Mid-Atlantic Dog Training

We found Tom after doing extensive research on finding the right training for our 8 month old puppy Ramsay. Our main concern was Ramsay's resource guarding and biting and we knew we had to curb these behaviors as soon as possible. We are so grateful that we went with Tom and couldn't be happier with all of Ramsay's progress. Tom teaches you how to be a leader for your dog and gives you the tools to continue to work on their needs even once his program is completed. We also enjoyed that Tom comes to your home for the trainings- this was very convenient! We feel much more confident in our ability to lead Ramsay and he is a much calmer, happier boy now! Thanks Tom!!

We recently completed training with Tom and our now 7 month old Australian Shepherd, Cesare. We could not be happier with the whole experience! From ease in scheduling to the paper handouts and informative articles Tom shared, the whole process went smoothly. We learned so much about what it means to be responsible, good, and happy dog parents. Once we learned that it is our role to provide structure for our pup, not just play, the training was actually very intuitive. Dogs want to do tasks and please their people, and we're happier when they behave. Cesare's training was probably on the easier side since we got him at 10 weeks and started training at 4 months, but I am confident that we will be able to catch and curb and bad behaviors that may develop because of what we learned. Through the tools that Tom gave us, I know what being a good dog owner looks like now instead of guessing at it. We wanted to give this little guy a strong foundation for learning as he grows, and with Tom's help we did exactly that. Thanks Tom! See you soon on a pack walk.

A number of weeks ago, my wife and I completed a 5-lesson training session with Tom Coaker at Mid-Atlantic Dog Training, and we could not be happier with the results. Tom's slogan is "Where dogs learn to make you proud," and I cannot think of one more fitting for his business. A little background: My wife and I have always owned dogs, and we currently have a German Shepherd named Briscoe (8) and a Plott Hound mix named McCoy (3), both of whom we adopted from the MDSPCA. Both dogs have shown high levels of anxiety, and McCoy, the hound, was highly dog aggressive and reactionary. He has bitten both my wife and me when redirecting his aggression, and he eventually bit my father-in-law, which was the event that prompted us to call Tom. From the very beginning, we were both very impressed with the professional nature of Mid-Atlantic Dog Training and with the breadth of knowledge Tom displays as a dog-trainer. It is clear that he is truly passionate about the work, and he remains abreast of the newest developments in the field. He is flexible in working with his customers' schedules, and was responsive and encouraging when we would reach out with questions. Additionally, Tom offers many of the items needed for the successful completion of the training course, and is willing to charge less than if one were to purchase these same materials from a traditional pet store or Amazon. If you are considering hiring someone to help train your dog (or dogs!), we cannot recommend Tom at Mid-Atlantic Dog Training enough! Like many long-time pet owners, my wife and I thought that we understood what needed to be done to help calm our anxious and potentially dangerous dogs. However, nothing that we did was effective, and Tom came in and immediately helped us change our own perceptions about what it means to be a good dog owner. I am not joking when I write that we both noticed a significant improvement after just the first lesson, and by the end of the course, we feel like we have two different, much happier and more secure pups! I will say that the course does require a lot of work on the part of the owner(s), and it is important that you keep up with "the homework." However, Tom's guidance and clear advice make the lessons and the practice easy, and I am sure that anyone who works with Tom will have similar positive results. Even though our official course is over, Tom has made it clear that he will remain available to help if we should ever have a question or an issue, and he has even invited us and our dogs to join him and other current and former customers on pack walks where the dogs are allowed to socialize in a productive and meaningful setting. We are very happy that we called Tom at Mid-Atlantic Dog Training, and even happier that he was able to help our dogs become ones that we can be proud of!

I really can't even put into words how grateful we are for Tom's training! We had taken our mixed breed dog , Tammy, to multiple trainers that gave her a good baseline of the commands. But we were still having issues with multiple things: not listening around distractions, pulling on the leash, being too focused and reactive on other dogs while walking, and most concerning of all, we could not have anyone into our house because Tammy would go wild barking and growling and the problem was only getting worse and we did not know how to control it. We did not want something bad to happen. From the very first meeting with Tom, before we even signed up to work with him, he explained that when Tammy was reacting the way she did inside our house...me trying to calm her down was not what Tammy needed at all! She only heard "good girl" because of the tone of my voice! Such a valuable lesson. She is a dog who needs structure and discipline combined with love and affection. Tom has a great system that he uses for training and him coming to your house really helps...we now feel we have the tools to continue training Tammy and providing the structure and balance she needs to live a happy, comfortable life. He was a great coach to me and my husband as well --because so much of dog training is actually human training and developing the right habits for us so that we can help her develop the right habits for her too! We have seen a significant change in the way our dog listens to us and we have even had people over and the situation is 100 times more manageable than it used to be...she looks to us now instead of feeling like she has to take charge of every "dangerous" situation. She even warms up to the people we have over more quickly and that was just not possible before this training. I am so glad we found Tom and did not give up on training Tammy. I know many people feel that their dogs are too difficult or unmanageable but so many of these problems can be fixed with simple mindset changes and a system like the one Tom uses. He is very responsive over email and addressed our concerns individually , patiently, and with no judgement. We had to re-learn how to think about Tammy's problems and we can now say we are very proud of our dog!! We would recommend Tom's training to anyone and everyone that is willing to put in the time and effort it takes to succeed with your dog.