Innate Dog Training

I called them 2 times and left messages before the holidays, no response… I called earlier this week and actually spoke with Nate but had to call him back to set up an appointment. I called later that day, he responds will a text saying: I’ll call you later. I responded okay. No call later. I called the next day, no answer. My husband called and left a message, no response. Horrible Customer Service. He obviously does’t need my business and won’t ever get it.

My veterinarian recommended Nate after seeing a significant behavioral change in one of her other clients’ dogs. I started working with Nate about 8 months ago after adopting a puppy and bringing her into our home which included a 7 year old stubborn and sometimes aggressive chihuahua. Raising a puppy is already overwhelming and requires consistent discipline but raising one with an older dog with engraved bad habits is even more difficult as they start to pick up on each others’ behaviors (pack mentality).
Nate came to my house for a free consultation and not only evaluated the dogs’ behaviors but mine and my husband’s. We seem to forget that WE need the training more than the dogs and that’s where Nate and his partner excel. His methodology makes a lot of sense and is all about creating a stronger bond between you and your furry family member by commanding respect.
Here’s what I think, if you are willing to dedicate your time and effort into realizing the results that may be promised to you, then this is the BEST fit. If you just want to «fix» your dog and think that after a few sessions you will have the most obedient and best behaved dog, then go elsewhere.
The icing on the cake for me is that besides the one-​on-​one training sessions, Nate invites his clients to weekly dog sessions which is the ultimate place for socialization and distraction training. My rescued terrier mix had severe anxiety around small and large dogs, would chase every bird and eat and chew everything in sight. Now that I understand dog psychology better, I am aware that the key is to bring your dog into a calm and relaxed state of mind and that these distractions will slowly become a part of their lives and not be the cause of their anxiety.
I truly believe that my dogs will live longer now that they are more relaxed and can enjoy being in different surroundings. Thank you Nate for allowing us to enjoy dog parenthood even more!

Adequate dog trainers but customer service and communication seemed to be of no importance to either Nate or his partner. Constant no shows to appointments, hurried visits with little structure and failure to follow thru on numerous assurances all made for a negative experience. Would not recommend Innate to anyone in need of dog training services.

Nate helped us tremendously with teaching our two year old Boston Terrier Dexter all the basics that we missed out on teaching him as a younger puppy. After just 4 or 5 sessions with Nate we learned a few valuable routines that help keep him in line and make him a more obedient dog. He can now sit, stay, lie down, come, go to spot, walk properly on a leash and sit when the front door is opened instead of running out it! lol He couldn’t do any of that before so I’m impressed.

Nate is an amazing trainer! I started lessons when my Samoyed puppy was 11 weeks old, and was amazed at how quickly a puppy could pick up on commands. My dog is STUBBORN but with the help of Nate and his training sessions, I’ve come to a point where I can bring my dog everywhere with me! People literally stop me and tell me how incredibly behaved my dog is! And no one believes me when I say he’s only a 5 month old puppy! Couldn’t be happier with my experience with Innate Dog Training!

I have been practicing all day yesterday and today with my baby boy on his commands with free time in between and it’s amazing I tell him to sit and stay and he does I walk to the end of his leash then tell him to come with hand commands and he does and sits right in front of me then I tell him to heel (which means to come to my left side and sit) and he has done it, I tell him down to lay down and stay and he stays longest right now is 30 mins the I then I do it all over again it’s amazing it’s all thanks to Nathan Lochner for helping with him yah I may have sent him to board and train and ppl make comments like what you can’t train your dog and I said no it’s not that he is very destructive and it was a little difficult me to get it started so yes I sent him and my dog is better than ever and now the work continues with me and my husband… he is sooo good I am so excited to keep it going everyday it’s my responsibility and I need to make sure he is in line especially when guest come over… oh yah one more thing… Every time we go out side I tell him to sit and stay I open the door walk outside and he is still sitting and staying then I tell him to come and he comes out side same thing when returning from out walk… it’s amazing what I can learn from my dog and to help him succeed along the way it brings joy to my heart I may not have kids but he is my baby boy… love it don’t need anything else but my husband, our baby, and I that’s our little family … My hubby with rocco on the back right… every Saturday me and rocco have a date for group training

I hate writing bad reviews. I feel terrible when I do. This has taken me over a year to write.
Nate is amazing with dogs but needs some coaching in business.
I paid Nate for his services with my 2 dogs in March/​April/​May 2014. I paid over $ 1,500. Our sessions were a little spread out because of my personal schedule. This was on me not him. Nate is very talented. I will never say he is not. We learned a lot from him and my dogs learned too. Unfortunately though I bought 2 extra leashes and 2 collars for my daughter’s dogs which I have yet to receive over 1 year later.
I had one session left and chose not to use it so asked Nate to use the session to just drop the equipment off on my porch. He did not do this. I texted hm multiple times with no reply. When I asked him to refund my money he would not do it and when I pushed he acted concerned and pushed the final session. By this point I was so frustrated with continued lack of response and the «run around» that quite frankly I did not want to see him ever again. I just wanted the leashes. I even asked if I could come to the park during a Saturday session but the leashes weren’t in his van according to his text. I asked more than once.
I gave up and personally gave my daughter her money back. I was shocked by the lack of communication considering he checks his phone constantly during training. Like I said, I hate writing bad reviews and this this is not a bad review of his skills… It’s just an acknowledgement of his poor business skills.
If I could rate him twice I would rate is training skills a 5 and his business skills a 0.

I want to start by saying that working with Nate to train our dog was the BEST investment we have ever made. Our dog didn’t have a lot of issues, but I have personally seen Nate transform the most aggressive, abused and troubled dogs into healthy, loving dogs.
Around 6 months old, we decided to get a trainer for our puppy Luna. She is a labrador/​husky mix, and has more energy than she knows what to do with. She was a teether, liked to jump and nibble, and she was also displaying some early signs of dominance.
Our vet recommended that we give Innate Dog Training a call. Within a few days, he was at our house for a consultation. He gave us some «homework,» and we started seeing a difference right away. The moment Nate walked in the door, our Luna was instantly responsive.
Nate will teach your dog to do the things you want them to do, but most importantly, he will teach YOU how to do it. She is still a puppy now, only 1 year old. But it is no exaggeration when I say that we get compliments on Luna EVERYWHERE we go. «Your dog is so well-​behaved!» The results we saw in just 4 short months with Nate were incredible.
One of the best perks is that you can attend weekly group classes for FREE. It’s a great opportunity to brush up on your skills and socialize your pup. Don’t think twice about hiring Nate. I promise he can do it.
Thank you, Nate! We couldn’t have done it without you.

My wife and I got our first dobie about 8 months ago. Even as a puppy when I would walk him he would pull me down the street and my arms would be sore when we were done. We also could not control his behavior in the house. He would run inside, jump on people, bark excessively, and play bite our sons hand. We turned to Nate first because we wanted real dog training.
Nate came to our home, evaluated us and our dog, and laid out all the issues. Nate was always on time and paid special attention to our needs. His approach to dog training is brilliant. I’ve seen him help all breeds with all issues. Since first contacting Nate and getting our dog Sarge through basic obedience training Nate has continued to help us. He’s always been responsive to our phone calls and has guided us with further training as well.
After using Nate, all the neighbors are amazed that I can walk Sarge with no leash and he 100% obedient to my whole family (8 year old son included).
Nate isn’t just a trainer, he cares for our pup and our family.
Blotting line: use Innate Dog Training first.

Nate and john are great. We unfortunately had to term our agreement early on account of our dog going to a new home but they were very understanding and professional. The one lesson we had with them was great and we started seeing progress after a single lesson. Highly recommend and worth the money.

What else can I say except «best dog training in Las Vegas!!» Nathan definitely knows what he is doing! I would highly recommend him to anyone I know!

Nate and John have been fantastic!
My 8 month old Brittany Spaniel, Chauncey, started on-​leash training with Nate in August of last year. We saw Nate once a week for an hour at our house where we worked on basic obedience. My biggest concern, and the reason I hired Nate, was because I also have an African Grey parrot and wanted to make sure my bird dog respected her space (I.e. didn’t eat her).
Nate was very clear about how we would accomplish my goals and I am happy to say that we have.
After we finished his 6 weeks of on-​leash training, I was anxious to move to off-​leash. After a lot of consideration and discussions with Nate, I decided boarding him for the training was the best option.
Chauncey spent almost four weeks with Nate and John at the end of last year. John did most of the training, but Nate always spent time with Chauncey, working with and evaluating him.
Now that Chauncey is home, and it is important for me to know how to enforce the correct behavior he has learned, John comes over once a week to «train» me. Basically, he shows me all the commands and behavior Chauncey learned while boarding and how I am supposed to elicit the desired response from him.
We still have a little more off-​leash work to do, but Nate is always available to answer my questions.
We also go to weekly group classes and John is always there to help answer questions and help me be a better handler.
I couldn’t be happier with the results!
Last weekend Chauncey and I went to the park. I told him to lay down and stay while I played with the kids about 20 feet away. Even with all the chaos of kids and other dogs, my Chauncey layed right there until I told him he could get up. At home, he shows little to no interest in my bird and I’m not afraid to have her fly around the house. When the doorbell rings, Chauncey stays right in his spot, no jumping, barking or running out the door.
Boarding and training took all the worry away and in the end I got a well-​behaved, respectable dog that I’m constantly getting compliments on from complete strangers about how obedient he is. And the best part is, he still has his outgoing puppy personality. None of this has made him afraid or aggressive, but instead, respectful, attentive and responsive.
Thank you Nate and John! Wouldn’t trust anyone else to care as much as you two about my kid!

If you have a puppy or a dog without problems, then, may be, Nate is a right person for you to train your dog. If you have a dog with problems sich as an aggression, biting issues, do not trust him. He does not do any «behavior modification» as he simply does not know what it is and has false advertisement. I have a dog, beagle 3 years old, with these problems and had bad experiences working with two different trainers in the past. I was so despearte when my dog bit me again 3 months ago I started working with animal behavior specialist (she is not a trainer, but truly a specialist who understands animals’ behavior, and got her education — PhD in this field. There are only about 50 specialists like her for the whole country, none of them are in Nevada). I have telephone consultations with her, and we will have a home visit in a few weeks. She did my dog’s behavioral assessment and professional behavior analysis, also the copy was sent to my vet. Her recommendations were not to use any type of physical restraints or equipment such as electronic, prong, collars, chocking chains when training dog with fear or social aggression, because these methods usually make his aggression become worse. And when I started reviewing literature on dogs aggression I found a lot of information supporting her recommendations. Needless to say, we used prong and shock collars for trainig in the past, and I belive that type of training made his aggression worse. We decided to give another try and find a trainer who can help us with our problem and who would know how to modify dog’s behavior withtout hurting him physically. I called to 2 or 3 trainers and they all told me right away that they use those type of collars and would not be able to help me. When I called Nate I explained him about our situation, told him that I was working with behavior specialist and told him about her recommendations, told him that I trust her and he would have to follow her recommendations while trainig the dog; on the phone Nate sounded like he understands the problem and would be able to help us. We had a home visit when Nate came with his assisstant John, I gave Nate a copy of my dog’s behavior assessment with recommendations. Our first training day John brought chocking chain and leather leash for «behavior modification», dog was miserable, wet himself while John was demonstrated to us how we should teach him basic commands with chocking collar, he said it is not hurting a dog, but that is how we need to «built relationships with our dog». Next day I called Nate and told him that I am cancelling our trainign sessions and would like to get at least some of my money back (we paid for a half of trainig sessions and it is alot of money). Since that I called Nate several times eather talking to him directly or leaving messages requesting to get some of my money back. Each time I speak with him he promises that he «will do it by Friday, or that he asked John to call me back, or he will call me tomorrow, I am still waiting, las time I talked to him 3 days ago and he told me „I will call you tomorrow“.
My advice, if you have a dog with behavioral issues, do not trust innate dog training, they may do» quick fix” within next 6 – 8 weeks and then you will be on your own with the same problems again, even worse. Also, try a session first, then pay your money, because you may not get them back if you do not agree with their training methods.

To Rachel H,
from a dog owner not affiliated in any way with Innate Dog Training.
Did it ever occur to you that your dog was the bigot? By Nate saying your dog behaved that way because you are a woman could have been meant from a dogs perspective. Your post is incredibly full of a misunderstanding of how dogs operate. Your dog thought you were his bitch and didn’t respect you.

I trusted Nate to take care of my dog, MY SON, for a period of time while I was away, AND I NEVER FELT SAFER LEAVING MY SON ANYWHERE. not only was I respected for MY way of doing things, MY way of feeding him, but Nate was genuinely interested and concerned for my way of doing things, shown by his questions and his focus on ME while I was talking. I was totally expecting this dog training master to want to do things his way, and tell me how things were going to work, but I should have known better. not only do I feel this guy’s competence is through the roof, but his heart is just as big.
as a dog owner there are few things more important than trusting those you leave your loved ones with. I truly trust Nate and Innate Dog Training.

Our German Shepherd, Reno, had his very first session with Nathan when he was only 10 weeks old. I remember being nervous about him starting at such a young age but Nathan was extremely knowledgeable about what training was appropriate for a puppy and my nerves were calmed after the initial meeting.
He was super gentle with him and it was amazing to see how quickly Reno progressed. After the first session he was already a better listener and after only 4 – 5 weeks he had all of the basic commands down.
It has been over 3 years now and we have since gone through On-​Leash, Off-​Leash, and Defensive training with him and have loved every step of the way.
There is no secret pill though… lots of hours were spent practicing with him but Reno never seemed stressed in any way. We both looked at it as quality bonding time with our pup.
To summarize: my husband and I love Nathan for his knowledge, tactics, and amazing results!

Nate is awesome! The end…
No seriously though when I was interviewing dog trainers for my perfect goldendoodle i met so, so many shady individuals that told me the same thing and treated both me and my husband like they were doing us a favor by meeting with us i.e. arrogant! Nate was different he came to our home and instantly felt like a friend. He explained things to us in a manner that we could understand minus the condescension that we experienced from other trainers. I am sure I asked numerous «stupid» questions, because lets face it the cognition of dogs is a completely foreign subject to most people, but he answered them in a manner that was conducive to allowing me to keep my dignity. HUGE PLUS in the doggie training world!
When we began to train my angel of a goldendoodle SEVERAL problems arose — any animal humans included will act out when you attempt to tell them what to do and how to do it, duh, lets remain realistic. Nate was always a phone call, text and yet another frantic phone call away. He remained professional and calm the entire time despite the tears and bruises. ;) and there were bruises… NOTHING is fool proof and an owner behind a leash and collar for the first time is a fool. Me and my husband included. My gorgeous doodle is now a well behaved dog that listens to my commands and absolutely loves his Uncle Nate.
I read another review that unfortunately stated that Nate made a remark concerning gender and a woman’s inability to properly train a dog. Before I make my following remark I would like to state that I believe gender is a social construction. A woman is able to do anything that a man does with the same outcomes as well as efficiently as a man. Any stereotype made about women being inferior in unfounded and any man or woman that makes a statement concerning a woman’s inferiority is simply ignorant and uneducated. Now with that being said Nate also told me numerous times that a component that contributing to my difficulty stemmed from my gender. Fortunately before I was able to kick him out of my house he explained himself. He spoke to the intonation and pitch of a man’s voice vs. a woman’s voice. Dog’s make a low growl to communicate don’t mess with me. Men naturally have a lower voice than women. There are so many other factors that are present that make dogs more susceptible to a male human than a female human. There is an excellent book called Inside of a Dog written by a world renowned cognitive neuroscientist also a women, in it she discusses the tendency of a dog on occasion to be more attentive to male counterparts. Anyway, I will finally say that Nate never belittled me nor have I ever witnessed him belittle the MANY female clients that he has.

I would give Nathan zero stars if I could.
My vet recommended Innate Dog Training when my rescue Corgi puppy failed his second round of group puppy class at Petsmart. My dog was high-​energy and territorial, which was a problem with food and toys since we were a two-​dog household. He would routinely growl and snap at our other dog, and he had even bitten me as I reached for food or toward his bowls.
My initial consultation with Nathan was great, and I opted to board my dog for training because of the aggression and biting. Nathan said training would be 10 days, but 10 days turned into two weeks, which eventually turned into three and a half weeks, before he felt my dog was ready to return home (and of course, more $$ for each day that went by).
Upon his return, the dog was clearly obedient to Nathan, but once Nathan left, he was back to growling and snapping over food. Nathan met me once for an emergency session, and then he recommended that I come to group classes, but the dog’s behavioral problems persisted. He attacked our other dog, shredding his ear, and things got so bad that we had to keep both dogs physically apart in separate rooms of the house.
I called Nathan in desperation, and he told me that the dog’s behavior problems stemmed from the fact that I am a woman. He told me, «They don’t call them man’s best friend for no reason.»
Not only did Nathan belittle me, disrespect me, and make generalizations about my ability to handle an animal due to my gender, but he also stopped returning my calls and emails. I left multiple voicemails, which he just disregarded entirely. I understand that his profession is training dogs, but to run a business, one must also work with the people who own the dogs. A lack of communication is entirely unacceptable.
I paid thousands of dollars and trusted my pet to Nathan, and for what?
In the end, I made the heart wrenching decision to give my dog away to a rescue group in the hopes that he finds a better circumstance and a home where he can be the only pet.
I am happy for the satisfied customers who have posted reviews, but if you are considering Innate Training — especially if you are a woman! — do yourself a favor and skip this bigoted, unprofessional business owner.

I turned to Innate Dog Training when I realized that my once pleasant, happy-​go-​lucky, easy-​to-​get-​along-​with lab shepherd mix, Jimmy, needed further training. I wish that I could give 5-​stars like the other reviews but, given my experiences, I’m not able to.
My husband and I had planned to go on our first weekend trip since moving here and needed to board our dog (which we’d never done). But where he once got along with all pooches, his behavior around new dogs was now unpredictable and sometimes volatile since our move across country. We sent him to a popular doggy day care for a «test run» prior to our trip and were asked to pick him up because he wasn’t socializing well with others. I was devastated and ready to cancel our trip. I called Nathan based on Unilocal recommendations and he seemed confident he could help us.
Our first phone conversation in June was pleasant. We threw around the idea of an appointment later that day but ultimately settled on a day later in the week when my husband would be home. Later that same day, Nate rang my doorbell. He’d accidentally scheduled the appointment for that day and we went on with the meeting since he was already there (he stated he was preoccupied because his grandmother had had a stroke recently). He suggested behavior modification training, explained the process and the tools, and suggested boarding at his home for socialization. I left a deposit for training and scheduled a few days later for Nate to pick Jimmy up.
I sent Jimmy off for boarding a couple of days before our trip. The plan was for approximately 2 weeks of boarding for socialization. During and after our trip I’d contact Nate and ask for updates or photos and would either not get a response or would get something that didn’t answer my questions. For example, I asked how he was doing and if he was adjusting well to sleeping in a crate and I’d get a response that he was doing well and playing with other dogs right now. After a while of not responding I pressed him for answers and he stated his grandfather had been rushed to the hospital so he was unable to get in contact. When we were back from our trip we asked when my husband could come see him and Nathan would say that his classes were cancelled due to the heat (understandably) and he wouldn’t be in the park that day. My husband, wanting to see his only «son», would have driven anywhere at any time to see him, even if the park classes were cancelled. But he never gave us any options to see him. Finally, he offered my husband a small window of time to meet at a park across town. And I hadn’t seen my dog in over a week but my schedule didn’t allow me to join my husband.
When boarding was over we tried multiple times to start scheduling training. I work 3 days a week and we, for some reason, couldn’t come together on a time. We did schedule something once (a month after our original meeting) but Nate had to cancel the night before due to personal reasons (his air conditioner broke — I fully understand and respect that people have lives, so I don’t begrudge him that but we’re a month from our original meeting and still no training sessions.). He didn’t contact me about rescheduling for a few days. I was becoming skeptical and thinking that he wasn’t the trainer for us, but I would tell him which days I was off, and he’d respond with suggestions for completely different days to schedule training.
I am sure that Nate is as fantastic of a trainer as everyone says he is, but I found that a lack of communication, poor customer service skills, and I guess difficulty coming together between both of our schedules made this trainer a bad fit for us, so I’ll never know. As a sidenote, Jimmy’s blanket is still at Nate’s house and I guess that’s a blanket we’ll never see again since I’ve texted a couple of times about it.

Nathan @ Innate Dog training helped me with my 2 gsd Ziva & Gibbs. They have been trained in basic obedience, distraction work, & protection training. Each dog can bowl, sled, zipline & surf! These dogs go where I go! Great temperaments that started with the best foundation a dog owner can ask for. INNATE DOG TRAINING IS the way to go!