Find & Compare Dog Trainers in Your Area!

Dog trainers teach dogs and their owners: puppy socialization, basic obedience, loose-leash walking, recall, crate training, and work on harder problems like reactivity, separation anxiety and resource guarding. Formats range from group classes and private lessons at home to board-and-train programs where the dog stays with the trainer. People arrive here with a new puppy, a rescue with unknown history, or a dog whose behavior has become a daily struggle.

No state licenses dog trainers, so ask about certification from a recognized training body and, for behavior cases, whether they work with a veterinary behaviorist. Ask the trainer to describe their methods in plain terms and what tools they use; a trainer who cannot explain why a technique works is a warning sign. Ask what results to expect after how many sessions and how much homework falls on you. Group classes are priced per course, private lessons per hour, and board-and-train per week, often with a follow-up lesson included. If the issue may be medical, such as sudden aggression or house-soiling in an adult dog, see veterinarians first; for exercise rather than instruction, pet sitters and dog walkers may be the fit.

The trainers on this page wrote their own listings, and a person checked each one before publication. If you train dogs professionally, apply to get listed — free, and it takes only a few minutes.