Downtown Dogs Chicago

I’d give Downtown Dogs 10 stars if I could. My French bulldog Mona is a ball of energy, and I was having trouble training her on my own. I had tried classes with some other trainers, but after one suggested medication to calm her down even though her excitability was pretty normal for her breed, I knew I had to find a new trainer. I had a consultation with Ari and felt really comfortable leaving Mona in their hands. We did the 3 week board and train. I got updates every week on her progress, and at the end Aliya gave me a great lesson so I could implement the tools they gave Mona. My favorite part of the whole process? Aliya and Ari are SO responsive even after you take your pup home. I swear I’ve had a million questions, and they have been so helpful and quick with their responses, and Mona has just gotten better and better since being home. The follow up lessons with the rest of the staff have been very helpful as well. Everyone is so knowledgeable and helpful. Great experience!

What a wonderful experience! There is proof that an old(er) dog can learn new tricks. To be honest, I took my dog Moose 5 in to the bootcamp because I was going to be traveling and thought that maybe he’d learn a thing or two versus just being boarded somewhere. I can’t emphasize how much of an improvement I saw. Ari and Aliya are a fantastic duo. They are the perfect combo of structured and stern enough without being intimidating. My dog Moose had some confidence issues, fear, leash reactivity to other dogs and loads of energy I couldn’t seem to run out. I left with a perfectly trained dog—or darn close—that now has skills that are beyond helpful. The mental training I found tires him out the most! I especially love the long sit/stay on the dog bed and the “here” command for recall. I learned a lot and so did Moose. I would definitely take a new dog here in the future or use them again for a refresh (more for me than for the dog!). I say with confidence that they can handle any dog regardless of size, age or temperament. They also helped some friends of mine with their little tyrant! Aside from the training, the bed, leash and collar you leave with make it an even better value. Good people. Good decision. Go for it. You won’t regret anything other than not doing it sooner!

We could not be happier with our decision to take our dog Shadow to Downtown Dogs.. it truly was life changing for our family. Our dog Shadow was dog and person aggressive to the point where he attacked two of our family dogs badly and we were going through the process of trying to re-home him so he could feel more comfortable being an only dog. He also would bark and try to attack every person that walked by on our walks.. it was extremely stressful both for us and for Shadow. After Shadow completed the board and train program at Downtown Dogs he truly was a new dog! He was so much more confident, less anxious, and now we can go on walks and he never has problems (both with regard to people and dogs). It honestly was shocking to see the difference. We cannot thank Downtown Dogs enough- we recommend it to all of our friends who have dogs that are struggling with dog/person aggression. We would refer anyone here! My partner and I always say how thankful we are that we spent the money to give Shadow a better life! THANK YOU!

Definitely recommend downtown dogs! Our dog Howie is super high energy and they helped us to direct it meaningfully. We didn’t think it could happen but he came out of their board and train program a new dog. But it didn’t end there, Ari, Aliya and Breanna have welcomed us in for multiple private follow-up sessions to really transfer the training to us and make us feel fully confident/troubleshoot issues that continued.