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March 2024 by Rita SunnyDays
Exceptional trainer, setting is perfect to socialize and train puppies and dogs. My pup Gigi went through all the puppy Happy Hours when she was 4 months old AND completed puppy kindergarten, puppy middle school and puppy high school. April has the highest integrity, caring and real world experience. We even completed a graduation ceremony for each program and I couldn't be happier!! Gigi is complimented everywhere we go on how well behaved she is while her personality still really shines through. April is a true professional and works with each dog's personality unique to them. She uses only positive reinforcement and my Gigi adores her as do I. April purposefully keeps the classes small and everyone gets attention and caring, dogs and humans alike. She is very patient and kind. We feel very blessed to have found her when I did to help Gigi, who is a Beagle husky- very vocal and very playful. I know Gigi misses April very much and hope to surprise April one of these days with all Gigi has retained and learned since. Being given foundational support and psychology of dogs, helps in building further positive reinforcements independently of the classes. Because of April, I have everything I need to have a very happy life with my beautiful Gigi. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, April! You are a wonderful human. We appreciate you.
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March 2024 by Jon Fisher
We've had fantastic experiences with both April and Olivia. They are both extremely insightful and give great suggestions about exactly what to do, and observations of how to improve communication with dogs. We've had them come for several foster dogs with various challenging issues and the difference they have made has been amazing. The best results we had were with a dog who went from barking her head off at people from a couple blocks away to being comfortable getting within a few feet as long as we managed it carefully, after two or three weeks of conditioning.
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December 2023 by Jennifer Brode
Absolutely the best! Highly recommend! I first discovered April and Core Canine three and a half years ago when I got my Chihuahua puppy and was looking for someone to help me with his confidence and interactions on/off leash with other dogs. I wanted a place that offered small group lessons, as well as individual training and used positive reinforcement. After a lot of research and comparison in the Alexandria are, I chose Core Canine. Bodhi and I took her middle school class (and later on high school, as well as multiple private lessons) and it was awesome! The class room/set up is small enough for both owner and dog to easily learn, but big enough to minimize distractions and allow for dog interaction/play when necessary. Bodhi did amazing! We learned so much and made lifelong doggie friends we regularly got together with outside of class. April‘s teaching style is simple, straight forward, and highly effective. Starting with the first class, you learn useful, easy to apply commands that build both dog and owner confidence. Each week builds on the week before and is reviewed every class, so you never feel lost or out of practice. Her techniques are so simple and effective I’ve been able to teach other dogs and owners new skills in a matter of minutes. April is patient, knowledgeable, and really cares about each dog and their owner. You can see her passion and commitment to her craft right away. This is one of the things that struck me most about her when we first met. I’m so grateful to April for her help in training Bodhi (and me!) and always recommend her to anyone I meet. Thank you, April!!!
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December 2023 by Sarah A.
Teeny tiny bedroom sized classroom space. Instructor ground treats into her fingernails on purpose to make my dog lick her fingers for a long time (I watched in shock), still grossed out thinking about it. Weird move. Instructor had artificially sweetened persona with unpleasant and sometimes nasty undertones. Vibe was perpetually off. Quit after three class meetings, won't be back.
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September 2023 by Narsis Hiemstra
April was a really kind and patient trainer. Me and my puppy Zero learned a lot from her group class. I definitely recommend going!
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July 2023 by Jamee Hood
We took our rescue beagle, Oliver, to Core Canine after having him in a few short private lessons at daycare elsewhere. These were fine, but expensive and we didn’t get to see the training in action (most of dog training is really for the owners not the dogs!). Core Canine not only was affordable compared to others in the area, but provided the best standards of training with a friendly and realistic approach. We went through beginner classes all the way to high school with April as our trainer, and she did such a great job meeting us where we were and providing us with training habits that fit our lifestyle and our high-prey-drive Oliver. It’s been a couple of months since we completed high school and we are still using the things we learned in our time at core canine :) highly recommend!
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June 2023 by Dani Glick
Olivia is the best! We did puppy kindergarten and learned so much. Would highly recommend to any new puppy owner
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May 2023 by Inga Zalewska
Matilda and I loved the class. Small group, very friendly trainer. We will definitely return for High school classes.
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March 2023 by Rachel Ledbetter
I cannot recommend Core Canine enough. April is an exceptional dog trainer, and she helped with several behavior training issues we were having with our puppy. She has small classes and offers one-on-one training with each pup. She also offers affordable classes. We're looking forward to using her adult training classes in the future.
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January 2023 by Alice Park
The 5 stars this place has is well deserved. You will not find a better value anywhere else--trust me, I've looked! At the moment it's $195 for a 5-week course (a 1-hour class one day of the week) of any level, and they also have free puppy playdates (you have to register for them). I've seen places where it's almost that much just for one training session. I live in Fairfax Towne Center but the drive to Alexandria was so worth it.I enrolled Chestnut, who was about 4 months old, in puppy kindergarten. Chestnut is our first puppy and our third rescue; our two previous dogs were seniors. I wonder now if I could have trained them with the material we learned for Chestnut; maybe we can teach old dogs new tricks after all, seeing how easy the classes made it for us to train our pup. We had Olivia as our instructor, with the exception of one make-up class where I had April. Having had both, they're both great instructors! I appreciated Olivia's calm and reassuring demeanor in particular. She was very professional and kind, and never seemed to get frustrated or lose her patience.There are no more than 4 dogs per class, and no more than 2 people per dog. The small class size means more individual attention to your pup from the instructor. We have only done puppy kindergarten so far, but we have enrolled Chestnut in middle school starting next month. The things we (both humans and dogs) learn play right into puppies' natural instincts, and we also learn more about canine psychology. For Puppy K, we learned sit, down, stay, place, wait, leave it, come/here, and basic leash manners.They also offer private and at home sessions, though you have to be within a certain radius to take advantage of the latter. I believe they also have courses to help you pass the AKC canine good citizen test. Highly recommend Core Canine to anyone looking to train their pup (which all dog owners should!).
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October 2022 by Kellie G.
Such an amazing experience with puppy school! April loves the animals and is so good at teaching them and us. We had a lot of fun, as did our puppy, and now she is an angel. So grateful!
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October 2022 by Valerie T.
Olivia worked with me and my 10 month old lab. We learned in a small group environment and I think this was beneficial for my dog and myself. Olivia is kind, helpful, thorough, knowledgeable and always willing to answer any type of questions. I recommend Core Canine to all of my friends!
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October 2022 by Kelly Bauer
There are not enough wonderful things to say about Olivia and April at Core Canine. I completed puppy kindergarden with Olivia and was amazed at how thorough, patient, knowledgable, and dedicated she was to teaching us how to raise well behaved dogs.These ladies have infinite knowledge and go above and beyond to make each class special and impactful. The class sizes are small the we were provided with lots of equipment (ex. long leash, a bed, toys, etc.) to use during class to make the training effective. You will absolutely love coming to class and working with these ladies.
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October 2022 by Aggie S.
I've done many many hours of research regarding dog training and dog trainers in the DMV as a new dog owner. Our mini schnauzer puppy is a very chill pup however, the schnauzer in him really shows when he barks which some ppl find annoying (or they think that we're bad owners). Since our pup already goes to puppy socials and puppy basic obedience s hoop at another place, we wanted to supplement this with some private training to work on very specific challenges that our pup had: loose leash walking, pulling on walks, barking at other dogs & kids, and relaxing/settling. We had 2 private in home sessions with April which were 1.5 hours. She came on time every time and really provided us with so much info we didn't receive at our pup's puppy school program. Our pup is now so so good with leash walking and no longer pulls on walks! Sometimes there's the occasional pulling when he sees a squirrel or tiny birds but just that part of being a curious puppy! Additionally, he understands settling and relaxing when in public so that's been so helpful for us as we go outside at a cafe or outdoor events where there's other dogs and many distractions.Our puppy has also worked on his schnauzer barking - it's amazing what training and patience can do! Our pup still barks but only alert barks now. Sometimes he gets the occasional barking fit because another dog would trigger him. Overall, our pup is a completely different pup and we are so proud of him and happy of the private training we invested in. April is a great trainer and really cares about her clients! We can't wait until our pup can master his focus skills so that we can enroll for middle school and high school at Core Canine!
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September 2022 by Charles Gilman
My poodle did the puppy play classes for a month, which were FREE. Now she is over 4 months so we have graduated. It was a great experience with a great pet trainer - the least I could do is leave this review. Thanks Core Canine!
