The Canine Classroom

Nancie M · 5★ · 2026-06-08

I got Macs from Oregon Dog Rescue in late February 2026. I knew nothing about his background, and when we got him home I said “oh. Right. He’s a terrier. I’m gonna need some help here.” I looked up Steve and we went from there.\n\nThree months later and he’s blossomed into a Very Good Boy, doesn’t react to anything, is confident and focused. I can trust him in any situation to refer to me as his partner, even with loose dogs around. In fact, we got approached by an off leash dog (in not an off leash park) and Macs confidently stayed where I asked him to, allowing me to keep the other dog at a safe distance until its owner showed up.\n\nI simply cannot recommend Steve and Wes enough. Macs is always excited to go to class, so he gives several paws up (since he lacks thumbs).\n\nIf you are looking for a trainer who uses positive reinforcement, makes sure the owner understands everything being taught just as much as the dog, and has flexible hours, please check out Canine Classroom!

Kelly C · 5★ · 2026-04-25

Steve is the only person we would trust to train a dog! We started training our corgi puppy, Winnie, with him at 4 months old. It was important to us that she was well-trained and pleasant to be around. Steve gave us as many sessions as we needed for a flat fee, which is an amazing value and really felt like we could get the most out of our training. He wanted us to be successful and took time and care with our dog. His teaching is kind, direct, and personalized. He is experienced and knowledgeable, and has truly made our experience as first-time dog owners a great one. Winnie is now almost a year old and she is consistently complimented on how well-behaved she is, all thanks to our work with Steve. Highly, highly recommend his services. Thank you, Steve!

Alex Smith · 5★ · 2025-06-08

We have had a great experience so far with Steve! He has transformed our golden retriever puppy, Winston, into a class act. Steve has helped train Winston to walk great on leash, promptly obey commands, and now we are even working on off-leash stuff! Never thought this was a possibility when Winston was 6 months old. Now he’s 1.5 years old and doing great!\n\nWinston gets excited when we go to see Steve and feels right at home in his classroom. The training is positive and Winston always gets many pets and treats during the session. Steve has also been working with us on reactivity training which gives our pup more confidence around other dogs. We highly recommend taking your dog here to help with walks, reactivity, commands, on-leash work, off-leash work, and everything in between! Thanks Steve!

Robert Kramer · 5★ · 2025-11-24

Our 11 month old 19 pound cattledog-chihuahua mix Gunnison has been training with Steve for a couple of months and it's remarkable how everything has come together. Before bringing him in, we tried some puppy classes and another trainer. Our Gunni-bear would do what we asked when we had treats and he didn't have something better to do, but he had trouble pulling on the leash, he wouldn't sleep through the night, and he still had some potty training issues. We love our pup and wanted to be able to take him with us safely while letting him run and play. But when we brought him in, we just wanted to sleep through the night and get him to go to the bathroom outside reliably.\n\nWe came in for half an hour each week. We were also asked to spend 5 minutes twice a day working with Gunnison in between sessions. Steve presented some simple rules and practices designed to help us live with our dog without stress. Each lesson seemed pretty simple and small. We did our best to do the homework, but we would miss a few days here and there. Some things happened very quickly, but mostly there was slow steady improvement. Then, seemingly all of a sudden, we started to really understand how to work with Gunnison and we've got a dog we can trust. We can walk him off-leash easily, trust him to run free in the woods or at the beach, and we are all sleeping through the night. I thought you had to have a certain kind of dog to be able to trust them off-leash. I figured I would have to limit his experiences, leave him at home, or take real risk allowing him to run and play. Now I think I just needed to learn how to communicate with my dog and use the right tools. This experience has been really uplifting and positive, and we are so glad we decided to work with Steve.

Isaac Mathers · 5★ · 2025-08-23

We can’t say enough good things about Steve at The Canine Classroom! Our Cane Corso is as stubborn as they come, and we were starting to feel like nothing was going to work. From the very first session, Steve’s calm, confident, and knowledgeable approach gave us hope. He doesn’t just train the dog, he teaches us how to communicate better and set our pup up for success.\n\nThe progress we’ve seen in such a short time is incredible. Our dog is more focused, responsive, and balanced than we ever thought possible, and we finally feel like we have the tools to keep moving forward. Steve is patient, professional, and clearly passionate about what he does.\n\nIf you’re struggling with a strong-willed dog, don’t waste time anywhere else. Go see Steve at The Canine Classroom!