Greg Smith Canine Consultants reviews in Pittsburgh, PA

We came to Greg with a one-year-old pit mix, Ella, with lots of energy, a sweet face, and signs of dog aggression. When we first met with him, we were impressed by how she responded to his direct and humane handling of her. After having been through several dog obedience classes with limited success, we recognized that Greg’s style would be more effective at getting Ella’s focus back on us. By building a foundation based on obedience and trust, we were later able to work on the real issues that made us seek help from somebody like Greg in the first place. While Ella’s natural drive is still part of her personality, Greg taught us effective ways to handle tough situations with her and how to progressively condition her to become a more domesticated dog. Greg’s expert-level technical understanding of dog training and willingness to go above and beyond with his training techniques were invaluable for us to learn from as owners of Ella.

We went through Greg`s seven class obedience training with great success. Molly became a model pet, and we decided to continue on with off lease training, which was also a great success.

Two years after getting Molly, my wife found a six week old puppy abandoned on a country road near our house. A relative of one of our neighbors said that she was thinking about getting a puppy ond took her. We told her that if things did not work out to let us know, because we did not want that dog going to the pound. About eight months later, we got a phone call and Tessa came to live with us. We immediately started the obedience training that Greg had taught us. Things were great until about a year and a half after our son was born. 

In February of 2010 tessa became extremely aggressive towards our other dog Molly. They would get into vicious fights that drew blood. She even started to become aggressive towards my wife ond soon. We contacted Greg and he came over to assess the situation. He came up with a plan and we got to work. It took about three months to get everything corrected, but our dogs once again get along, and Tessa has shown no aggression towards any people. 

In June of 2012, Tessa had come health problems and I had to take her to the Specialty Veterinarian Hospital in Pittsburgh. While in the waiting room an alderwoman came in with a large Rotwiler. She was not paying attention to her dog and it began to get aggressive towards Tessa, who was not going to back down. With the knowledge that I have gained from working with Greg I was able to quickly get my dog under control and move us both to safety. After the incident the receptionist told me that she had never seen anyone get their dog under control as quickly and calmy as I did. Without Greg`s training I believe that both Tessa and myself would have been injured in that situation. 

If you have any other questions about Greg and his methods, please feel free to contact me at: 412-860-3248

We contacted Greg about 7 years ago when our Rot/Lab mix was developing major behavior issues. Greg spent many hours working with our dog, along with us to help turn what was thought to be a hopeless animal into a loving member of our family. We have continued to make use of his services over the years. He seems to have an ability to connect with both people and pets. What a rewarding experience for us.

I had adopted my dog, Bear, from a rescue a little over 2 years ago. For the first 2 months after I adopted him, he was the perfect dog. Then one day, he began tearing down the wood frame around my door. Every day, I would re-nail the frame to the wall. One time, I was in a hurry and didn't have time to fix it, so I pushed the wood frame off to the side and headed to work. When I returned, my dog had started to dig a hole in my wall. As the days went on, my dog tore into the wall more and more. Every day, I would walk through the door crying as I began cleaning up the pile of drywall and insulation. I was at my wit's end. I couldn't have my dog destroying my house (and I was also afraid that he was going to get injured or become sick). I went to my vet's office, and he prescribed an anti-anxiety medication, telling me that it was best to do training with the medication and then wean him off of it.

It was in the vet's office that I saw Greg Smith's brochure. I had no idea then what a Godsend this would be. I called Greg and scheduled an initial eval with him. I really appreciated that Greg didn't rush through the evaluation. I could really tell that he cared about my dog and would help me to find out what was going on with Bear and how we could fix the problem.

One of the first things I noticed was Greg's method: he doesn't use cruel methods to transform a dog's behavior. Instead, he uses positive reinforcement to get the desired results.

My dog, who had previously been afraid of men, warmed up very quickly to Greg, which was important to me.

I signed up for 6 in-home sessions about a year and a half ago. Greg's knowledge of how a dog thinks and what they need is AMAZING. Now it's been about a year since Bear has done any destruction. Bear and I (and my wall) are all happier now. I'm so thankful for all Greg has done.

Because of Greg, I was able to keep my best friend.

By the time we Greg, Bounce was putting his mouth on my feet and arms and I was evaluating the odds of having to put him down on a daily basis – that number was holding at 50:50. I couldn’t imagine euthanizing a healthy dog, but his behavior was alarming. I managed him closely when we had company (as he didn’t want them to leave), but it was a growing challenge.

Greg allowed me to determine the frequency of his visits to the farm, so we began on a weekly basis. I continued to take Bounce to my dog club and started a second group class at Greg’s suggestion. Greg was able to analyze the problems we were having & our skills (or lack thereof) of dealing with them at our home. Greg made useful suggestions for managing Bounce while I was away at work along with techniques to keep everyone safe in the house when I was home. Bounce is a smart dog, so the “fixes” at the front door would generally work for a week or two…Greg never failed to come up with new ideas that I could actually do.

Long story short, I still spent a lot of time training the dog while Greg helped me gain the confidence needed to handle Bounce when he had bouts of aggressive behavior. We worked together on all the issues I was concerned about & while Bounce will always be Bounce, we were able to get to the place we are today. I can honestly say Bounce is the sweet dog I first met and the terrorist that lurked inside has faded away. Bounce is now 14 yrs old, turning gray & snoozing a large part of the day. A true success story!

I contacted Greg in December of 2012 in hopes that he could help me with my 6 year old Boxer Terrier Mix named Rooney. Since Rooney turned 2 years old he started showing signs of aggression towards strangers. It got progressively worse and moved onto other dogs as well. He had bitten a small child once (not leaving any marks) more or less warning bites but that had drawn the line for me and I knew I needed to do something about his behaviour.

In speaking with Greg he quickly nailed what the problem was and knew the steps we needed to take. Rooney had always been a timid dog and his sign had been very clear. He was either Flight or Fight. When I am around; Rooney decides to fight.

While working with Greg we learned basic commands, how to communicate effectively with Rooney showing him that he does not need to fight or flight.

Since December Rooney has made remarkable improvements. Strangers (to Rooney) can now come into my house with ease, talk to Rooney and give him treats. I can take Rooney for walks and not have him want to rip off his leash lunging at other dogs and people. We are even able to have him with other dogs after gradual introduction periods.

I would recommend Greg to anyone who is having problems with their pets. He is a very kind and gentle person who I would leave my dog with anytime. He has great methods for all types of behaviors and has really helped me and Rooney work to a solution. I now have the tools to not only keep Rooney under control and safe but also the tools to train my next dog to ensure we don’t go down this path again.

Thank you Greg for all your help!

With two rescued three-year-old boxers, we soon realized we had our hands full! Each had their own strong personalities and peculiarities and, without knowing their full histories, some of their behaviors were downright confusing! Greg Smith Canine Consulting took immense amounts of time to help us understand the motivations of our dogs and how to work with them, rather than against them, to make life happier for all of us. It was obvious from the start that the dedication, knowledge and love for dogs that these two had was incredible. Thanks again for everything!

Greg Smith did a wonderful job training our Bouvier des Flanders named Otis. His dedication and understanding with Otis resulted in an obedient and loving dog. Greg worked with us for over a year to make sure that we had success with our quickly growing puppy. At over 130 pounds, Otis is a large, powerful and sometimes stubborn dog. We learned how to handle him in a way that made all of us happy. Greg took the time with our family to teach us all of the necessary steps to be responsible owners. Thanks to Greg, Otis is behaved. And thanks to Greg, we are happy.

Greg has worked with us for about 2-3 years. I had gotten a dog from a family who could not take care of her anymore. In the coming weeks, I soon realized why she was given away! She would jump up on our kitchen table on all fours and eat off of it. She would be aggressive to friends and strangers who came to our house. She bit our lawn guy, who luckily did not sue us. I was afraid to let her out of the house when we had friends over. Would she start going after kids that came over? I just could not take that risk. She had already bitten someone we knew and liked (lawn guy). To make matters more tenuous, I have 3 small children, at the time, who took much time away from Jess (our crazy dog!)

Needless to say, I did not like Jess to much. I was the verge of giving her up. Luckily, trough an acquaintance, Greg was recommended. Very long story short, Greg assessed her quickly and set up a plan to teach Jees how to behave in these above mentioned situations. Greg also gave me a lot of insight into how a dog acts a certain way and why. This helped me understand her more and meet her needs current situation (kids, busy household).

He took her for a few months under his care and trained her. When she came back, Greg trained me on how to train Jess. I learned a lot about her and certain ways to eliminate some of her bad behaviors. It was difficult at first following through because our house was chaotic.

Greg also let me know that Jess was a difficult dog to train and always would be. What had I gotten myself into? Through the entire training process, Greg would take her for few weeks at a time and train her and teach me. This process continued for awhile and helped me learn a lot of ways to train Jess. Greg always taught Jess with positive reinforcement – no pain.

Jess had many other bad behaviors that needed to be addressed but were not mentioned in this letter. All of my concerns about Jess were addressed by Greg. Greg helped me train Jess through all of her bad behaviors and helped me handle each specific situation. All catered to me and my schedule, in our own environment/house.

Greg is an excellent trainer who is commited to helping others train their dogs.

He always said “I won’t give up on her if you don’t”. There were many times I wanted to give up. However, Greg was able to help me work trough it with Jess.

Greg has transformed my dog, and me in en extremely positive way. I enjoy being around Jess even more because she is a better dog, due to Greg’s training. I highly recommend Greg for training any “bad” dog. He works magic with these dogs!

I want to thank you and Linda for the wonderful service, which you provided for my 2-year-old rescued pit bull Gizzy, and myself. Your basic obedience training has made a world of difference in our relationship and now the dog interacts with others. You have turned a potentially dangerous and volatile situation into a pleasurable and very rewarding experience for both my self, and Gizzy. Watching this dog train and seeing how he enjoys training is an awesome experience. Prior to your training, I was afraid to take my dog anywhere; now I want to take him everywhere. In my first conversation with Linda, she mentioned the positive aspects of the training and that “nothing would be taken from the dog”. To me, this is an understatement; as I have only seen positive results with Gizzy and I could not be more pleased.

I am so impressed with your professionalism, your knowledge and experience in the field of canine behavior, your willingness and desire to customize the training to our specific needs, the generous offering of your time to complete a segment of the training, end your general advise on canine care. I highly recommend you to anyone who is having a problem with their dog or who wants to bring out the very best in their dog. I could have read all the books on dog training and watched all of television shows relating to dog training but I could have never brought my dog to this level in such a timely and cost efficient manner without your personalized services.

I’m sure I will be calling on you in the future. For now, I want to savor the moment and interact as much as possible with this dog to determine which direction to take. Please feel free to use this letter in anyway that you feel appropriate and know that I will gladly verbally convey my appreciation for your efforts.

Thank you for all your patience and expertise while you were working with Halle. We now feel very confident when dealing with Halle’s problems. She is much happier and really enjoys our special “training sessions.”

Your training techniques are amazing! You also did a great job training us so we can work effectively with Halle. We are now training Ashley too. She seems to enjoy it also.

We are so happy that we met you. You are very passionate about your work and it shows! Halle is a much sweeter dog now! We appreciate all your time and effort.

I wanted to let you know that you were exactly right about Trixie and the hip dysplasia. She went to the vet today and she has it both hips. Dan thinks that the left hip is a little worse than the right. The vet said it was still considered a mild case.

If you can think of any types of play that should or should not do, in your experience, we would greatly appreciate it! Will talk to you on Sunday.

Thanks!

The planning committee would like to extend our heartfelt thanks for your participation in our first annual Super Kids Asthma Camp. Your demonstration with the dogs was a big hit with the children. They really enjoyed petting Roxy and her obedience demonstration. I am enclosing copies of pictures of Roxy with the children. Please extend our thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Tolliver for allowing us the pleasure of meeting her. Several of the parent volunteers stated they were considering having their dogs trained after seeing how well you managed the dogs.

Also, we felt you were able to talk with the children on their level and answered their questions appropriately. We would enjoy having you return in the future should the occasion arise.

I would like to express my gratitude to you excellent training of Roxie. You changed her from a bothersome pet to an integral part of our family. I had almost given up hope on her, but now I would not give her up for the world. She’s a changed dog, thanks to you.

Good luck with all your future endeavors

When the Mercer County Humane Society and Augusta k-9 first started their obedience classes Greg Smith volunteered his time to come to shelter and help.

His responsibility has been to work with adopted animals and their new owners in learning basic obedience commands, proper leash etiquette, and eliminating undesirable behaviors.

The transformation that has occurred both with the animals and their owners has been amazing. His skills helped change the behavior of the animals and hopefully life with their new owners will be a happy one.

The people that have been fortunate enough to have recived his services can not praise his ability too much.

The people that have been fortunate enough to have the services of Greg Smith, and I would recommend him without reservations.

“SYMPATHY IS NOT ENOUGH”

Dear Mr. Smith,

 My Biology class and I want to thank you for the demonstration a Police Dog Training you did for our class last week.

You do a great job with your presentations and you a lot well to students. They learned a lot about animal behavior and they enjoyed the prow.

Thanks so much for going a your time and abilities for my Biology Classes education.

Mr. Greg Smith was our Director of Training for the 97-98yr and his responsibility was to instruct and teach students. The course included both police and civilians in our instructor/trainers course. I have know Greg for over nine years both in a professional capacity and as a personal friend and have always found Greg to be a hard worker and dedicated to his workplace. Greg is qualified to teach and train narcotic detection through police service canines and has trained excellent personal protection dogs as well.

I highly recommend Greg Smith to anyone who desires an honest hardworking dedicated employee.

As a veteran police officer and professional dog trainer/handler, I have dealt with Greg Smith on several occasions. I believe he is an honest and competent breeder/handler/trainer and a trustworthy individual.

He has supplied me with numerous pups of his own breeding which are exceptional quality at fair prices.

He has demonstrated to me his professionalism and personal demeanor and I would recommend him in virtually any employment endeavour.

Dear Mr. Smith:

On behalf of the Cadette and Junior Girl Scouts of Troop 2862, thank you very much for the educational tour and demonstrations of your training facility on June 15, 1998.

The girl scouts and the leaders learned many things about dog care and training. We noticed taking care of your dogs is hard work maintaining clean kennels and well groomed dogs.

Obviously, you truly love the dogs.

Your demonstrations were very impressive. We enjoyed seeing you lay track with hot dogs for the pups and seeing them pick up the scents. We never realized pups could be so big. We learned many things about how dogs pick up scents. Our troop was enthralled to “lose” one of our girl scouts and to observe your dog finding her.

The attack dog appeared very docile until his trainer commanded him to attack. None of us would have wanted to be the trainer in the bite suit. We’re convinced this dog would definitely be his officer’s best friend. The advice you gave us regarding avoiding a dog attack will always be remembered.

The drug dog exhibited great determination in detecting the marijuana. We were surprised he could even open the gas tank cover to get to the drugs.

Sunshine won everyone’s admiration by his skill on the obstacle course. Your dogs are skilled in going into many places.

We truly enjoyed our morning with you and appreciate the time you chose to spend with us.

I had the pleasure of working with Greg Smith and am very impressed with his ability to work with and train dogs. He has a wonderful and commanding way with them and their owners and was always well liked and requested by dog owners. He is compassionate and understanding and always willing to help out with additional tasks and goes out of his way to please his customers. He is always willing to go the extra mile, to stay a little longer until the customer fully understood learned something new. A little or big thing that made working with dogs easier.

I would be happy to speak with you and elaborate more about his patience and skill his ability to get results.

I have known Gregory Smith for more than twenty years. As his next door neighbor, I have watched him develop into a serious-minded, responsible adult over those years. A caring and supportive family have provided stability in the process. Greg’s potential is limitless. He does well in whatever he sets his mind to do. He is ambitious, courteous and honest.

I am most pleased to recommend this young man to you.

Greg,

This thank you is long overdue. We cannot thank you enough for all the time and effort that you put in to helping us train our dog Milky Way. Thank you also, for always being there when we needed help or to answer our questions with Milky Way. Greg, you not only trained our dog but gave us the insight to understand her better. If you not any references or help with anything, please do not hesitate to call or come see us. We are enclosing some pictures of Milky Way and our cat Maddie.

Thank you again for all your help.

Dear Greg:

I do so appreciate all your help with my cats, Nels and Sophie. I don’t remember whether I told you my darling of nearly twenty-five years passed away in June 2002 followed by my mom this past April. I got Nels in October 2002 when he was a kitten. He’s gotten me through some rough times and has come to mean a great deal to me, but as you know his biting and mild aggressiveness was creating a problem. I couldn’t even think about taking Nels to an animal shelter and driving away and leaving him there without getting terribly emotional. Yet I wasn’t enjoying his company much of the time and was keeping him in his carrier at night so I could get some sleep. I was referring to him as “the cat from hell”.

Calling you was unquestionably one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. You assessed Nels and my interaction with him and completely put me at case. When you said he wasn’t bad cat at all, I believed you and began seeing Nels in a much more positive light. I had been making some mistakes in dealing with him and didn’t read his body language nearly as well as you did. You taught me a lot, were patient and never made me feel like a bad or incompetent pet owner.

At first, I had a few reservations about getting a second cat, but I really trust you, and you were right about how a companion would be good for Nels when I’m at work. Greg, you know I’d never have made it trough the process of introducing Sophie, the new cat, to Nels without you. I fell in love with Sophie at first sight and was devastated when it looked as if they might not take to each other. Having experienced so many losses lately, taking Sophie back to Cats Second Chance would have been incredibly painful. You worked so hard to make sure that didn’t happen. You worked in an extra appointment for me that weekend, and just knowing I could call if we needed you was reassuring.

So now I have these two wonderful cats who are so precious to me-and I owe it all to you! Whenever one of them present a behavioral challenge these days, I always think, “Now what would Greg say to do”. I swear sometimes I can hear your voice in my head saying one of those “Greg-isms” like “Don’t take something from the cat without giving him something in return” or “Back off when his ears and tail look like that”. Nels has gotten out the front door a number of times (one of my worst fears!) but I handle it just like you told me to and it’s okay so far.

I could go on and on, but let me summarize by saying your training my cats (and I know you were training me too!) has enriched my life. Thank you. I wish you great professional and personal success.

I want to thank you for helping me train Saydee. She seems to be a much happier dog. This may sound weird but I really think so.

Since your training we are able as a family to know exactly to do with Saydee when her nasty side comes out. She also listens much better to us. I am so pleased that Saydee will sit, down and stay when a person comes to the door.

I would highly recommend your services to any person that is interested in training their dog.

Thank you again

P.S. She is now sleeping in her crate at night!!

In the spring of 2008,we welcomed a new and important member of our family:

Ralph,a one-year old German Shepherd Dog.

He arrived with Lufthansa confused and unhappy, from Germany to Washington Dulles,where we picked him up and brought him home to Sewickley, where we live.

The Dog was exceptional! Beautiful and healthy, but his eyes were sad.

He was originally planned to be a show dog in Germany, go we realized soon, that he had not been exposed to a “normal family-life” before and his only skills were to pose in front of a judge and to present himself in an arena.

He was not housetrained and he did not response to his name.Although, the whole family loved him instantly, we knew we were facing a huge and unexpected challenge in adjusting this wonderful animal into a family dog.

We decided to seek professional guidance and help and found our mentor in Greg Smith and his Dog Training facilities.

Greg gave us instant confidence that we were in the best hands and Ralph followed him from the beginning like they spoke the same language. Greg’s philosophy, not to punish but encourage, was totally in line with the way wanted to treat Ralph and slowly he began to improve.

Due to his caring and professional training an a couple Greg turned Ralph into a well behaved and very civilized family member, who knows exactly what is expected by him and he is now the most happy dog on earth.

He responses to his name (almost always) he is comfortable with the Wireless Fence from Pet-Stop and he has not had an accident in our house since last summer. He is not jumping up, unless our son Christian is playing with him, walking vey nicely in taught him to avoid, all because of the untiring efforts by Greg Smith.

We can recommend every one having a problem with their dogs to seek help with Greg Smith Training School.

Sincerely

Greg,

When we picked out our beagle pup, he was very playful, loving and free-spirited. It was his spirit that earned him the name of, Brown’s Mojo Rising in Bridgeville. But four weeks later when it was time to bring him home, his demeanor had changed. He would duck his head or begin to pee himself when we would try to pet him. he was demonstrating all the signs of being an abused pup. To help him overcome his fear, we over-dosed him with love. Unfortunately, he started showing sings of aggression by trying to bite us-he was letting us know that he was the top dog in our home! We registered him for puppy training classes at the local pet store. Even though it was a training class for puppies, they had permitted a large, older Lab into the class that demonstrated extreme aggressive behavior. This dog picked on all the puppies. Mojo became physically ill every time this dog came near him-we sopped attending the classes because more aggressive towards us by the actions of this Lab.

We found an independent trainer and decided to give her a try because Mojo was out of control. Walking him was a complete nightmare; he would aggressively bark and lunge at people or other dogs. I would not even take him outdoors without first checking to make sure people or dogs were not outside. It was not a life for him, he received very little exercise because of it and he was isolated from the world. When I would take him on walks he would pull me the entire time, and never relaxed or even looked as though he enjoyed it. His pulling would throw my back out and I had zero control. People would make comments to me like, ”You should put a muzzle on him…” “Is he walking you?” “Be careful, he looks dangerous”. It broke my heart. In the house, it was worse. The constant biting and the trips to the hospital for stiches were becoming too much for us to cope with. To keep other family members and friends safe, we asked them not to come over until Mojo was better.

With our second trainer, we decided to have a one-on-one training experience-trying to keep Mojo from learning any other dog’s bad behavior plus-keeping other people and dogs safe from Mojo. The firs class seemed to be great. Mojo vas listening to her commands-then to ours. This trainer kept commenting on how aggressive and possessive Mojo was, but never doing anything to correct his actions. At the end of the class, she called him a big bully. To keep him from biting us, she suggested that we shoot him with a water gun; blow an air horn; and, to use a tennis racket for protection when he would run and try to bite us. When we first started using these items, it did keep him from biting us it scared him to death. I would never have thought it possible, but within a few days of using these “tricks” Mojo became more aggressive. Any noise or fast movements would set him off. Our second (and last class) with this trainer had us on a downward spiral that was not going to end well for Mojo. She would give him a command to jump up on to a couch; then she would viciously yank him off the couch. This kept up until Mojo started peeing himself and throwing up.

We were at a loss for what we could do for Mojo. Our veterinarian prescribed a strong tranquilizer and he then started to lose his motivation to eat. The daily biting attacks increased and we knew we were dire need of help.during a routine check-up with the vet, she was able to witness Mojo at his worse and she whole-heartedly recommended you. I had also met another client of yours during that same visit, in the waiting area with her dog that you had trained. According to the owner, her dog was than Mojo! What?! How could that be? Another dog worse than Cujo, I mean Mojo? That’s when I called you for help.

During your evaluation of Mojo, he did not let us down-he showed you his colors, I did explain up-front that we would never remove him from our family nor put him to sleep-that we would accept that Mojo would always be a dog who could and would bite us. But in a matter of fifteen minutes, you had him eating out of your hand (both, literally and figuratively). When you were preparing to leave, Mojo did not want you to go. That’s saying a lot because Mojo never showed affection towards anyone outside of mom and me, and it always had to be on his own terms. You provided us with the first sign of hope. Let’s face it, we would always love Mojo, but we didn’t always like him.

Mojo is our onion-as you have peeled and continue to peel away all the negatives that he has endured, his entire demeanor has changed and it’s all because of you! He’s gone from a high-strung, nervous and angry dog to a more relaxed and happy dog without breaking his a incredible spirit! To help Mojo, you had suggested that we bring another dog into our house to assist in calming his anxieties and to also help deflect some of our attention away from him. That’s how Dreamboat Annie, a golden retriever came to live with us. You even helped with Annie, by showing us how to introduce them and how they (and us) could live together under one roof.

Annie did bring her own issue of jumping into the mix, but you were able to transform her into a well-mannered poppy!

We cannot tell you enough times how much we appreciate the time and effort you have put into the training of Mojo and Annie-and now us! With your expert training and dedication to our two, four-legged fur kids, they have become the great dogs we knew they could be-but this only happened because of you!

Thank you for all your encouragement that you have continued to provide us throughout Mojo’s training. Your continuous support was beyond our expectations. You are truly the most wholeheartedly committed expert trainer to both dog’s owners!