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We just want to say thank you so much for all your training! I called John when we got Lulu, our mini Goldendoodle, when she was 8 weeks old. At 9 weeks, I was dying because I couldn’t sleep due to her barking all night in the crate and needing to go to the bathroom every 2 hours. The second I called John, he was excellent and came over to our house. He first taught us how to use the crate which helped Lulu sleep better at night and that helped to take down the barking (one of our biggest worries since we lived in an apartment at the time). After that, he encouraged us to go out to and came with us to restaurants and shopping malls to help with her engaging with other people. We wanted to watch her with people as they pet her and interact with her to make sure that she was calm and friendly. That was something that was really important to us because we really wanted to take her all over as we travel a lot. Now she can go 5-6 hours on flights from the east coast to the west coast, lays down as we eat dinner out and remains nice and calm whenever we are out and about. We just wanted to say thank you so much John for all you training. He was a huge, huge, huge help when we really needed it. We have the best dog ever.
We got in contact with John after a friend of ours (who used the same breeder we did) recommended him to us. We had a big goofball named Cash, a big Goldendoodle, who was nervous around people and would bark at them which made people wary of him. On top of that, we were also starting our own breeding program and were looking for help with some behavioral aspects as well as giving our clients the right puppy for their home. John over the phone was professional and personable so I had my husband meet him with Cash. Cash barked at him but John stayed calm and never made Cash do anything he didn’t want to do. We did group lessons with Cash and through the instructions we got, Cash got considerably better to the point he passed the CGC! We still work with him but he leaves it on command, goes out in public with almost no issues and he is a dream with our young kids.
With the breeding program, John has written documents for us to give to clients, spent time doing puppy personality tests while giving full explanations as to what he is doing, and has been a 24/7 resource for all puppy parents that get a puppy from Sunkissed. He has made himself and integral part of the program and we feel like we have the knowledge we need to make the best choices for our pups. If we ever have a question, I always feel comfortable asking John. Not only have we found a great trainer but a great friend that we can always depend on. Thank you John for everything that you do for Cash and the breeding program. We will always recommend John!
When I first met John, he was hosting a free playgroup for puppies. I thought mine was going to be kicked out for being too energetic. When I asked if it was ok, he laughed and said not to worry, he would make sure everyone had fun. My boxer puppy, Ali, loved the playgroup and John. Ali was terrified of almost everything and I stressed out quite a bit. However, John was patient and answered every time I called him. He worked with Ali’s fear and through positive reinforcement, Ali became CGC certified. I was over the moon and even named John in my will to take Ali if something was to ever happen to me.
Sadly, Ali passed at 4 years old suddenly and I was heartbroken. I called John even then and he helped to make me feel better and help me grieve. The only way to patch this whole in my heart was with another boxer pup, Oscar Ali. Oscar was a different personality all together! He was wild and overfriendly! He loved everyone and didn’t seem to mind me at all. John came to the rescue. He showed me how everything we learned with Ali could be applied to Oscar. We had to change a few things but it went great! Oscar also passed his CGC and I have never been more proud of him and myself. We love John and think he is the only trainer we will ever use. We can’t recommend him more highly!
From the first time he walked through our door we could see that John has an incredible connection and understanding of dogs. Our mini Bernedoodle pup, Koa, was a bundle of energy and was generally not listening to our direction. John took one step into our house and had Koa sitting at attention. Of course, a lot of the instruction is for the owners and we can be more difficult to train than the dogs, but John has a very effective and kind method of training. We confidently recommend John to train any dog…just wish he was still here in Southern California!
With gratitude,
The Sakimoto Family
We called John after being recommended him by a few friends of ours. He came out to our House and Murphy, our big goldendoodle, just loved him (maybe a bit too much!). He taught us how to do all the basics as well as how to go out in public with our big goofball and with consistent practice, Murphy improved quite a bit! Now we can be outside gardening with our dog, and he will not leave the property without permission! We go camping and on roadtrips in our RV and Murphy is a perfect companion. He responds, behaves and is just a perfect member of the family. John still messages us every so often to check in on Murphy (who is going on 3 now) and still pops by every so often to say hi. Murphy just loves him and will not leave John alone until he leaves. Thank you so much John for everything. We love Murphy and your help has made him so much better. We couldn’t recommend John enough!
We have been working with John for the past 3 years and he has become much more than our "dog trainer". We have had multiple trainers, but none of them took the time to get to know the owner of the dog. In order for us to train our dogs, we had to be "trained", and John is just as good with us as he is with our dogs. He is patient, light-hearted, and is very intelligent in many fields. His background has made him a well rounded guy, and is someone we trusted right off the bat. You can hire any dog trainer, but being able to have a great conversation and have fun learning the way dogs thin is what made the process so much easier and much more fun. I recommend John for any job, he is awesome to work with and brightens any room he walks into.
John is an amazing Dog Trainer and I am so lucky to have found him. I have a Labrador Retriever puppy, Tater that I started training on my own via YouTube videos (mostly due to covid constraints) and got her through basic training. She then completed an intermediate obedience group class at a local pet store but I did not get what I was looking for in this class and continued to train via YouTube. I was given John's name from a co-worker who strongly recommended him. From the first time we spoke he was professional and very personable. He listened to what I was looking for in training and made sure he answered all my questions. My puppy, Tater loved John from the very first session and still gets excited every time she sees him. John is very knowledgeable and he truly loves dogs and wants them to be their best. I have learned so much from him and couldn't be more pleased with all he has taught me as well as my dog. Due to lack of socialization during Covid my puppy was initially timid with other dogs and people and John arranged various interactions so he could guide us on reading her cues and when to re-direct if my dog was uncomfortable. It was also important to me that she was calm with people and kids during her interactions and he helped her master that. He not only trains the dog, but the owner as well and has helped correct mistakes I was making. He has many strategies to teach the dog what is being asked of them so if one method doesn't work he is able to use others until they get it. He is truly gifted at what he does. He is kind and gentle and doesn't use any harmful training devices or techniques to get desired results. He conducts his training sessions in a variety of settings to address all issues and concerns as well as to provide well rounded training. John has trained in our house, public parks, local malls, and encouraged further training in restaurants and coffee houses. I couldn't be happier with the success i have seen in my dog. Tater is currently getting ready to test for her CGC certification and she will succeed thanks to his expertise in training. Although John doesn't live in CA anymore he does come to town frequently so I set up sessions when he is here. In between training sessions he gives us things to work on and is always available to answer questions via call, text or FaceTime. He is the only trainer I will ever use and I highly recommend him to anyone who truly wants to bring out the best in themselves as well as their dog. I can't recommend John enough.
5 stars!!! We met John when Louie was almost 3 years old. Although a loving and sweet pup, due to life/ work and COVID, Louie had not been leash trained. Louie was very scared of his leash and would visibly panic when it was placed on him. John is kind, patient and meticulous in his guidance. He is thorough and takes time to explain “why” a pup does, or does not act or react. With his guidance, and lots of love, Louie became more confident and successfully was able to start walking! This was not a quick process and we could not have done it on our own. John really a cares about the families he works with and we can call him if we have any questions. We just rescued a second puppy and are excited for John to start working with us again!
When Lily first came to live with us, she was considered a member of the family immediately, as has been the case with all our furry confidants. It became apparent within days of bringing Lily home that she was no ordinary canine. Lily is a Catahoula, aka Louisiana Leopard Dog. Although very sweet and accepting of us, she was (and still is), a spinning orb of energy - unlike my family has ever dealt with before. Lily, like most intelligent dogs, is also stubborn; like dug her heels in, "I know exactly what you want me to do but I'm not doing it on command. Not at this moment, anyway." kind of stubborn. Lily is also the 'nervous Nelly' type. We knew we were in over our heads. Enter John. Within moments of meeting Lily for the first time, he was able to capture and keep her attention. He was able to calm her with little effort and even get her to 'sit', as well as 'wait' by the second and third training sessions. She picked up on both of those initial training commands from John almost immediately. I knew then, as I had already suspected, that Lily was more than just average in the intelligence department and I knew that John was the person for the job. Training Lily was a challenge and it took longer than I'd ever had to spend on any other furry family member, but John was with me and my family every step of the way. With regular home visits as well as articles and books that John knew of and continued to research, we eventually got Lily to that comfortable place where we could trust her to listen to us immediately as well as monitor her own habits and behavior, such as staying on the property. (THAT one was a head-banger.) Lily is a wonderful, courteous and well-behaved member of our family and the ONLY reason for that is John. John's approach to training seemed, at first, to be too relaxed. I had to work on myself a bit to really implement the ideology of positive reinforcement solely, because as I said, Lily was a challenge. She is smart. As a puppy, she was stubborn and mischievous. She would not allow her wants and needs to be ignored. I will not mince any words here; Lily was a difficult and exasperating handful. John knew this going in and he never gave up on Lily OR me; nor did he allow me to. Today, Lily is the most incredible dog I've ever known and I am so lucky to have her in my life. She is loyal, protective, obedient, comical and truly my best friend and I owe that to John. Thank you, John, from ALL of us.
When we got our very first dog we knew we had to look for some guidance on how to train her. There is nothing worse than a dog you love that is uncontrollable and or unsafe around other people. So we asked around and were referred to John at Barkology 101, and so thankful that we were! We had several one on one sessions with John when our Sadie was just a puppy. He showed us how to work on the basics…stay…leave it…wait…come..etc. We were consistent with our trainings and are so thankful we did. She is such a pleasure to have around!
Then we were inspired by a family member to have her trained to a higher degree to be able to bring her into nursing homes and Alzheimer’s facilities to visit with the residents and reached out to John once again for his guidance. It is truly amazing what he can do with every dog I’ve seen him work with! He has a gift that dogs gravitate to and even more impressive he is able to teach us humans how to keep that consistency of training with our pups to create lasting affects of each training session. After two months Sadie passed the Canine Good Citizen (CGC) and now visits and is loved on by so many people. We could not have done it without him! Everywhere we go, and I mean everywhere, people remark on how well behaved she is! Thank you John!
John is an amazing trainer we have worked with for individual private sessions for several months. We were looking for a trainer that offers predominantly positive reinforcement training to help advance our puppy boot camp learning and also give tips on how to work more cohesively with our other already established and stubborn older dog. John was always on time and gave his full attention for the full hour, allowing us to focus on what we felt was important for that session or other issues that we brought up on the fly. His methods were effective both when he demonstrated and also when we practiced; but to be learned they do need to be practiced/reinforced even when the session is over. He makes the instructions manageable and goals achievable for success for you and your dog. He was also very open to being contacted outside of the sessions for quick questions and feedback to keep your training to track, which I very much appreciated! We’ve been very satisfied with John and his methods and would not hesitate to recommend him for dog training for all dog personalities! .
John was the best dog trainer we’ve had! He really understands dogs, and their different personalities. He not only helped our dogs, but us as their owners as well. John helped us reach one of our goals, which was to get our dog Teddy CGC certified, and he passed with flying colors! We initially did private in-home lessons with John, and then also group sessions to help with our other dog with some social/leash aggression. Both in-home and group lessons really helped us as dog owners and the dogs themselves; both not achievable without John!
-Missy
John was a godsend for our dogs. Not only did he do an amazing job on training and helping us but he’s a veritable wealth of knowledge when it comes to health and fitness for the dogs and our family! We would never consider anyone else.
- Betty