog "at work" and "at home" and even more amazed at how the dog knew to look for even the littlest of actions that could alert to a larger medical issue. Above the Standard wanted our comfort level at nothing less than 100%. I'm not sure if impressed is a strong enough word to describe what I felt. They delivered the dog and took us around for 3 days showing what Obi could do and it was wild. I guess this is the stuff I always heard a dog could do...but never saw it in person. This is stuff you see on TV or in movies! Not only did they make the transition as smooth as possible for my girlfriend, but they also resolved a two year ongoing issue we had with our other dogs that was a genuine nightmare of mine...as I didn't want it rubbing off on the new addition. They didn't have to do any of that...but spent the time making sure we were whole. Google allows up to 5 stars, and obviously I would recommend them for anything. But Google does not take into account the other 95 angelic trumpets that would sound at the mere mention of their name for delivering on something I really struggled to understand. Seeing the difference in our lives is easy now. Above the Standard sets a new standard for companies as far as I'm concerned.