Animal Actors of Arizona

Have worked with Ann and Aline extensively, most recently with our 2 Dobermans. Did the snake training then the one-on-one training to make the dogs what I called "civilized". They are perfect without a leash, I can take them out in public in large groups and they are model dog citizens. Had them at Bartlett Lake yesterday and they were perfect, not bothering anyone else and had a great time. People comment how well behaved they are. The lessons work but only if you invest the time working at home on each lesson plan. Take your dog to each lesson, then do your homework with the dog and you won't be disappointed. Money very well spent.

Brilliant, masterful, engaging, and inspiring trainers who get your pets behaviours spot-on! By teaching you their training skills as they work with your furry companion, you can have a dog who obeys your every command . . . and likes it. My yellow Lab, Franklin, went from basic to become a certified Search and Rescue K9 serving with multiple law enforcement agencies, to a certified Therapy Dog, and he has always been my service dog allowing me to take Franklin everywhere I go. Their training facility is top notch! I have referred countless people to Ann and Ailine and all are 100% satisfied.

This may seem like an overstatement to the casual reader, but working with Ann and Alene at Animal Actors of AZ was life changing for us and our dog, and one of the greatest experiences of our lives. We adopted a beautiful but insecure shepherd-mix dog who was afraid of everything and everyone. We tried another popular training organization in Cave Creek and it was a disaster. Their method of training dogs for recalls (“come”) involved letting the dog run out on a long lead, then giving the command and abruptly yanking the lead to snap the dog’s neck. The methods were born out of training dogs for the military, and lacked any form of compassion. Needless to say, this was not the right approach for a dog who was already terrified of everything and everyone. It wasn’t humane. Quite by accident, while seeking an organization to provide snake avoidance training for our young dog (an essential skill if you live in the deserts of AZ), we heard about the wonderful results and compassionate approach of Ann Austin and AA of AZ, so we took our dog there solely for this purpose. What we saw blew our minds! Ann and Alene are truly dog whisperers. Their level of understanding of dog behavior, their connection with the dogs, their patience to understand the nature of every dog breed and every dog’s unique personality and background was unlike anything we had ever witnessed. They LOVE dogs! They show them love every step of the way. They have infinite patience. They emphasize training you how to train your dog so that with each step, the bond of love and trust between you and you dog grows and grows. After completing the snake avoidance program over two Saturday sessions, we made the best decision ever to commit to Ann and Alene’s guidance in training our dog. It was life changing for all of us! Our dog became confident and happy. I could take her ANYWHERE, and if it was legal, off-leash, and she would stay perfectly on command. At one point I walked her down a pathway and another person’s dog was aggressively snarling and trying to attack her while it’s owner had its lead wrapped tightly around her fist and the dog was up on its hind legs, pulling almost more than its owner could control. Our dog was on a heel command next to my leg. We walked past the attacking dog and my dog never missed a step. She had confidence in me as her protector. She never flinched. It was the moment that I realized that we transformed not only our dog’s confidence and happiness, but it changed our confidence and happiness with our dog in any situation. Ann told me at the beginning of our training that if we would commit to the training we would develop a bond with our dog that would be greater than any bond we have ever had with any animal. No truer words were ever spoken. Our dog was about eight months old when we began training with Ann. She is now 7-years old. We can now point to hundreds, if not thousands, of experiences where our dog has behaved in such a way as to make us so very proud to be part of her pack.😊 She has been lured away by coyotes, and a simple recall command, without having to raise my voice, brought her back immediately. We walk on the busiest streets, off-leash, and she heels perfectly and stops automatically at the intersection until I decide it is safe for us to cross together. I could go on and on. We now live in Utah. If we ever have another dog, I will travel to AZ to work with Ann and Alene to train our dog. There just isn’t anyone better.