Kathy Santo Dog Training

After posting a review several years ago, I am now updating. Although my positive review has not changed, my experiences with Kathy Santo has grown by leaps and bounds. My 2 bichons could not be any different. I have been training them since they came home with me at 8 weeks. I do not train them in the same way. Kathy does not teach a "cookie cutter" approach to training. She recognizes that every dog (and owner) is different and requires a training method that works for them. My male is very challenging. Kathy recognized early on that his needs were very different than the "average" dog. Training him has not been easy, but I have never felt alone. Kathy has been there for me through countless text messages. Any time of day, she has responded with multiple solutions to our current situations. She truly does go out of her way to help me train the dog I have. * Kathy Santo and her dog training team are the best. Not only are they great at what they do but they really do love the dogs. I have never worried after I have dropped my dogs off for playcare. I have 100% trust in Kathy and her team. Kathy and her staff are amazing. Each and every member of the KSDT team is professional, caring, personable, and knowledgeable. They take the frustration and worry out of having a new puppy and instill confidence and add humor into the training. The best thing is that they are always only text message away.

When we adopted our first dog five years ago, there was one name that consistently came up as the best dog training resource in our area: Kathy Santo. When we first approached Kathy, we not only needed our puppy trained as a service dog—we needed our whole family trained, including our autistic son. We knew that for our puppy to be successfully trained we needed to reinforce at home what she learned during training. Through Kathy and the team’s training updates in the portal we knew exactly what we had to focus on before her next training session. It was great to work as one team at home and at the school to help our puppy progress through her training journey. Kathy took the time to truly understand our family’s needs. She created a thoughtful, personalized training plan designed for success based on our goals. We began with private sessions, and as our dog progressed, Kathy made sure her entire team understood our objectives and could support us every step of the way. Her team added fantastic ideas and approaches of their own as our dog’s skills grew. Thanks to Kathy and her wonderful team, we now have a well-adjusted, happy dog who brings our whole family so much joy. She takes such good care of our son, and he adores her. Our dog goes everywhere with us—including seven trips to Disney World, where she enjoys as many rides as she can and amazes everyone with her incredibly good behavior, training and service/support for our son. But Kathy’s impact didn’t stop with our dog. For the past five years, my son has also worked at Kathy’s training school. When he lost his job during COVID, Kathy gave him an opportunity to work at the school which he absolutely loves. He takes great pride in his work and in being part of her amazing team. When my son recently lost his job companion, Kathy welcomed my wife to join the team as well so we could support him while he worked. We are genuinely proud to be part of such a talented, caring, and compassionate group. Our dog loves going to Kathy’s for training, play care, and grooming. It’s a true treat for her to get so much attention, play with the other dogs, and spend time with the trainers she loves. We are—and always will be—extremely grateful to Kathy and her entire team for everything they’ve done for us.