Dan Perata Training

Dan was the third trainer we went to for our pitbull. We adopted him in 2020, and from the beginning he was extremely reactive toward both dogs and people. My wife couldn’t walk him at all because of his strength and the intensity of his reactions. I was the only one handling walks, and that was becoming a huge source of stress for me. We had already worked with two other trainers and spent thousands of dollars, only to be told that “this is just how he is” and that we’d always be managing it. Despite the time and money, things kept getting worse. We got to the point where he had to wear a muzzle just to leave the house. Working with Dan was different from the start. When we began the board and train, he gave us a document outlining the whole training process — what to expect each week, what we’d be working on, and how progress might look. After the initial board and train, he came to our home regularly, and even brought his own dogs to help with. He was honest about the work it would take, but also patient, supportive, and consistent throughout. I can still remember the first time we walked past another dog without an incident, about 3 weeks in. That was the first time I felt like this might actually work. Now we can walk around our neighborhood off leash and go to parks and play fetch and let him all the normal dog things without worrying about an incident. It’s hard to overstate how different our lives feel now. Our dog is visibly more relaxed inside and outside the house. Our neighbors even asked who our trainer was since they are also dog owners and could see the obvious transformation. We are really grateful we found Dan. I recommend him to anyone who cares about their dog.

Dan Perata is an investment and absolutely worth it. As first-time dog owners in San Francisco with an anxious, flight-prone whippet, we had no idea what we were doing. Dan gave us the foundation we needed. We'll never be perfect dog trainers, and our pup will always be sensitive and have selective obedience, but thanks to Dan, she’s not as fearful or reactive as she could be. During her board and train program, she was very excited to see the trainers each week. However, we left the program a bit early because she was chewing her crate bars. Now we know her to be the comfort loving pup she is, we think she didn't like the noise, needed soft bedding, and might have been cold.We also tried boarding her there for a week, and she returned home with giardia. Hard to say where she could have picked that up, but we now board her in private homes, which suits her better. The training gave us a solid starting point. We're glad we started our pup with Dan Perata's training and recommend him to other dog owners.

Dan was my last resort. He’s not going to sugar coat it, but if you can remove your feelings and trust that he’s just trying to help you and your dog - you’ll find success. I have a 4 year old pitbull - rescued about two years ago and over the course of those two years, she has grown more and more reactive to dogs and people, and also outlets her energy on cars, skateboards - anything that moves really. It’s fear based aggression, high prey drive, and what Dan helped me realize - emotional and leadership imbalance that caused an attachment to me that made the entire problem much worse. A combination that has slowly deteriorated my mental health. I was introduced to Dan and Natasha by a mutual friend back in November of 2024, after in person lessons and phone consults with about 8 different trainers and $8k in costs. Prong collar, e-collar, treats, clicker, slip lead, long lead - you name it, I tried it. Nothing worked. So I decided to drive from Reno to San Francisco and give it one final shot - before putting down a dog I became extremely attached to as well. Dan’s methods aren’t rocket science - it’s actually quite simple. Just listen to him. He’s going to be right by your side the entire time if you show up for yourself and for your dog. Cry once and then cut that shit out. I repeat, he’s not going to sugar coat it, but he will be the secret sauce if you’ve found yourself at your wits end with a very difficult dog. And if you don’t have a difficult dog yet - hire Dan so you don’t end up creating one. It’s not the dogs - it’s us. I’m about three months into this new chapter and I’m able to walk Cici around the neighborhood again (a location we avoided for the past year due to her temper tantrums and my embarrassment and frustration). We’ve walked past dogs and people with little to NO reactions. Our journey isn’t over yet and there’s still work to do. It’s going to take time to undo two years of the wrong training, but I finally have the right tools and it’s only up from here. A massive thank you to Dan, Natasha, JV, Josh, Sydney and Bryn. -Alex & Cici

Dan Perata and his team are an amazing group of people. Their jobs are not easy, and they really are so good at what they do. We signed up for Dan Perata Training back in 2018 after noticing reactive behavior in our [then 2 year old] Australian Shepherd. It was important for us to go with trainers who didn’t use punishment (shock or prong collars) or treat-based training, which this facility does not use. Training is obviously a forever thing and not just a one and done event. I learned how to interact with our dog in a way that makes sense to her and we’ve now had years where I have peace of mind when we leave the house. Equipped with DPT knowledge, we were able to cultivate such a strong relationship with our dog by noticing her signs of reactivity (before the storm) and working with her on better behavior. Training with DPT was invaluable and a huge quality-of-life changer. I now have the tools and confidence to handle myself around *other* people’s reactive dogs. Dan is always very helpful in identifying where we can do better as leaders and we’ve had check-ins when we feel like there has been regression. I can’t recommend working with him enough.