Follow The Leader K9 - Santa Barbara, California

bryan babineau

I highly recommend Follow The Leader K9. Eric and his team are wonderful people, and the dog training is very professional. My dog’s behavior has transformed in just a few weeks.

I spent a considerable amount of time researching online training programs for my 3 year old Doberman, and came to the conclusion that I didn’t know which method would be best for my dog. After an initial consultation with Eric, he explained what motivates my dog and how to leverage that, along with the appropriate methods and tools, to be successful with training. A key factor was establishing “house rules” so the dog learned how to be calm and relaxed, which made it possible to curb behaviors such as barking, chasing squirrels and leash pulling - and be ready to use his energy and focus on the training.

Natalie Pozuelos

We are so grateful to have found Eric and his amazing team! Working with them has been such a wonderful, stress-free experience from the start. They truly go above and beyond to tailor their services to meet our dogs' individual needs, and the level of communication is exceptional. It’s clear that they always make sure we’re all on the same page to ensure the best possible outcome for everyone—especially our dogs. Eric and his team are incredibly kind, and most importantly, our dogs absolutely LOVE seeing them for both walks and training.

One of the things that has really stood out is how Eric thought outside the box to address our dog's fear and anxiety. No challenge was too big, and Eric never said no. He adapted his training approach as our dog's needs changed, always adjusting and staying flexible.

We’ve been working with Eric for a few months now, and we feel incredibly lucky to have found a team we trust and love. Their dedication, kindness, and expertise have made a world of difference for our dogs—and for us. Highly recommend!

Frances San Martin

I was looking for a dog trainer while on an assignment in California. It took me a while but a friend recommended follow the leader K9. I decided to follow on instagram to see what they offered and make sure that they were a right fit for me and Huxley my one year old goldador. I tried to go to other training classes somewhere else but it seemed that they weren’t helping with my problem but instead of teaching us new tricks. Follow the leader K9 was able to help myself and Huxley how to deal without jumping, leash walking (no pulling), e-collar training and prong collar. I was extremely happy that they make the time to squeeze me in that week since I was leaving within a month and only had three weeks to begin and finish training. We were able to train Huxley with only 5 sessions. It was hard to do with working and trying to train him but I felt as though the follow the leader K9 team was able to get me through it. They were tough at times, which was fine to tell me what I was doing wrong but mainly they were very encouraging and telling me that I was doing a great job with such a short amount of time. If I didn’t move back to the east coast I would continue to do in person training. Thankfully I spoke to my trainer and asked if he would be able to do training if I needed to online. Would definitely recommended these trainers. Thank you follow the leader K9 team for helping us out and making sure that Huxley is such a good boy and a very well trained dog.

Marissa Jones

I cannot recommend Eric (and his team) enough! We took in a 70lb Husky foster with significant energy and reactionary issues, and the Follow the Leader team donated time and worked wonders with him. They gave us tools that completely changed our experience. He skillfully uncovered the amazing dog hiding beneath all those challenges. Eric's effective training techniques made all the difference, not just for our dog but for me as well. He truly helped transform our foster to uncover the true a "diamond in the ruff". Thanks to Eric (and his team), I am excited to continue fostering.

Eric Dahlke

We brought our jumbo pittie to follow the k9 leader as we had a baby on the way, and since we were unsure of his past (untrained rescue) we figured some formal training was in order. We worked primarily with Eric and Katia, and it is clear they know their craft very well and take it extremely seriously. We got near instantaneous results (getting into the car on his own was a game changer) and it was clear that Bubba enjoyed his time there each day. Our sweet dog is now a well trained sweet dog. You can expect some positive results if you take your dog to follow the k9 leader.

Hilary Perez

I came to Eric when I was feeling stuck with some behavioral issues my two German shepherds were having. He was easily able to identify some of the things that were causing these problems in my dogs and explained to me different things I could implement to help find solutions to those problems.

Eric has a gift of being able to read dog behavior incredibly well. He understands that every dog is an individual with varied personalities and motivators, and he tailors his training approach to what is best for each dog and each owner. There could be multiple solutions to a single problem, and Eric will show you all of them and work with you to decide which solutions would work best for you and your dog.

I had been perplexed with trying to understand my problems with my dogs and why they were behaving in specific ways, and Eric was able to give me answers. I feel much more confident managing my dogs now and wouldn’t hesitate to ask Eric for help again should any issues arise in the future.

Natalie Nichols

Eric, Katia, and the team have been a pleasure to work with. I brought my dog Roxy in for training and socialization after adopting her from the shelter. They donated time to us and helped work closely with me to find habits and tools that will work for us. Both Roxy and I (mainly me) have learned so much. Check them out!

Erinn Kohler

There are so many AMAZING things I want to share about Eric and his team at Follow the Leader K9, we are so very fortunate to have found them. From day one, even minute one, Eric was actively engaged in understanding not only our needs, but most importantly the needs of our 2 month old pit mix puppy that we had just adopted. Lacie is a very sweet girl, but had no ‘off button’ and was full of typical puppy energy, we weren’t sleeping at all. We felt welcomed and supported from the start; Eric’s confident, kind and inquisitive approach to start working with Lacie provided a great sense of relief that we had found the right place. After just two months of training with Eric, she has made huge strides. She is now happy and quiet in her kennel, she is learning to be patient and hang out with us between play sessions, her structured play is becoming focused and controlled, and our minds are at ease that she is getting important healthy socialization with other dogs and other people. Eric posts lots of video updates and content we can watch to be sure we are on the same page with her when she comes home. We feel like Lacie is really part of an extended family who truly cares about her, will keep her safe, and will give her important development skills each time we bring her to training or day camp. I truly feel like Eric and team have gone above and beyond to provide the flexibility that our family needs, and that Lacie needs, to find a balance of what works for our unique situation. Now at only 4 months old, Lacie has come so far, and we are super excited by the potential we can see as she continues to grow and learn! Thank you Eric, Katia, and team!