Specialty Dog Training - Oceanside, California

Courtney Parkinson

I HIGHLY recommend Graham and the Specialty Dog Training team for your service dog or protection dog needs. I have the most well-behaved dog and emotionally intelligent shepherd who is complimented everywhere I take her due to her wonderful, personalized selection and training process by Graham and the SDT team.

I called Graham over a year ago with a very unique set of needs for a dog. Graham listened, asked me lots of questions, and came back to me with one very special dog who would fit the bill, Ella.

Ella has been with me now for 8 months and I can truly say she is one of the biggest highlights of my life. She feels like she was hand-picked just for me, because she was. We have an incredible bond and over time she has come to anticipate my needs beautifully.

Whether we are traveling on flights, around kids, going to restaurants, walking on crowded streets in NYC, going into my place of work to sit at a desk all day, or hanging out with friends—she is a 10/10 service animal. Pilots, flight attendants, grocery store clerks, and waitresses all compliment that they can tell she is a “real” service animal because she is excellently behaved.

And due to her breed, our bond, and her training, I notice how she looks out for my safety as well when we are in public or when we are home alone. She is so tuned in and ready to work and get her job done, whatever the occasion.

Like anyone might be, I was hesitant to take on owning a working dog due to doubting they would perform well once home, the cost, or feeling worried having the dog around kids or other pets. However, SDT and Graham delivered on their promises to find me an excellent fit and they have stayed in touch to ensure a stellar transition from their facility to our home. You will not find better dogs or long term support in the success of your dog/human match than with Graham and his team. I will return to them again and again for my specialty dog needs.

Patty Perry

Specialty Dog Training has been a remarkable experience! The care and attention to their dogs and clients, as well, is second to none other. The dogs are expertly trained and specifically chosen for each individual client. They are selectively bred for the jobs they will be doing for their owners.
The owner, Graham and his staff are all remarkable people! They truly have huge hearts for the animals and always put them first.
They are a small business which allows them to give personal attention to each client.
I could not have chosen a more perfect company for my needs. My dog is flawless in every way! I whole heartedly recommend Specialty Dog Training without hesitation.

Karen Baskin

Specialty Dog Training's Owner, Graham Bloem, matched me with the perfect service dog for my needs.

14 years ago Graham trained my first service dog, Shayna, to match my medical needs. She and I were partners in life for 12 plus years. Through this time, she and I received ongoing training and support to ensure that my skills as a handler and her obedience were on point. As new medical needs arose over the decade, Graham and his team trained Shayna for additional tasks to support me. This ongoing relationship between Graham, his trainers, myself and Shayna was absolutely priceless. Sadly, she passed away in 2022.

In 2023, I reached out to Graham once again knowing I would receive ongoing support, training and guidance for the life of my next service dog. Graham conducted a detailed personal interview to assess my present medical needs, my home life and my work life. This personalized approach, matching process, high level of training and execution from Specialty Dog Training matched me with the perfect service dog for my needs. Rocky, a very handsome black lab with a giant heart, completed an 18 month training program preparing him in advanced obedience, public access manners and tasks that support my daily needs. He passed his CGC (Canine Good Citizen Exam) with flying colors, performed his PAT (Public Access Test) beautifully and demonstrated his task cues without a hiccup.

Graham, Cassie, and other trainers for many months provided detailed one-on-one handler training while helping me build a special bond with Rocky. The SDT training guided me through all of Rocky's commands and how to best reinforce them and ultimately prepared him and I for our life together. The transfer of Rocky from the SDT team to me made me feel so supported. Working together reminded me of why I returned to Graham Bloem and his team at Specialty Dog Training for my second service dog.

With deep gratitude, I thank everyone at Specialty Dog Training for the unconditional love and support,

Karen and Rocky Baskin

Adam Blackwell

I’ve had an excellent experience and results with Specialty Dog Training!

Like many of us who got a dog during the pandemic, socialization was definitely over looked, unfortunately this led to my Pitbull, Blue, being very reactive and aggressive towards other dogs. My wife and I couldn’t take him for a walk or outside the house without a ton of anxiety from both of us! Blue would lunge and go very quickly to a high level of aggression towards animals and dogs that he would see.

This all came to a head when Blue got out and into a fight with my neighbors dog, resulting in an injury to my neighbor. I immediately called over a dozen trainers and found Specialty Dog Training, I loved their balanced training approach and wide range of experience from family puppies to executive protection dogs!

My trainer was Tom, who had over ten years of experience, who even worked as a military dog handler. Tom was great, with regular check ins and videos, keeping me in the loop on Blues progress and milestones. He was very patient and direct with all my questions.

By the end of our board and train, my wife and I were able to walk Blue around other dogs with amazing control. And now Blue loves obedience training as well.

This was definitely not a cheap service, but you get what you pay for and this was worth every penny!

Kristie Hewko

TDLR: DALTON IS A DOG WHISPERER

We enrolled our rescue dog in the 4-week program at Specialty Dog Training, and we are beyond impressed with the results! Our dog, a stray we found, had a lot of challenges when we first brought her home. She was very barky, had trouble walking straight on a leash, and barely knew any basic commands. We knew she needed professional help, and Specialty Dog Training delivered.

After the program, she was a completely different dog. She walks like a dream on a leash now, with no pulling or zigzagging, and the barking has significantly reduced. She listens so much better to basic commands, and we can tell she's much more relaxed and confident. It’s clear that the trainers really know their stuff and took the time to understand our dog’s needs.

We’re so grateful to Specialty Dog Training and our trainer Dalton for transforming our girl into a well-behaved companion. Highly recommend their program to anyone looking to improve their dog’s behavior!

Connie Monk

A bit late in posting this review but we loved dealing with the folks at Specialty Dog Training. We had picked out a dog through their website that we wanted to take with us on trips in our RV. Not always being familiar with some of the places we were camping at, we wanted to make sure we had protection. My husband, a veteran, has disabilities and so we asked Graham to train the dog to help my husband. A few weeks later, he contacted us and stated that the dog we wanted would not be a good fit but he had several others that we could choose from. He gave us our pick but we told him that he was better educated on the dogs' temperaments and personalities so we asked him to pick the dog that would be able to provide the protection we were looking for and also be able to help my husband when he needed it. He called us a few weeks later and said that he found the right dog for us. We brought Remington home and had a minor incident a few months later but Graham and Remi's trainer, Garick, worked with us, did a reevaluation, helped reassure us that all was well, and made sure we were happy with our boy. It was refreshing to see Graham stand behind his organization/dogs and be so willing to make things right. We've had Remington for nearly 2 yrs now...he's a great dog, loves to work, takes good care of us, and he’s been great with our family (grown children and grandkids). He is the right balance of play and work. Graham did a marvelous job of selecting the perfect dog for our needs. Graham, Garick and the rest of the staff were extremely helpful and worked hard to make sure we got the right dog for our family and lifestyle. We would definitely recommend this organization to others. We can't thank them enough for everything they've done.

Michael Irby

I’ve been meaning to write this review for months, and this might be long, but I really need to give our trainer Doug a much deserved shout out.

I decided to work with Shelby Semel Dog training after I got my 4 month old rescue puppy back in late March/early april. I originally did a one time consult with Doug and immediately bought a package. My pup Millie was having some behavior issues that needed to be rectified ASAP. He provided very effective solutions and was attentive to my concerns. He focused on things I wanted to focus on while still working on things that he saw were needed, things I never even thought about (which was super helpful!). He even met me in Central Park to work on distraction training, especially around squirrels. We made tremendous progress over the 10 weeks.

Sadly after those sessions were complete, Millie and I set off on a two month road trip to relocate to west coast (otherwise I 100% would have gotten a second training package). During that road trip we hit several cities, numerous national parks, had a lot of new experiences/situations, and Millie saw a lot of new wild animals. During this time I realized how much Doug taught me about training Millie. I was able to use a lot of the tools/techniques he provided and because of that, we had a fantastic trip! Still to this day I will look back on some of his follow up emails to continue training properly. Even after the sessions stopped, Doug was there to answer questions and address any concerns.

Hiring a trainer through Shelby Semel was the best dog dad decision I’ve made to this day. Doug’s services were worth every penny and really helped build a strong bond/trust between me and my new best friend. If I ever move back to NYC I’ll be reaching out to Doug!

Charlie Cooper

Graham and his team at Specialty Dog Training are the call you want to make to disucss the possibility of being matched with an almost indescribable canine companion and/or service dog. Graham knows a lot of things, but two things he knows exceptionally well are dogs, and people. The latter obviousy the harder! But, getting properly matched between person and/or family, with the dog that is most likely to become one of the most important parts of your life... well, how could it be more crucial My advice is to make it your first call.

SDT and Graham can trustedly help you figure out this not-so-simple equation. Dealing with the experience and scale of the operatrion has been a pleasure. My neeeds and wants were fairly particular and I was fortunate to spend time at the SDT facility. It is top notch.

--Charlie