Leader of the Pack Dog Training

My kids loved his training. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to get ahold of him to even discuss it. I filled out his form in December. No answer. I sent a message via his web site in January with all my information again. No answer.
I was going to send him a message via Unilocal to ask why he isn’t contacting me as I wanted a two week training program in his home. However, according to Unilocal he isn’t checking his messages. I can’t say how good his training is now, but my kids liked him a lot. I can say that his business isn’t good at responding.

Our dog was with Mark for 2 weeks of obedience training and our experience does not match reviews listed. Communication was nill, the bag I packed of familiar items was never opened, my dog was the dirtiest she’s ever been when I picked her up, she had random sores on her legs and the only coaching I was provided with was -«we worked on sit, stay, and come, she still needs work on come.» I don’t get the reviews and will never rely solely on Unilocal again.

My husband and I took our two dogs to be live in clients for about one month and we couldn’t be more pleased with the results. They are both rescues and had anxiety and aggression issues. Mark was amazing and helped our dogs so much. He was so good we would drive the 10 hours again from California the next time we go away, both for the training and loving home they shared with him and his family.

Mark is amazing! I grew up with dogs my whole life and he taught me so much new information in a short period of time. Mark understands dogs inside and out and doesn’t do clickers or any baloney theoretical training. He truly understands dog behavior and will address any issue you have accordingly. He’s super friendly and a pleasure to work with.

Mark was here today for 2 hours to help us with our 2 year old Aussie. He was professional, patient, knowledgable and friendly. He helped train us on how to work with aggressive behaviors and leash pulling. He was awesome and an hour later we are seeing results.

Mark Dunlap with Leader of the Pack was my last hope in training my incredibly stubborn hound dog that I had adopted as an adult. He had all sorts of problems, howling at anything that moved, aggression issues when people approached me in the house, and constantly chasing and attacking my cats. I tried for a long time to train him myself but lacked the knowledge and expertise that my dog needed to behave better. After 6 weeks of live-​in training with Mark (and admittedly being one of the most stubborn and anxious dogs he had ever worked with) I must say I am astounded at how much better he is doing. Being a hound, of course the vocalizations won’t ever completely stop, but now he knows «quiet» and «leave it», making outings way less stressful! My dog still has a long way to go because of his stubbornness, but given the tools Mark has taught me I have high expectations for my dogs behavior in the future. I have plans to leave him with Mark whenever I am out of town from now on. The price he charges is not much more than a regular boarding facility, PLUS your dog lives in his house (not a kennel) and is trained while they stay. It was obvious Mark formed a strong loving bond with my dog and I loved to see that. He really cares about your dog and wants them to be the best behaved dog they can be! I would recommend Mark to anyone, he is a miracle worker!

Mark Dunlap, from Leader of the Pack Dog Training, came highly recommended to us from a friend of ours. Mark was able to work wonders with their Australian shephard so we thought to give Mark a chance at our boxer mix.
We are first time pet owners and didn’t really have any idea on how to train a dog properly. We were able to figure out potty training and crate training, but that was about it, our wonderful shelter dog had us coiled around her little finger.
Our dog, Fi, first met Mark just before her second birthday, she was around 45 pounds of muscle and about as bad at leash-​walking as a dog can be. Jumping, lunging, and pulling at everything. She easily kept what felt like 30 pounds of pressure on the leash constantly. She wasn’t listening to any of our commands and it was turning into a real frustrating experience for my wife and I. We love our dog but she was a bearcat to do anything with.
Mark started in and recommended the in-​home training, first in our home, and second at his home for some intensive training. Within the first two to three sessions our dog was behaving and responding favorably to the instruction. One of the things we appreciate most about Mark’s approach is the human training component to dog training. We were doing things that our dog was incorrectly reacting to, making everything worse. He set us up for success in training Fi instead of continuing the way we were going.
After about 3 months Fi was a completely different dog, leash-​trained and much more respectful of those around her. The nipping was completely corrected and the jumping soon after.
Currently, we send Fi to Mark for behavior checkups periodically throughout the year, to keep Fi, and us, on our toes and to make sure she isn’t regressing. Fi, by nature, is a reactive dog who is now a little over 5 years old and an admittedly challenging case. Mark’s expertise has allowed us to enjoy our life with Fi. His training has given us the opportunity to take her places we otherwise would avoid. I would recommend Mark Dunlap at Leader of the Pack Dog Training to anyone who is looking for a top notch and highly effective dog training experience!

We hired Mark for a private consultation yesterday evening. Wow, he knows his stuff! We couldn’t recommend him more highly. He put our minds at ease immediately and taught us some techniques to help us with our anxious dog. Well worth the price!

Paid over $ 1000 on training a very trainable puppy poodle… no help to us. He still jumps up, still nips, bad recall, and acts like he had never been trained. Then he recommended training 4 months to get a good trained dog. No way man. No refunds, watch out.
He is a smooth talker, like a car salesman and dooped my wife into thinking he would be perfect… way way off. I am pissed.

Go here now. Whether your dog is a head strong, stubborn pill or not — you and your dog will benefit greatly from the lessons and tools you will receive from Mark and Rodeo. I was really worried that our pup was going to be impossible to train. My last dog was a cake walk in comparison. After only two sessions I can already see amazing progress and I am feeling such an incredible sense of relief. My dog and I are gaining trust in each other now that he is seeing me as the boss. We are already experiencing less reactivity on leash and better obedience. We are both happier and on our way to a safe and happy owner/​dog relationship :)

Mark is an absolute rock star! I own a yellow lab named Jonah that is essentially, as I like to put it, «Marley times 10!». I mean, my lab is just all over the place! From the moment Mark walked into my home, I immediately was pleasantly surprised that his approach to dogs was almost exactly in line with mine. I was very nervous that he was going to come into my home and proceed to pull the «I’m here to train you, not the dog». While I am open to new ideas and tools, I am not a 4 legged creature, and I do not need to be trained. Mark was just absolutely amazing with my dog! While I admit that part of my bias towards him is our similar philosophy to dogs and training, he really is amazing at what he does, and his approach to training. Not more than 10 minutes after Mark left, I was already on the Leader of The Pack website scheduling a follow up session. If you are here reading reviews and thinking about working with Mark, I cannot recommend him enough. Unless, of course, you view dogs as human beings and treat them as though they were you children rather than your best friends and companions… then perhaps Mark is not the right trainer for you. Jonah and I cannot wait to see him again! Thank you so much Mark!

Mark is a superstar! Our great dane puppy had the potential of being a real handful and my husband and I already knew that big dogs definitely need extra training. Mark gave us so many tools, while still being a huge advocate for our boy. I can’t recommend him enough.

I finished up the foundations class about a month or so ago and couldn’t have been more pleased with how the class went. My girlfriend and I got our pup at 4.5 months from a friend that couldn’t care for him any longer, this is my first dog and I wanted to do it right. By the end of the 6 weeks our little pup was better behaved than I ever thought he would be! I left feeling confident that I would be able to continue his training. More than anything Mark explains how dogs minds work, not just how to sit and stay. He teaches you how to read your dog and understand them, I couldn’t be happier with the service provided. Mark is incredible dog trainer!

I will update this review in 3 weeks with more info and after our follow-​up session.
My girlfriend and I decided it was time to add another member to our group and adopt a dog, eventually finding Satchel at the Oregon Humane Society. We searched for several weeks trying to find the right dog for us, visiting shelters in southern Washington and in the Portland Metro area, until we found the pup that picked us. Satchel, a French Bulldog and Australian Cattle Dog mix, was a wonderful dog. She got along with our Maine Coon cat and was mellow and loving at home. She was perfect in all regards with one glaring exception, she would go from 0 – 60 in the blink of an eye when she saw another dog, lunging and barking beyond control. That is until we got in touch with LOTP.
Today, We had Mark Dunlap and his Australian Cattle Dog Rodeo from LOTP over for an inital behavioral modification course. The meeting was 2 hours (although Mark was nice enough to extend our meeting past the given time in order to ensure he could see the behavior of a regular walk with Satchel) and infinitely helpful. Mark was exactly what I wanted in a trainer for my beloved pet. He was kind, down to earth, immediately connected with my dog, and was able to control our dog in the first few minutes with her when in her bad behavior mode. He quickly identified and remedied the issue, and then took the time to explain and show us how to do the same ourselves. No question, Mark knows his stuff and is a genuinely good guy. He tends to be booked out quite a while, but his time is well worth it! 5 stars!
LOTP is, no doubt, pretty spendy. However, as far as Mark Dunlap is concerned, his time, knowledge, and experience are well worth the price tag. If you are in Portland and your dog has you stumped on how to address and solve a behavioral issue, see Mark.

His dog training skills may be amazing! His orginazation and scheduling ability is 99% atrocious.
Our story begins in early June. I called for a recommendation on which of his courses would ideal for my situation. He quickly recommended the course I was already thinking about after seeing his website. Great, we’re on one page. Then he says, go ahead and schedule the session online. I did, but he’s booked almost a month out. I think myself he must be good… Longest line is the one you wait in for lunch, right?
Fast forward to early July, the morning of my appointment. I receive a voicemail from Mark that says it’s far too hot out to do training and that all of his other appointments had cancelled alredy. So I should go online and just rebook the appointment. Here’s my problem with the cancellation. I booked a 2 hour IN HOME training… IN HOME, AS IN, INSIDE… Whatever, I was annoyed, but the training was a necessity so I booked another appointment, again almost a month out… For the end of July.
Fast forward to earlier this week. I get another dreaded phone call… This time my appointment is being cancelled because he’s going to be out of town, and he can squeeze me in on Wednesday or Saturday before. One problem, I’ve scheduled both my previous appointments on Mondays, because I’m off on Mondays. Not Wednesdays and not Saturdays.
At this point I’m done. I give up. This guy doesn’t want my money. My wife convinces me to call him and explain my availability, and explain that he’s cancelled on me twice, and give him the opportunity to make it right. I do just that. At about a week, he eventually called me back, but only with an offer to squeeze me in. I don’t feel like we would have gotten the time or the effort needed. I give up.

Mark’s website says «99% of Students Would Recommend Us!» I’m firmly part of that 99%. I’ve been having some issues with my dog thanks to some bad training advice I received from a dog rescue group and Mark certainly helped turn that around. I was quite happy with the obedience classes and it gave my dog the opportunity to refine what we practiced in a public setting around other dogs.
The best thing about him is that he GENUINELY CARES, like one of those special teachers you had in high school that stood out from the rest of the clock-​punching drones… the one you still remember the name of and made a real difference in your life. He also stayed with us after class to answer some tough questions when he could have easily blown us off or told us «uh…I don’t cover that in this class…» He deserves every one of these 5-​star reviews.
I will say that if you and your canine companion want to get the most out of the experience, you need to do the homework assignments! He does do private at-​home training and live-​in training. He also has a behavior class starting in summer that I’m looking forward to signing up for as soon as it’s available.

I couldn’t be happier with my experience with Mark the dog trainer. I was having quite a large issue with my dog, Samson jumping at my front door anytime someone would come by. He came to my home and the instant he showed up he took charge. He gave me very helpful advice as to how to curb this unwanted behavior and we even ran multiple tests with ourselves and even my neighbors joined in trying to fix the problem. Mark really thought outside the box. He also spent a good amount of time with me going over the basics of dog training and made me see through the eyes of my dog and what he must be thinking. It was completely worth every penny to have the private session. I am happy to report my dog Samson is very well behaved now and we are still using the training methods Mark taught.

Mark is the best trainer I’ve met! I’ve had the privilege of working with the master Dog Whisperer Cesar Milan — on a business venture a few years ago — and he is definitely the real deal. I really like and respect Mark, because like Cesar, he believes in the «pack leader» philosophy — and incorporates many of his non nonsense approaches to his training. I met Mark at Urban Fauna — when my yellow LAB Lemon was just a puppy. I was having problems with complete «recall» when she was off leash. Most times she would come, but on those occasions (usually the most important), she would not. We live on acreage in Washington, with the Pacific Crest Trail running through it. During summer months, we get hikers coming through — and Lemon would sometimes take off up the trail after unsuspecting hikers. She is a sweet dog, only protecting her turf, but scary none the less. She also got to taking after a massive herd of Elk that also live on the property (dangerous!!).
Mark — came to our property and showed us how to run «come command» drills using varying length rope & recall commands. He also took her for weekends and worked with her on recall. She now has a 100% come command rate. We couldn’t be happier!
Lastly, prior to Mark — I had worked with no less than 4 other trainers. Mark is by far the most skilled and frankly honest. There are many different methods out there — but what I have found is that dogs like to have a calm assertive leader — that is consistent. I found trying to use clickers and other gimmicks a distraction.
Hire Mark — you won’t regret it!

My big, bad, terrorizing, pushy, sassy, dastardly doggies are laying on the floor sleeping right now– wow. This is less than 24 hours after Mark came over to help us reestablish bossness over our pups. Our pack was literally upside down, and in two hours I really felt like Mark gave us the tools to start getting our boys back under control again. Hah– I think I might even be in charge! I know this is going to take a lot of work, but I’m really happy already to know that it can be done, and we can do it. Thanks Mark!

My husband and I recently finished up a five week course with Mark at Leader of the Pack with our puppy, and we couldn’t be happier with the overall experience.
The classes were run efficiently, and Mark taught us really useful «real world» commands rather than silly tricks, etc. The classes were structured in a way that introduced a few new skills each session, and then it was our job to practice those skills at home over the course of the next week. For us, this proved to be a really useful way of learning basic commands and obedience techniques.
Most importantly, our puppy has a great time at all the classes. Mark is a fantastic instructor, and he’s great at working with all kinds of dogs.