Gary Maria's Professional Dog Training Walnut Creek, California

Gary Maria showed me that my "stubborn" golden rescue was shy and sensitive. With a set of training sessions premised on gentle and consistent commands, Ray will now sit, down-stay and come on command. Gary is a pleasure to work with. Our sessions were fun and worthwhile. I highly recommend Gary - he is a super trainer!

We recently completed a training circuit with Gary and we could not be happier. As a life long dog owner I thought I knew it all but I learned far more than I could have expected. Gary was responsive from our very first inquiry, clearly understood the needs of our dog and ultimately delivered results. I would recommend Gary not only because he is professional, knows his stuff, and is great at what he does but additionally he is a fantastic listener and really understands the needs of both dog and parent. After completing our training we got multiple comments from friends, family and even our vet on how much better behaved our energetic dog was. Thank you Gary!

We reached out to Gary to help us with our 6 month old puppy starting last year to get her trained as quickly as we could while she was still young and we were very satisfied with the way that Gary provided tips and training techniques along with his reward system. Our puppy adapted very well, with lots of practice in between sessions and we've been so incredibly pleased with his training!! He gives a few things to work on each week and the key is consistency. I'm so happy we made a connection with Gary, he has a great personality, makes each session fun and has a tremendous passion for training dogs!

Gary is a fantastic dog trainer and expert. We reached out to him for help with our 10 week old Doberman puppy, Lola. We had never owned a large working dog before and were used to "old school" alpha training methods. Gary quickly retrained us to better methods to work with our sensitive puppy. We immediately saw drastic changes in her and she is now a very sweet, loving, well-behaved puppy. Gary's style pushes socialization, confidence for the dog, and rewards. This gave a us a very social and well-adjusted puppy. Gary initially comes for a consultation and gives you his breakdown of your dog and what they will need. He really cares about your dog and makes the training as simple as possible. He helped us get Lola to the point of her being able to take off leash hikes with her at 5 months and get a ton compliments on her behavior in public and strong recall. If you are looking to have your dog fit into your life and take them everywhere with you, meals, shopping, etc. Gary is by far the best trainer for you.

This review is long overdue, but Gary is hands down one of the most knowledgeable trainers out there. He did wonders with our Golden puppy on mastering the basics!! He is also such a positive force when interacting with dogs, he really understands their psyche.

We contacted Gary because our once social/happy 2yo Havashu had started to show aggression to other dogs out on walks, and even some strangers that got too close. While he was so kind and gentle to our new baby, we were afraid his new behavior might show itself at home and it had us on edge. We started with a consultation with Gary where he pointed out behavior “ticks” and assured us that our dog hadn’t become an aggressive alpha, but was showcasing fear-based aggression. Over the next 6 sessions we were educated on how to read our dog at home and outside the home, how to instill trust, and key commands to help us have successful outings. Before we called Gary I had gone to an outdoor coffee shop with the stroller and the dog and had left embarrassed after my little dog had aggressively pulled the leash towards another dog and caused me to spill tea everywhere — the day after our final session I attempted another visit with a crowd of people and dogs and he laid down while I ordered, and was cool & collected the entire outing!! Our happy pup was back, and that was worth every penny!

Our experience with Gary was wonderful! When we first sought out Gary, our American Brittany, River, had run out of the dog park and into the hills chasing after a bird. We could not get him back for quite some time, which scared us to bits. Gary took his time with training, ensuring us that although our main goal was recall, River needed his foundational skills. This started with charging markers, proper sits/downs/stays/etc. Gary was very clear that training a dog is really about training the owners to know how to train the dog. Gary was great in that he combines Positive Reinforcement and, if the dog demands it, Avoidance training styles. He is very knowledgeable on using other tools such as prong/e collars. I was apprehensive about using these tools, but once we exhausted all other options and River was still at risk of injuring himself in certain situations, it was wonderful to know that we could learn to use these tools appropriately. Three months later, the culmination of River's training was when we took him to Shell Ridge Hiking trail. River was running through the hills, chasing birds and truly enjoying himself. The best part was we knew if we told him to come back, he would without a shadow of a doubt. The most meaningful part of this process has been learning about River's psychology, which has created a level of trust between us that we never would have imagined. Thanks Gary!

We, but most importantly our dog, love Gary! Our dog Dewey went through basic puppy training when he was a very young puppy but we started noticing he was stressed and anxious and we also wanted to correct how he was acting around strangers and other dogs. He was experiencing a lot of anxiety after a recent move - chewing things around the house, accidents, etc. and Gary helped him so much. We looked forward to going to our training sessions every week because our dog was improving so much. He doesn't only help the dog but he helps you as an owner be a better communicator and truly understand what your dog is feeling. It's as much of a training for you as your dog! After 6 weeks of training, our dog is so much calmer and less anxious. No more chewing or accidents! He lays by us so calmly and has become such a cuddle bug. He is so much better on his walks now too - he no longer pulls or tries to jump on people as they walk by and pays attention to us. Gary has given us the tools so we are able to help him continue to improve when he sees other dogs and we've seen steady progress. And, even after the training sessions are complete, he's there for advice and to help you for as long as you need it. He is so patient and caring with the dogs and truly wants you and your dog to have the best relationship possible. Dewey loved Gary and the training sessions. Can't recommend him enough!

Gary is a great dog trainer. Our family could not recommend him more. He makes dog training simple, fun and he gets your whole family (we have kids) involved if you want. We have seen tremendous improvement in our Portuguese Water Dog puppy and the training has created bonds with our dog. He walks you through everything you need to know about puppies/dogs and is responsive to any questions. We spoke with him the day we picked up our puppy at 8 weeks and he told us everything we needed to focus on for those first weeks home. Gary kept it simple and he assured us that the crazy behavior we would see is all normal. He told us it wouldn't be easy. This was key for us early on with the puppy because we were not dog people. It made us less concerned because things would happen and Gary already warned us. As the weeks went on Gary checked in on our concerns before each training session, patiently answering our crazy questions and concerns. Then he focused on training. We learned the rewards system, walking training, luring, down, and come. Our puppy has really taken to training and we feel good that we have a solid foundation going forward, all due to Gary. Hopefully, we won't need second level but if we do, we will use Gary again.

Gary has been wonderful to work with. When we met Gary our 6 month old lab, Ellie was very impulsive, bouncy off the walls and somewhat hard to manage. Gary has given us the tools to understand Ellie’s behavior and help her learn how to control her impulsiveness. Ellie is still her fun loving self but we are able to control her excitement and stimulate her brain when she needs it. Gary was so patient when teaching us the proper handling. You can tell Gary really loves his job and cares about all the dogs he encounters. I would highly recommend his service.

As an experienced trainer, Gary doesn’t “try” things to train a dog, he knows exactly how. He’s approach to training is based on establishing first a good owner-dog communication and rewarding the good behavior. At the end of 6 training sessions, my young German Shepherd, not only that mastered all the fundamentals, but became a much calmer, more focused dog. I also learned a lot about dog behavior which is essential to continue the training for real life situations.

Call Gary right now - he will change your life! He was simply amazing with our very sensitive and fearful rescue pit mix. Our dog is afraid of many things and would turn to aggression when he felt there was no other option. Gary not only helped us to understand why our dog was behaving the way he was, but helped us to make him feel calm and safe. Everything Gary told us would happen did, and everything he told us to do was spot on. He gave us hope, and brought much happiness to our lives and Tyson’s. It was by far one of the best investments we have ever made. Gary will be my first call when the time comes to add another puppy to the family.

Gary Maria did an excellent job of helping my husband and me get through a difficult time with a challenging Pitbull-mix rescue dog. Since we don’t have young children, I was looking for a German Shepherd &/or Pitbull-mix because there were so many of those breeds in the shelters. One of our adult daughters had adopted a GSD rescue about a year ago & was having a great experience with her. Another close family friend also worked at a rescue with Pitbulls & had had so many positive things to say about them. After submitting many applications, I was finally contacted by a rescue agency about a 1-year-old female Pit-mix who was dog-friendly and child-friendly. We went to meet her with our dogs, including our daughter’s German Shepherd, to make sure the rescue dog would get along with all of us. It went fantastically! And she was such a cutie! We brought Montana home with us to be the latest addition to our family. I started noticing that this experience was going to be a challenge when I brought Montana into the backyard the next day. She started doing zoomies, but then she started growling at me (not in a friendly way) and jumping and biting at my feet & hands. I was able to distract her and got her calmed down. I was crate-training her & training her on-leash every day, as I had done effectively with all of the other dogs I had. She was doing fairly well with those things. And, she could be very sweet when she was calm. However, she would growl, lunge and bite at me whenever I would take her out to play. If I said “no,” she would back away and growl more seriously. I started to be a little afraid of her at those times, especially since she was a Pitbull-mix. I was really starting to wonder if I had made the right choice in adopting her. I just wanted a friendly, loving companion, not a Doctor Jekyll/Mr. Hyde. That’s when I started looking for a dog trainer and I was lucky enough to find Gary Maria. Gary came to our house (we were all wearing masks) for a consultation. He has been working with all types of dogs for over 30 years. He had Montana calmly lying next to him within about 20 minutes of coming to the house. After talking with him, I realized that this was not going to be a quick, overnight solution, but it was going to be a process that he was going to teach us that would require daily work on our part and have Montana behaving well after 6 weeks. Although I was concerned about Montana’s behavior in the short-run (I must confess I didn’t want Gary to leave while I still had a little bit of fear of Montana), I knew that this would be the best solution in the long-run – we would have the tools that we needed to work with our new dog and we would also be establishing our relationship and trust with her, as opposed to sending her away to a boarding dog training school. So, we signed up for the once-a-week in-home training. Each week, we would work on training different behaviors. Gary would listen to the problems we encountered the week before and make suggestions as to what we could do to address those issues, in addition to progressing through his training steps. By the end of the 6 weeks, Montana has turned into a really sweet, affectionate, playful, “normal” dog. She no longer jumps/growls/bites at us – she is able to play with us politely. She also plays really nicely with the other dogs in our family. We still have things that we’re working on (barking at dogs we pass when we’re in the car, being very stressed/barking when we take her to new places, etc.), but we feel like Gary has given us the tools to train Montana to improve these behaviors. And, Gary is just a phone call away to help us with any more challenging issues that might come up. We HIGHLY recommend Gary Maria to help you train your new rescue dog. He’s especially experienced with helping to bring out the great qualities in the more challenging breeds of dogs (Pitbulls, German Shepherds, etc.) that fill the shelters/rescue agencies. With your commitment to the process, Gary will help you have a wonderful outcome.

I contacted Gary because my dog Walter was having reactivity on daily walks. I can now take Walter on enjoyable walks without stressing him or myself out. We can now walk past other dogs, people and cars without a fuss. Gary has given us knowledge and tools on how to calm down in stressful situations. He believes in positive training and clearly loves dogs. We just had our fourth session and again it was successful.My dog and I have learned so much from Gary and look forward to our upcoming sessions to learn more. I would give Gary 10 stars if I could and highly recommend him to anyone looking for an excellent dog trainer.

I could not recommend Gary enough. Gary helped me train our sweet baby boy Sebastian. Sebastian came from a bad neglect case when we rescued him and as an australian shepherd his socialization was totally disrupted and he suffered badly …

Gary was so helpful with our dog, Cooper! He teaches fantastic technique’s on how to connect and communicate with your dog in order to get the response that you need. In just a short few weeks, we have noticed our pup has gone from uncontrollable high energy, to us now being able to bring that energy down to an appropriate level. Thank you Gary for all of your support and guidance!

We rescued two Formosa Mountain dogs from Taiwan in February 2020. Juliet was rescued from the streets with her nine puppies and Romeo was rescued with his siblings. Needless to say our dogs had a lot to get used to . They were such sweet dogs but they were afraid of everything!! Gary Maria came highly recommended to us from other families who had used his services with their Formosa Mountain dogs so we called him immediately. Gary is extremely knowledgeable , patient and loving towards all the dogs. Romeo and Juliet are now completely different dogs after only six weeks of training. The first time I brought Romeo to meet Gary, Romeo was so skittish and pulling very hard trying to get away, Gary had him eating treats out of his hand in less than five minutes . Romeo relaxed and we were able to have a training session. Our dogs gained so much confidence and are very trusting with us now . We can take them on walks using loose leash walking. We learned so much from Gary and it was such a treat to see our dogs thrive and be so comfortable!! Call Gary for your dog training experience you will be so happy you did!!!

After searching around multiple dog trainers in the Walnut Creek area, we found Gary Maria and are truly satisfied by his training techniques/experience. In a manner of 6 weeks, our 21 week year old Aussiedoodle has learned so much, from attention commands to leash training. In the beginning, our puppy's impulse control was high and all over the place. Throughout our training experience, you will see a continuous evolving progression with Gary Maria's knowledge and training. Highly recommend!!!

Gary has been everything we were hoping for in a trainer—knowledgeable, patient and compassionate. Our sweet Denver, a Formosan Mountain Dog mix, lived his first 5 months of his life in Taiwan. With this, came many fears and anxieties that showed through his timid and fear-based behaviors towards people, which Gary quickly helped us to understand why he was behaving in this way. Gary quickly eased our worries as he taught us how to create a trusting relationship with Denver in order to make him feel safe in all different environments. He truly understands why dogs display certain behaviors, which helps you to correct behaviors in a positive and loving way. If we had to go back in time and decide between different trainers for Denver, we would pick Gary every time. We are forever grateful for all that he taught us as we get to watch our sweet Denver be a happy pup, rather than always scared and timid!

We just finished our basic training for our 6 month old puppy, Rufus. We started the consultation when Rufus was 4 months old when Gary was recommended by a couple of friends. Gary helped us understand, communicate, and helped build trust that has greatly improved Rufus' behavior. He gave us the confidence we needed to raise our puppy with positive reinforcement. All training methods were clearly communicated and well thought out. His years of experience were obvious and we started seeing changes in Rufus's behavior after just a few sessions. We're very pleased to have all the tools and knowledge to continue to train Rufus and any future dog we have. We are also glad that we can reach out to Gary with training updates and possibly use the advanced training program in a couple of months.

I cannot thank Gary enough for helping us understand how to train our highly energetic, easily distracted ridgeback puppy! We have just completed the basic training package and Gary has given us not only tools and tricks on how to keep our wild child under control, he also shared his years of doggy wisdom and seeing things through the eyes of our pup. Can't wait to go back and complete the advanced puppy training package!

I know Gary's business is called Gary Maria's Professional Dog Training, but that's bit of a misnomer. While it's true that Gary does work in the dog training profession, a more accurate business name would be Gary Maria's Professional Dog Owner Training. In the six-session program that my wife and our dog, Ruby, went through, Gary did not so much train our dog as he did my wife and me, giving us the tools to needed for us to train Ruby. Gary is a very knowledgeable, energetic, patient and personable dog trainer as well as a terrific communicator. He has a clear plan beginning with the first session and progressing through the remaining five. Each week builds on the lesson learned in the last culminating with a well-rounded method of training a dog. The only catch is that you, the dog owner, has to do your part and put in the work. We truly enjoyed and looked forward to our weekly sessions with Gary and were sad when they ended. Gary made the work fun and our girl Ruby, is miles away from the dog she was before our sessions began and well on her way to becoming a well-mannered and trained dog. We've been though dog training lessons before in the past and Gary stands above all of them. If you are serious about training your dog and willing to put in the consistent work that is required to follow Gary's system, you will be rewarded with a well-trained dog. We cannot recommend Gary highly enough.

Gary truly knows how dogs work and he helped me with my reactionary puppy. He taught me the skills to keep her engaged and helped her with her fear. I highly recommend Gary, he's the best by far.

Good food and great dessert!

I contacted Gary Maria to help me learn how to be a better dog parent with my rescue dog, Teddy, who was aggressive with other dogs and people. During our first meet Gary met with Teddy and me to assess what was going on. And he assured …

Gary is an amazing resource for all dog knowledge and a great trainer! We adopted a year old Jack Russell mix who was in need of basic training and had some aggression towards other dogs. I found Gary on his website, used it to ask a question and within a few days he called to have a chat about his services and our dog it was great! We had a consult and 6 training sessions total. During the training we also moved and Gary was a great resource to ask all of our questions for moving our dog. He was always on time, sweet and helpful at the sessions. Our dog a has learned sit, down, stay, come and leash manors as well as training buzz words. You go have to be willing to work and follow his instructions. Training a dog isn't easy and just going to the sessions isn't going to cut it so be ready but it is so worth it! Once we master all of our training we will be back for more!

Gary is amazing! He has helped my boyfriend's dog to actually listen to me, and she is starting to be more relaxed when we pass by other dogs while out walking/ running. Gary truly understands what a dog and its owner need in order to be successful.

If we could give Gary 10 stars, we would. Our rescue puppy, Abby, was so scared and nervous when we got her. None of the training we tried before Gary addressed the effects of neglect, abuse and under-socialization on her super sensitive nature. He taught us not only how to understand her fears and anxieties, but how to work with her in a way that was both positive and immediately effective. Our focused, one-on-one training sessions were as much about teaching us how to understand her as they were teaching our girl. After six weeks, the difference in her is pronounced - she's even starting to play. Gary's simple, psychologically nuanced, compassionate approach to positive behavioral training was exactly what we, and Abby, needed. Thanks to him, we've got the tools (and the understanding) to make her life a secure, happy one. We can't thank him or recommend him enough.

My little pooch, Holly, is a wonderful dog- she always has been. She’s a rescue dog and we noticed her anxiety level increasing over the 4 years that we have had our sweet pooch. I was SO nervous about trying to “train” my 5 year old dog, and break her anxiety....I did not think it was possible. Enter Gary. From the first day, he made me feel comfortable and confident that I could help my anxiety-ridden pooch. Gary’s training methods are entirely gentle, yet firm; fun, yet serious work is accomplished. After 6 humane, scientifically-based, methodical, sequential training sessions, I have seen HUGE improvement not only in my dog’s anxiety, but in her obedience as well. Gary lets you call him any time with questions, videos to analyze, or simply to share how things are going between sessions. He is BEYOND available for his clients. The loving bond of trust between me and my dog has been strengthened. Forever grateful. A true dog-to-hooman- whisperer. Hire Gary, you won’t regret it.

Working with Gary was wonderful. Our family has learned so much and our 6 month old rescue is well on her way to becoming an amazing family dog. The tools we have learned and are implementing into daily life are so strong and already very successful. So thankful to have worked with Gary.