Testimonials

Private Training Testimonials

We have been extremely happy with our experience with Erik Weitz. I was looking for someone to help me with my dog, Newman, in our home. Newman was having problems with aggression after the birth of our twins. I was not looking for group classes and wanted someone to help me with hands-on training in my home and neighborhood. My husband and I were very worried that we were going to have to give Newman away, so we were desperate for help! Erik called right away – he also calls a couple of days before each appointment to remind me and confirm the time. He’s always been extremely professional and reassuring to both myself and Newman. My dog has a difficult time with new men, but he warmed right up to Erik. We have had huge success using his strategies and suggestions. I can now take my dog on walks with my children without worrying about him attacking another dog or person. Newman has also done well in learning new obedience commands; ones I thought he could never learn (He is a Jack Russell Terrier and can be extremely stubborn). I also like the way Erik uses a positive reward system versus punishment. My dog responds very well to it, and it makes me feel good too. Erik also sends me an email after every session with a review of what we talked about. This is really helpful for me because it’s nice to have as a reminder. While taking care of one-year old twins, I do not have time to waste. I would not spend the time working with a trainer who was not extremely helpful. Erik felt hopeful that we could change Newman’s behavior, even during the first few sessions. I would recommend Erik to anyone looking for quality dog training!!!
-Megan O.

Erik has been amazing for my dog, Smokey Desparado. I have been nothing but super satisfied. From the beginning, the information emailed to me was detailed and exactly what I wanted to know. Erik has been awesome with Smokey. He is clear in instruction and sends a detailed email of everything we went over in our lesson so I can practice at home with her. All in all, I have been completely satisfied with Erik Weitz.
-Caitlin S.

I rescued a puppy back in December and started training with Erik in January of the next year. My rescued puppy, Bailey, had never been on a collar and leash, let alone been potty trained. He was an abused puppy who was scared. All of that came to an end after meeting with Erik. He has worked with us to create a happy, healthy, productive, loving life together. We started our training with private lessons. With the informative training, we have accomplished more than I thought possible. Bailey knows his downs, sits, stays, and leave/drop it commands and I know we have come a long way on the past seven months. This would not have been possible without Erik’s professional, knowledgeable, and forth right manner. Just this past weekend we went for a long walk on the lake front and were training. Bailey has some challenges with other dogs. We were practicing a down-stay with a group of people when another dog came running in close proximity to us and Bailey NEVER broke his down stay until I told him “free”. That marked a huge improvement in his behavior!I was jumping for joy while people were still walking, running, and biking past us. I had to give Bailey a good puppy ear rub. If you are looking for a trainer that you will get positive productive results from, then Erik is who you want!
-Latipha R.

I tried two other dog training groups with very little satisfaction and was guided to Erik by a friend of mine who has trained with him. He was just what I was looking for. He is generous in his time and knowledge. I have found he has a wonderful rapport with dogs, as well as with the people train to train them! I plan to contact him from time to time for refresher courses.
-Lenny S.

Erik Weitz met with us and helped answer the many questions we had about our new puppy. He was very helpful and continues to be a great resource to us!
-Ginna R.

A private session with Erik Weitz just after I brought my Standard Poodle puppy, Jules home, provided an excellent, thorough, and much-needed refresher course on house training and other basics. I had not raised a puppy in a decade and my skills and knowledge were rusty. After Erik’s visit, things settled down nicely into a routine. Julius was housebroken within a month, and I began working with him on a few simple exercises Erik had suggested to prime us for puppy class, and to provide a solid foundation for a happy and well-adjusted canine life in general. Erik then followed up from time to time to answer any questions I might have and see how things were going.
-Pat P.

I recently started private sessions with Erik Weitz in order to address my dog, Murray’s leash aggression. I am so impressed with Erik’s knowledge and professionalism. He does a great job of explaining and demonstrating techniques and the reasoning behind them. I have no doubt that I will be able to take Murray for a walk without worrying about him attacking other dogs. I highly recommend him.
-Jenny S.

I have a very lovable, but very young Beagle. Anyone familiar with them knows they can be a handful. We work with Erik Weitz in private lessons and my dog LOVES him. He’s also great about letting me know that some of my dog’s behaviors are more my issue than hers, but he says it in a nice way. My dog is now on her way to earning a Canine Good Citizen certification.
-Nancy H.

We have a wonderful experience with our trainer, Erik Weitz. Our dog, Lilly, was adopted at four years old and, although she’s the sweetest dog in the world, she really struggled with nervousness (of other dogs, tall men, bags, having her leash put on, etc.) and had been getting scared of people coming in to the house, to the point that she had nipped at a couple ankles. After five sessions with Erik, she’s much calmer and more confident, and has made some really impressive progress on obedience and leash work. Erik taught us how to do a whole routine with her when people come over to visit and it works great, which is a huge relief for us. In general, I think that one of the most important things we got out of our training was a greater sense of confidence – we’ve learned a lot of really important general principles that we’ve already been able to use to deal with issues as they’ve come up. There was absolutely no pressure from Erik to sign up for extra sessions. In terms of style, Erik definitely tends towards positive reinforcement, which we found worked great with Lilly. He came to our home, which was essential to us, and always packed a lot into the available time. He was also willing to schedule sessions quite far apart in order to give us time to work on various things before we met again, which we found very helpful.
-Mark H.

We have worked with Erik in private sessions since we got our dog (then a 12-week old puppy) about one year ago. He has been fantastic about explaining to me how to train my dog, what various behaviors are about, and, importantly, how to train my children to train the dog. As a result, our year with Charlie has been wonderful and we regularly get compliments on his good behavior. For a terrier mix, this is high praise. In addition, Erik has been there when I needed quick answers about his emerging “resource protectiveness” and health issues when I can’t reach my vet. He is extremely knowledgeable and truly cares about his clients, both human and canine. I consider the money I’ve spent to be a great investment.
-Amy H.

I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I agreed to foster a dog. And G was not just any dog. She was high energy and a breed that most people frown upon. I needed help. Fortunately I found Erik. Not only was he flexible in his timing and but experienced the chaos that I volunteered to bring into my life, firsthand, every time he came to me. He was consistent and thorough. Everything he taught us made sense. Although learning the basic commands were important, he taught us much more about functioning on a daily basis. And because of that I realized that although it would be much easier to ship G off to be trained by someone else, the training was actually much more important for me. It is because of Erik that I knew I had to adopt G and that her next path is to become a therapy dog. If only Erik would move to Colorado…
-Stacy W.

I knew that I wanted to adopt a dog. After gaining experience working with rescue dogs that had “issues” at a local shelter, I considered myself ready and excited. But when I adopted and brought home a seven-month old mixed breed who showed what I considered pretty extreme aggression, I knew I needed help. Erik has been coming to my home to give private lessons and it is because of him that I was able to help my dog learn not to live in constant fear. Not only has Erik taught me how to work with my dog and build trust, but I also have a constant support system through him. He is personable, attentive, patient, and he makes it clear that he really cares.
-Kate M.

In March, I rescued an eight-pound, two-year old Pomeranian with behavior issues. Words can not express how please I am with the training Erik has provided. When we first started, my dog, Fagan, was severely reactive to dogs, kids, skateboards, bikes, joggers, etc. I only took him for walks at off-“peak” times. My only hope was that Fagan would become at least indifferent to all these triggers. My expectations have been well exceeded as Fagan now interacts with dogs we meet on our walks. More impressively, Fagan is able to handle having another dog in the home as well as visiting friends’ homes with dogs. In six months, this is simply amazing. I can not thank Erik enough.
-Deb P.

Erik Weitz is wonderful. I adopted a Golden Retriever last Fall who had no socialization and barked at everyone, as he was left outside for the first year of his life. After a few meetings with Erik, who gave me several useful and helpful tips, Cody barks at no one and is becoming well-adjusted to the city.
-Jennifer W.

My dog, Maizey, and I signed up for private training with Erik after having taken another obedience class that employed the pinch collar. We had just rescued our anxious, nervous pooch and I didn’t like using the pinch collar. It seemed to make her even more anxious, rather than teaching her calm obedience. I had no idea how our first meeting would go – normally there was no calming Maizie down when a stranger actually entered the house, other than me holding her the entire time or just removing her from the situation. However, within about 10 minutes, Erik had gotten Maizey calmed down and stopped barking, and she was even taking treats that he put on the floor for her. Erik’s extraordinary patience and obvious skill level has made a world, even a universe, of difference in our dog. Erik has proven himself patient, experienced, inventive, flexible, professional, and even fun to be with. Above all, he clearly has a love of dogs that gives him a real passion for his profession. And Maizey has grown from an anxious, untrusting dog to becoming able to relax and just enjoy life. She is totally able to deal with strangers walking by and even coming in; she can “meet and greet” other dogs in many cases, where she used to just go berserk and pull and bark non-stop. The techniques Erik taught us have given myself, and more importantly my husband, a common ground with her and a point of communication. Before we found Erik, Maizey always clung desparately to me and still, after six months, had not become comfortable around my husband. But now, he can call her, ask for a sit/down/stay, and reward her and she will respond completely without fear. Just about a month ago, she came bounding down the stairs, tail wagging, to greet him for the first time since we even got her!!!! The love and joy we share with Maizey has been enhanced a hundred times over with the skill and careful guidance of Erik. I just can’t say enough good about him!! I look forward to continuing to work with him and watching my dog blossom into a truly carefree, happy, and trusting companion.
-Pam T.

Group Training Testimonials

Erik Weitz is a consummate dog training professional. Erik’s expertise, personal attention and willingness to work with us before and after class were outstanding and instrumental in the results we saw in Sadie’s behavior. In fact, we were so happy with Erik’s skill, that we asked him to conduct private training classes for both of our dogs at our home. Needless to say, we were not disappointed. Both Satchel and Sadie are doing great, and we are so happy with how much we learned about how to deal with their behaviors. We ended training two months ago and Erik contacted us recently to follow-up and see how the dogs were doing. In summary, both my husband and I highly recommend Erik to anyone looking for dog training. We know you will love him and will be very impressed by all that you learn about how to communicate with your beloved pet.
-Ann S.

Erik’s teaching style is enthusiastic and places the success of the training on the pet owner. Basically he trains owners, not dogs : ) I intend to stick with training after Sweet Pea graduates from class because Erik is an amazing instructor. I found him to be very personable and extremely patient. Sweet Pea thinks he’s humorous and likes his passion for training!
-Kathryn K.

I was walking my beloved Jack Russell Terrier, Turlington, this morning when we came upon another dog. Turlington wagged his tail a bit and the two hounds sniffed a hello. The other dog’s owner commented “Wow, a friendly Jack Russell Terrier. You don’t see many of those.” I was taken aback by this because little Turlington wasn’t always friendly with other dogs. When we first adopted him, he would launch into a barking fit at the mere sound of jingling dog tags and we had to perform evasive maneuvers when we came across other dogs on the sidewalk. Erik Weitz helped make Turlington the well-adjusted dog he is today. We enrolled in a Dog Reactivity class and went once a month for about five months. The class focused on desensitizing the dogs to each other and we also did some basic obedience work. It was wonderful. Erik was really intuitive with the dogs and personable to boot. I couldn’t be more pleased with our experience.
-Autumn G.

Erik Weitz knows his stuff. It is great to see the puppies sit up and take notice when he demonstrates a command. Erik is patient with the puppies and new owners alike. He gives great general advice, but also takes the time to address each puppy’s needs when owners have questions.
-Carl C.

You will not be disappointed with Erik. He provides top-notch expertise and makes dog training (which can be frustrating) so much fun! My friend and I trained our puppies together – hers is a very large breed and mine is a smaller breed. Erik has expertise with all sizes and breeds of dog. My dog, in particular, had a unique issue – she was scared of the ‘el’ and wouldn’t walk past it. He worked with me to resolve it and now we’re walking all over town. All in all, Erik Weitz is amazing to work with — I wouldn’t go anywhere else!
-Anne D.

I can not say enough good things about Erik. We knew going into class that our Lab was going to be a bit behind, but Erik took the extra time to accommodate us every way he could.
-Brian R.

Our trainer, Erik, is fabulous. He is great with the puppies and really knows how to break down the skills so everyone can understand how to train their dogs. He is also able to adapt to the various personalities, breeds, and needs of each puppy. Additionally, he is willing to help after class when I had questions that were specific to my dog. I would highly highly recommend him. Thanks Erik for all your hard work!!
-Shayna H.

We enrolled in two seminars which were taught by Erik Weitz. These were a ‘stop jumping’ seminar and a ‘leash-walking’ seminar. Both of these classes were excellent and my husband and I were very impressed with Erik. He really helped Lizzie improve on-leash as well as in her greetings with people and other dogs. I would highly recommend Erik to anyone looking for dog training classes. Erik is both extremely patient and professional and our dog loved every minute of our time with him.
-Brigit R.