Dogs Downtown Chantilly, Virginia

We sent our energetic Newfiepoo for “Board and Train” when he was 6 months old, and again around his 1st birthday. Both experiences were with Sophia as the trainer, and we have been thrilled with the results. The first round of training set …

Loved it! They were wonderful to my pet.

Leaving this review for others planning on taking their dog here for training. Don’t do it. This is not a positive based training facility. Took my dog here for training for specific issues and he was corrected so hard by the trainer using a martingale collar he yelped in pain several times during the training session, it looked like animal abuse. The underlying fear issues became even worse after this training. While this happened in front of my eyes, it’s terrifying to think about what happens behind closed doors. This type of “training” should never be used with fearful dogs.

I cannot say enough about Dogs Downtown but especially Clifton. Our dog Ace is a loving, sweet, affectionate young pup but we were struggling with how to help him be a better greeter to guests, take walks, and harness his endless energy. After much searching, I had a consultation with Clifton & he told us in five sessions he thought he could help us with Ace. I'll admit, I was skeptical at first but my gosh was a I wrong. After just two sessions, we saw INCREDIBLE improvements with Ace - he walked in heel, listened to our commands of off, leave it, and quiet...and was all around an absolute joy to have at home. We just finished our fifth training session today and we have gained not only a ton of knowledge but also the confidence and tools to continuing working with Ace. I cannot thank Clifton enough -- he is a truly incredible trainer! I cannot recommend him enough! He bonded with Ace and we cannot wait to continue our training journey!

I sent my 2.5 year old Aussie mix to Dog's Downtown for a 2 week board-and-train and the results were amazing. Athena is very loving and had no big behavioral issues, but she lacked just general "good manners". Sophia did an amazing job with Athena and now I feel like I can take her anywhere! She sent updates every other day and was very responsive to any questions I had. Even after Athena came home from training, Sophia was always available to answer any questions I had.

Nothing but good experiences with this business. Our dog gets excited when we're close to the place. She's always happy when we pick her up. Staff is very friendly. ????

Very good trainers and facility. Convenient for us as it is very close to our house. Daisy loves it. Taking one star off as they don't allow us to see the dog boarding and playtime areas in person.

Wow! Dog’s Downtown is easily the best training and boarding facility in the DMV area! Sophia has been just incredible in what she has been able to accomplish with Millie (our German Shepherd). Not only does she treat/train Millie amazingly, she takes the time to make sure we will be successful as owners. I will bring every single one of our future dogs here no matter the distance!

Great for boarding! My dog always comes home happy!

This is the best place for my dog! I take my dog there every time I go on vacation and she comes home happy, clean, and missing her friends at Dogs Downtown! Great place with kind people.

My dog always comes home smelling like urine, dehydrated, gaurding everything, sick and lethargic for at least 2 days. They price gouge on weekends now also.

Great for boarding and training!! I love this place!

My dog was not only not trained, he was mistreated and is now on anxiety medication. There are a host of other serious issues and my poor baby is absolutely not the same. Without getting into the absolutely deplorable other facts, if you have ever had an issue with this facility, please contact Fairfax County Animal Control. To add to your nasty response, I have been advised not to contact you. You are not only failing to tell the whole and correct facts, but I know nothing about an eye infection after numerous communication. Freedom of speech- I haven’t broken any laws. You know what is against the law, animal neglect. I’m not going to go point by point but I have all of my ducks in a row and additionally I didn’t accept money due to my concern for the other dogs safety. That speaks volumes and I won’t be responding to you further on here or via text, email or phone due to legal reasons..

Not very professional , expensive and very basic.

We used Dogs Downtown for individual training and now weekday drop off training. So far we are happy with Dogs Downtown. Javiela is a great trainer and is very patient with our energetic and lovable lab puppy. Would highly recommend.

Cliff did an amazing job with our dog reactive lab mix. He knows dogs, knows what they need, and knows how to help us help the dog. Couldn’t be more pleased.

Best best best dog training in the dmv. If you can I would highly recommend private lessons with Sophia. 1-2 lessons in with her has gotten me so far with my dog and has taught me how to teach him better. Highly recommend this place

I am extremely satisfied with the training Javiela provided. My mini golden doodle was a anxious puppy before starting the training and after a week of drop off training and a couple private lessons he has become a confident puppy. Javier a was always responsive with my emails and works very hard to understand the needs of the puppy and gave us some very good recommendations to help us train it at home.

We are getting a dog that we have doing extensive training with from here. We are super excited. The staff is super knowledgeable and are great!

Trainer provided information packet during first consultation for boarding and training while discussing the problems we wanted to be part of the goal. I asked about the price of training and he pointed at the page. I scheduled the appointment over the phone and the gentleman spoke about price for training with the trainer who did our consultation. When I called back to make the payment I was given a different price but they would not honor or accommodate in any matter although two employees stated the same price. I would NOT recommend this business who cannot see their errors.

They won’t board your dog until they do an evaluation, which is basically a meet and greet with you and your pet. They have space to board but not time to do the evaluation so they wouldn’t let me book anything.

We did a two week board & train program so this review is detailed with all the great support our baby got! We adopted a 2 y.o mixed breed rescue officially in mid-feb after fostering for about a month. We knew we wanted to do training and actually had signed on with another training facility closer to our home in Falls Church but needed to change plans due to a last minute trip out of town. If we were going to board for a full week, we really wanted our pup to get some enrichment (and bonus that we were going to get her training anyways) instead of being cooped up for a week somewhere. I found Dog's Downtown online when googling local Board & Trains. We had a great initial consultation, felt comfortable with them & our dog, and we were fortunate they had space to take her on while we were going to be out of town. We still weren't sure if our dog would need 1 week or 2 week B&T so we agreed to go in on the 2 week program and call it at 1 week if she needed a break, was getting stressed out, or any other reason. Our dog Joey is a really good dog -- unlike other fosters we've card for, she has no serious obedience issues, no issues with aggression or leash reactivity, etc -- so our goal was mastery of basic obedience training. Our trainer, Alexa, really wanted to emphasize we can't guarantee if our dog will learn or catch on, and our dog it a slow learner, so our expectations weren't high, but for the B&T rates I was going to be happy with basic obedience skills. We received updates usually every other day -- pictures, videos, and emails from the staff. They were responsive to any emails or calls we made to them. We had a check-in call with the trainer at the one week mark and we received the good news that our dog was catching on to the training and that she would benefit from another week of training to reinforce/master. The second weeks is when Joey really made progress in her training so while we really missed having her at home, it was totally worth it. We picked her up at the two week mark and had a 90 min session with our trainer to learn the commands Joey had learned. I was nervous about reinforcing her training as well as she had learned it from Alexa, but we caught on easily with Alexa's help. Despite our slow learning pup and metered expectations, she mastered all the basic obedience and then some (sit, stay, down, come, leave it, place/mat, loose leash walking, wait, touch, etc). Joey's training met and exceeded all of our expectations. We were very pleased with her obedience training at the session, but since we've been home with her for 2 weeks we've gotten to see how well she took to the training and how engrained it is for her now. I was glad to see that she hasn't regressed or gotten complacent since she left the facility. We are very glad we chose Dogs Downtown and had Alexa as our trainer. You could tell Alexa and staff cared for our pup as a sweet family member and not just a job. We had a great connection with Alexa and think she was the perfect trainer to maximize the potential of our sweet Joey pup. We would love to come join the group sessions or their day care but our dog gets really car sick and the drive to Chantilly from Falls Church is too much for her. We will use Dogs Downtown for future boarding needs and maybe throw in some mini trainings!

Javiela has been so helpful with training us to train our dog. She has a great understanding of how to train dogs with caring and gentle techniques. Thanks for helping us Javiela!

Léon, our 3 year old Goldendoodle, needed to build up more confidence, some refreshers and additional skill sets. Our trainer, Javiela, has been doing a fabulous job, working one on one as well in group settings with us. She has adapted to the needs we have, our learning style, worked in different locations,... we have been satisfied with the training we have gotten and highly recommend her services.

I have been working with Javiela from Dogs Downtown for about a year to train my Golden Retriever as a service dog. Javiela has been an absolute godsend. I brought a stubborn, rambunctious puppy to her, and through her constant, unwavering patience and skill, my dog has become a gentleman. She is so knowledgeable and has a great intuition for how to work with animals. Working with Javiela over the past year, I have learned so very much about how to communicate with my dog and get him to achieve training goals. I cannot adequately describe the positive changes and improvements that my dog has made, thanks to Javiela. My dog is now calm, eager to please, loyal, and so sweet. He wants to succeed. He wants to help me. I know this wouldn't have been possible without the skill Javiela has shown in working with my dog. She assisted me in finding tasks that would help me, and because of his training I'm now feeling a sense of freedom and confidence that I haven't felt in many years.

We have been working with Dogs Downtown in Chantilly, VA for 2 years. My daughter was matched with the perfect Service Dog for her needs. Sophia and Alexa are knowledgeable and wonderful Trainers. They care about the dog and the human client. They have gone above and beyond to accommodate and be flexible when we’ve had to take breaks from training or increase training appointments. My daughter is able to be independent because of her Service Dog. Their bond is amazing and it’s beautiful to watch them together. Whenever we are close to Dog’s Downtown, my daughter’s dog gets so excited because she loves going there to see the Trainers, work, play, and she knows she’s loved. All the other Trainers are so helpful and encouraging too. The facilities are clean and the dogs have a blast in their large indoor play areas. I’m so glad we chose this place!

If you are looking for reliable professional trainers this is the place. Dogs downtown has reasonable prices and have done an excellent job training my service dog and obedience. They also provide doggy day care and my pooch always comes home happy and tired. Staff is friendly and helpful. Highly recommend, 10/10.

Very happy with Dog's Downtown. Extremely knowledgeable and personable trainers.

Alexa is a FANTASTIC trainer and my crazy little pitbull is learning from her so quickly. I recommend this place to anyone who thinks there their dog is out of control or just needs to brush up on the basics. Dog's Downtown also does advanced training for service dogs. I am totally impressed.

My service dog, Paddington, is from Dogs Downtown's service dog training program and we continue to work with his wonderful trainer, Sophia, on a weekly basis. I love Dogs Downtown, and have since the first day meeting with Leah, all the way through the process of matching with my dog, board training him, and then going home with him and having the professional and responsive support. The trainers here are both knowledgeable about training, and LOVE their dogs. Often, working with the dogs is more about training people than training the dog (so many of their dogs are already amazing), but they are patient with the people too. Paddington is an incredible dog, loving, relaxed, and so quick to learn. He has changed my life, and is the best friend I could ask for, and Dogs Downtown was a huge part of that.