Top Dog Dog Training

We hired Top Dog for private in home training for our 2 1/2 year old Newphypoo. Our trainer was Jeff Belnap. Our training experience was very positive and effective. Jeff was on time for seeach session, an effective communicator and established a positive working relationship with our dog and family. Today I have a dog that I am comfortable taking where ever I want - hiking, a busy city street, around kids, a restaurant or visiting another home. A key part of training was gradually learning to use an e-collar so we could communicate with our dog at a distance. As a followup to training, Top Dog offers a monthly group training where owners can receive coaching in how to handle difficulties that might arise as well as maintain and further hone their skills working with their dog. These guys are great -I highly recommend!

We welcomed a 6-month-old miniature (30lb) Bernadoodle into the family . As much for safety as well as fun we explored training. A local training center in Las Vegas, 4 weeks away from home was recommended. What we saw at site visit was a warehouse environment housing 20 dogs in individual cages. A woman was leaving her dog who was being dragged by training leash away from tearful owner into the facility. Not for us. After considerably more research we happily discovered Top Dog and Bart Merrill. The 4 week away training is done in his loving home environment with 3 other dogs. There is plenty of play and petting between training sessions. Although an e-collar was used ( and I was very skeptical and averse to negative reinforcement) Patches came back to us happy, not fearful, eager to train more and as goofy as ever. Bart customizes the curriculum to needs and wants of the owner and individualizes the use of the e-collar to the particular dog’s temperament. Patches could be easily distracted but only vibrate mode was necessary most of the time and if electric muscle stimulation was necessary, only a minimal setting of 12/100 was sufficient. When we got him back he fulfilled our expectation: come on command even with distraction, walk perfectly on leash, walk in heel position off leash, down-stay until release , rest on a cot “ bed” until released. Of course the training continues now at home with treats and vibration ( he’s a kid and pushes limits) but loves the training and eagerly responds to praise. Even our grandkids can put him through his paces. He’s becoming our perfect dog. Bottom line, if you entrust your dog to Bart and Top Dog, you will not be disappointed.

We have a wonderful Ovcharka. Very strong willed, very large breed dog who without training could easily be a difficult and even dangerous dog. We are experienced dog owners but felt it necessary to invest in our pet and ensure we had established the right foundation for him in our home. We asked Bart to work with us and train “Tommy”. We had such an amazing result, Tommy did super well and all the basic moves of command were taught. Moreover you can see how much Bart loves his job and pours that affection to Tommy. This was excellent money well spent, I would do it again in a heartbeat. Bart updated us regularly with pictures and audio updates. We have maintained the training and now at 12 months we are confident at taking Tommy anywhere with everyone.