Smarty Paws Canine Coaching

My dogs love going to Daycare with Melissa on Monday and Friday. I’ve been taking them for 3yrs. They get so excited when we turn into the driveway. This has been a great way to keep them socialized in a safe and supervised environment. Every dog should get to have this much fun at least once a week. I have a 4 mth. old foster puppy in Boot Camp who is doing great. It is so important to get them into training early. Smarty Paws makes it easy.

Excellent classes and teachers. We have been bringing our dog Maddie for agility classes and we love how much she has learned so far!

The classes were great but I signed up for a class for my dog and it was cancelled due to my dog was the only one in the class. I called and email and I can’t get my money back. What a rip off. Donna is very irresponsible. Denise, the instructor was great. Donna the owner does not respond. It’s been over year and I’m out $ 125.

My dogs absolutely LOVE Smarty Paws! I’ve worked with two trainers here and they’re both just amazing. I’m so glad my neighbor told me about Smarty Paws!

I wish I had known about Smarty Paws before yesterday. My eleven-​year-​old lab was diagnosed with mast-​cell cancer a few months ago, and has been a death-​defying wonder-​dog for the most part. Being a lab, she loves to swim.
A couple of days ago, she took a noticeable turn for the worse, with her tumor swelling and a loss of strength in her legs. I called her vet, Summerlin Animal Hospital, to talk about options in the event her condition continues to deteriorate. I asked if they know of a place in Vegas I can take my lab for one last happy swim. They suggested I call Smarty Paws for guidance. Yesterday, I left Smarty Paws a voice mail explaining my plight. A couple of hours later, Donna returned my call. She had located a local dog-​lover with a pool who is willing for me to bring my girl over for a swim. I would have cried had I not been at work. I am in awe of the kindness of these people whom I have not yet met. Words cannot explain how grateful I am for Donna’s compassion for a stranger who loves her old and ailing dog.

I would highly recommend Smart Paws and their trainers!
I called Smarty Paws for an in-​home training session for my three dogs, to learn some methods to control their excessive guarding of the house/​barking at visitors. They were very polite over the phone and were able to schedule me the next week.
The trainer was on time and prepared for the appointment with plenty of ideas for how to start working on them. She was very professional and easy going, my dogs loved her and responded very quickly to her instructions. The session lasted about an hour and we got some great training for our main behavior problem, and some great tips for other little problems.
So far we are progressing well with our behavior training after just one session!

Our dog Sunny loved «Kinder-​puppy class» with Yvonne. We liked it so much that we are continuing with bootcamp and nose work. Sunny gets excited and happy the moment he recognizes the building! We appreciate the happy and relaxed attitude of the trainers, and that they emphasize positive reinforcement.

My experience at Smarty Paws was horrible. I was so excited to start training and socializing my new pit bull puppy, Jewel. At our first class, Jewel was a bit nervous from all the noise and commotion going on from the Agility Classes at the same time. I was told if I came back, it would only stress her out more. The trainer said she would help me outside of class and she never did. I tried calling their facility and could never get a person on the phone, and I asked the trainer of the class for a refund which she could not answer to.
I paid $ 150 for 6 classes and only attended 2 classes with no consideration from Smarty Paws, nor the trainer of the class. The only reason I gave Smarty Paws a chance & paid my hard earned money to be there, was to socialize my puppy and conquer her anxiety. In the end, I’m the one who had to deal with anxiety. If you expect Smarty Paws to work with you and your timid puppy, think again. The overall experience was very much a disappointment.

Donna and her crew are the best! Both locations are excellent. I use their agility training.

Over the years, we have went through a few different classes at Smarty Paws at the beginner level and we think this is the best training facility in Las Vegas. Although you could put a shock collar on your dog and teach them commands that way– Smarty Paws tends to emphasize positive reinforcement training techniques and the teachers always seem peppy and happy to be at their job. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time there.

I enrolled my German Shephard puppy in the puppy social class. I really liked the trainers but I did feel like the classes were unorganized, dogs were kept on leaches for you to walk around the class it didn’t seem to focus on any training techniques but I assumed that would change throughout the month. After my girls second training class (felt like play time and not training) she came down with kennel cough. At this point my dog has never left backyard (except vet appt) and had never been around any other dogs. Vet agrees she caught it from her classes and hey it happens, I get that and even thou I spent over $ 200 at the vet I wasn’t upset about it. When I became upset was when I called Smarty Paws to tell them she had kennel cough and the other dogs there have been exposed. I had prepared for my classes and was told I would get a call back from the trainer to discuss a refund or a credit for the next block of training. I never heard from them, yes not getting a refund or credit is bad business but I can only assume that the lack of concern in wanting to know when my girl was contagious tells me they had no interest in letting the other parents know that their dogs had been exposed. And you would think as «dog lovers» the trainer would have wanted to also call me to see how my girl was! I’ll never recommend them! I’ll be using a new trainer in the future.

FINALLY!!! I’ve had problems for over 2 years with my border collie and his aggression towards dogs that was starting to progress to people. A few people recommended their boot camp program and in specific the trainer Afton. I can not believe the progress he has made! Afton is a wonderful trainer! I recommend her and smarty paws in general to everyone I can! Great results and again the best trainer ever!!!

I have not personally attended Smarty Paws with any of my pets. However, I met a disabled gentleman with a service dog in Walgreen’s around midday, January 6, 2014.
The gentleman had one of the most well trained service dogs I have ever met and the dog (a standard poodle) was only two years old. Several patrons in the store were amazed at the training level and some of the things with exceptionally well trained service dog could do. I asked the owner how he got this service dog. To my shock he got the dog as a puppy from a local Las Vegas breeder and had it trained at Smarty Paws just weekly. He said after each lesson he worked with the dog on his own to reinforce the training. Obviously, he was not a novice at dog training. Even more astonishing is the fact that this dog was trained well enough to qualify under any standards as a service dog for his conditions. It can cost $ 25,000 — $ 45,000 to train a normal service dog to the level this dog was trained.
Finally, I asked where he took his wonderful dog for training; he said Smarty Paws. I was so impressed with this dog (having been a long time dog owner), that I got a piece of paper to write down the name Smarty Paws. He said, they don’t just train the dog, they train you to train the dog.

I’ve been taking my taking my yorkie here for almost two years now. What started as puppy obedient classes, turned into a new found love with agility. They have obedient classes, agility training (or rented ring time), training for therapy and disability dogs, bootcamp… Pretty much anything you could possibly want in a facility like itself. All the trainers are SO nice and knowledgable. I recently got a Doberman puppy, who is now enrolled in Kinderpuppy. Needless to say, I love this place!

I took my dog there for basic obedience with full intentions of continuing thru agility classes. Then I watched in horror on night one as one of the «training» technique was applied — squirting a dog in the face with Binaca Breath Spray. The first ingredient in that is alcohol — I do not want that in my dogs eyes. I didn’t pay for them to hurt my dog. The instructor even demonstrated how scared her own dog was of this «method». Needless to say we did not go back. I have left messages about getting a refund — but they don’t seem to care,

I wish I could give 1 star, because that’s what this place deserves. No one could answer my questions and they ignored me until I left. Don’t waste your time.

My golden retriever and I currently attend Smarty Paws class Puppy Foundations for Agility and we love it. The trainers are friendly and helpful and make their classes fun for both human and dog!
I wish I would have come here for puppy obedience class! At least here people understand and love dogs, and the cat owners at the Petsmart and Petco don’t sneer at happy unruly puppies.

Love this place! We have been taking our two aussies here for awhile now, they have learned so much and so have we. Donna and all the trainers are so very patient and knowledgeable about dogs and training. NO other place to go!

Katie H.
Barbie and I love Smarty Paws
We have been going to class every week for almost a year and Barbie just can’t wat to go :)
Barbie is a 2lb Chihuahua that now does Agility, Obedience, and is a Service dog .
Thank you Smarty Paws for helping me make Barbie such a great dog :)

My sheltie, Ripley, and I love Smarty Paws! We’ve been going there since October of 2011. We started out in a Canine Freestyle class taught by Donna. This is a class that teaches you to dance with your dog to music and though we haven’t come up with a routine (yet), Ripley learned an incredible amount. Donna is very patient and very ingenious when it comes to coming up with solutions to teach a trick (since every dog is different and what works for one doesn’t necessary work for another). It is important to do your homework after class (repeat the lessons at home). This is the only place I found that offers this specialized training. Check the youtube videos on Canine Freestyle and you will be amazed!!!
After that we took the intermediate dog agility class with Mary Kay (Ripley has had previous training in LA at the Zoom Room). At first, the large facility was intimidating and Ripley who is naturally shy had to adjust. Mary Kay is incredibly well versed in dog agility, enthusiastic and very inspiring. She even gave each dog a gift bag which included treats and toys on the last day.
Currently, Ripley is taking Novice Dog Agility (in hopes of competing one day in trials). This is the third semester we are taking. Both instructors I’ve had, Susan and Janice are excellent (although Susan seems to create the most challenging of obstacles). Janice, unfortunately has moved out of state. Ripley sometimes gets an attitude and refuses to jump, and it’s up to me to provide the pep talk and energy. Whenever she messes up, it’s usually my fault since the handler has to be on top of the ball (and requires as much training as the dog!)
The Smarty Paws space is huge and kept in an industrial like space. All the agility equipment is there and kept in prime condition. My only criticism is that the facility doubles as a doggie day care/​boot camp and some of the dogs housed there can be quite noisy and barky (which is distracting for Ripley… since she needs to concentrate). It also gets hot in there occasionally.
Mary Kay also teaches sheepherding on her farm which is not too far away. I took my dog Freckles there and after 2 lessons, even though she is an Australian Shepherd, she showed no aptitude for herding. She also doesn’t care much for dog agility… being older and quite sedentary.
I highly recommend Smarty Paws, whether you need obedience, professional training or some fun activity for you and your dog. The staff is friendly and wonderful! Your dog will appreciate the bonding time with you!