Coffey House Dog Training -

Amanda Carpenter-Suri

Kelli is, without a doubt, the absolute best dog trainer you will find in Sacramento, or anywhere for that matter. Believe me, I searched tirelessly, contacting almost every single dog trainer in the area, and even tried out five others before discovering her.

Back in July 2022, my husband and I decided to adopt a 9-month-old American Staffordshire Terrier from the SPCA. This poor guy was malnourished, neglected, and, we assume, abused. Despite his difficult past, he remained the sweetest and most endearing pup you could ever meet. However, due to being confined to a kennel for most of his early life, he lacked impulse control, had no understanding of proper dog manners, and became easily overwhelmed by the mere act of being outside.

After encountering numerous false starts with trainers who lacked confidence, insisted on weeks of teaching him his new name (which he already knew along with a few basic commands), or relied heavily on negative reinforcement, we were starting to lose hope. Fortunately, a friend recommended Coffey House. Recognizing the need for both our dog and ourselves to be properly trained, we opted for the day-train program.

From the very first session, we witnessed a remarkable improvement. Of course, he wasn't perfect overnight, but after completing her day-train program, attending additional classes, and committing ourselves to, as of now, 7 months of consistent work, we finally feel confident taking him out for walks and running short errands. We can now walk past other dogs without experiencing the previous meltdowns. It's hard to put into words how much progress we've made since that initial phone call, when we had almost given up hope of ever being able to take our dog for a simple walk.

Not only is Kelli exceptional with dogs, but she is also an incredible person. Our training sessions with her were truly enjoyable, and we continue to stay in touch, sharing little photos of our dog's achievements with her. I must admit, our dog absolutely adores her. It's clear that she has become his favorite person, and we're not too proud to admit it!

I cannot emphasize enough how highly I recommend Kelli. Her skills as a dog trainer are unparalleled, and her genuine care and passion shine through in every interaction. If you're in need of a dog trainer who will not only transform your dog's behavior but also provide a wonderful experience for you and your furry friend, look no further!

Martha Greenburg

Kelli changed my life! I have two pit bulls who are HIGH energy! One with severe anxiety and the other who loves to wrestle and jump and be in everyone's face all the time! Kelli took them for a two week boot camp and they came back with a whole new set of skills and my life was never the same. I can now have friends over without chaos, walk by other dogs without a big barking scene, tell them to go to their beds or sit somewhere and they will stay until I tell them to come. And best of all, they are still their goofy selves, full of personality, and happier than ever. I think I was worried they'd become little robots or that they'd only listen to Kelli and the training wouldn't carry over, but she taught me everything they had learned and we maintain it ourselves over a year later! Kelli always texts me back when I have questions and I learn so much from her group classes that are included in the bootcamp package every week! WE LOVE COFFEY HOUSE Training!!

Abbie Payne

Kelli does amazing work both with dogs and their humans. I came to Kelli after working with a couple different trainings but have yet to be successful. Ellie (my shelter baby) has severe dog/animal reactivity to the point where she would bite me to get to the animal. I had tried all types of positive reinforcement-based training that left me with Ellie ignoring me and paying no attention the moment a trigger was in view (no matter how far away). So i turned to Kelli and balanced dog training. It has been a huge improvement, while it is still a process and Ellie still has meltdowns I now feel that Ellie and I have the tools to work through them and continue to improve. We did the day train program and when I say it may have been Ellie's favorite time ever I am not under exaggerating. Every time Kelli would show up Ellie would go in a dead sprint to get to her and then into her car to begin training lol. Kelli worked Ellie in and around lots of different distractions, supply stores to increase her exposure and confidence and around a fensed in dog park which I never would have imagined would be possible! She gave me the tools to then go and work around dogs and dog parks. Before I was actively avioding dogs at any cost and now I was looking for dogs to work around (while it was not always a success I now had the confidence for Ellie and I to train in a way other then avoidence). In addition, Kelli worked with me in our 1on1 sessions to show me how to properly use the E-coller and position my body to show Ellie that she did not need to (and was not supposed to) freak out. Kelli never once was "scared" or "surprised" or "horrified" by Ellie's reactivity like many others have been. She would take the leash from me when Ellie would freak out to show me what to do differently which no trainer had previously done. In addition, you are not abandoned once your training program is done, Kelli holds group trainings and get togethers which has also been life-changing for Ellie (and me) as it allows us to work around her trigger of dogs in a controlled environment and she has made amazing progress! When I tell you if you have a dog struggling with reactivity (of any sort) sign up today, I MEAN IT! It is well worth the money!

Nicole Ortega

To say Kelli has been a blessing in our lives would be an understatement. We got our sweet boy Rocco as an ode to our beloved Lucas who passed away suddenly. Lucas was half bull terrier and half pitbull and a whopping 70 pounds. Deciding to scale back a bit, we opted to get a miniature bull terrier and figured since we were familiar with the breed we’d be fine. But, boy were we wrong. We struggled with his stubbornness (a bull terrier thing) coupled with him breaking his leg at four months old which really set him back mentally. Once recovered he was so overstimulated by the outside world on walks that he would freeze, sometimes in the middle of street, which was super unsafe. Then he’d become uncontrollable should a person approach him, and since he was a puppy, that happened a lot. Even though he was small, he was becoming incredibly strong which we were also worried about as he grew. Then, once home, he’d terrorize his smaller fur sister Callie, and guests coming over was out of the question, since he’d jump crazily on them too. Insert an email plea to Kelli for help, and our world has forever changed for the better. After his two week board and train, he was given the tools needed to focus and become the obedient boy we always knew he could be. While with Kelli she would send us videos of his progress and I was shocked. You could tell he was having so much fun and just had a strong desire to learn and please her. Once back with us, we kept up with structured training, as well as incorporating training into our daily lives and he has transformed into such a great pup. Does he still have his moments? Absolutely! But do we both know how to work through them now? Yes! Before Kelli, our days with Rocco had more frustrating moments than good ones. Now, we’re able to stay calm and get him to refocus which makes for a much calmer and happier pup. We cannot thank Kelli enough for being such an amazing trainer and for her continued advice and support. In fact, we’ve loved working with her so much, we’re going to be enrolling our 4 year old pup, Callie, for some lessons since we’ve found she has her own things she needs to work on. Trust us when we say if your dog is making you pull your hair out, call Kelli. You won’t regret it!

Kellie OC

Amazing trainer! Our dog is afraid of most people, so we knew we needed a specific trainer for her. Kelli is fantastic, from the first time she met with my family we knew our dog was in good hands. After the three-week board and train our dog is so much better trained. Not only did she train our girl, but she gave us tools and recommendations to help keep our girl on track. I highly recommend Coffey House Dog Training for your dog.

John Jackson

Awesome experience with this business! Kellie was so great with me and my dogs. I have a 2 year old Boxer and 9 month old doodle and my house was chaos before Kellie. She came over to the house to access them and see what she could do for us.
She came up with a plan that would work for our schedule and was super flexible. We opted for the in home training sessions with a few “field trips” to help my reactive Boxer get over her fear of men with hats on 🙂
She also taught my doodle pup his manners and showed me how to calm both of them down when they are rough housing too much. I feel like I can now take my dogs to public places without feeling nervous that they will misbehave. The photo I posted shows them relaxed in a public park with a lot of kids playing around them.
Overall, Kellie is such a genuinely kind human who has a passion for pups. I still check in with her now and then and she is always quick to respond to any questions I may have. If your dog/dogs need training I cannot recommend Coffey House training enough!

kelly dunn

I adopted a severely abused 9yr German Shepard. He was left outside to fend for himself and had no training. I was referred to Kellie from a coworker, best decision I ever made. She came to the house, met my dog and we scheduled one on one training sessions from there. Kellie gave me the skills to teach my dog and get from him what I want. Plus, I've been able to use the skills learned on my grand-pupper who is 2yrs old. After 2 lessons my guy was doing everything I asked, and happy to comply with my commands. Kellie is patient and has an amazing calm spirit which has helped me understand how to deal with this big beautiful creature. She's kindly given advice when I email and is very responsive. I highly recommend her services. Whether you need intense training or teaching your pet to walk on leash Coffey House Dog Training is money well spent!

Alessandra Dazzo

Truly recommend Coffey House Dog Training. Kelli is a great trainer who listened to my concerns, provided regular feedback and was able to make me feel at ease from the very beginning. We enrolled our dog in her day training program and feel like he made some good progress toward neutrality thanks to her!