Wilmington Dog Wizard

Wilmington Dog Wizard is absolutely the best dog training in Wilmington. They have a variety of programs to fit each dog & owners needs and budget. We enrolled Coco our Boston in the off leash freedom promgram... and we could not be more pleased. Coco is a happy dog and so are we... it is without reservation that I highly recommend The Dog Wizard of Wilmington to anyone! It's well worth the investment ... once you graduate you become part of a big family of like minded dog owners! You can choose to participate in Dog socials and pac walks its great. Shelby and Lauren are like family they love Coco just like we do. We have used their boarding service and knew Coco would come home better

I could never thank Shelby and the other trainers at The Wilmington Dog Wizard enough! Adele is a 1 1/2 year old border terrier mix that I adopted from a local rescue. She has never had a mean bone in her body, but I had an extremely difficult time training her on my own at home. She knew little boundaries, would not listen to me, was unruly on walks and would jump all over everyone when they came to the house. It was such a hassle to take her anywhere with me because I couldn't control her. She is a pup with a whole lot of energy and did not know how to control it. I had to keep her on a leash in the house because otherwise I couldn't catch her and it would take me 30 minutes or more to get in her crate so I could go to work. Several times she got off of her leash outside and I had to chase her down my street. Adele spent two weeks with Shelby and to say she came home a changed pup is an understatement. She is a thousand times better and I no longer have to worry about her not listening. She is 100% leash free!! Both of us are so much happier now. I no longer dread taking her places, and everyone loves her even more than they did before. When people come to my house, she lays on her bed while they come in the door instead of jumping on them. I never thought I would ever be able to take her outside of my house without a leash and trust that she would not run from me! Sending Adele to The Wilmington Dog Wizard was the best thing I have done for both of us and worth every single penny!

You will be hard-pressed to find a staff of trainers more devoted to the success of you and your dog. The team at The Wilmington Dog Wizard are not only passionate about what they do but also strive to be better everyday. Whether they are attending conferences with the top dog trainers in the world or seminars that focus on particular problem behaviors, Shelby, Cranston, and Lauren are constantly learning new techniques and continuing education to provide you with a top notch experience. As a fellow trainer, I have come to respect and admire their commitment to everyone they work with!

We sent our 2 yr old GSD to Shelby for 2 weeks. Bella suffered from fear aggression almost since the day we had gotten her at 9 weeks of age. As a young pup she would tremble in my arms whenever we were in a crowd or in a strange place. As she grew up her fear manifested itself as ferocious aggression to ALL strangers. She was socialized from the day we got her but nothing seemed to help her overcome her fear. The aggression just continued to get worse, so much so, that I started to worry that the day would eventually come where she would bite someone and we would be faced with being forced to put her down or only have her at home with no more socialization. Neither were acceptable options for us. We had tried having a trainer come to our home to try to ease her fears and anxiety but nothing worked. I felt helpless until I learned about Shelby and The Wilmington Dog Wizard. I was reluctant at first to take her to Shelby because our previous trainer was not able to achieve the wanted results and Shelby was 550 miles from my home. I spoke with Shelby on the phone at great length before we made the final decision to "take the plunge" and make the 9 1/2 hr drive to Wilmington. Let me tell you, it was worth every mile we drove to get there. Shelby and Cranston are AMAZING!!!!!!!! Our goofy girl is a totally obedient and confident dog now! We can take her ANYWHERE now without a problem! She stayed in a non pet friendly hotel (the hotel classified her as a "service dog" because of how well she was trained) with us when we drove back to Wilmington to pick her up and was on her best behavior! She never showed any aggression to any stranger (even while on an elevator with 4 other people!). Since returning home she has continued to be well behaved and confident and she is a much much happier dog now that she realizes that the world is a fun place and nothing to be feared! If you have a pet with ANY issues, aggression, chewing, jumping on people, difficult on a leash etc then Shelby and Cranston are your answer! They are both down to earth and really care about your pet. Their goal is to teach every pet the proper behavior in any situation and they are INCREDIBLE at what they do!!! We went to Wilmington with low expectations because nothing had worked in the last two years and we came away overjoyed with a happy go lucky pup and what we feel like are extended family in Shelby and Cranston! I cannot thank them enough. Job VERY WELL done!!!!!

Our newest dog Weezy was having issues with our 13 year old dog, occasionally pouncing on her to prove dominance or at times over possession of food or toys. Weezy was also a notorious runner if she made it out of the house or fenced yard. While the initial cost of sending her to Wilmington Dog Wizard for two weeks of training gave us some pause, it has been the best money we've ever spent on a pet. After her two weeks of training, we have never had to walk her on a leash, and she is able to join us on the boat and beach - which would have never been possible before. Weezy truly enjoys her morning walks and continuing to practice following commands. Having her stay on her dog bed when people arrive to our house makes for a less hectic welcome to visitors. Communication from the trainers is excellent, they gave us clear explanations of the process and cost and posted lots of pictures and videos of Weez while she was at their facility. I highly recommend them to anyone in need of help with their dog.

I would like to take a moment to explain how much me and my wife appreciate The Dog Wizard of Wilmington. Me and my wife have a 5 year old puggle, we rescued him at 3 months of age from a home with neglectful owners and an abusive toddler. We love our Samson however he has always had issues, at our previous home he would bark at anyone that walked by or any sounds he would hear from out side he would go after strangers as if they were intruders and on walks he would pull 100 percent of the time which made walks not enjoyable. He has always been overprotective of family members he spends the most time with and friends would not come over because he was uncontrolable. He also had an obsession with his ball, we could never get him to give it up. When we moved to wilmington we thought we could create an environment where he would feel comfortable and issues would resolve themselves but they just got worse. Not only would he pull on walks but anyone that walked buy would hear his bark and see his teeth. He would borderline aggressively go after people on walks especially if they had dogs. He even started barking at cars. I had looked into training programs before but never felt comfortable with them. This is our boy the thought of leaving him in someone else's care for 2 weeks sounded crazy. The second I pulled up the driveway and let Samson out of the car and see how Cranston handled my boy and how Samson seemed to not care that a complete stranger was standing with us I knew this was the place. We sat down with him and went over options and he made us feel comfortable and Samson was acting different already. While in the program we got constant updates, pictures, and videos it felt like we were with him even though he wasn't home. Even after the training Cranston continues to help us and invite us to events and it really feel like Samsons and our family has grown. It's been a couple weeks since Sam has been home and the results are amazing. He is easier to control and he seems happier because of it. There is no more yelling in our house. He is crate trained now, to the point where he knows to go in the crate when we look like we are leaving. His barking is under control, he has amazing off leash skills when before him off leash in public was my worse nightmare. The e collar we got to keep is very useful it does not hurt him it simply reinforces our commands. He walks by our side in walks and we can take him into stores and to downtown and not have to worry. It's a working progress he can be defiant sometimes but we make sure to practice like Cranston told us and he also let us know that we have him for life so if it's something we can't handle that resurfaces he will come help. I wish I could rate them over 5 stars. Our lives have been changed because of Cranston and the team in wilmington.

Great people and very good at what they do. I've enjoyed learning new things and most of all seeing the impact it has on Copper (my pup). We continue to grow and work on things as this is a lifestyle :) Would highly recommend their programs, knowing you'll get trainers for BOTH the dog(s) and owner(s).

In just 2 weeks my overly excited, non listening 1 year old lab was listening to me! I get compliments ALL the time walking him (and yes I walk WITH hI'm ~ he no longer walks me!) I HIGHLY recommend The Wilmington Dog Wizard!

I've been working with Cranston & Shelby for a little while now and they are great! They are very responsive to my needs and follow through with exactly they say they will. Overall so far my experience has been great and I look forward to continue doing business together!