ROCK DOG CA - Private Dog Trainer in Los Angeles -

John Sanchez

Natalie is amazing! Highly recommend, no questions asked! Here’s some context about our situation before working with Natalie:

We were lucky to get two Australian Shepherd brothers from the same litter. Handling one Aussie is already challenging, but having two was a real handful, especially since we had no prior dog training experience. We were committed to giving our beautiful boys the best life possible and knew training would be essential.

Initially, we spent our hard-earned money on another local trainer who offered expensive package deals. The catch? It was all via FaceTime and Zoom calls with no in-person sessions. Post-COVID, this seemed to be the norm, and we struggled to find trainers who would meet in person. After three months of unproductive virtual training, we decided to call it quits and found Natalie.

Natalie has been a breath of fresh air. She not only worked with us in person but also tailored the training to meet each puppy’s individual needs. In just three in-person sessions, we saw significant improvements. She helped correct behaviors, addressed separation anxiety in the first session, improved leash walking, recall, reactivity, and socialization. By the third session, we were taking the pups to the beach for socialization.

Natalie gave my sister and me the confidence we needed. She’s incredibly knowledgeable, easy to work with, and quickly identifies and addresses issues. We couldn’t be happier with the progress. Thank you so much, Natalie, for all your help! We look forward to the next phase of training!

Nick LaRue

My wife and I hired Natalie to help us with our dog’s leash aggression issues in 2021. At 50+ pounds, my wife could barely control him during walks when we came upon other dogs walking. After training with Natalie, not only was he no longer aggressive but he could walk OFF LEASH and we had no worries about him around other dogs, people or vehicles. It’s now been three years since his (and our) training and he is still doing great. We highly recommend Natalie for training and have even reached out for beginning train with our newest addition.

Jill Helman

Oh my gosh!!! What a blessing to have Natalie come into our lives. Natalie is the dog trainer for us! In just one session, my dog, Benny, is no longer pulling on the leash and reactive towards dogs. We still have some issues to work on and have seen her three times and each time we see her, Benny and myself learn so much. My anxiety is so much less and we are having such a more balanced life! Thank you Natalie! xoxo

Cas Ascheri

Natalie is great at training dogs, but especially HUMANS. The main focus at Rock Dog is to teach owners how to train their dog, the job doesn’t end when the dogs start to behave. It’s been a pleasure learning how to be better trainers for our pups.

We have seen a MASSIVE improvement in our female dogs’ behavior. Rose and Riley couldn’t be anywhere near each other a month ago, and now they’re napping in the same room. They’re not best friends, but they can be around each other more peacefully now, which is exactly what we wanted. Even Buddy, who is generally avoidant of Rose, has warmed up to her significantly.

Thanks to Natalie’s flexibility and understanding of our dogs, we’ve been able to train them in the way that works best for THEM. There’s no one way to do it. Thank you so much Natalie & Rock Dog!

Justin Vajgert

Natalie and Rockdog is somewhat of a miracle worker. We had a dog that was fairly well trained but, when we adopted a rescued, we started to experience som real issues. The rescue was extremely reactive to basically any moving creature. Animals, kids, adults. Easily spooked/triggered by fast movements and that equaled lots of aggressive barking and lunging. Our other dog picked up on this and started barking and lunging as well. Not good. We weren’t going to give up on them but, we were also at what seemed like an impasse. Enter Rock Dog. After an initial evaluation with Natalie, we felt hopeful but, a little nervous as she suggested E-Collar training. We were VERY opposed to this but, we felt like we were running out of options and Natalie promised the dogs would not associate us with the collar/any pain. Well, after one training session, we saw the light. Natalie showed us proper technique and collar etiquette along with training exercises and honestly that first session was when we started seeing a transformation in the dogs. After continued training and work, we’re proud to say we have some incredibly well behaved dogs. The beauty of a good e-collar is that you can use the vibrate and dial down the intensity of the knick function. Once the dogs understand it, you rarely need anything but vibrate. We don’t go anywhere without them now. Our only regret is not using them sooner.
They’re spoiled and Natalie likes to tease us about that but, there’s no doubt they’re well behaved, good dogs. We’re so lucky to have met Natalie and have been privileged to work with her. The dogs recall of leash and general behavior is incredible.

Natalie Steinhilber

Natalie is truly amazing. She helped me train my puppy Sherman before my family and I moved across country. He primarily needed potty training, leash training, and attachment training. He was a street dog prior to coming to us and had a lot of insecurity and attachment issues. Natalie was able to help after only a couple of sessions but we stuck with her as long as we could before we moved because we realized quickly consistency is key. She is really knowledgeable about dog training and communicative. You can tell she really cares about the well being of the dog and we felt like she tailored the sessions based on Sherman’s evolving needs. She would check in with us after each session to see how Sherman was doing which we really appreciated. Our pup responded really well to e-collar training and we rarely have to use it anymore. He was even able to be in our wedding and people compliment us on how well behaved he is! I think beyond being the amazing dog he is, a lot of that has to do with us working with Natalie. We love Rock Dog and can’t say enough good things!

Michele Vanlochem

We had 3 trainers before Natalie working with us to help our large rescue dog and his reactive tendencies. Nothing helped. When I contacted Natalie, we were given a warning by our condo building that our dog had scared some other residents with dogs and that something had to be done, or else....To say that I was stressed out is an understatement. We love our dog, but I was seriously thinking of re-homing him. Enter Natalie- who is lovely and real and speaks like a normal person- not like other dog trainers who have ego and use terminology to confuse the people- and after 1 session she gave us the confidence and the tools to make a huge difference! Natalie came a total of 3 times just to solidify the gains that we had made, and brought 3 small dogs one time and 2 huge dogs to see how to deal with different situations. She staged different scenarios with the dogs in the lobby, garage, and elevators (areas that we were having problems with) to make sure that the problems were eliminated. Natalie listens, watches the dog's reactions very closely, and teaches you how to best correct the issue. All in a way that makes sense and allows you to feel comfortable that you can handle any situation that arises. Honestly, she is amazing and I would recommend her to anyone. Now, we just enjoy our dog- the way it should be.

jenna jacoby

We hired Natalie to train our crazy, reactive frenchie, girls. It was such an amazing experience. With her guidance, we’ve established a better routine for our girls and our house is much more peaceful. Natalie is kind and confident but firm, it’s just what our stubborn girls needed. We are grateful for Natalie’s expertise and would highly recommend her.