Lori Hamilton's Dog Training

Lori pulled my step sister’s hair. Lori, the human dog trainer, grabbed my adult human sister by the hair and yanked. She wasn’t even involved in the training session! She was there acting as a translator so my step mom could learn how to walk my already trained dog who she was nervous around. Which Lori did not do. Lori did apologize, and I think she was aware she crossed a line, but this moment is very representative of her training style. Her goal is to scare you into thinking you need a lot of training, often by riling up your dog to show what an out of control dog looks like, which might be necessary if you’re first time dog owner with a big, untrained, reactive dog and need the wake up call, but that probably is not you, and her approach was definitely not right for my dog. The hair pulling thing was to show something the dog could do if he was not under control, but he was two or three at that point and was trained well past the point of doing anything like that. And that still doesn’t excuse grabbing another person like that. I do believe in the train the human and the dog philosophy, but Lori goes too far with the human part. She acts like she’s god’s gift to dog owners, treats everyone like an idiot, and makes sure part of her lessons are trying to make you feel stupid so you will listen to her. Zero attempt to assess where the owner and the dog are at. If you know anything about dogs, it will be super obvious what she’s trying to do. This was maybe four years ago. Did not do any more lessons with her after this.

I can’t say enough wonderful things about our experience with Lori and Chelsea. Our puppy went in for the month for the Board & Training. It was money well spent. Chelsea is an amazing trainer. She loves what she does and is a natural with dogs of all breeds. Chelsea has a calm demeanor that seems to connect to dogs in a one on one training session as well as a class environment. She is calm, patient yet firm in her training regiment. I know she loves what she is doing and that truly makes all the difference. Chelsea is gifted and is able to connect with all dogs. I am 100% satisfied with Chelsea’s training. Chelsea is the best! I would recommend Lori Hamilton’s Dog Training for any dog. The staff is truly the best and the facility is perfect. Lori and Chelsea are the best dog trainers ever. You won’t be disappointed

Lori helped transform our 1.5-year-old golden retriever Ruben from an 87# spirited, jumping, land shark to a calm, obedient family member. He was an anxious, leash pulling, cat chasing, chewing, biting and jumping-- hiding inside an adorable shell. We started in Lori’s group class, then did private one on one training with her and ultimately 4 weeks of board and train at her facility. She trained us and trained him and ultimately transformed life at home. Our 3 cats are now able to be in the same room as him. Our visitors no longer have him standing up on their chest in exuberant greeting. We can relax and have dinner without Ruben trying to eat our feet or running zoomies around the room. We can walk him without having our arms ripped out of our sockets. He is calm around other dogs. He is crate trained and easily goes to sleep at night. He has his own treadmill and works out twice a day, in addition to our daily walks. We been to Pack walks with Lori and 15 other dogs, all walking obediently through the Pruneyard shopping center. The dogs get to work on socialization and good manners on these field trips. Our first year with Ruben was really tough, he was not the mellow golden retriever we anticipated. Lori’s teaching changed everything. She provided the methods and the tools to help us have the best outcome and a relaxed home life with our beautiful dog; more than we ever expected!!!

Lori and her team far exceeded our expectations! We couldn't be more pleased. At 10 1/2 months old, our Standard Poodle, Phoebe Joi, knew basic commands, but didn't always choose to listen. Her recall was non-existent and she was overly-overly excited and friendly to meet other people and other dogs. We knew we needed the help of a professional trainer to redirect and fine-tune her behavior. That's when we met Lori. We visited her facility - it was clean, organized, and safe. She and her team are professional, knowledgeable, and patient with the dogs and their owners. We enrolled in her 4-wk Board and Train Program during which Lori and Chelsea put their dog training skills on display, including dedicating time to ensure that we, too, were trained! Phoebe Joi came home a couple of weeks ago and we still have check-ins and participate in field trips with other humans and canines in training! In 2 days, Phoebe Joi will be 1 yr old, and WOW, the transformation is impressive. She is now as well behaved as she is gorgeous! Thank you Lori and Team.

Lori Hamilton is a dog whisper! I got news that a young man in Fresno was breeding English Cream Retrievers and was being evicted from his home. He was supporting his Mother and young sister. There were two 4 months old puppies that had contracted parvo which he treated with antibiotics. He was unable to sell so he was going to put them in a shelter by 2pm that day as he had to be out of his home. I drove from San Jose and rescued the pup's. Upon arriving home they had severe food insecurity, and began chewing on EVERYTHING! We had to gate them out of everywhere but the kitchen and dinning room. So began crate training. Their first trip to the vet came next and were diagnosed with Giardia. Our vet also suggested that Immediate training would be necessary because aggressive behavior would be imminent with siblings. Unfortunately, we would have to wait until the Giardia was cleared. 3 months and 2 bouts later, we were finally able to take them to a 5 week training course once a week. Unfortunately this did not produce the results we were hoping for. Enter Lori Hamilton's dog training. She invited us to her new facility for free evaluation. Right off the bat, she recognized behavioral issues between the male and female. Lola and Mylo. Durning that first evaluation, Lori was able to get Mylo to walk on the leash without him pulling her around. She suggested that a 4 week board and train would be best for a 63lb female and a 72lb male at 8 Mos. She also suggested that they be separated during this time. I was devastated but eventually agreed. One of her trainers Angelia,lived in Gilroy and would take Lola. Mylo would go to the training facility with Lori and Chelsea. On the day that Angelia and Chelsea came to pick Lola up to take her to Gilroy,they were both amazed and frightened at the fact that Lola actually jumped up on our kitchen table several times to greet them. I think Angelia may have asked herself. What did I get into? Lori invited me out to the facility after 2weeks, to see the progress that Mylo has made. He was running on a treadmill with his friend the boxer Lenny. He was also obeying commands such as sit down and place. I was also updated with Lola's progress by daily videos from Angelia. Chelsea set up a WhatsApp so that we could see the progress of both dogs on a daily basis. I can't tell you how much that meant to see my puppies on daily basis and how they were doing. Soon after that, my wife and I were invited to join in on training with both of the our dogs. Lori made it very clear that most of the training had to come with us. We had to be trained. In the following weeks, Lori and Chelsea offered additional training with me and my wife at various places such as Bass Pro, Pet Express, Butcher park, and the LHDT facility as follow up. No charge! Over the past 2 months I have learned that Lori is a pack leader. Her training and her staff have made my babies balanced an obedient. I would highly recommend to my friend's, family, and anybody out there that wants to bring pet balance into your life. Lori saved me from having to re-home home one of my puppies.

Amazing and totally involved! We found Lori through Yelp, and were convinced by watching videos on her website. We had adopted a shelter puppy who we were told would be 60 pounds, but seemed to be growing at a much faster rate than we expected. He is a sweetheart, but can be very domineering when he sees something he wants. And he was rapidly becoming too strong to easily control. Lori instantly took over on our first visit, and we saw our pup truly respond for the first time to somebody controlling him, rather than the way he wanted it. Lori instantly recognized something was off, and led us to correctly diagnose his breed (Anatolian shepherd) within minutes of meeting him. We were shocked to find out he might grow to 150 pounds, but instantly glad that we were getting him the training he (and we) needed. They boarded and trained him for a month. The dog is now a totally different dog. They almost completely changed his behavior and responsiveness. At the same time, they have spent a number of training sessions with us, to enable us to be responsible dog owners. Lori and her assistant Chelsy have been completely involved, making sure we know what we are doing, how to recognize behavioral issues and address them, and how to keep the big guy happy. They have answered questions about equipment, food, travel, and safety. Every time we go to train, Lori and her team has a number of dogs they are working with. All of these dogs behave almost perfectly, even with all of the other dogs surrounding them. We cannot recognize or recommend Lori enough. She is a true pro, and we have a magnificent and happy dog thanks to her and Chelsy. Her service should be considered by everybody who wants to share a happy life with a well-behaved dog.