Whole Dog University

The puppy training at Whole Dog with Ruth was different than what I’d seen with past dogs I’ve owned. And I loved it! The emphasis at Whole Dog on socialization and confidence building, along with breed-specific needs, transforms the puppy class from the usual “This is how you train sit” to “This is how you get a dog that isn’t reactive or afraid and will view you as the leader, but is also ok with being alone”. And I’m absolutely seeing the positive results with my 15 week Cavachon, George. Obedience training will be the next step and we’ll be returning for that. And maybe even for some more advanced off-leash training.

We got our pup at 6mo of age and she was basically feral at the time. So, everything she encountered was new to her. She was VERY reactive and not fun to walk or meet new people despite being very smart and quick to learn basic commands. At 14mo of age we gave up and enrolled her in Ruth's residence program where she was with Ruth every single day, all day long, for 2 weeks. Ruth got her around every type of person, store, noise, object available, and by the end of the 2 weeks, we had a new dog! Using her instructions, we've even been able to walk with her and not experience her growling/barking at other dogs or pulling on the leash. It was worth every penny to get this training. The socialization and de-escalation techniques are working so well while the obedience commands were an extra b

Our experience with Ruth was amazing! We got our dog from the shelter back in April. She was about a year old and definitely had plenty of issues as a result of being a stray + being adopted/given back within a month. We had a consultation with Ruth within a few weeks of adopting Piper. Ruth went through every single issue we were experiencing in heavy detail and we spent several hours talking through everything. During that consultation, she suggested letting Piper adjust to her new environment before starting obedience training, and gave us super helpful knowledge about handling the dog in the meantime. We eventually started obedience training, and I was so impressed by Ruth's approach each week. We learned how to do all of the basic commands, but she also kept up with all of the other

Our experience with Ruth and her basic obedience training was amazing. We took our 6 month old pup with zero obedience and now we can have him sit, stay, heel, go to his place, and the list goes on. We did 6 private lessons (which I would recommend) and she sculpted our class to fit our needs and address behavioral problems. I would absolutely recommend her to anyone who is interested in becoming a better pack leader to their pet. Edit 2 years later: My pup is still an amazing dog and now we just expanded to a second pup who has her own needs. In a little distress, we spoke with Ruth about some of our concerns with our 18 week new puppy and how to integrate two dogs. She was again amazing and provided her expert knowledge which instantly transformed our experience as dog owners for the bet

The training was a lifesaver for our new pup. We were overwhelmed at first, but now he's a completely different dog. Ruth’s expertise really helped us out! Our pit bull mix had a laundry list of behaviors we had to work through but she was with us every step of the way.