Sound Animals

The whole obedience class with Jeff was amazing! He has a knack of understanding what your dog needs as well as what you need to feel confident in class. He is calm, patient, funny and always looks for ways to compliment your dog as well as you. We have a very shy collie pup and Jeff knew what to do to bring him out and make him feel more confident. Strongly recommend Sound Animals to anyone!

We rescued a 6 year old German Shepard and part of the agreement was that we take him to training soon. He already had the basics down (sit, lay down) So I called Jeff and his team and they let us in intermediate, which was great. Jeff was very helpful in getting our dog not only trained, but what we needed even more was socialized. He is still working on that but the training did is all a world of good.

I’d have to agree with the previous reviewer. I signed up for the Intermediate Dog Training class with my 7 year old dog, even though we hadn’t taken a formal training class together in years. Before I signed up, I talked to someone on the phone who told me that it’d be okay.
Upon entering for the first class, the place was incredibly crowded. There were about 14 – 16 dogs in the building on the first day, which was overwhelming because the class room wasn’t all that big. My dog felt overwhelmed since he hadn’t been around so many dogs like that in a long time, and he got a little growly and clearly very nervous. My dog actually didn’t like the place very much at all, and wanted to leave. Jeff did not provide any comfort, either. Because my dog had been initially growly and nervous around all of the other dogs, Jeff immediately deemed him as the «troublemaker» of the class and did nothing about it. He would squirt my dog in his face with his water bottle whenever he started acting nervous and frightful again. The first class had so many people and dogs, it was hard to pay attention and my dog was all over the place. I thought I’d give it another shot, and since there were no refunds, I might as well have gotten my money’s worth.
Fast forward to the next week, still the same thing. Lots of dogs, lots of humans circled around. My dog felt really stressed and overwhelmed still, and Jeff did nothing to help. He paid more attention to certain dogs in the classroom than others and pretty much ignored me and my dog. If he thought a dog was being a «troublemaker» or they were «bad» he would not really interact with them further and would praise other dogs instead. I felt like he was very discriminatory towards specific dogs than others. If he did not like you, he wouldn’t really talk or try to work with you at all. My dog felt very stressful going to class, and I was as an older dog, he did not want to tolerate all the puppies and younger, energetic dogs in the class, but Jeff never said anything about my dog’s behavior or even tried to comfort him. He excluded my dog from playtime and my dog was the only one excluded, and he never offered any reasons why. One time after a session, he said, «I guess your dog can stay to play next week. if we decide we want him to.» Needless to say, I did not go back after that week and decided to skip the last class since my dog had not been benefiting at all.
I would not recommend this place. I had a more positive experience with the PetSmart training than this, and that is saying something. If you want to waste your money, and deal with a condescending and cocky dog trainier, then come here. Otherwise, stay away.

Although I only attended training at this facility once that’s all I needed to know I did not want to return. The studio was cold and un inviting, and there was about 15 dogs which seemed like entirely way too many. I’ve found I prefer a training style that promotes my pup into being my helpful buddy not my scared slave and I found that was the vibe at sound animal. One of my least favorite lessons learned that evening was that as a female I was going to have to work harder to train my dog because they don’t respect my submissive nature. Maybe that’s true for fear based training but that furthers the reasons I would not recommend this studio… Remember, do you want your dog to be your slave? Or buddy?
Right away when you get into class the dogs are permitted to introduce themselves and play, my dog felt overwhelmed and tensed up about to snap I noticed and corrected my dog thankfully one second before Jeff was about to squirt him in the face with a water bottle.
Wouldn’t you at least like your child’s teacher at school to ask if they can spank your child rather than take liberties regardless of your stance on «spanking.»
If old fashioned fear based training is the route you’d like to go Jeff is your guy, I myself prefer a more positive style of training one where my dog is left confident and eager to please not fearful and scared to disappoint.
My tuition was included in my adoption fee for my dog, when I requested a refund I was denied and told too bad since I’d already taken up a spot in class. All I can say to that is there was entirely way too many dogs in this class to begin with.

Had Jeff do a one-​on-​one with our new dog we adopted (she had been in foster care because she was so scared. difficult). She was extremely aggressive towards other dogs encountered on walks (though sweet at home with our other dog). She hadn’t done well with another expert we’d seen for a number of sessions, but after one session with Jeff she was doing better and we were much more confident that we’d be able to help her be calm (and not vicious) on walks. We feel much better equipped to continue to train her, and she continues to improve!

I found this place BEFORE i moved up from LA, took a leap of faith in total desperation and signed my dog up for the 6 week «growl» class for dog agressive dogs. long story short, we took the class twice because we loved it so much, then went on to take the basic obedience class as well. jeff and his assistants really put me at ease, especially on that first class where i was in tears for fear that my dog would be shunned. They were so supportive, they taught both my dog AND me confidence and how to interact with other dogs. Best part is, classes are at all hours pretty much, and if you take one series, the next series is discounted by alot… LOVE THEM and am forever indebted to Jeff for helping my beast be happier in this world.

Took my lil pup here for the obedience class and while I was skeptical at first thinking there was no way she was going to do the things Jeff TInsley said she would do. By the end of the course, I was proven wrong. Not only did my little Bailey pass with flying colors. after some time when I thought she would have forgotten the skills I havent really been «working on». I know — my fault. she listened immediately, understood, and was able to recall the commands she was taught. I am not only impressed with the training here. I am going back for the next course. Cant wait. SOOOOOOoooooo love this place and all the people who work here! Thanks guys! TWO THUMBS UP! Highly recommended!

Jeff and his crew walk on water (on all 4 paws that is). They offer wonderful classes w/​play time that have really helped me train my nearly 12 mos old Golden Retriever aka the monster. Jeff has come to the house for a one-​on-​one training session which helped us solve a house training issue. I’m about to have him back again. Would highly recommend him, the group classes, and the doggy photographer that works with them.

Absolutely love this training school. Kendra is magnificient and is always more than willing to help out after class to teach us a few tricks on how to get my 1 and a half year old dog to stop acting like such a d-​bag.
Jeff Tinsley has also been extremely helpful replying to some of my inquiries on specific dog behavioral problems that I’ve encountered.
I have tried Ahimsa at first but I believe that this training style is much better at working with more dominant, stubborn breeds.

Jeff came to our house to help to help us with our 16 month old dog that was regressing into bad behavior. He was terrific. He had ideas for our dog that made perfect sense. Everything was easy for us to implement and affected Bruno’s behavior almost immediately. I understand he teaches classes, which I imagine would also be very worthwhile. We would not hesitate to recommend Sound Animal Services to any dog owner!