Dog Academy of NC, LLC Durham, North Carolina

Mike is awesome...he really has a way wth dogs!

Michael did such a great job training my dog Teddy. Teddy had some major anxiety issues being a pandemic pup. Whenever I would leave the house he would tear something up. Michael worked with me to get control of Teddy again and helped me realize that I also needed a lot of work. He worked with me individually each day to teach me new lessons on how to better manage my dog. I would 100% recommend working with Michael if you’re looking for an amazing trainer. You will not regret the money you spend.

We are new dog owners and Mike is AMAZING. Our puppy is so well behaved, does what he has been taught and Mike also ensures the owners being taught about the importance of teaching and reading a dogs behavior. We learned so much and felt super comfortable taking our puppy home. Wonderful Service, wonderful people. We couldn't imagine another dog trainer with so much experience, knowledge and reasonable priced. We can 100% recommend! THANK YOU MIKE AND SANDRA!

A little over a month ago, I adopted a 9 month german shepherd who had a lot of trauma with a family with 7 kids and no rules. She was wild and used biting as communication. Michael and his wife Sandra have helped me in ways that are immeasurable. They took her for 3 weeks, in which Micheal and his team trained her in a boarding program. They helped me understand how to handle a powerful dog in her circumstance and how to handle my own feelings in the process. There are not enough stars for this company. Simply put, Micheal is the best and he saved my relationship with my adopted dog and made it possible for us to flourish.

This has been an amazing experience. The dogs are so well trained. Professional and knowledgeable!

Dog Lovers Beware: I sent a $500 deposit to secure a puppy from Sandra, the owner of this business. I asked her if she had done the genetic panel screening for the litter, and replied she had but was waiting for results. She failed to produce them. She then claimed she had done the test but to the parents, but instead sent me a pending status report. After a month she failed to produce any. I live in Florida so I asked her if the puppy would fit in a Sherpa so I could fly him home and she said yes, but that wasn’t true. The airlines require the dog/puppy be able to stand and turn and that wasn’t the case. These are long legged dogs. She then claimed that she was not aware of the airline regulations but instead insisted he could travel crammed in the Sherpa, that another dog did before. Unethical and illegal. The airlines would not have allowed it nor would I had done it to the puppy. She then proposed that I pay for a dog nanny at $450 but at $2000 for the puppy , incurring for another unexpected cost was not reasonable to me. So I asked her to incur the cost because she gave me faulty information in which I based my travel plans on. She refused and begrudgingly agreed to pay for half the cost. When I disagreed, she gave me back the deposit and told me the puppy was no longer mine. She did give me a date on when the puppy was ready to go home and I kindly ask her if I could pick him up a week later. I never imagined that it was going to be another reason to get more money and create a crisis. In sum, I was excited to have the puppy. I was emotionally invested, I even gave him a name. I feel she took the deposit, kept it for a month and then failed to make the process work for me. I believe she was not honest with me with the genetic testing, with the Sherpa, and she failed to assume responsibility for the way she handled the whole process. She failed me as her client and even worst she failed to care and protect for the well being of the puppy. There are many breeders more caring, professional, accommodating and reliable out there to settle for this.

My family purchased a pre-trained puppy from the Dog Academy of NC. He seemed too good to be true from the advertisement but he is EXACTLY what they said. Sandra was extremely helpful and very responsive to my seemingly never-ending questions. I would have no reservations about getting another pup from them in the future!

I just spent two weeks with my new puppy at the dog academy. During that time she confidently learned how to walk on a leash and to heel, come and sit - these were the most important skills for me. She also learned some pillow work. I loved that while my puppy was boarded, I was still able to come each day and learn along with her. Mike is an excellent trainer. Great with dogs and people :) I particularly liked that it felt like a whole family was helping train my dog and me. Mike, Sandra and their three - very well behaved young children - are amazing. It was a warm, inviting atmosphere, and along with my puppy, I gained confidence and competence as a responsible owner.

I highly recommend this training center. They are exceptionally skilled at training dogs and have an understanding of how to communicate effectively with them. We purchased a new puppy from them, and the dog was house-trained, crate-trained, and walked well with a leash. The owners provided a thorough course for me to follow their program and issue commands. Their "correction," strategy works well to provide commands. It's a great place to work with, and you will be happy that you did.

Our experience at The Dog Academy was like no other! Sandra and Mike run an impressive facility, which is warm and welcoming. You can tell they love dogs and train them well. We got our Goldendoodle Daisy there and she has been the best-trained dog we have ever owned. We are forever grateful to Mike & Sandra, and continue to keep in touch. Thank you, Dog Academy, for bringing home our forever friend!

We got our Puppy, Stitch, when she was 8 weeks old from friends of ours who were breeders. She was a very active puppy but she was also a biter, was aggressive, and had myriad other behavioral issues. It got so bad for me that I told my husband that we would probably have to give her back. Insert Michael Ward and the Dog Academy of North Carolina. Michael was recommended to us by our dentist and he has been a God send since the moment we contacted them. He and his wife, Sandra, were professional and extremely informative throughout this whole process. We decided to have her boarded for the 2 week training and it was the best decision EVER! My husband and I were able to visit often and were shown how to properly train once she comes home. Michael always answered our questions was very patient with us and Stitch. Stitch has returned home and the difference in her behavior is astronomical. She is like a brand new puppy. We are continuing to use the techniques that Michael taught us and are looking forward to our puppy's continued improvement. I would recommend Michael to anyone that needs services for their dog. A million thank you's to Michael, Sandra, and the Dog Academy of North Carolina for helping our family and our puppy!!!!

Michael is truly the dog whisperer. His techniques are simple, straight forward and focus on developing strong communication with your dog. We have learned that consistency and calmness with our pup are key! We adopted our 5 month old Weimaraner puppy from Michael and Sandra in November. They had been working with her for few weeks on her training before we picked her up. On the day we picked her up, Michael spent almost 1.5 hours with us going over the best ways to communicate with our new pup, how to structure a training lesson, etc. We walked away thinking we knew it all! Fast forward a week, and our dog was whining, barking, and driving us nuts. We returned to Michael with our list of questions and he patently walked us through how we could structure walks, lessons, and playtime with our pup. The big lynchpin was our actions were contributing to our pup's poor behavior and Michael helped us see this without making us feel judged or like we were doing things wrong. When got home, we put the techniques into play, and it was like we had a new dog! Over the weeks, we started to see some behaviors we weren't excited in our pup including excessive whining while in her crate. We texted Michael and Sandra for advice. Michael came out to our home to observe how we were interacting with the dog and quickly offered us coaching on how to best communicate to the dog. Truth be told, this was the same coaching he gave us on day 1 but it became more clear to us after more time with our pup - his methods work, but consistency is key!!! Michael and Sandra are amazing - professional, responsive, knowledgeable. They know what they are doing when it comes to training dogs and helping to establish lines of communication with dogs. We are very happy to have found them and would highly recommend adopting a dog from them and/or working with them on training.

Micheal is a very good trailer and developer of dog trainer. I adopted a Cane Corso puppy from him a little over a year ago. The training foundation that Micheal gave him was instrumental in the pup’s early learning and behavior talents. …

Mike is knowledgeable, helpful, and reliable. His training is thorough and consistent. He teaches both the dog and you about how to have a better relationship.

Contacted for information, no response. Moving on to someone else who will at least be courteous enough to respond.

Great service, great dogs, highly educated and the ONLY place I will get my future dogs from!

We contacted the Dog Academy when we purchased a Briard Service Dog for our son and the company shut down. We were suppose to get him at a year old fully trained and they handed us a large 35 pound 3 month untrained puppy. I had him an hour, and he chewed up a seat belt in my car. He also went the bathroom in my car and chewed all over my son. It was my worst nightmare. I handed Michael a big mess. We had never had a dog and I personally felt lost and helpless in handling our dog. I am not a dog person at all. Michael Ward was our saving grace. He not only trained our dog but also put in countless hours working with me to teach me how to manage and care for him. We have had him home now for almost a month. We are currently looking into the next step in training for our dog for being a full time service dog for our son Charles. Other trainers and many people are shocked how well behaved our dog is currently. The crazy part is our dog already fulfills many of the beginning requirements for the basic skills. He is crate trained with no bathroom issues. He can come, sit , stay, walk by my side in public with no issues. He doesn't bark, chase anything or jump up on anyone. He is quite in the crate and house most of the time. We still struggle with puppy chewing and hyper activity due to age but that's about it. Thanks to Michael our dog brings joy to our family and most importantly is already a well behaved friend for our son and family. If you need help with your dog or are a first time dog owner in the triangle area I would really consider using Dog Academy.

I contacted Sandra and Michael about a goldendoodle puppy we had seen on their website. Sandra responded very quickly (despite us contacting her on a Friday night) and answered all my questions over text and we set up a call to for the next morning to discuss the puppy and her mannerisms / traits and if she would be a suitable dog for our family. Although there were 2 puppies available we decided on Gracie and Sandra and Michael agreed to keep Gracie an extra week to continue training and so that we could pick her up from NY during thanksgiving. Throughout this time Sandra sent me photos and videos of Gracie training and with her beautiful kids. We had read a couple of the negative reviews so asked Sandra about these and the techniques used and Sandra explained the training Mike undertakes with puppies and dogs. Sandra was very open and honest with us and told us that Michael does not use ‘punishment’ techniques, he uses a special collar that will tug on dogs neck and rewards the dog with affection once they complete the command, keeping his voice calm and measured the whole time so as not to confuse the puppy. When we picked Gracie up, Michael went through his training plan for about an hour. Although tugging on the dogs neck collar looks harsh, it really is not and we discovered this when we took Gracie home. She had no marks on her neck and was not a nervous or anxious dog - she loves people and other dogs and is extremely loving and obedient. However she is a puppy and if you are not strict on her she will take advantage. Michael did a fantastic job in training Gracie and getting her crate trained. The most important thing however is keeping up Michael’s training when you get the puppy home - it’s hard when they are so cute and you want to give them whatever they want! However we listened to Michael and as a result we have an extremely well trained puppy, for her age, who is fully crate trained and attends doggy daycare throughout the week where her socialization with other dogs and people is continuously praised by the staff. We would highly recommend Sandra and Michael to buy a well trained puppy from! Thank you both! Emma (NY)

Getting ready to take my pups here

I got my Siberian Husky from this place. The process of getting him trained on top of additional knowledge I received from Sandra and Michael was exceptional. Highly recommended.

We bought our golden retriever from here about 5 months ago. He was trained from these people. When I picked him up, he had the same kind of marks on his neck as the photos. I didn’t think anything of it at the time. But as we continued training him, with positive reinforcement, we noticed he was trembling. He trembled every time we got into training! We are now 4-5 months later and he is still trembling! We love our dog, great listener and companion but you don’t have to be so extreme with your training! We have experience with another golden retriever that lived to 12 years old and didn’t have to be extreme to get results! I can’t imagine the horrible things they did while having him! I feel like I rescued him! Stay away from here!

Great place for training, coaching how to bond with your dog and they really take great care for the dogs.

It has been just under a month since our 3 year old rescue came back from 2 weeks at the Dog Academy of NC and Michael Ward. He trained our yellow lab China years ago ( serious aggression issues) and worked very diligently with her while …

Wow! Just WOW! I don't have the proper words to describe how life changing this was for my entire family! My dog, Duke, who is a one year old mastiff mix, weighing around 140 lbs, had aggression tendencies, was insecure, had anxiety in new situations and was dominate. That is a horrible combination. He was touch reactive as well. I tried so many options--other trainers, doggy daycare...you name it. His behavior was almost to the point of euthanasia due to a bite incident. I contacted Sandra and Michael as the last resort, which SHOULD have been the first resort. I showed up in tears and I was desperate. Now...two months later, tons of work, not only for Duke but for ourselves, we are making AMAZING strides and he is now living a more balanced life. I cannot thank them enough for this life changing experience. We have gained so much knowledge and the tools to create complete harmony within ourselves, our dog and our home! Any dog, any issue---these are the folks to call!!!

We had an awesome experience learning from Michael! I have a 10 month old German Shepherd that was afraid of children and just generally not very social. Michael showed us how communicate with him clearly and be more confident with him in …

I had my puppy trained there and the trainer was fantastic. He was able to train my dog during the day while I was working. The best part about the experience was not only does he train your dog, but he teaches you the methods of effectively training your dog by yourself.

Michael helped train our dog Jackson two years ago. This review is late coming, but also a testament to how Michael's training has stood the test of time. Our dog Jackson was rescued from Haiti and had a lot of anxiety around new people …

Very friendly trainers. Their work is amazing I got my dog back and her behavior is totally different,almost like a new dog. They gave very easy to follow instructions for us to continue with. I would recommend them to anyone. I am definetly extremely satisfied with the results.

My Dog Cole was very aggressive to men and i had a hard time walking him on a leash. He was trained about 2 years ago and if you seen him then and now you wouldn't know he was the same dog. I would recommend Mike and Sandra to anyone.Great Job

What can I say about Michael Ward and the Dog Academy of NC.....AMAZING! After adopting an abused 2 year old German Shepherd who was described as "extremely shy" we soon discovered it was far worse. She had major fear aggression. The …