Gary Maria’s Professional Dog Training

Gary was a fantastic dog trainer! I am sure I am about to reiterate what many of the other reviews are covering but it is worth saying. We have a high energy dog that we could barely manage and as time went by, combined with our bad communication with our dog, she deteriorated in her behavior and something had to be done. We initially called Gary because we knew we needed one on one training to get the most out of it and we also did not want to take our little beast into a box store. So we called Gary and together we worked out a great schedule and he made a great initial assessment of our dog and most likely of us as owners, as well.
Gary gave us numerous skills to help train and develop our dog so that she has a better quality of life. Gary actually spent very little time working with our dog and spent the majority of our time together training us as owners, which I believe will have a much more rewarding outcome. The epiphany that it isn’t our dog that needs to be retrained but it was us as owners in how we interact with our dog and how we communicate with her is priceless. Not that he ignored our dog, she liked him more than us and on the morning of our training session she would be visibly excited because she seemed to enjoy the training session.
In summary, my wife and I can now walk our dog without her pulling us along, jumping at other dogs or cars, and without constant barking. She is now calm and enjoys our walks, she also loves the other training tools we learned together. My dog is happier and that makes both my wife and I so much happier as well. Gary is very patient and helpful, he is always available for questions or concerns, I have recommended him to my friends and family and will continue to do so whenever someone asks why my dog is so calm now, which people now do because our dog has calmed down so much.

If you’re serious about dog training then Gary Is the way to go. We adopted a one year old dog who had issues with dog/​leash aggression. He’s not perfect but we were given the right direction and tools with Gary. Group classes were too general and were a waste of time and money.
Gary’s training is definitely a pricey investment (hence the 4 stars) but the one-​on-​one training for both you AND your pup is worth it. He’s so knowledgable and friendly. Definitely hope to do more training with him in the future!

Gary was a fantastic dog trainer and absolutely recommend him to anyone who is new to having a dog. He helped us with our dog Curry and really is such a great, patient, and encouraging trainer, both for us and Curry!
He showed us a variety of tools and commands and taught us how to really work with our puppy to make our day to day lives so enjoyable and Curry is really thriving.
Gary clearly loves dogs and really developed a great connection with Curry. He wants the best for dogs and the dog owner!

Gary is amazing! It is obvious from the first visit that he LOVES dogs — even your troublesome one! Each week we were given new tools on how to communicate with our dog, how to get him to walk with us, come to us, sit/​stay etc. we also learned about easy things that we could incorporate into our day that show our dog that we are the boss and keep him from chewing on things. We looked forward to our meetings every week — having Gary come to our home was SO CONVENIENT and made it easy. We have seen great changes in our dog and plan to continue training him with the lessons we learned from Gary. We definitely recommend him!

I called Gary a couple weeks ago in desperation after a bad week trying to potty train our brand new puppy. We thought we were making progress and doing everything that we had read in our multiple puppy books. But after one day with 7 accidents in the house it was obvious it wasn’t working and we needed help. Gary came to our house for one hour. He met our puppy and listened to what we had been doing and when the accidents were happening. He gave us instructions for the next week that were a LOT of work. But it really paid off. In that week we had only 4 accidents, and I think all of them were our fault. We really feel like we are on the right path now, and couldn’t be more thankful for Gary’s experience and advice.

This review is long overdue! Gary was so amazing with my dog, Snoop, who was starting to have some aggression issues. He totally catered to us and really got to know Snoop as a dog, which helped to find the right tools to change his behavior. He was always very patient and accommodating with us as well as Snoop. We did a total of 7 – 8 sessions, some being inside the house some outside, some with Snoop alone and some with our other dog.
Snoop has responded really well to the methods Gary taught us and we can really see an improvement in both his behavior and overall attitude.
I would HIGHLY recommend Gary’s services to anyone who wants to have a great relationship with their dog! The price is absolutely nothing for the quality of training and education you will get. Thanks Gary!

Gary helped us understand what was going on with our 18 mo rescue dog and taught us how to best help him with his fear and aggression issues. It takes a commitment to practice, practice, practice the techniques but we have definitely made progress! He’s always available for questions and gave us the confidence to know we can really help our dog to get balanced and happy.

Abby was my first dog as an adult. We watched Cesar Milan videos, bought books, took her to puppy training school – really tried to do everything right. Two years later, she’s a great dog, but not everything was the way we wanted.
Gary taught us a new way to relate to our dog. He gave us concrete tools. He introduced them one by one, taking care to ensure that we got them right and that Abby responded. With Gary’s help, we went from requiring a bulky harness to walking Abby confidently on a leash. We are able to calm her down around new people, and the majority of the time she doesn’t even bark at strangers in the street.
Working with Gary was far better then taking our dog to a class or watching a video. In our videos, there were little things we missed (or maybe they weren’t there?) that made a big difference. It’s like training with Jillian Michaels instead of watching a Jillian Michaels video. As for the local puppy classes, we felt Abby never got the individualized attention she needed. (It may have done more harm than good!) By contrast, Gary got straight to the point, used our time well, and was careful not to wear Abby out.

Gary was wonderful. He trained our two year old Dachshund, Wink, who had anxiety problems. It’s clear he loves dogs and answered any and all questions we had. He made the whole process very comfortable, easy, and fun. We see huge improvements with Wink. We feel like we understand our dog much better and can now cater to his needs better. We plan to hire Gary back again to train our two year old Golden as well. Gary is nice, articulate, and I would recommend him to anyone looking to train their dog!

Gary helped us train our 6-​year old Labradoodle who was having aggression issues toward other dogs. He taught us proactive techniques to create a more calm /​controlled environment when coming into contact with other dogs. And, he taught us techniques to re-​direct our dog when the environment couldn’t be controlled as easily. Gary was able to assess our dog, listen to our needs and develop a training plan. He is very professional and nice to work with. I recommend giving Gary a call if you and your dog are in need of training.

I met Gary 15 years ago when he trained our first dog. We did basic obedience including off leash training with our wonderful but stubborn Lab. After a few months, she was well trained, easy and reliable off leash, and much more pleasant than the crazy puppy I started out with. In fact, she was so off-​the-​wall crazy that when I introduced myself to Gary over the phone, I told him I thought she was actually psycho. He listened patiently and said that its unusual, but it can happen. When he met her, he laughed and informed me that she was a playful puppy with a mind of her own.
Ten years ago my next project with Gary was our new 5 month old German shepherd who was very sweet but extremely timid. She was a project but Gary’s methods build confidence in the dog (and the owner!). I saw progress every week, and when we were done my girl was confident and relaxed, and perfect off leash at the dog park; she’s never had an issue with another dog or person. With Gary’s help we were able to give her a nice life, not one lived in fear. And at 10, she’s still going strong.
Our newest addition is a male German shepherd puppy. As Gary pointed out, he is an ultra-​sensitive boy. We pay attention to that as we’re working with him so he doesn’t get overwhelmed. Gary has a keen ability to read a dog and know its temperament right away.
I’ve worked with many trainers over the years, some of them well known and very highly regarded. Gary is the best of the best. His training (which is essentially teaching me how to train my dog) is highly effective and creates a wonderful bond between my dog and myself. Gary is very professional, knowledgeable, and a ton of fun to work with. And the dogs love him! I cannot recommend Gary highly enough.

Gary is fantastic! I called Gary to train my dog, Dexter, a Lab/​Terrier mix, who needed a bit of basic training. I signed Dexter up for a six-​week one on one series. The sessions were about 45 minutes once weekly. Dexter learned all of the basic commands — sit; stay; down; on leash training; etc. Gary was very professional, showed so much respect and affection towards Dexter, and really taught him to relax and be more calm. I highly recommend Gary as a professional trainer and would call him again in the future! Thanks Gary!

Gary is great! We recently adopted an extremely energetic whippet mix that kept jumping up on us, wasn’t potty trained, and pulled on leash. We called Gary and immediately after our first meeting we started see improvements. He basically taught us how to interact with our dog so that she knew what we wanted her to do. One thing to understand, however, is that training your dog is not an instantaneous thing. It takes a lot of patience and time. Gary is extremely knowledgeable, an excellent teacher, and gives clear explanations. I highly recommend Gary. Our whippet mix is a pleasure to be around now, the jumping up on people rarely happens, she doesn’t pull on leash, she looks at me for direction now and it is all still improving.

I contacted Gary Maria to help me train my French bulldog Tucker on some basic manners before I was due with twins. Tucker would not obey in public while on a leash. He got over excited when he saw dogs and would pull like crazy. I was unable to get his attention. He also wasn’t a fan of loud noises and of unknown men approaching him. Not only did Gary help Tucker with his issues, he also helped train me on what I was doing wrong. On day one, needless to say, Tucker was not a fan of Gary. But by day 2 the following week, Tucker was already excited to work and learn. It was so nice to see how quick I could see the changes with the work we put in at home given the tools from Gary. The best thing is once you work with him, he is always available for any future questions. He encourages you to call for anything you might need even 10 years down the road. I understand that training can be expensive, but it’s well worth it with Gary.
Tiffany

I called Gary Maria to help us with our dogs fearful and aggressive behavior. He came to our home and our dog took to him right away. He has a very good way with dogs and uses a reward system that dogs like. We signed up for both on and off leash training. Our dog responded very well and we are very happy with the results. Only wish we had found him sooner, like when she was a puppy. Would have been good for all of us. We continue to use his methods and our dog is a better dog.
Thank you Gary!

To say Gary helped us is an understatement! Did he train my dogs or me? That is the question! He trained me! He helped me to understand so many amazingly important things to make my life more peaceful, more pleasant and to understand my dogs thoroughly! I have two very large Rhodesian Ridgebacks. So basically I hired Gary twice to train them/​me both times. They are sensitive babies with two completely separate issues. To explain here all that he did, in my opinion, is useless. If you are reviewing Gary to try to decide to hire him or not what is most important to know is how passionate he is about your dog and you! He wants everyone in the house to be peaceful. He wants YOU to understand your dog so you can guide and interact with your dog and keep it out off the streets, or out of the hands of some dog catcher. All aspects of dogs behavior he seems to understand. Their fears, why they are so fearful, how I can help shape them, love them, keep them calm. Gary listens. GARY LISTENS… how critical is that to you and your situation with your unique dog? For me, personally, he had to listen twice to two completely opposite scenarios. One fearful dog who will chase a small kid if given the chance (now I know how not to give him the chance!) thanks to Gary. Other issue is separation anxiety, how this came on, what I can do to ease the dog, comfort the dog, help my pup with his self esteem even. The tricks and trades I learned are astonishingly simple really, but I just wouldn’t have thought of them myself. My dogs are very obviously more playful, happier, and the sole reason I give this is that I’m engaging with them more, and this is largely in part to hiring Gary and learning all the new techniques I learned. Wordy? Yes, but think about it. Isn’t your dog like your kids? Don’t you really want them to be respectful, well behaved and proud of them? Well, this is your chance!

He is a real nice guy and gave me some good basics but the main issue my dog needed help with he mostly ignored… I was disappointed.

I hired Gary Maria a few years ago and he’s FABULOUS! I had tried other trainers. I had even gotten to the point where I wrote to the Dog Whisperer and It’s Me or the Dog. Really! We needed help. My dog is a rescue dog, she was very insecure and she would submissively pee almost every time men came near her. It was terrible.
After Gary worked with ME for some time and taught me about dogs – my dog – we have transformed. She and I are attuned to each other, she’s transformed and outgoing, submissive peeing is a thing of the past – did that really used to happen???
I tell anyone interested in dog training that Gary was absolutely invaluable in helping me bring out the best in my dog, and the part I didn’t count on is he helped bring out the best in me too. :)
Thanks, Gary!

We had Gary train our Pug puppy Buster. We did in home training and Gary was always a little early and stayed a little late. He gave Buster homework after every session that we worked on during the week and built on during each class.
It’s been three years since we hired Gary and we use his commands and techniques successfully every day.
Gary was fun to do business with.

Gary is absolutely the best. We ‘adopted’ a pitbull puppy and we already had two poodles. It was important to get the pit under control. My wife found Gary and he is MAGIC. He’s knowledgeable and enthusiastic. His method is to train the dog but also to train the owner so the training continues after he leaves. We’ve had several trainers over the years and he’s hands down the best. Awesome guy and my dogs love him!