FirstBarkI wholeheartedly recommend Wholistic Hounds Academy for the methods and instructor, Nina Tingley. She was organized, made the class fun and, most importantly, approachable and kind. I look forward to signing my puppy up for more classes at Wholistic Hounds Academy.
Wholistic Hound Academy
Alexandria, Virginia
About Wholistic Hound Academy
Wholistic Hound Academy is Alexandria, Virginia’s premier award-winning canine training and learning center for people and their dogs. We were voted the Best of NOVA Dog Trainers from the Northern Virginia Magazine and voted Alexandria’s best dog trainers in the Zebra Newspaper Reader’s Choice Award for the past 6 years. At our state-of-the-art dog training facility, we offer a wide variety of services for people and their dogs, including: * Pre-pet planning * Pet selection * Puppy foundation training and socialization * Basic manners and life skills * Advanced training * Dog sports (agility, nose games, rally, parkour, and tricks) * Behavior modification * Family Paws Parent Educators We help people and dogs have a better life together.
Training & services
Training goals
- Behavior consultation
- Crate training
- Leash training
- Obedience training
- Puppy training
- Socialization
Behavior support
- Fear and confidence
- Reactivity training
How training happens
- Board and train
- Day training
- Group classes
- Private training
Dog age
- Adult dogs
- Puppies
Training level
- Advanced training
- Beginner training
Dog sports
- Agility
- Scent work
- Trick training
Your dog’s background
- Rescue dogs
Training approach
- Positive reinforcement
Additional services
- Boarding
Other listed services
View 32 additional details
- Dog training
Program details
Private lessons, group classes and workshops in manners training, behavior modification, puppy socialization, agility and dog sports, canine conditioning and more.
- Animal Rescues
- Apprentice Program
- Basic Manner Training
- Behavior Analysis
- Behavior Course
- Canine Fitness
- Classes & Workshops
- Continuing Education
- Day School
- Dog Behaviors
- Dog Classes Specialty
- Dog Show
- Dog Sports
- Dog Trainer Certification
- Dog Training Programs
- Dog's Learning
- Early Training
- Educational Seminars
- Explosives Detection
- Family Dog
- Family Paws Parent Educators - Babies, kids, and dogs
- Fecal Test
- Jump Start
- Obstacle Course
- Online Classes
- Pet Selection
- Prep Classes For Dog
- Specialty Classes
- Training Exercises
- Training Skills
- Training Your Dog
Confirm current programs and availability directly.
Customer reviews
Google listing4.5
40 Google reviews
Mentioned in reviews
- Basic obedience 4
- Building dog confidence 3
- Calming skills 3
- Clean facility 3
- Leash walking 3
- Puppy social 3
All 10 topics
- Reactivity issues 3
- Certified instructors 2
- Personal training 2
- Rescue dog adoption 2
Google review topics, not confirmed services.
Wholistic Hound and its instructors are fantastic! We attended the 6-week Good Dog 101 class with Nina and learned fundamental exercises that can be applied and help build our pup’s good behavior. The lessons are practical and in addition to the onsite lessons, we received “homework” each week with resource videos. Highly recommend!
I adopted what I thought was a German Shepherd, but turned out to be a German Shepherd/Belgian Malinois mix right before Christmas 2024. I knew I was getting a young dog with high exercise and mental stimulation needs, and that certainly turned out to be very true. I knew I wou…Read full reviewClose full review
I adopted what I thought was a German Shepherd, but turned out to be a German Shepherd/Belgian Malinois mix right before Christmas 2024. I knew I was getting a young dog with high exercise and mental stimulation needs, and that certainly turned out to be very true. I knew I would be doing some training, and would need to do more than with my last dog, and both my vet and my neighbors recommended Wholistic Hound. I've been bringing my dog here since January of this year and it has been so helpful, and added so much joy to our lives! Minka was from a rural area, a dumped dog who had never seen as many people (and other dogs!) as there are here in tightly packed Alexandria, VA. I started with the beginner classes, and also the "Calm, Cool, and Connected" class which helped me to get her to chill out around other people and dogs. These early classes were such a gift in making it so I could take Minka out in the neighborhood for all the exercise she needs without her pulling, reacting to every person, dog, and stimuli! I took a little time off to work with her and "shore up" the skills we learned in the first three classes (and figure out a potential medical issue)... and then went back for doggy parkour, and now the Canine Good Citizen test. Now that we are starting to get past the beginner classes and into things like Parkour, it is really getting to be fun. She so looks forward to going to Wholistic Hound; she gets so excited in the parking lot, and after yesterday's class, as I tried to walk her back to the truck to go home... she laid down in the grass and didn't want to leave! This school has been such a blessing to my dog and I, and when we are out walking in the neighborhood parks, people notice her behavior (and all the improvement in her behavior since they first saw her with me last December) and stop to tell me how well behaved she is!
I signed up for a puppy social on 6/21 and received a confirmation email. On the day of the social, I drove 1 hour one way from Maryland in 90 degree weather to come to the class/social. I was 4 minutes late because of heavy traffic. When I arrived, all the doors were completely …Read full reviewClose full review
I signed up for a puppy social on 6/21 and received a confirmation email. On the day of the social, I drove 1 hour one way from Maryland in 90 degree weather to come to the class/social. I was 4 minutes late because of heavy traffic. When I arrived, all the doors were completely locked. I knocked, waited, knocked, waited, called multiple times, waited the entire duration of the class to see if they would come out for a bathroom break, nothing. It is not fair to clients to lock them out and have to way to contact or get in. People pay and take time out of their day to come. My poor puppy (and me) sat in the car for 2 hours plus 45 min trying to get in, for nothing.
I enrolled my puppy in their puppy kindergarten. At the advice of our vet, I selected this course since their website said that they required proof of age-appropriate vaccinations and a fecal test. Our puppy wasn’t fully vaccinated yet but if we waited we would miss the training …Read full reviewClose full review
I enrolled my puppy in their puppy kindergarten. At the advice of our vet, I selected this course since their website said that they required proof of age-appropriate vaccinations and a fecal test. Our puppy wasn’t fully vaccinated yet but if we waited we would miss the training and socialization window. Unfortunately, no one ever asked for vaccination records or followed up to verify (we had our records in our class bag for all the classes just in case it was a momentary oversight). So there really was no assurance that the puppies in this class (or dogs in any previous classes) were vaccinated or healthy. As an anxious puppy mom (we had a neighbor puppy die of parvo recently) this made the course much less enjoyable for us. We chose to stay and complete the course since it was too late for a refund, and I would say it was fine. Nice instructors. Some good tips and emails after each course with resources. But there wasn’t much puppy-specific follow up tips or nuanced advice for difficult skills that aren’t working. I felt like besides the socialization (which you can do for much less money) we could have gotten the same thing from watching a YouTube video. Essentially here is the game. Now practice. Would we do a puppy kindergarten again? Maybe? Would I recommend this company? Probably not, at least not for puppy kindergarten.
Original customer experiences from the collected Google data. Ratings without comments follow written reviews.