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September 2022 by Marines M.
I will be forever grateful I found Urban K-9 and Natasha and I'm sure they will change the lives of any dog owner they come across!!!I have a little Havanese fireball that I got when she was 2 months old. Unlike my previous gorgeous, gentle natured Golden Retriever, this little Havanese is just energy all day around and, not sure why, very nervous and shy around anyone that is not her family members. We tried a few puppy socialization classes and some at-home training, but it wasn't enough. I wasn't able to properly communicate and train her in the way that she needed so I started looking for a trainer that would be able to board young puppies for training... in comes Natasha.She was great from the get go!!! While they weren't able to take my puppy right away as she was still pending some shots and they had no open spots for boarding, Natasha offered a few in-home sessions while my little pup could go to her home. Mind you I'm in Manhattan and Natasha is in Brooklyn, but she still makes it work. We had two sessions before my little one went home with Natasha, and while progress was not huge (which I totally think was on me) Natasha was amazing at giving clear instructions, identifying problem areas that I should focus on and following up to see how we were both doing.Once she was able to take the little one home, she immediately made me feel at ease. It wasn't more than 45 minutes before i got a video with my pup getting acclimated to her temporary home and Natasha's dogs. She followed up every day with a ton of videos, pictures and audios of her progress. It was also great that in addition to her dogs she also boards other dogs that she knows are well behaved and friendly so any pup that she's training at home gets an incredible amount of socialization. This was one of the most important things for me, because it was definitely not something that i was going to be able to do in the middle of a pandemic. To top it all Natasha has a great sense of humor so I found her commentary hilarious!When my little one came back 2 weeks later she was a completely different dog. She knew all of the important commands (sit, down, place, stay) and came with a few parlor tricks that I found just absolutely adorable (paw, roll-over). She was even doing much better at walking on the leash.More importantly, she loves Natasha, her husband and her dogs. My little one has stayed with Natasha a few times for boarding after her 2-week training stint and every time they come and get her she's just excited to see them. At 10 months, she still has a bit more to go to be a fully well trained dog (I'm thinking GCC level), but thanks to Natasha she's a perfect house pet and member of my family. Anything she does that is not necessarily a good behavior I know is because I haven't followed Natasha's instructions :)
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February 2021 by Jonathan T.
We've been using them to help train our new puppy. McClain is terrific and our puppy has been making great progress. McClain also introduced us to others locally with similar age puppies for socialization play dates - and that has been so helpful during Covid.
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January 2021 by Sarah M.
Natasha and Urban k-9 went above and beyond to help my son and I with our rescue pup. From before our initial visit Natasha was available to help with every question and concern I had (and there were many). She was patient, endlessly empathetic and brought a depth of knowledge to all of our sessions. She respected my son and included him in our training, empowering him to be a leader and a big part of our dog's training. Whenever an issue came up she had a solution. She was flexible and listened to our needs. If I could give her ten stars it still would be be enough!
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December 2020 by Jessica W.
We recently worked with Dani on a training package for our 5 month old rescue puppy Millie--a Shar Pei mix who was exhibiting signs of aggression, territorial behavior, and couldn't walk on a leash. It was a serious struggle at first (Millie is fearful of strangers and slow to warm up to people) but Dani was incredibly patient with her, tried multiple strategies, and at a certain point we all had a breakthrough. By the end of the package, our little monster had transformed and loved her sessions with Dani. My husband and I learned so much in the process as well, with Dani teaching us how to structure Millie's life, handle her when she exhibits territorial behavior, walk her perfectly on a leash. Perhaps most importantly: we learned how to communicate effectively with our dog and our relationship with her has changed because of it. Millie's still a work in progress and we continue to work with her daily, but because of Dani we now have an incredibly solid foundation to build on. Highly recommend.
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August 2020 by Ray V.
Meant to do this sooner. Dani and our little rescue had an instant connection. He went from pulling us down the block to walking right beside us. She was patient and calming when we were at our wits end. Even his leash reactivity when seeing other dogs has improved so much. Thank you, Dani.
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July 2020 by Jordan L.
If I could give more than 5-stars I would!! Dani (and Rain) have been so incredible to work with over the past year. When we adopted our rescue we quickly realized we were in waaaay over our heads, and that's when Dani came to save the day. Immediately upon meeting her our anxious dog was suddenly at ease. She taught us all of the important things that we needed to do, and helped us focus on the baby steps needed to work up to our long-term goals. Not only was Dani attentive, supportive and extremely knowledgeable during sessions, she also made (and continues to) make time to support us and answer our questions outside of sessions. When it came time for our first trip away from Moose I knew the only person I would feel comfortable leaving him was with Dani. We were provided with daily updates (pictures and videos), and he got much needed socialization time, which has been a saving grace in a now multiple dog home during quarantine. Anyone that met our dog when we first adopted him last summer and has seen him since is shocked at how much his confidence has changed. Anytime someone I know even hints at dog training I tell them about Dani. We would be so lost without her and Urban K-9! We can't wait to get back to Brooklyn to continue our trainings with her and the team.
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March 2020 by Alexandra S.
Buying a ten-session training package with Urban K-9 was the best money I've ever spent. My fiancé and I adopted a three-year-old dog in December. We're first-time dog owners, and Hank, our pup, came to New York from a shelter in Tennessee. He didn't know any commands, and had no idea how to walk on a leash--he pulled so hard that every walk with him in Brooklyn was a risk and a strain. From the first session, our trainer, Natasha, was magic. On the very first day, after a thorough conversation with us, in which we told her about Hank and she explained her positive-reinforcement training method, she started us crate training Hank. We hadn't been able to get him into the crate at all; within 15 minutes, Natasha had him in and happily eating treats. Three months later, we have a trained dog who can walk on a leash, sit, stay, and, amazingly, do recall to go off-leash in the park. We revere Natasha, who is so knowledgeable, thorough, efficient, and an all around great person. Could not recommend Urban K-9 more highly.
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February 2020 by Dante P.
Dani is a Godsend. I don't often write reviews but when I write one like this, I make sure that I have used the service for an extended period of time to make sure I'm have enough data points about the service. We have a large working dog in Manhattan (70lb 7 month old giant Schnauzer). It is so hard finding a good trainer in NYC who can train LARGE WORKING DOGS. Then we found Dani. Our issues ranged from him peeing in the house to him lunging at strangers to his intense teething. We used another well-reviewed trainer before Dani who cost just as much as Dani but we didn't feel confident in their abilities and hoped that there was a better alternative. We reached out to Urban K-9 based purely on the huge amount of positive reviews. She responded IMMEDIATELY (a common response time for her), but told us we would have to wait a month until our first session (clearly she was in high demand!). We were desperate for a better solution, so we waited the month. From our first meeting, we knew she was the right call. She had actual techniques, that we couldn't arrive at on our own, to help with walking as well as with his "active mouthing" (I'll call it). I don't want to promise similar results, but within a week, he was walking sooooooo much better when we started to walk with him how she told us too. I will say this, her techniques are not always convenient :) but when you have a large working dog in a city, you better listen to her because we have made HUGE improvements sticking to her processes. Even recently, our dog stopped going into his crate for some reason and she pointed out a big mistake we had been making in teaching our dog to relate to this crate. Since following her advice, he will now generally enter his crate when we ask versus running away from it. I can't say enough good things. And we're very harsh critics. We have let go of several walkers, groomers and trainers. Dani is the real deal. We have been with her 4 months and will stay with her as long as she'll have us and our massive pup as clients
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January 2020 by Emily B.
Dani was wonderful at working with our dog Frankie to combat her fears and to make her LISTEN. Frankie was incredibly willful and refused to come when we call her (or follow any basic commands). Dani even took extra time to work with Frankie, and we could not be more grateful. We highly recommend her for all your dog training needs!!
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January 2020 by Hannah K.
Seriously the best money I have ever spent -- Dani is an amazing dog trainer. When I moved to New York, my 4 year old rescue pup was extremely overwhelmed and was having severe issues with leash reactivity to other dogs to the point where I absolutely dreaded going outside. It took literally one session for a MASSIVE change in her reactions, and in just a few sessions and consistent effort on my part, my dog is able to walk behind, in front of, and towards other dogs on the busy streets of Manhattan. We still have our imperfect moments - especially another dog is ferociously barking and lunging at her - but it is 1000% more manageable, and my dog recovers so quickly with the tools that Dani has taught me. She has also helped me immensely with other basic obedience skills that my dog was lacking (like jumping on people, leash pulling, and not following the "stay" command). I can't thank Dani enough for changing our lives! Don't hesitate to reach out to her -- her balanced approach made positive change possible for a situation that felt hopeless.
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January 2020 by Ray L.
Meh, I experienced better client communications from other trainers. I'm not saying that what these folks do here is bad. I just wouldn't know. I emailed dani several times over the last week and so but not once did I get any followup after the initial email. Perhaps they didn't want my business. Perhaps it was something else but that's fine with me. That's just 3k to someone else who is willing to respond to a simple email. I even followed up with a call after 48 hours and that went straight to voicemail several times to email again. Not really sure what the point of that is but maybe other people would have better luck than me. I overall went with another trainer who sent me 5 follow up emails before the initial consultation which to me, is key to a great business relationship.
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September 2019 by Nick N.
Our 7 month old mini-Doubledoodle Merman has had it rough. He broke a paw at 10 weeks, and re-broke it at 16 weeks. As a result, he spent a lot of his puppyhood in a cast, unable to play, walk, learn, or socialize with other dogs in a normal way. Thank GOODNESS for Dani, Urban K-9 and their amazing trainer McClain, who started working with Merman between casts, and who took him home for puppy training for two weeks! Merman came home 24 hours ago, and we really feel he has turned an incredible corner from sad puppyhood to big dog fun!! He sleeps in his crate without a whimper. He heels with an auto-sit when we stop walking. He sits, stays, responds to off, down, and place -- all amazingly helpful. He seems happier and more engaged, and really just thrilled to be a puppy bouncing around Brooklyn! Our neighbors are AMAZED. Thank you thank you!!!
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July 2019 by Priscilla D.
Urban K-9 exceeded our expectations. We recently moved to Brooklyn and our border collie was experience some anxiety/new behavior. That's when I reached out to Urban K-9 and Dani set us up with McClain. McClain provided us with the right tools, offered suggestions and gave us homework to do with our pup. For example, our border collie would get "jealous" and would also want to get some affection every time we hugged each other, McClain should us a technique we could use and in a couple of hours our pup gave us our space. She genuinely listened to our concerns and spoke to us from one dog parent to another. We highly recommend them!
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June 2019 by claude m.
Dani is an incredible trainer. She comes into any situation and immediately calms both dog and owners. She's taught us a lot about how to correct our dogs behavior, and how we should be behaving ourselves to make sure our dog is on his best behavior. We don't know what we would have done without her!
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June 2019 by Erin C.
Dani is truly a MIRACLE WORKER! I was at my wits end with my 3 month old puppy, I had no idea where to start between the teething, ankle biting, crying, and leash pulling. But then, Dani came to the rescue. Within minutes of meeting and getting to know my puppy Chip, she had him figured out, and he was listening to sit and come within minutes. Dani takes the time to analyze your concerns as a pet owner, observes your dog's behavior, and gives you all the resources and training needed to train your dog to be your best friend. One thing I find fascinating is that she brought her older dog Rain with her to our training session, and taught me the importance of socializing your animal to other animals, humans, and stimulus in the environment. Her adorable dog Rain even provided some "corrections" to my dog, which allows him to learn what is acceptable and what is not. Dani is the best, she has made being a dog Mom the most amazing experience!
