Gary Maria is one of the most sought after and experienced dog behavior specialists in the Bay Area and is recognized as a professional in the field. Since 1977 Gary has improved the behavior of 1000's of dogs using his combination of proven techniques. Having trained 1000's of dogs, Gary's system of dog-friendly training techniques enables your dog to learn using its instinctual pack mentality.
Reviews (10)
Dustin Swiggett
Apr 11, 2022
Gary is a true professional. Hearing how he has adjusted his trainings throughout the many years of his career is proof that he constantly is looking to improve and innovate in his field. He worked with me and my 16 week old puppy, and right away I knew it was going to be a great fit. I appreciated how he was willing to be straight up with me and explain what I was doing wrong, and what I was doing right.
I'm a firm believer in that people should be trained in these situations, not the dog. I can't thank Gary enough for working with me and helping me further my bond with my puppy. If you're looking to have someone hold you accountable and show you how to best work with your puppy/dog, Gary is the trainer for you. Invest in the future of your new family member.
I'm a firm believer in that people should be trained in these situations, not the dog. I can't thank Gary enough for working with me and helping me further my bond with my puppy. If you're looking to have someone hold you accountable and show you how to best work with your puppy/dog, Gary is the trainer for you. Invest in the future of your new family member.
Deborah Castles
Dec 28, 2021
Gary Maria showed me that my "stubborn" golden rescue was shy and sensitive. With a set of training sessions premised on gentle and consistent commands, Ray will now sit, down-stay and come on command. Gary is a pleasure to work with. Our sessions were fun and worthwhile. I highly recommend Gary - he is a super trainer!
Eric Tannahill
Oct 27, 2021
We recently completed a training circuit with Gary and we could not be happier. As a life long dog owner I thought I knew it all but I learned far more than I could have expected. Gary was responsive from our very first inquiry, clearly understood the needs of our dog and ultimately delivered results. I would recommend Gary not only because he is professional, knows his stuff, and is great at what he does but additionally he is a fantastic listener and really understands the needs of both dog and parent. After completing our training we got multiple comments from friends, family and even our vet on how much better behaved our energetic dog was. Thank you Gary!
Christi O'Connell
Sep 24, 2021
We reached out to Gary to help us with our 6 month old puppy starting last year to get her trained as quickly as we could while she was still young and we were very satisfied with the way that Gary provided tips and training techniques along with his reward system. Our puppy adapted very well, with lots of practice in between sessions and we've been so incredibly pleased with his training!
He gives a few things to work on each week and the key is consistency. I'm so happy we made a connection with Gary, he has a great personality, makes each session fun and has a tremendous passion for training dogs!
He gives a few things to work on each week and the key is consistency. I'm so happy we made a connection with Gary, he has a great personality, makes each session fun and has a tremendous passion for training dogs!
Kevin Wong
Jun 13, 2021
Gary is a great dog trainer. Our family could not recommend him more. He makes dog training simple, fun and he gets your whole family (we have kids) involved if you want. We have seen tremendous improvement in our Portuguese Water Dog puppy and the training has created bonds with our dog. He walks you through everything you need to know about puppies/dogs and is responsive to any questions.
We spoke with him the day we picked up our puppy at 8 weeks and he told us everything we needed to focus on for those first weeks home. Gary kept it simple and he assured us that the crazy behavior we would see is all normal. He told us it wouldn't be easy. This was key for us early on with the puppy because we were not dog people. It made us less concerned because things would happen and Gary already warned us.
As the weeks went on Gary checked in on our concerns before each training session, patiently answering our crazy questions and concerns. Then he focused on training. We learned the rewards system, walking training, luring, down, and come. Our puppy has really taken to training and we feel good that we have a solid foundation going forward, all due to Gary. Hopefully, we won't need second level but if we do, we will use Gary again.
We spoke with him the day we picked up our puppy at 8 weeks and he told us everything we needed to focus on for those first weeks home. Gary kept it simple and he assured us that the crazy behavior we would see is all normal. He told us it wouldn't be easy. This was key for us early on with the puppy because we were not dog people. It made us less concerned because things would happen and Gary already warned us.
As the weeks went on Gary checked in on our concerns before each training session, patiently answering our crazy questions and concerns. Then he focused on training. We learned the rewards system, walking training, luring, down, and come. Our puppy has really taken to training and we feel good that we have a solid foundation going forward, all due to Gary. Hopefully, we won't need second level but if we do, we will use Gary again.
Talton Cherry
May 15, 2021
We just finished our basic training for our 6 month old puppy, Rufus. We started the consultation when Rufus was 4 months old when Gary was recommended by a couple of friends. Gary helped us understand, communicate, and helped build trust that has greatly improved Rufus' behavior. He gave us the confidence we needed to raise our puppy with positive reinforcement.
All training methods were clearly communicated and well thought out. His years of experience were obvious and we started seeing changes in Rufus's behavior after just a few sessions. We're very pleased to have all the tools and knowledge to continue to train Rufus and any future dog we have. We are also glad that we can reach out to Gary with training updates and possibly use the advanced training program in a couple of months.
All training methods were clearly communicated and well thought out. His years of experience were obvious and we started seeing changes in Rufus's behavior after just a few sessions. We're very pleased to have all the tools and knowledge to continue to train Rufus and any future dog we have. We are also glad that we can reach out to Gary with training updates and possibly use the advanced training program in a couple of months.
Mitchell Zamora
May 05, 2021
After searching around multiple dog trainers in the Walnut Creek area, we found Gary Maria and are truly satisfied by his training techniques/experience. In a manner of 6 weeks, our 21 week year old Aussiedoodle has learned so much, from attention commands to leash training. In the beginning, our puppy's impulse control was high and all over the place. Throughout our training experience, you will see a continuous evolving progression with Gary Maria's knowledge and training. Highly recommend!
Denise Justin-Reed
Mar 20, 2021
Gary Maria did an excellent job of helping my husband and me get through a difficult time with a challenging Pitbull-mix rescue dog. Since we don't have young children, I was looking for a German Shepherd &/or Pitbull-mix because there were so many of those breeds in the shelters. One of our adult daughters had adopted a GSD rescue about a year ago & was having a great experience with her.
Another close family friend also worked at a rescue with Pitbulls & had had so many positive things to say about them. After submitting many applications, I was finally contacted by a rescue agency about a 1-year-old female Pit-mix who was dog-friendly and child-friendly. We went to meet her with our dogs, including our daughter's German Shepherd, to make sure the rescue dog would get along with all of us.
It went fantastically! And she was such a cutie! We brought Montana home with us to be the latest addition to our family. I started noticing that this experience was going to be a challenge when I brought Montana into the backyard the next day. She started doing zoomies, but then she started growling at me (not in a friendly way) and jumping and biting at my feet & hands.
I was able to distract her and got her calmed down. I was crate-training her & training her on-leash every day, as I had done effectively with all of the other dogs I had. She was doing fairly well with those things. And, she could be very sweet when she was calm. However, she would growl, lunge and bite at me whenever I would take her out to play.
If I said "no, " she would back away and growl more seriously. I started to be a little afraid of her at those times, especially since she was a Pitbull-mix. I was really starting to wonder if I had made the right choice in adopting her. I just wanted a friendly, loving companion, not a Doctor Jekyll/Mr. Hyde. That's when I started looking for a dog trainer and I was lucky enough to find Gary Maria. Gary came to our house (we were all wearing masks) for a consultation.
He has been working with all types of dogs for over 30 years. He had Montana calmly lying next to him within about 20 minutes of coming to the house. After talking with him, I realized that this was not going to be a quick, overnight solution, but it was going to be a process that he was going to teach us that would require daily work on our part and have Montana behaving well after 6 weeks.
Although I was concerned about Montana's behavior in the short-run (I must confess I didn't want Gary to leave while I still had a little bit of fear of Montana), I knew that this would be the best solution in the long-run - we would have the tools that we needed to work with our new dog and we would also be establishing our relationship and trust with her, as opposed to sending her away to a boarding dog training school. So, we signed up for the once-a-week in-home training.
Each week, we would work on training different behaviors. Gary would listen to the problems we encountered the week before and make suggestions as to what we could do to address those issues, in addition to progressing through his training steps. By the end of the 6 weeks, Montana has turned into a really sweet, affectionate, playful, "normal" dog.
She no longer jumps/growls/bites at us - she is able to play with us politely. She also plays really nicely with the other dogs in our family. We still have things that we're working on (barking at dogs we pass when we're in the car, being very stressed/barking when we take her to new places, etc.), but we feel like Gary has given us the tools to train Montana to improve these behaviors. And, Gary is just a phone call away to help us with any more challenging issues that might come up.
We HIGHLY recommend Gary Maria to help you train your new rescue dog. He's especially experienced with helping to bring out the great qualities in the more challenging breeds of dogs (Pitbulls, German Shepherds, etc.) that fill the shelters/rescue agencies. With your commitment to the process, Gary will help you have a wonderful outcome.
Another close family friend also worked at a rescue with Pitbulls & had had so many positive things to say about them. After submitting many applications, I was finally contacted by a rescue agency about a 1-year-old female Pit-mix who was dog-friendly and child-friendly. We went to meet her with our dogs, including our daughter's German Shepherd, to make sure the rescue dog would get along with all of us.
It went fantastically! And she was such a cutie! We brought Montana home with us to be the latest addition to our family. I started noticing that this experience was going to be a challenge when I brought Montana into the backyard the next day. She started doing zoomies, but then she started growling at me (not in a friendly way) and jumping and biting at my feet & hands.
I was able to distract her and got her calmed down. I was crate-training her & training her on-leash every day, as I had done effectively with all of the other dogs I had. She was doing fairly well with those things. And, she could be very sweet when she was calm. However, she would growl, lunge and bite at me whenever I would take her out to play.
If I said "no, " she would back away and growl more seriously. I started to be a little afraid of her at those times, especially since she was a Pitbull-mix. I was really starting to wonder if I had made the right choice in adopting her. I just wanted a friendly, loving companion, not a Doctor Jekyll/Mr. Hyde. That's when I started looking for a dog trainer and I was lucky enough to find Gary Maria. Gary came to our house (we were all wearing masks) for a consultation.
He has been working with all types of dogs for over 30 years. He had Montana calmly lying next to him within about 20 minutes of coming to the house. After talking with him, I realized that this was not going to be a quick, overnight solution, but it was going to be a process that he was going to teach us that would require daily work on our part and have Montana behaving well after 6 weeks.
Although I was concerned about Montana's behavior in the short-run (I must confess I didn't want Gary to leave while I still had a little bit of fear of Montana), I knew that this would be the best solution in the long-run - we would have the tools that we needed to work with our new dog and we would also be establishing our relationship and trust with her, as opposed to sending her away to a boarding dog training school. So, we signed up for the once-a-week in-home training.
Each week, we would work on training different behaviors. Gary would listen to the problems we encountered the week before and make suggestions as to what we could do to address those issues, in addition to progressing through his training steps. By the end of the 6 weeks, Montana has turned into a really sweet, affectionate, playful, "normal" dog.
She no longer jumps/growls/bites at us - she is able to play with us politely. She also plays really nicely with the other dogs in our family. We still have things that we're working on (barking at dogs we pass when we're in the car, being very stressed/barking when we take her to new places, etc.), but we feel like Gary has given us the tools to train Montana to improve these behaviors. And, Gary is just a phone call away to help us with any more challenging issues that might come up.
We HIGHLY recommend Gary Maria to help you train your new rescue dog. He's especially experienced with helping to bring out the great qualities in the more challenging breeds of dogs (Pitbulls, German Shepherds, etc.) that fill the shelters/rescue agencies. With your commitment to the process, Gary will help you have a wonderful outcome.
Jake Perata
Dec 24, 2020
Gary is a fantastic dog trainer and expert. We reached out to him for help with our 10 week old Doberman puppy, Lola. We had never owned a large working dog before and were used to "old school" alpha training methods. Gary quickly retrained us to better methods to work with our sensitive puppy. We immediately saw drastic changes in her and she is now a very sweet, loving, well-behaved puppy. Gary's style pushes socialization, confidence for the dog, and rewards.
This gave a us a very social and well-adjusted puppy. Gary initially comes for a consultation and gives you his breakdown of your dog and what they will need. He really cares about your dog and makes the training as simple as possible. He helped us get Lola to the point of her being able to take off leash hikes with her at 5 months and get a ton compliments on her behavior in public and strong recall. If you are looking to have your dog fit into your life and take them everywhere with you, meals, shopping, etc. Gary is by far the best trainer for you.
This gave a us a very social and well-adjusted puppy. Gary initially comes for a consultation and gives you his breakdown of your dog and what they will need. He really cares about your dog and makes the training as simple as possible. He helped us get Lola to the point of her being able to take off leash hikes with her at 5 months and get a ton compliments on her behavior in public and strong recall. If you are looking to have your dog fit into your life and take them everywhere with you, meals, shopping, etc. Gary is by far the best trainer for you.
Kristin Welsh
Nov 09, 2020
We, but most importantly our dog, love Gary! Our dog Dewey went through basic puppy training when he was a very young puppy but we started noticing he was stressed and anxious and we also wanted to correct how he was acting around strangers and other dogs. He was experiencing a lot of anxiety after a recent move - chewing things around the house, accidents, etc. and Gary helped him so much.
We looked forward to going to our training sessions every week because our dog was improving so much. He doesn't only help the dog but he helps you as an owner be a better communicator and truly understand what your dog is feeling. It's as much of a training for you as your dog! After 6 weeks of training, our dog is so much calmer and less anxious.
No more chewing or accidents! He lays by us so calmly and has become such a cuddle bug. He is so much better on his walks now too - he no longer pulls or tries to jump on people as they walk by and pays attention to us. Gary has given us the tools so we are able to help him continue to improve when he sees other dogs and we've seen steady progress. And, even after the training sessions are complete, he's there for advice and to help you for as long as you need it.
He is so patient and caring with the dogs and truly wants you and your dog to have the best relationship possible. Dewey loved Gary and the training sessions. Can't recommend him enough!
We looked forward to going to our training sessions every week because our dog was improving so much. He doesn't only help the dog but he helps you as an owner be a better communicator and truly understand what your dog is feeling. It's as much of a training for you as your dog! After 6 weeks of training, our dog is so much calmer and less anxious.
No more chewing or accidents! He lays by us so calmly and has become such a cuddle bug. He is so much better on his walks now too - he no longer pulls or tries to jump on people as they walk by and pays attention to us. Gary has given us the tools so we are able to help him continue to improve when he sees other dogs and we've seen steady progress. And, even after the training sessions are complete, he's there for advice and to help you for as long as you need it.
He is so patient and caring with the dogs and truly wants you and your dog to have the best relationship possible. Dewey loved Gary and the training sessions. Can't recommend him enough!
