San Diego Pet Training

We have owned many dogs, always adult animals we rescued from shelters. However, this time we adopted a very young puppy. Not wanting to mess up this «blank slate,» we signed up for classes with San Diego Pet Training.
I thought I understood dogs pretty well. Well, turns out I didn’t understand dogs nearly as well as I thought, but you know who does? Rob Kuty, the SDPT trainer. He just blew us away with his insight into animal behavior, his methods for training, his «way» with dogs, his techniques for achieving certain behaviors, his advice about how to praise and correct dogs, and his philosophies on how to get your dog to behave the way you need him to, whatever your particular goals may be with respect to training.
Best of all, Rob’s methods are so simple and intuitive once you train your own mind to work his way. A kid could learn and benefit from SDPT’s classes just as easily as an adult.
Rob’s techniques are gentle, but firm. He made us rethink the way we approach dogs — our own dog as well as other people’s dogs. We saw all kinds of dogs at SDPT classes: stubborn dogs, outgoing dogs, nervous dogs, big dogs, little dogs, playful dogs, etc. They all responded so well to Rob, and he was always sensitive and respectful of what made each dog tick and how to approach that dog’s personality in order to effectively socialize and train them. We all had different goals about what we wanted to achieve with our dogs, and I think we all «graduated» from these classes having met those goals.
When I hear about what some of my friends have paid for dog training, I can’t believe it. I’m so grateful that Helen Woodward recommended SDPT to us. A very small price to pay for gold standard training.

After just two sessions with Rob and only a few more sessions with us by ourselves, Nala seems to be completely rehabilitated. Twice now, one of my chickens got out of the pen, unbeknownst to us and while Nala was outside, and twice now, the chicken was completely unharmed. It’s amazing. Rob is a miracle worker, as far as I’m concerned. I wish I could give him 10 stars!

We recently adopted a small pup from Helen Woodward, which gave us Rob’s name for any training needs. I called Rob shortly after to discuss leash training and a first appointment to learn about leash training with such a tiny breed (chihuahua mix) I am accustomed to larger dogs. Rob and I had a discussion and set a time. The following week I was having issues with our larger, older male dog in the home, accepting our new rescue. It became a concern with his size and whether it was a good mix. I called Rob to see about evaluating the two dogs together, I was worried and needed a professional’s opinion. Rob decided after my initial and 2^nd call to him — he didn’t need to see us, or evaluate anyone — he simply said he had heard enough and I’m better off turning my new pup back over to Helen Woodward. WHAT?! What person outright refuses to see a potential client when they reach out for help? I’ve never been refused to be seen. I’ve rescued many dogs over the last 17 years and have had plenty of trainers and experience. This was a first to be dismissed in such a way, with no other suggestion. I would recommend calling any other trainer in the San Diego area than Rob. He was DISMISSIVE AND UNCARING. I left him a voicemail after the fact, stating those exact things. The most unprofessional way to handle someone that reaches out for services and help. Shame on you, Rob.

UPDATE:
Rob called back little after 3:30PM and came over at 4:30PM. He had forgotten to put our session in the schedule and didn’t realize that our session was today. He was at another animal center far away from our house, but he drove out so that we can meet him today. He also gave us 20% discount to make it right.
The actual dog session was very informative. It was nice to know Do’s and Don’ts and methods of saying No to the dog without actually saying the word or shouting at the dog.
Thank you, Rob! :)
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My husband contacted them and the earliest appointment available was today, Tuesday the 24^th of March 2015. So my husband and I took the day off for the behavior assessment of our 2 dogs. We adopted them both from the shelter but from different time frame. We wanted to make sure they were both compatible and wanted to consult what we can do for both of the dogs to be happy.
So someone was suppose to show up at 2:30PM today. It is now 3:30PM and no one is here. Not even a phone call. Super disappointed.

We are SDPT junkies. Rob and Alex are top notch and you can see that in they way they run their classes and interact with the dogs. We did the puppy, basic obedience and advanced obedience classes for our lab. He’s a big boy…90+ lbs… so having control of him is critical.
Their methodologies don’t rely on treats or rewards other than affection. Its about establishing your role as the master/​owner and the dog’s role as an obedient pet, while still letting your dog’s personality shine. All levels have a great balance of training and play time. When our pup was just few months old we did a private lesson w Rob and so he can get a sense of our home and neighborhood and what’s good/​not good to do on walks etc.
Overall the experience was excellent and the results are fantastic. We have a well behaved, fun loving lab that is good off leash as on. Highly reccomend SDPT.

After we adopted our puppy, we knew that we needed to start training soon. SDPT was recommended by Helen Woodward so we gave them a call to first address the separation anxiety issues that our puppy was having. Rob showed up at our house and trained my husband and I on how to train our puppy. He gave us some great tips and soon after, our puppy wasn’t making a mess when we left. And instead of being scared, he’s just upset when we leave him alone now.
We then took our pup to the 8 week basic obedience class held at Helen Woodward. The first week is meant for the owners only, but because our guy had separation anxiety, Rob told us to bring him and that he’d use him to demonstrate some of the things we’d be learning in class. The next 7 weeks we learned sit, down, stay, leave it, heel, and come. Even though the class size was larger (10 – 12 dogs), our pup was able to learn all of the commands and obeys them (when he’s not too hyper… he’s still a puppy). We really enjoyed the class (especially the play time at the end of each class) and liked that Rob would always ask how our pup’s separation anxiety issues were going. He always gave us great tips after our session and answered any questions we had. We will likely enroll him in an agility class from SDPT when he’s over a year old.

I was reading the reviews for Rob and his training business and felt compelled to write in. This guy is no fake as that one reviewer wrote. He knows how to help a person train their dog. I have a very timid dog that he is helping me draw out of her shell. We’ve had three private lessons and I am seeing improvement in Emma’s attitude. And I am learning how to praise her at the right time and not reinforce her fears through creative training methods. We are signed up for obedience class with Rob because I trust him and his ability to teach.