The Best Dog Trainers in San Francisco, CA of 2026

This is a list of the top dog trainers in San Francisco, CA, based on votes from the Sniffspot community and the general public.

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  Kaajal Tiwary

  ABCDT

  Aggressive dog training, Reactive dog training, Board and train, In home training, Off leash training, Puppy training

  California South Bay Area, including San Jose, Willow Glen, Santa Clara, Monte Sereno, Sunnyvale, Milpitas, Campbell, Saratoga, Los Gatos, Los Altos, Cupertino, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Atherton.

  Kaajal (aka KT!) loves puppies and is dedicated to getting new puppy guardians off on the right paw and guiding her students through the tough early days of owning a dog. Her goal? Transforming each bundle of raw puppy energy into the perfect adult companion. She also loves helping people have a well-behaved adult dog that knows how to be part of the family. She's dedicated her training career ...

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  Kelli Staffieri

  Cdt, ccc

  Reactive dog training, Board and train, In home training, Off leash training, Puppy training

  Lake county, Sonoma county, Mendocino county, Napa county

  Cdt

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  Quin Longino

  CPDT-KA, SAPro, CCDT

  Aggressive dog training, Reactive dog training, In home training, Off leash training, Puppy training

  Sonoma & Marin Counties

  Quin is both CPDT-KA, CCDT and SAPro certified and is a firm of proponent scientifically backed positive reinforcement and aversive-free training methods. She believes this training truly strengthens the bond between pet and owner.
  Quin grew up with dogs, however it wasn't until she began volunteering at the San Francisco SPCA that she realized her true passion for dog training and behavior...

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  Sherry Al-Mufti

  CCPDT, Fear Free Trainer

  Reactive dog training, Board and train, In home training

  East Bay in San Francisco Bay Area

  There are waaaay too many rules about what dog owners should and shouldn't do. You shouldn't let your dogs sleep on the bed. You shouldn't let them on your furniture. You shouldn't let them walk in front of you. My philosophy about dog rules is that there are no hard and fast rules. Instead, I encourage dog owners to create their own rules according to how they want their pets to fit into their...

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  Peggy Mccarty

  CTC, CPDT-KA, KPA-CTP, CSAT

  Puppy training

  Santa Clara, CA, SF South Bay from Mountain View to San Jose

  Hound Haven owner Peggy McCarty is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer. She earned a Certificate in Training and Counseling (CTC) from the San Francisco SPCA Academy for Dog Trainers. Graduating from the Academy (considered the "Harvard for dog trainers") under the instruction of Jean Donaldson.
  
  She also studied with Malena DeMartini, an expert in the field of Separation Anxiety. Pegg...

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  Sarah Wykowski

  KPA CTP

  Reactive dog training, Service dog training, In home training, Off leash training, Puppy training

  City Limits of San Francisco

  Mother of Bailey the yellow Labrador, working with dogs for 15 years, in my second year of professional training. Continued education is very important to me. I also study raw feeding and dog nutrition.

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  James Baybayan

  In home training

  Spend some time with James, and you're almost certain to hear him crediting his canine companion, Clay, for being the true trainer in their relationship. This mutual canine-human respect is the foundation of his vision for primepaw, which he founded in 2015.The goal: to help humans recognize the incredible potential of dogs, using only positive reinforcement techniques and unconditional love.Ja...

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  Cyd TRUE

  In home training, Puppy training

  Hi there! I'm Cyd True, Dog Trainer & Behavior Consultant and founder of True Dog Training 101. I offer San Francisco folk's canine companions group adventure hikes and training.
  
  GROUP WALKS:
  
  I recently returned to the Bay Area after a 13 month move to Nevada and I will never leave SF again! If you want your dog to get exercise with an expert in recall, hander focus and fun, ...

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  Tobey Grey

  Aggressive dog training, Board and train, Reactive dog training, Puppy training

  Always drawn to large breeds, Tobey owned a string of rescue dogs with aggression problems and saw how challenging it was to own a dog in a city with a full time job. They worked for 15 years in the restaurant industry doing openings. While working with people was amazing, late nights behind a bar and working inside grew tiring.
  
  After years of rehabilitating foster dogs, devouring tra...

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  Kalif Lee

  Aggressive dog training, Board and train, Reactive dog training, Puppy training

  Kalif has an extensive background in education and has worked with children in various settings delivering educational training centered on diversity and nonviolent conflict resolution. Before joining our team in 2021, Kalif taught children at the Oakland Zoo on conservation, animal health, and welfare. His educational background makes him adept at helping clients learn how to improve their han...

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  Amrit Evans

  Ever since I was a little girl, I went to every dog owner I saw, and I asked very politely, Excuse me, may I pet your dog? If the answer was yes, I would offer my hand for a quick sniff before gently petting the pup and soaking up as much dog love as I could. For every single birthday, special event, or after passing any dog, I would always ask my mom for my own puppy. The answer was always eit...

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  Erin Graves

  Puppy training

  Erin has worked with dogs for over 10 years. She brings a love of dogs and a wide perspective of the many aspects of what Bay Area dog life entails into her training. With the goal of preparing puppies and dogs for their best lives here in this unique place we call home, she has a special interest in cooperative care and helping adolescent pups learn the many necessary skills ranging from buil...

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  Beverly Ulbrich

  Aggressive dog training, Reactive dog training, Puppy training

  Beverly provides private and personalized empathic dog training and behavior problem solving. She has extensive knowledge and success with solving aggression issues and helping shy, fearful dogs. Beverly has been working with dogs all her life. She actually started training dogs at 9 years old. She has since been educated in animal behavior as well as canine obedience and training. Beverly hold...

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  Dan Perata

  In home training, Puppy training

  Dan Perata is a San Francisco original; someone who has always bucked the traditional conventional wisdom. A third-generation native of the city, Dan has always had a natural rapport with all animals, dogs in particular. He's been working with them since he was a teen! He's been honing and perfecting his methods ever since, sometimes in the most fascinating of places.Dan began working with and ...

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  Natasha Koral

  In home training, Puppy training

  From the day she co-conceived and co-founded DPT, Natasha Koral knew she wanted to create an environment that would embody her love of nurturing people and what they most care about, creating an environment of hospitality and support that is one of the hallmarks of DPT. I've always believed that there can be heart and compassion in day-to-day business matters, Natasha declares, and with close t...

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  Josh Jaramillo

  In home training, Puppy training

  Hi, I'm Josh Jaramillo, the Lead Trainer at DPT. My journey with animals began at the age of 12, starting with livestock such as chickens, sheep, and rabbits. Growing up, my family had both dogs and cats, which sparked my lifelong passion for animal care.My interest in dog training developed when our family dog went through Dan Camp for issues like dog aggression, human reactivity, and resource...

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  Sydney Perata

  In home training, Puppy training

  You can tell by her last name that she's been here for a while. Next to Dan and Natasha she's worked at the family biz the longest, going on 13 years. She started off cleaning kennels and feeding puppies as a kid and after all these years she's now the Facility Manager. Aside from managing the downstairs, she helps with creating new operation procedures and if you are lucky, you will see her ei...

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  JV Del Rosario

  In home training, Puppy training

  A trainer who has been with DPT for three years, JV's favorite part of the job is hearing the clients verbalizing about their dogs' progress. Just hearing that is awesome, he says. An army brat who besides living in various states also has lived in Mexico and Japan, JV's spare time is spent skateboarding, reading comic books and playing video games. Of the three dogs he's had during his lifetim...

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  Fawn Pierre

  Puppy training, Agility training

  Fawn is a third-generation San Franciscan who brings a wealth of experience and a profound love for the human-dog bond to SmartyPup! With 15 years at Sirius® Puppy Training and a decade at the SFSPCA Dog Trainers Academy, Fawn has honed her skills and developed innovative training methods grounded in a deep understanding of dog behavior. In October 2008, she launched SmartyPup! with the missio...

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  Anna Wong

  In home training

  grew up with a fat, sweet cat named Peaches, who was born a month later than me. I've always loved animals, but my interest in dog training began after I adopted my first puppy, Kempie. I was introduced to positive reinforcement training through a puppy kindergarten class at the East Bay SPCA and was hooked.Fast forward many years While Kempie is almost perfect in my opinion, I have to admit sh...

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  Sophie Liu

  As a veterinarian, published scientific author, and an accomplished dog trainer, Dr. Sophie Liu is a highly sought after behavior consultant and presenter. After receiving ACVB-resident training, Dr. Liu returned to her roots in Oakland, CA to provide a full range of services for East Bay dog owners.
  
  Dr. Liu knows that raising a puppy or a well-adjusted adult dog requires a perfect ble...

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  Althea Karwowski

  Aggressive dog training, Protection/guard dog training

  Althea Karwowski is a CCPDT Certified Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA) and a Certified SA Pro trainer (SAPT). She has completed the Aggression in Dogs Master Course. Althea brings over a decade of experience training dogs and coaching people to train their dogs. Althea has taught Bravery Class for Shy Dogs, Shy Dog Seminar, Just the Basics and New Dog 101 at the San Francisco SPCA. Having graduated from...

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  Kytha Gernatt

  Hi there, I'm Kytha Gernatt, and I've been dedicated to helping San Francisco's busy families and professionals to have happier lives with their dogs since 1999. I started as a dog walker and began using positive reinforcement in 2005 with my own dog, Goldie, a rescued pit bull with cut off ears and some reactivity issues. To help Goldie to stop lunging and barking and pulling while on-leash I ...

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  Steph Steph

  Puppy training

  I've known Tony at Bernal Beast for about 17 years now, as I frequent the shop for food and treats for my own dogs and the dogs in my care. We engaged in some mutual marketing for each other many moons ago, when I was still running my puppy daycare facility, SF Puppy Prep, which I co-founded in 2005. When I approached Tony recently about doing some training in his pet shop, I genuinely wanted ...

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  Alan Belgard

  Puppy training

  I'm originally from NJ, but have been living in SF for over 26 years now. I graduated from Rutgers University with a degree in Accounting and Business and I worked in the financial accounting world for a few years. I realized that I wasn't really happy with my job and living on the east coast and after a short stint in Colorado, I moved to SF in '93. I have always loved animals and after wor...

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  Virginia Donohue

  Once upon a time, we Virginia Donohue and Mark Klaiman had 9-to-5 careers. But as we toiled away in our cubicles (well, actually, Virginia had an office and Mark was stuck in a cubicle), we dreamed of a job where we could spend the day with our dogs and for our dogs to have fun every day just like when they were at our neighborhood dog park. Well, our dream came true and we got to spend the day...

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  Mark Klaiman

  Once upon a time, we Virginia Donohue and Mark Klaiman had 9-to-5 careers. But as we toiled away in our cubicles (well, actually, Virginia had an office and Mark was stuck in a cubicle), we dreamed of a job where we could spend the day with our dogs and for our dogs to have fun every day just like when they were at our neighborhood dog park. Well, our dream came true and we got to spend the day...

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  Shura Kelly

  Shura holds a Certificate in Training & Counseling from the Academy for Dog Trainers, widely held as the Harvard of dog training schools. She has been training dogs since her graduation in 2001, giving in to her soft spot for small dogs early on. She is a member of the Pet Professional Guild which provides world-wide leadership in positive reinforcement training. Locally she belongs to the ProD...

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  Lindsay Dellas

  Aggressive dog training, Reactive dog training, Puppy training

  San Francisco & Virtually

  Lindsay has a special passion for, and extensive experience in helping San Francisco dogs, puppies & their people. Lindsay is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer ‚Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA) through the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers, Fear Free Certified Professional from Fear Free Pets, and a proud member of the Pet Professional Guild. Additionally, Lindsay holds a Certi...

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  Brooke Badgett

  Certified Canine Behavior Counselor

  Puppy training, In home training, Reactive dog training, Off leash training

  CA - San Francisco

  Hi, I'm Brooke, a lifelong dog lover using my passion for humane dog training to help dogs and their owners. I believe training should be centered around improving your bond with your dog by utilizing force free training. To effectively assist you and your dog, I will do a thorough consultation before we begin. All of my programs are custom designed to fit your needs.

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See The Best Dog Trainers In Other Cities Near San Francisco

Ordered alphabetically, only included cities where there is enough data to compile a list

• Bakersfield, CA
• Fresno, CA
• Huntington Beach, CA
• Los Angeles, CA
• Modesto, CA
• Oakland, CA
• Sacramento, CA
• San Diego, CA
• San Jose, CA
• Santa Maria, CA
• Santa Rosa, CA
• Stockton, CA

See The Best Dog Trainers By Type In San Francisco

• Aggressive dog training
• Agility training
• Board and train
• In home training
• Off leash training
• Protection/guard dog training
• Puppy training
• Reactive dog training
• Service dog training

FAQ: Top Dog Training Services in San Francisco, California

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