Wonder Dogs

My partner and I adopted a young (6-month-old) dog from a rescue, named her Ruth, and embarked on a quest to help her become a stable, emotionally healthy, and resilient dog. This was not easy, in fact, it was the most challenging experience I've ever had, including my graduate education in engineering. The good news is that through positive reinforcement we have successfully reconditioned our dog into a lovely friend and loyal companion. We grew as a team together, and I learned the only thing preventing my dog from mental stability was my behavior and reactions! I do not believe that Wonderdogs trained my dog, instead, they trained me on how to communicate with my dog (the teach a person to fish metaphor applies here). I absolutely could not have accomplished this goal without the Wonderdogs Team. Of particular help was Sharon Gakstatter's classes (STARS and NoseWork). Sharon taught me how to read my dog's behavior and understand what Ruth (the dog) was experiencing. Sharon taught me how to allow my dog think for herself and consciously make a decision to be good. When I first adopted Ruth, my whole family hated her and was concerned that she was going to ruin our life (e.g. cannot leave her alone, cannot stay in a hotel, cannot tame the beast, cannot have a social life, cannot have another pet, cannot feel safe leaving her with someone else, etc). Now, after two years of training, my family loves Ruth and is amazed at her change from a menace to a companion. Ruth knows so many tricks I have to keep a written list of the commands because I cannot remember them all. But MORE IMPORTANTLY: Ruth used to become erratic and uncomfortable around other dogs and never focus on me. Now she makes an attempt to ignore them and does not lose focus on me. And, if I see and obtain confirmation from the handler that the approaching dog is a stable and friendly, I can introduce them and watch a fun game of play, or a quick butt sniff hello and carry on with the walk. Both of our neighbors have dogs which bark at Ruth through the fence, and she doesn't care and focuses on other more interesting smells in the yard. It is amazing to think back to when she would lose control over just seeing a dog, to watching her keep calm around dogs that are losing their mind. In my opinion, the message here is this: if you are willing to change and train your own behavior and thinking you can help your dog to change their behavior and stability; and Wonderdogs is the best place to train and teach you. However, if you go into the experience thinking the dog needs to be trained and you are perfect, failure is highly likely and with reactive dogs it is inevitable. More...

Reviewed on Facebook

What an amazing traning facility. In a bit over 25 years of training, I have never seen anything like Wonder Dogs before. I was truly amazed and jealous of all the people who have the opportunity to train there !! If I have find the opportunity to take another class at Wonder Dogs, I will be back. Julie and staff are amazing, too. Very caring people. More...

Reviewed on Facebook

Wonder Dogs is awesome! Great classes and trainers. ���

Reviewed on Facebook

As a 5 year veteran of a wide variety of Wonder Dog classes, from Puppy to Obedience and on up through the more advanced coursework, I am deeply grateful for the insight and training offered.

Reviewed on Facebook

I couldn't agree less, Heather Paris. I just finished a class taught by Sharon Gakstatter. It was a cross training class that required fairly involved instructions to a variety of students with different skill levels. I felt like Sharon was excellent at explaining how to do each exercise and was great at modifying things when necessary. I felt like we all got plenty of time to work our dogs. I liked it so much I signed up for the next class in the series. More...

Reviewed on Facebook

They have something for everyone and all dogs. I have 3 dogs all with different needs. All the trainers are professional positive reinforcement trainers. My dogs and I love training and playing at this wonderful facility. Thanks to Julie and her dedicated staff! More...

Reviewed on Facebook

About a decade ago we worked with Julie who I believe is the owner. Back then we had a great experience with her and she really helped our troubled dog. Recently I contacted Wonder Dogs and was directed to Sharon Gakstatter. The experience couldn't be more frustrating and dissapointing. After a month of trying to schedule a behavior consult through the less than intuitive website, trying to work with Sharon, who has very poor communication skills, she told me there was no times that would work with my schedule. As I'm available every day before 12:30 that was surprising and disappointing. I put a lot of time, effort, and patience into trying to work with them and it was all for nothing. I recommend putting your effort into working with another company that is customer focused. My month long impression is that Sharon has very, very poor customer services skills and in the end would not have been good with our dog as she is terrible with his people. More...

Reviewed on Facebook

We LOVE Wonder Dogs! All the trainers are fabulous!!!! They take the time with each student and they always make sure all props for class are appropriate for all the dogs in the class. I never feel that my Newfoundland may have to sit something out do to safety. Thanks!!! More...

Reviewed on Facebook

Julie at Wonder Dogs is awesome. I've taught dog training classes myself before, and took my new dog through her classes (it's good for all dogs to be in a class setting at some time). I learned a lot in her classes, I found them to be very effective, creative and fun. More...

Reviewed on Yellow Pages