K9 Optima

We found Josh, and he immediately demonstrated a deep understanding of reactivity, in both his experience (literally training thousands of reactive dogs) and knowledge of physiology and the canine brain. Josh provided valuable advice on understanding and managing reactive behavior, along with the importance of closely watching and interpreting body language in context. Josh, Natalie, and the whole family contributed to our lessons. We felt like they really cared about us and our journey, and my dog loves nothing more than to visit. Now, I feel more confident in handling challenging situations with my dog. I highly recommend K9 Optima to anyone dealing with reactivity issues with their dogs-- his expertise, professionalism, and genuine care make him an ideal choice for transforming challenging behaviors into positive outcomes. One more thing: I also highly recommend joining Josh's online community at K9 Optima (available on his website.) It is a valuable resource that gives you access to him on a regular basis. No matter where you are in training, questions come up all the time-- it is reassuring to be able to get answers from him during those weekly online sessions. In addition, the community is very supportive and offers a lot of great advice. With a reactive dog, you need support (IYKYK!), and everyone is available to help you. It also gives me peace of mind that if I need anything, Josh will make the time to help us.

Josh has been amazing with our foster dog, Woody. Woody was anxious about men, children, and generally new people. We wanted to make sure we found a trainer who would be force-free to not make his anxiety worse, which is how we came upon Josh. Somehow by week 3 of being with Josh, Woody was willingly approaching trampolines full of jumping 10-year-olds without growling. Josh also helped connect us with an amazing rescue to help place Woody in a loving forever home. Woody is still working on managing his anxiety, but he has made amazing progress in the 4 weeks working with Josh.

I've had the pleasure of being part of Josh's online training community after following his work on social media for over a year. His help has been a total game-changer for my reactive Pit mix. We've overcome most of her fears & issues to the point I no longer worry that I'll have to behaviorally euthanize (she was really bad at one point & has a bite on record). Our relationship is stronger, and we've been able to undo the damage that was caused by previous compulsion trainers. I couldn't be happier with Josh's balanced methods, his level of caring, & his professionalism.