Urban K-9 - Dog Trainer, Brooklyn, NY

We contacted Urban K-9 a few months ago because our 1.5 year old rescue pup, Oreo, had been exhibiting some increased tendencies such as aggression, anxiety and nervousness around new dogs and new people. Additionally, she would on occasion decide that she's no longer interested in commands and would go her own way (haha). Having said all of this, she's a wonderful and loving dog and is protective of us to no end but we wanted her to feel more comfortable in the world and around people and dogs that she's never met before.

We set up an initial lesson with Dani and have had several lessons with her over the course of the summer. There is no overnight cure for these things but Dani immediately taught us a number of tangible training techniques, provided helpful advice on specific scenarios and taught us how to become more comfortable with guiding Oreo through formerly stressful situations.

The techniques and methods learned require consistent practice and repetition on behalf of the owner but they quickly helped us inject a much needed level of trust and confidence between us and Oreo. She started making progress from day 1. Dani was wonderful in as much as she helped train Oreo, she helped train us. This all helped, and continues to help, chip away at our lovely pup's anxiety and occasional aggressive behavior. She has become a much more confident, happy and attentive dog. Can't recommend Dani and Urban K-9 enough!

If I could give more than 5-stars I would! Dani (and Rain) have been so incredible to work with over the past year. When we adopted our rescue we quickly realized we were in waaaay over our heads, and that's when Dani came to save the day. Immediately upon meeting her our anxious dog was suddenly at ease. She taught us all of the important things that we needed to do, and helped us focus on the baby steps needed to work up to our long-term goals.

Not only was Dani attentive, supportive and extremely knowledgeable during sessions, she also made (and continues to) make time to support us and answer our questions outside of sessions. When it came time for our first trip away from Moose I knew the only person I would feel comfortable leaving him was with Dani. We were provided with daily updates (pictures and videos), and he got much needed socialization time, which has been a saving grace in a now multiple dog home during quarantine.

Anyone that met our dog when we first adopted him last summer and has seen him since is shocked at how much his confidence has changed. Anytime someone I know even hints at dog training I tell them about Dani. We would be so lost without her and Urban K-9! We can't wait to get back to Brooklyn to continue our trainings with her and the team.

We've been using them to help train our new puppy. McClain is terrific and our puppy has been making great progress. McClain also introduced us to others locally with similar age puppies for socialization play dates - and that has been so helpful during Covid.

Natasha was absolutely amazing. Super easy to talk to and learn from. My partner and I had zero dog experience and came in knowing close to nothing about our rescue - so it's safe to say she was a HUGE help.

Natasha and Urban k-9 went above and beyond to help my son and I with our rescue pup. From before our initial visit Natasha was available to help with every question and concern I had (and there were many). She was patient, endlessly empathetic and brought a depth of knowledge to all of our sessions. She respected my son and included him in our training, empowering him to be a leader and a big part of our dog's training. Whenever an issue came up she had a solution. She was flexible and listened to our needs. If I could give her ten stars it still would be be enough!

We recently worked with Dani on a training package for our 5 month old rescue puppy Millie--a Shar Pei mix who was exhibiting signs of aggression, territorial behavior, and couldn't walk on a leash. It was a serious struggle at first (Millie is fearful of strangers and slow to warm up to people) but Dani was incredibly patient with her, tried multiple strategies, and at a certain point we all had a breakthrough.

By the end of the package, our little monster had transformed and loved her sessions with Dani. My husband and I learned so much in the process as well, with Dani teaching us how to structure Millie's life, handle her when she exhibits territorial behavior, walk her perfectly on a leash. Perhaps most importantly: we learned how to communicate effectively with our dog and our relationship with her has changed because of it. Millie's still a work in progress and we continue to work with her daily, but because of Dani we now have an incredibly solid foundation to build on. Highly recommend.

Meant to do this sooner. Dani and our little rescue had an instant connection. He went from pulling us down the block to walking right beside us. She was patient and calming when we were at our wits end. Even his leash reactivity when seeing other dogs has improved so much. Thank you, Dani.

Dani was wonderful at working with our dog Frankie to combat her fears and to make her LISTEN. Frankie was incredibly willful and refused to come when we call her (or follow any basic commands). Dani even took extra time to work with Frankie, and we could not be more grateful. We highly recommend her for all your dog training needs!

We are currently working with McClain on training our 10 year old terrier, who after a long run in the shelter, has some leash reactivity and anxiety in certain situations. Since day one, McClain has brought a sense of calm into this house and has really helped us feel confident that we can train Ludo to feel comfortable in all situations, or at least have a safe place to go. We have more lessons but so far this experience has been wonderful and we are so thankful we found McClain & Urban K-9!

Dani is an amazing dog trainer. When I moved to New York, my rescue pup was extremely overwhelmed and was having severe dog reactions to the point where I was absolutely dreading going outside for fear of passing dogs, which was inevitable. In one session, a massive shift happened, and in just a few sessions, my dog is able to walk behind, in front of, and towards other dogs on the busy streets of Manhattan.

We still have our moments, but it is 1000% more manageable, and I can't thank Dani enough for changing our lives! Don't hesitate to reach out to her -- her balanced approach made positive change attainable for a situation that felt hopeless.

Buying a ten-session training package with Urban K-9 was the best money I've ever spent. My fiance and I adopted a three-year-old dog in December. We're first-time dog owners, and Hank, our pup, came to New York from a shelter in Tennessee. He didn't know any commands, and had no idea how to walk on a leash--he pulled so hard that every walk with him in Brooklyn was a risk and a strain.

From the first session, our trainer, Natasha, was magic. On the very first day, after a thorough conversation with us, in which we told her about Hank and she explained her positive-reinforcement training method, she started us crate training Hank. We hadn't been able to get him into the crate at all; within 15 minutes, Natasha had him in and happily eating treats.

Three months later, we have a trained dog who can walk on a leash, sit, stay, and, amazingly, do recall to go off-leash in the park. We revere Natasha, who is so knowledgeable, thorough, efficient, and an all around great person. Could not recommend Urban K-9 more highly.

Dani is a Godsend. I don't often write reviews but when I write one like this, I make sure that I have used the service for an extended period of time to make sure I'm have enough data points about the service. We have a large working dog in Manhattan (70lb 7 month old giant Schnauzer). It is so hard finding a good trainer in NYC who can train LARGE WORKING DOGS.

Then we found Dani. Our issues ranged from him peeing in the house to him lunging at strangers to his intense teething. We used another well-reviewed trainer before Dani who cost just as much as Dani but we didn't feel confident in their abilities and hoped that there was a better alternative. We reached out to Urban K-9 based purely on the huge amount of positive reviews.

She responded IMMEDIATELY (a common response time for her), but told us we would have to wait a month until our first session (clearly she was in high demand!). We were desperate for a better solution, so we waited the month. From our first meeting, we knew she was the right call. She had actual techniques, that we couldn't arrive at on our own, to help with walking as well as with his "active mouthing" (I'll call it).

I don't want to promise similar results, but within a week, he was walking sooooooo much better when we started to walk with him how she told us too. I will say this, her techniques are not always convenient :) but when you have a large working dog in a city, you better listen to her because we have made HUGE improvements sticking to her processes.

Even recently, our dog stopped going into his crate for some reason and she pointed out a big mistake we had been making in teaching our dog to relate to this crate. Since following her advice, he will now generally enter his crate when we ask versus running away from it. I can't say enough good things. And we're very harsh critics. We have let go of several walkers, groomers and trainers. Dani is the real deal. We have been with her 4 months and will stay with her as long as she'll have us and our massive pup as clients

Meh, I experienced better client communications from other trainers. I'm not saying that what these folks do here is bad. I just wouldn't know. I emailed dani several times over the last week and so but not once did I get any followup after the initial email. Perhaps they didn't want my business. Perhaps it was something else but that's fine with me. That's just 3k to someone else who is willing to respond to a simple email.

I even followed up with a call after 48 hours and that went straight to voicemail several times to email again. Not really sure what the point of that is but maybe other people would have better luck than me. I overall went with another trainer who sent me 5 follow up emails before the initial consultation which to me, is key to a great business relationship.

I reached out to Urban K-9 after we adopted a 1.5yr old dog, as first time owners I was clueless and overwhelmed on how to get our cute cuddly dog to stop barking at other dogs on our walks. I worked with Mcclain for one session and she taught me a few strategies on how to help my dog correct that behavior. It literally took that one lesson and after a few weeks we are 99% bark free! I am so thankful and relieved because now Cookie is the perfect dog and we both are enjoying our outings more!

Our 7 month old mini-Doubledoodle Merman has had it rough. He broke a paw at 10 weeks, and re-broke it at 16 weeks. As a result, he spent a lot of his puppyhood in a cast, unable to play, walk, learn, or socialize with other dogs in a normal way. Thank GOODNESS for Dani, Urban K-9 and their amazing trainer McClain, who started working with Merman between casts, and who took him home for puppy training for two weeks! Merman came home 24 hours ago, and we really feel he has turned an incredible corner from sad puppyhood to big dog fun!

He sleeps in his crate without a whimper. He heels with an auto-sit when we stop walking. He sits, stays, responds to off, down, and place -- all amazingly helpful. He seems happier and more engaged, and really just thrilled to be a puppy bouncing around Brooklyn! Our neighbors are AMAZED. Thank you thank you!

Urban K-9 exceeded our expectations. We recently moved to Brooklyn and our border collie was experience some anxiety/new behavior. That's when I reached out to Urban K-9 and Dani set us up with McClain. McClain provided us with the right tools, offered suggestions and gave us homework to do with our pup. For example, our border collie would get "jealous" and would also want to get some affection every time we hugged each other, McClain should us a technique we could use and in a couple of hours our pup gave us our space. She genuinely listened to our concerns and spoke to us from one dog parent to another. We highly recommend them!

Dani is an incredible trainer. She comes into any situation and immediately calms both dog and owners. She's taught us a lot about how to correct our dogs behavior, and how we should be behaving ourselves to make sure our dog is on his best behavior. We don't know what we would have done without her!

Dani is truly a MIRACLE WORKER! I was at my wits end with my 3 month old puppy, I had no idea where to start between the teething, ankle biting, crying, and leash pulling. But then, Dani came to the rescue. Within minutes of meeting and getting to know my puppy Chip, she had him figured out, and he was listening to sit and come within minutes. Dani takes the time to analyze your concerns as a pet owner, observes your dog's behavior, and gives you all the resources and training needed to train your dog to be your best friend.

One thing I find fascinating is that she brought her older dog Rain with her to our training session, and taught me the importance of socializing your animal to other animals, humans, and stimulus in the environment. Her adorable dog Rain even provided some "corrections" to my dog, which allows him to learn what is acceptable and what is not. Dani is the best, she has made being a dog Mom the most amazing experience!

Dani is a brilliant and natural dog trainer. I had never owned a puppy before and Dani was the perfect guide to help our family train our new toy poodle. All the stress of sleeping, pooping, peeing, sitting, etc. were gone with a handful of sessions. Dani is quick at responding to questions and is warm and reliable.

I have an 8yo small dog who terrorized other dogs on walks. Walks were dreadful for us. We purchased a 5 pack of classes, and have only done 3 so far -- McClain has been AMAZING and my dog is already SO MUCH BETTER on walks! Cannot recommend Urban K-9 enough!

By chance, we spotted Dani and a colleague training two dogs in our local park early last summer and were almost mesmerized by how they controlled their two dogs in training. We had our little toy breed mutt with us, who was and is pretty easy to control.and felt almost smug that we didn't have to pay a trainer. Fast forward just a couple of months and we've just adopted our beautiful small-ish shepherd mix, Lucy, at about 9 months old.

Then we quickly realized that we needed help, and Dani/Urban K-9 popped straight into our heads. With our easy little dog we'd become accustomed to off leash time in Prospect Park and general easy going hanging out. With the new one Lucy we realized that she was just so excited about the outside world, and the creatures (squirrels etc.), that there was no way we could just expect to her to go along with things.

Outside she pulled on the leash and just generally paid us no attention at all. From the outset Dani was just amazing. She is always calm, clear, reassuring and encouraging. To us she's just one of those people who just comes across as completely genuine, and evidently extremely knowledgable and experienced. She gave us simple takeaways and things to practice and we really saw a difference.

We started with the basics of clicker training and then carried us through the things we learned. For us it mostly focused on heeling, sit/down stay etc. We did about 5-7 sessions and then course carried on practicing. Now we about 9 months on from working with Dani and I can confidently take my dog Lucy for off leash time in Prospect Park. It's still a work in progress and I notice that anytime I'm not consistent with the approaches Dani showed us things slip a bit, but we really are in such a different place from before we started working with Urban K-9.

Another achievement for our new dog Lucy that was only possible thanks to what we learned with Dani is that she was certified by a non-profit to do therapy dog work with me (visiting hospitals etc.). This involved passing a brief exam, and then taking a six week course where she had to sit in another room with other dogs and be disciplined enough to ignore them while all the teaching when on, something again I never could have imagined before taking classes with Dani.

We would really highly recommend Dani and her team. She takes a personalized approach and really makes the effort to listen to what your own needs and goals are for your dog, and works with you to meet them.

We were at our wits end after a bad reaction to an anti-inflammatory undid all our housebreaking training. But after just one session with Natasha the accidents stopped cold. She was so helpful and informative--I felt totally empowered and back in control. And by following her instructions, not only do we now have a urine-free home, but also a MUCH more relaxed and happy dog. Yay!

Dani and the Urban K9 team are as good as it gets! Our beautiful Ruby joined the family when she was 8 weeks old and so did Dani. Dani guided us thru every phase while diligently training Ruby to be pure joy. We could not have done it without Dani! Thank you, Dani!

My husband and I adopted Bowie from a rescue when he was just over 1 year old. At first, he seemed like the perfect dog, but as happens often, once he was comfortable with us some bad behavior cropped up - lunging at dogs and people on the street, not coming when called, tugging on the leash - culminating in him nipping a stranger on the street. I grew up with dogs all my life, watched a lot of Caesar Milan, Solid K9 and other dog training videos, but it wasn't clicking and having a dog in the city is an entirely different animal. Cue Dani!

She showed us all the fundamentals - how to use a prong collar, place command, down stay, voice recognition, recall - that put Bowie back on track. He's an even better version of himself. We also got our confidence back walking him and his record has been clean since! She also was great about coming to us in Hoboken too. Don't wait too long like we did until things escalate if you have issues - get a great trainer like Dani ASAP!