Athens Dog Training - Castro Valley, California

Kelly DeMars

Worth every penny! I am so grateful to have worked with Pohan because she was professional, knowledgeable, and flexible. My dog has improved significantly with leash reactivity around strangers and other dogs because of Pohan's patient guidance with not just my dog, but with me, too. She taught me how to improve commands with my dog so that I can communicate more effectively/consistently. I am more confident when walking my dog, and I feel like our relationship has flourished because we are both less anxious in unfamiliar settings. Pohan specifically was recommended to me, and I would recommend her to others.

John Chen

All the instructors that I have experience had been excellent. Larry, Mitch and Pohan all are extremely friendly, experienced and patient. Great instructors are always hard to find.

Hana Harbman

Dog training with Athens has made all the difference in how manageable life with our puppy feels. Pohan is encouraging, straightforward, and insightful

Sarah M

While the trainers seem to know dogs well, they don't seem to like their job all that much. I have a husky who is high energy and has trouble in public stimulating environments - the main reason he needed training. One of the trainers told us our dog is "really annoying" which didn't make us feel like he is welcome there and she did not stop harping on that for the entire hour and a half. I don't know why you would have that job if you find it annoying that a dog needs behavioral help. They also tend to be patronizing and act like you're stupid as an owner if you don't know something but the point of being there is to learn! If we already knew everything we wouldn't have to go there. It's just not what a good teacher does. They could have told me that at the beginning and refunded my money so I could have gone to someone else who wanted to help. But they waited until the last week of the 6 months I paid for to basically reveal that they did not want my dog there. They've also had no comment about this, to my face or anywhere online. I've made calls, sent texts that were responded with promised follow ups that never happened. "Sorry we lied and took your money and then bullied and shamed you out." Cool.

Ethan & Suzi Shattuck

Danny is amazing! He trained my husband’s service dog (and my husband) to be an amazing team together!

Danny is knowledgeable, experienced, good-natured, and kind.

The skills that our service dog gained have helped my husband remain grounded and alive. It isn’t an exaggeration, he used to deal with a lot of suicidal thoughts when his mental health was in a dark place. But this service dog, has pulled him through in regular, small, but impactful ways. And those skills come from Danny’s training.

I will always be grateful for Danny’s work.

UPDATE:
This is just an addition to the post my wife left above. I worked with Danny for over a year getting my dog Finnegan trained to be my Service Dog. I’ve had dogs all my life except for the years I was in the military and so I had a good idea of what it’s like having dogs in my daily life and thought training would be simply going through the drills to refresh my knowledge and helping my wife learn how to communicate with the dog. Turns out, I had more than refresher work to do.
Danny approaches training with dogs as an advocate and translator for the dogs. The first thing he said after he introduced himself was a reminder that dogs don’t speak human and we don’t speak dog. We have to learn how to communicate with each other in order to be a happy and successful team, just like any other relationship in life.
I already understood that most of the training we were going to do was really about training Me. Danny helped me understand how to set my expectations and how to go about helping my dog understand what I want from him. Danny emphasizes keeping a sense of humor when working with your dog on creating routines that work for you and your family.
When I ran into situations in my training with my dog Danny was always available to help me figure out the problem. When I accidentally traumatized my dog with the Pirate Festival (I didn’t realize how much gun fire there would be) Danny gave us his time and attention to figure out how to help Finnegan (my dog) deal with loud noises again.

However, Danny isn’t a wizard or a genie- the only way to ensure success is to do the work with the dog multiple times a day, every day. Practice, repetition, and consistency when combined with good instruction is the only sure path to success when it comes to training.

Case Perkins

Tonka has been a student of Athens dog training since she was a puppy. She was able to start with basic manners, progress to trick training, and then passed her canine good citizen test! Pohan has a charismatic way to positively train with all of the dogs in class. She will take your dog and demonstrate the skills in front of other students to show exactly how to execute the technique, which builds confidence for the dog and the owner. She is also willing to slightly modify the items to ensure it meets the expectation of all of the dogs in class. Pohan has now become one Tonka’s favorite people to see

Stefanie Bulilan

Pohan, Rochelle, Analise, Alex and the rest of the instructors at Athens Dog Training have helped to make my dog more confident. They are patient and knowledgeable. My dog Emi has come along way she as not as reactive on leash, can greet strangers, and is getting better as we cintinue work with the crew at Athens. I highly recommend them.

Karmen Kurtz

I can say enough how valuable dog training is and with my first rescue, I was in desperate need of support. My dog has seperation anxiety, really afraid of mostly everything and everyone, and didn't really know any of the basics when I got her. After 7 in-home, private trainings with Danny she has literally transformed. He really gives you all the tools you need, in a 'train the trainer' kind of way. But the 1-1 time was immensely helpful and he could assess and work on tactics with us in real time. The homework we had kept me and our dog stimulated and even when my partner couldn't make trainings I would always have a full list of notes to share. Danny is comprehensive, professional, empathetic, and really an expert in his practice. Without his support I likely would have returned my dog so definitely worthwhile investment.