Scamps To Champs Dog Training

My husband and I purchased a set of sessions to help us help our 9-year-old Havanese, Cosmo, with his anxiety. Derek came to our home and worked directly with us in our house and on walks to teach us ways to help Cosmo feel more secure (amidst loud street noises, when encountering bigger dogs, traveling in the car, etc.). He taught us a number of techniques using positive reinforcement that have been helping Cosmo feel more comfortable leaving the house. Essentially Derek uses a train the humans approach which was spot on for us. While we thought we were doing all the right things for our beloved dog, we were actually contributing to his anxiety and Derek helped us understand why. We really value all that Derek taught us and the time/care that went into his sessions. He's a natural with both people and dogs and was an absolute pleasure to work with. We can't recommend him highly enough!

We did the Basic Manners package with Derek and it was super helpful and effective. Derek is patient and has a wonderful way with dogs. Our kids participated as well and he worked well with all of us!

Derek's 5-session "Puppy Basic Manners" course was just what we needed as new dog owners. He introduced us to positive training methods, which were different than the dominance-based methods we grew up with. Besides learning both basic commands and the foundation of more complex learning for our pup, Derek also emphasized health and safety guidelines for dog care. He's also given us a ton of videos, articles, and detailed write-ups of what he's taught us that will be useful as we continue to learn along with our dog. Although our puppy had a pretty basic (easy!) personality, it was clear that Derek is very experienced with fearful dogs, or dogs with tough early lives and/or more challenging issues. Derek has a lovely gentle personality, a great depth of knowledge about dogs, and the BEST treats. I would highly recommend this course to anyone with a new-to-them dog in their family.