Unique Dog Training

Dog Training - Smitty was solicited by me to assist in the training of my dog (Maxx). A Rottweiler/Lab mix who is a delightful and wonderful dog with a fantastic temperament. Smitty has introduced me to solid training methods and tools that has created a much more positive and effective way to navigate family life with our pet. Thank you Smitty for the knowledge, patience and time given to me and my wife to help Maxx have a great and wonderful coexistence with us. More...

Smitty has changed our lives with how we interact our lab/Pitbull mix Gus. His training and regimen is just what our dog needed as far as discipline goes and we will never look back! I can't thank you enough Smitty and I highly recommend your training! More...

Our large breed terrier airdale started growling at our newborn. It was more than likely a jealousy issue and not an agression one, but he was confused and he did not understand his place in our family. Smitty showed up and helped us understand how to train him and get him to actually listen to us. Smitty picked up right away on the dynamic in our family and how my husband and I were struggling trying to gain control over him against a family member who did NOT want to control him. He basically ruled the roost, and bonded only with my mother in law who lets him do whatever he wants, when he wanted and it became the perfect storm of our dog not feeling he had to listen to us, ever. Smitty came in and cleaned house and taught him to listen to me (the wife/mom) or there would be consequences using the E collar. He is acting better overall and respects me, he looks to me for directions now. I am.super grateful to Smitty and the training he has helped us achieve with Aden! More...

I recently adopted a 2.5 yr old shepherd/husky mix from the humane society. It was clear from the start he had no manners. He would jump on people, not follow commands, pull me when walking and was just uncontrollable. I took him to his first vet visit at PetSmart and what a nightmare! He was pulling me, trying to get away and get to other people, barking and just a terror. I was afraid to take him out in public anymore.
I looked online for training schools and did not find one I was comfortable with. Then one day, while at Petsmart picking up dog food, I saw a lady with a perfectly mannered GS. I asked her "How do you get your dog to behave so well?" She gave me Smitty's card and said "you should call him". And I did.
Smitty came to the house, and my dog displayed ALL of his non-manners. The first thing we worked on day one was his loose leash walking. The lesson took about 2 hours and by the time Smitty left, I was able to walk my dog in the neighborhood FOR THE FIRST TIME.
Smitty worked with us (me and my dog) for about 8 weeks. We worked on several commands (sit, stay, crate, leave it, up, and down) and last weekend, I was actually able to face my fear and walk my dog into PetSmart...no pulling or trying to get away from me, and following commands.
I highly recommend Smitty's Dog Training. His prices are very reasonable and his teaching method is effective for both owner and dog. You will not be disappointed. More...

Smitty did an excellent job! We were told that our dog was untrainable and that we should consider rehoming her or putting her down due to her aggressiveness towards our other dog. Within 1 training session I was able to be more in control of our dog, Lilah more than I ever had before. After all of our training sessions, Lilah was listening better than she ever had and was I was able to finally trust her on a daily basis. I highly recommend Smitty for any and all dog training!! More...

He taught our dog how to stay, sit and walk on a leash.

My experience with Smitty exceeded all expectations.

A good friend recommended his program for our Cane Corso. Nova is a big girl, and I wanted to ensure my wife and I had full control of her at all times.

We had a great opportunity to learn how to communicate with her effectively, getting her to follow commands effectively, and working on loose leash walking and eventually transitioning to off-leash control.

You never want to be the person who has no control over their dog if it gets out of the house by accident or during an emergency.

This training has given us extreme confidence in our ability to communicate with Nova and make her a valuable part of our family. More...

The training was great. My German Shepherd improved a whole lot. we worked on all the commands and implemented the right techniques. Very happy with the training with my German Shepherd. It’s been a great change. More...

In December of 2023 we got Shellby our Doberman pincher. After weeks of trying to train Shellby the basics, with no success, we reached out to Smitty in January desperate need of help. After extensive and in depth training including prong collar training and e collar training Shellby is now trained to walk off leash, meal manners and so much more. Smitty will forever be our go to trainer and we highly encourage you to pick Dog training by Smitty! More...

Smitty was extremely thorough in his training approach. We had a total of 6 sessions for our Goldendoodle August. And, if you know anything about this breed, they are highly intelligent and extremely energetic. We decided to work with Smitty to learn how to best support August with commands that will allow him to thrive off leash, around strangers, with our older dog and our young daughter. My husband and are amazed at how much calmer August is. Not only did Smitty equip us with the commands, but he incorporated the use of a prong collar and eventually an e-collar that we used to reinforce training and commands.
As a dog parent it means a lot to us that our dog understands what we expect of him, so I want to be very clear that our dog was not abused or broken with any of the tools used to modify his behavior. The prong collar was only used during the first couple of weeks to instill commands, and August responded well from the very first session. Once August knew his commands, he would break them at times, so the last two sessions, Smitty educated us and demonstrated the use of the e-collar to reinforce the commands. The e-collar was and remains on a very low level (5-6), which is enough to get August’s attention when and if he’s doing things we do not want him to such as not obeying commands, letting himself out of his cage or stealing food. These are examples of behaviors that we had issues with prior to training, and I’m ecstatic to say that these are no longer problems for us. And we barely have to use any reinforcement with the collar. There’s so much more I can say, but I’ll end with this: Smitty, THANK YOU!!!! More...

I would like to take the time to thank Smitty for his hard work and determination on training my 3 year old German shepherd Blu. Through the past several weeks I have seen a significant improvement with Blu’s behavior and obedience. Prior to Smitty training Blu, me and my wife would have issues walking him due to him wanting to pull and take lead. Based off of Smitty’s observation and knowledge we incorporated a pronged collar which has significantly improved Blu’s urge to pull especially while walking our 4 month old. I understand some people have their opinions on these training methods but if they are not implemented correctly it will shatter the foundation of training. We barely use the prong collar just based off the fact that Blu has made major improvement while walking. Smitty introduced this as a tool to prevent Blu from “leading” and now he is walking side by side or behind. Blu is an inside dog and we incorporated a “place” specifically for Blu to basically decompress and chill out. Throughout the duration of Blu’s training he was having issues wanting to listen or do things when he wanted but these issues were corrected through vigorous repetition. Finally in Blu’s last phase of training, we implemented E-collar training. Again, this was a tool used to correct unwanted behavior for obedience not as a device used for punishment. When used correctly and with the proper training Blu has learned to control his impulses with little to no correction with the e-collar (chasing cats, barking exc.). This experience was well worth the time and effort especially being able to work side by side with Smitty and understanding his methods and knowledge while training. I would highly recommend him and can’t wait for the next course of training with our German Shephard Puppy!! More...

Smitty has help me understand how a train dog will enhance your relationship. His obedience is overwhelming with the entire family and the whole family wasn't involved in his training. Smitty was there to answer any questions we had and helped my wife to be strong in her commands not she has confidence. Lastly Smitty notices everything with the owner and your pet. I would refer him to friends and Family. More...

It was great working with Smitty for behavior modifications on my yorkie poo, Ozzy. He explained things about how dogs act and behave that made sense to me and affect how I treat his behaviors. He is cost effective and works with you to the best of his ability to get your dog where he needs it be. 100% recommend and Ozzy will never forget it! More...

Smitty met our expectations working with our dog: He was very direct and sometimes even blunt. This is what we were looking for in order to apply behavioral correction to our dog that has impulse control issues. We will be using more of Smitty’s services and highly recommend him. More...

Best decision made was selecting Smitty for training Brutus. Sending Brutus to a camp was not what I wanted. I wanted training at our home where Brutus spends 24/7. Having a Teacher like Smitty has given me as a doggy parent the tools and knowledge for success and lowered my anxiety raising a 80 lb. ( still growing) Lap Dog. We are walking in the neighborhood now. Brutus is a true Smitty Success Story. But you as a parent are hands on, do your homework, work with commands, the teaching needs to continue to make it worthwhile. Smitty is definitely 100% recommended by Brutus and I. Thank you again Smitty!! You Rock!! More...

Smitty was so great to work with! He’s very knowledgeable, loves dogs and is patient in training. Before he helped with Ranger, I wasn’t able to walk him. He would pull constantly, was scared to be outside and would sit down about 3 doors away from the house. I would cry because he wouldn’t walk with me properly. Smitty was such a God-send! He gave us two collars - a prong collar and an e-collar. He showed us how to use them, showed me commands for Ranger, and taught me how to walk him. It is such a pleasure to walk him now. He obeys by command and doesn’t run off. Thank you so very much Smitty! I certainly recommend Smitty Dog Training. More...

Very professional - worked well with our dog. We highly recommend him.

Smitty is professional and knows exactly what he is talking about. I am glad we went with him who provides one on one training instead of a group setting. My dog was able to focus and learn all the commands quickly. Dog Training by Smitty is 11/10 and you won’t regret it. More...

Training by Smitty was exceptional. He is very knowledgeable and knows how to tailor the training to fit the dog’s needs. This is our very first dog and we are extremely pleased with the end results . We highly recommend you get your dogs trained by Smitty. More...

Smitty was very professional and helped me train my new 8 month old sheepadoodle! When I got her she had no manners and was running around my house tearing everything up. I reached out on Bark.com and Smitty contacted me immediately. I brought her over that same day and by the end of the 1st session she was loose leash walking. We have had our ups and downs but Smitty has been by our side the whole way. He will make you do your homework but if you are willing to do the work it is worth it! Thanks to smitty a have a dog that is well mannered and listens to me- highly recommend More...

Great job and enjoyed working with Smitty. You can tell that he truly wants to help and treats your dog with respect.

We called Smitty because we had an issue with our Belgian Malinois Odin and our child. Dealing with his breed, we needed help with impulse control and Odin is now acting like a dog fulfilling his purpose.

Don't use those other guys with screwed results, call Smitty the real professional! More...

We called Smitty because we had an incident with my son and our Belgium Malinois/Cane Corso mix. Smitty worked on behavioral modification with our dog and he is an entirely different dog now. We are more than pleased with the technique Smitty used! 10/10 recommend this dog trainer! More...

Working with Higher Level Dog Training was great. Smitty made sure we understood what he was doing. He took his time in demonstrating what we should be doing. He provided feedback along the way so that we could become more effective in getting our dog to obey the commands when we gave them. More...

Smitty gave me the tools I needed to improve my relationship with my dog. She was 1 1/2 years with no training from previous owners. She's very high energy and he showed me how to calm her down along with basic obedience and commands. It has helped a lot. More...

Excellent dog training from Smitty. Calmed my dog down in 5 minutes and in 10 minutes taught her how to properly walk on a leash. Great trainer highly recommend.

he did a wonderful job with our pup he’s very reasonable and not only helps train the dog but teaches you as you go also

Very knowledgeable. My dog is wild but he managed to get him to sit and lay down after an hour. Very funny and cool too!

Hey fellow dog owners just wanted to let you know Smitty is the real deal I have a four month old Frenchy, and before meeting Smitty, I had an appointment to have my pup trained at Petco upon the training time allotted within five minutes I was told he’s untrainable. Smitty had my dog standing up, sitting down, leaving treats until it was said to be had and focusing on us an the commands we gave he took his time going over each command and training movement with our pup until we felt comfortable to do it on our own hands-down five stars look forward to the next training. More...

The session was really good my dog now listening to my wife while she is call for him.

He Is amazing , did really good job. With Alexa. !!!

Highly recommend training with him. He not only teaches your pup so many good things but also teaches you and helps you learn. He is very easy to work with and I’m very happy with the outcome. He trained two of my puppies and they’re doing so much better and I couldn’t have got them to this point without him !! My favorite part of his training is he is real with you and shows multiple ways to teach your dog what they need to know he is very reasonable with his prices also. More...

Highly recommend training with him. He not only teaches your pup so many good things but also teaches you and helps you learn. He is very easy to work with and I’m very happy with the outcome. He trained two of my puppies and they’re doing so much better and I couldn’t have got them to this point without him !! My favorite part of his training is he is real with you and shows multiple ways to teach your dog what they need to know he is very reasonable with his prices also. More...

He was great, taught my dog lots of things and also taught me in the process while being very patient even when i wasn’t.

David was amazing at training our Pit/Shepard puppy and our husky. I have worked with a lot of trainers to know when they know what they are doing or if they are just blowing smoke up your butt. David definitely knows what he is doing. I am very pleased with the results of the training. More...

I have a 9 month old German Shepard. Smitty crate trained her also taught her to sit, stay, leave, recall. Also she walks with me outside not putting me down the street. I am absolutely pleased with the outcome.
I highly recommend Smitty’s dog training and I did to my friends More...