DOGGY BOOT CAMP-Santa Barbara

We have had about 6 shepherds and malinois who we trained but we did not know how to handle Ella. She had been at the shelter for 18 months and she was super sweet but incredibly reactive barking and growling and lunging at people that came into our yard and home.. Which is extra scary with a dog that is so big and so fast. Joe helped us understand what was driving her behavior and helped us change it This wasn’t theoretical or at his location with Ella. This was with us in real situations so that she learned and we learned Joe was also available and proactive in helping us between sessions and really cared about the outcome. We greatly appreciate his help in making Ella the great dog she can be and in making our house a much calmer place for us, the mailman, the fedex guy etc 😊

I was having trouble. In certain situations, my sweet, incredibly loving, adopted, 1.5 year-old Dalmatian puppy, Freckles, would turn into a complete monster. I could not control her when I took her for a walk. I was embarrassed and terrified. She is very strong and could, and did, trip me, and pull me to the ground. She started to attack our small pug in our house. It was horrible. She had loved walks and meeting other dogs. Soon things changed: she would lunge ferociously at other dogs on our walks, snapping and snarling. She would even “see red” and start attacking our other dogs that we were walking her with, like our tiny Maltese, whom she had never had a problem with. Even on the days I felt strong enough to control her, my shoulders hurt, my hands hurt, heck—my ankles hurt standing my ground with her. My heart hurt, with the anxiety of possibly seeing another dog on our walk. I would try to time our walks so other dogs weren’t around. The less I took her out, the more destructive she was at home, digging holes, and eating rocks! In the house, she started to randomly attack our pug. I couldn’t figure it out. She would cuddle up with her and then later in the day it would look like she was trying to kill her. My family told me I needed to “get rid of her.” Heartbroken, I knew if I didn’t do something, she was going to kill one of our other dogs or get into a fight with a dog while we were out. I was also convinced that if I did give her to a shelter, that she would never be adoptable, and that she would get worse or even euthanized. I didn’t want to give up on her; I needed to save her. I tried all the tricks for training that other trainers had taught me. I had spent thousands of dollars listening to the experts; she did tricks, but her aggression got worse. I was at my very last hope. Then I found Doggy Boot Camp. I heard about Joe. I read the reviews. I cried. I couldn’t believe it. Review after review the stories I read were EXACTLY what I was going through. Dogs owners could not control, but after meeting Joe, their dogs are FIXED! On leash! Off leash! Dogs that just “hang out” at coffee shops…. What?? How is this possible?? I immediately reached out to Joe. He explained that my situation was NOT permanent. However, I needed to listen to EXACTLY what he said to do, or it would NOT work. Oh man, he was tough! Even intimidating! I was not sure I could do it. But I knew it was my dog’s last hope. I was desperate and determined. I promised to trust him completely. If I did not, it could mean one of my dogs or a couple of them would end up dead. I could not live with that. I trusted in Joe’s method. Joe saved my dogs. I worked with Joe and his daily training for about 14 days. He checked in with me daily. He was incredibly attentive to every situation I encountered with my dogs and explained the dog psychologically behind the behaviors I saw. Even the smallest things I thought were not a big deal, he would tell me how they were affecting my dog/dogs and their mental state. I saw a HUGE improvement after only a couple of days, before even meeting with Joe in person! Crazy! After meeting with Joe for one FULL day, I had a different dog. I was stunned. He was very tough and no-nonsense with her. And me! But I had promised to completely trust the process and, oh my gosh, I am so thankful I did!! Now I feel like a good dog owner. A happy one. A responsible one. Freckles is also happy. She is good in the house. Good outside. She LOVES being with other dogs. She walks on a leash. She travels all over with me, camping and hiking. I don’t think about being fearful on walks anymore. I have with her at restaurants and coffee shops. It is fun to take her out now. My family loves her. My kids love her. Joe saved her. I can’t thank you enough, Joe. Freckles thanks you, too. Joe KNOWS dogs. Just TRUST him. If you want a GOOD relationship with your dog. A happy, healthy relationship, TRUST Joe. Your relationship with your dog is one that is worth the effort. I promise you.

We have a 2.5 year old dog that was highly reactive on the leash, would often bark at dogs or strangers that would approach him, and had become highly protective of our child. He had gone through different training programs with some slight improvements that would fade away a few weeks later, and after my wife got to a point where she no longer felt she was capable of walking our dog and controlling his aggressive nature on a leash, we decided to explore potential options and stumbled upon Joe. After an hour call with Joe it was clear he is incredibly committed to achieving your desired outcomes, and has an approach that he firmly believes in. I was not as confident as he was that we would see the outcomes, and on the timeline he was sharing without meeting our dog yet. Turns out he was 100% correct, and in a matter of a few days he had our 100 lbs dog walking on a leash flawlessly, engaging all dogs around him in a pleasant manner, and playing with other dogs when off leash. A few weeks post training our dog is a whole new individual for the better, and our trust and confidence in his ability to engage all dogs and humans is at an all-time high. The change in quality of life that Joe has brought not only to our dog, but to our whole family is tremendous. His program is not for the faint of heart or passive dog owner. He will demand changes in the way you interact with your dog, and he will demand a level of commitment from you that requires 20+ hrs of your time in a week long period, but the results are unmatched and well worth it! Could not say enough great things about the impact Joe's program has had for us.

We Didn't Think It Could Be Done! Before I get into some of the details, here's the one sentence headline: Our training with Joe has been an unqualified success and he has done for us exactly what he said he would do. If we knew then what we know now, we would have done this ages ago. Ok, so that was two sentences, sorry. How did we get here? Our dog Enzo, five and a half at the time he started with Joe, had been under-socialized. The result was that he was reactive with other dogs - nervous about life and the world (can relate!) and had figured out that he could cause other dogs and people to leave him alone if he barked and lunged and generally acted scary. We had a neighborhood reputation of having the sort of dog where you cross the street when you see 'em. Not. Great. Enzo was amazing with us at home but since he unpredictable with others, it bred a pattern of insularity where we didn't invite people over, didn't take him to meet other dogs and the like. Enzo was alone on our little island - he was getting out to walk but not really experiencing the world the way a dog should be able to. Enzo was overly sheltered because we were nervous. If this sounds like your situation, keep reading because it doesn't have to be this way! We had done training before with, at best, so-so results. Even though it was not our first time, I don't think we realized it could be done so differently. I will say, when we first talked to Joe, our initial impression was: 'whoa, this guy is sort of hardcore'. There were rules that he told us we needed to impose if we wanted to be successful that we hadn't even thought of as problems. Nothing unreasonable but definitely changes in our regular routine and a more disciplined approach. That was new - previous trainers didn't have much to say about the big picture or changing the home life, though in retrospect, this part was critical. We met for our first day - a multi-hour session to get everything started. We didn't know what to expect but we were willing to give it a go and let him direct us. Our expectation was that it would take at least weeks to see results. We were wayyyyyy wrong. Even after that first session, we made major progress. Joe's philosophy is to help dogs be dogs and it turns out that when you swim with the tide instead of against it, things go a lot more smoothly. Enzo is a changed dog. Our lives are better and most importantly his life is much better. He's out running and playing with other dogs daily, something that we thought was impossible just weeks ago. Joe delivers and we give him a hearty recommendation.