Gary Maria Professional Dog Training

After searching around multiple dog trainers in the Walnut Creek area, we found Gary Maria and are truly satisfied by his training techniques/experience. In a manner of 6 weeks, our 21 week year old Aussiedoodle has learned so much, from attention commands to leash training. In the beginning, our puppy's impulse control was high and all over the place. Throughout our training experience, you will see a continuous evolving progression with Gary Maria's knowledge and training. Highly recommend!!!

We rescued two Formosa Mountain dogs from Taiwan in February 2020. Juliet was rescued from the streets with her nine puppies and Romeo was rescued with his siblings. Needless to say our dogs had a lot to get used to . They were such sweet dogs but they were afraid of everything!! Gary Maria came highly recommended to us from other families who had used his services with their Formosa Mountain dogs so we called him immediately. Gary is extremely knowledgeable , patient and loving towards all the dogs. Romeo and Juliet are now completely different dogs after only six weeks of training. The first time I brought Romeo to meet Gary, Romeo was so skittish and pulling very hard trying to get away, Gary had him eating treats out of his hand in less than five minutes . Romeo relaxed and we were able to have a training session. Our dogs gained so much confidence and are very trusting with us now . We can take them on walks using loose leash walking. We learned so much from Gary and it was such a treat to see our dogs thrive and be so comfortable!! Call Gary for your dog training experience you will be so happy you did!!!

I contacted Gary because my dog Walter was having reactivity on daily walks. I can now take Walter on enjoyable walks without stressing him or myself out. We can now walk past other dogs, people and cars without a fuss. Gary has given us knowledge and tools on how to calm down in stressful situations. He believes in positive training and clearly loves dogs. We just had our fourth session and again it was successful.My dog and I have learned so much from Gary and look forward to our upcoming sessions to learn more. I would give Gary 10 stars if I could and highly recommend him to anyone looking for an excellent dog trainer.

I could not recommend Gary enough. Gary helped me train our sweet baby boy Sebastian. Sebastian came from a bad neglect case when we rescued him and as an australian shepherd his socialization was totally disrupted and he suffered badly from severe separation anxiety. We had tried many different types of training and other creative solutions to no avail. A friend recommended Gary to me, and he worked slowly and carefully with us to improve Sebastian's ability to calm himself down, respond to various commands that made him think, and in 6 sessions across two months I have a completely different dog. Beyond just focusing on the task that I had asked Gary to support me and Sebastian with, Gary also serves as a lifelong resource about dog behavior and really anything related to our furry family members. I knew I could ask him anything or discuss any concerns I had, and he would help me find the solution. Not to mention Sebastian was completely obsessed with Gary through to our final session haha! Thank you so much Gary for all you've done for our family.

I cannot thank Gary enough for helping us understand how to train our highly energetic, easily distracted ridgeback puppy! We have just completed the basic training package and Gary has given us not only tools and tricks on how to keep our wild child under control, he also shared his years of doggy wisdom and seeing things through the eyes of our pup. Can't wait to go back and complete the advanced puppy training package!