Bill Stavers Dog Training

We had Bill come to our apartment 2 yrs ago to deal with some of our issues with our dog, one being separation anxiety. Derby responded beautifully to the exercises given. We just had Bill come to our new place and help us with some new issues since we moved into a house and just had a baby. He again gave us great advice and tools. Bill is a pleasure to work with and we highly recommend him!

Our newly adopted dog and I had a session with Bill yesterday and I think he is great! If you’re looking for someone to come over and do the work for you he’s not your guy. But if you want the tools to train your dog and be a responsible owner he is your guy. We may need more help along the way, but he helped me understand whats going on in my dogs head and understand her actions. He was so gentle and really miraculous with her. Now it’s up to us to follow through! She is a 5 month old, german shepherd/​golden retriever rescue. I’m glad that I got him over straight away so I got a base to start from.

Be careful with this guy! I bought my puppies from a reputable breeder in out of state and decided to find a good trainer so they could stop eating their poops. I contacted several trainers but Bill was the only person who sounded very promising and offered money back guarantee if the training failed. Other trainers including the breeder and my vet were doubtful that anyone would be able to fix the problem especially after I tried many methods and they all failed. My first contact with Bill was June 5 and he replied my inquiry on June 6 asked me to buy a scat mat + extra adapter that would be needed for the training. I received these kits several weeks later and notified him that I had the kits. Once he found out I was out of his area, he simply dropped the ball and blamed me that I didn’t give him my address although he already asked. This guy asked me to buy the kits a month ago and only asked my address last week and it’s now my fault??? Are you kidding me, Bill? After he sent me the email that I was out of his area, he never offers other alternatives until I told him he’s not being professional. He replied and advised me to return the kits to Amazon (the seller) or send to him + he would pay the first one hr training with his referral trainers. I told him to send me money order to reimburse me for the cost + shipping to him and he NEVER reply. On the email, I stated clearly that I would refund the price difference for shipping because S&H was only an estimate from UPS store ($ 11-​$ 16). I asked him to send me money order before I ship this kit because: 1. He cannot be trusted. Why would I want to send the mat without getting his check in the first place especially with all the empty promises that he made previously? 2. He’s unprofessional. He forgot to ask where I lived on early contact then he blamed me for not giving him my address. 3. He’s a liar. He offered to buy back the mat but after I gave him S&H quote, he never replies. Check other trainers that have better reviews because this guy is a joke. BUYERS BEWARE!!!

Not a happy dog owner. Bill left my house a few hours ago. I have a four month old puppy who has aggression issues. He bites my arms and clothing. I told him this was my number one concern.
He showed up at my house and Dude (the dog) started at him as usual. He starting nipping at him and bit his arm. Once Dude calmed down we went into the kitchen where he asked me to grab some dog food. I did and he asked Dude to sit. I explained to him that I’d already taught him that as well as lay down. I showed him and Dude responded perfectly to me, but he continued for the next hour to «teach» sit/​lay down. Again, two things my dog already knows. Then for our remaining 30 minutes he worked on the dog not chewing at the leash.
I know I can’t expect miracles, but if I pay you to come to my house and help me with the dog biting me, please don’t come over and work on something else. If you intend on doing that, let me know in advance that you won’t even TOUCH on what I asked for.
Not a happy customer.

Sorry to say I found the follow up after our first session unexceptable, because there was none! A very nice person, I got some good pointers, however I called that night with a stair issue (my dogs had just travelled cross country, literally from the country to the city), not only did I never get a call back, over a month later I have yet to hear from him. I expect a follow up call when I pay good money for the service, it’s good business if nothing else.

Bill is patient and works with clients of all calibers, from the «I’m soooo not a dog trainer» type, to the «I want to know everything» type of pet owner. My two cavaliers love it when he comes and works their mind. They are not only responsive to his gentle but effective ways, they learned to trust in him just one session. Louis and Coco love learning and Bill has helped us bond with them in different ways. Bill is very creative in his teaching methods, and is able to mold his training to the breed type as well as the owners. Thanks for the time spent with us. We look forward to more training.

Before we called Bill, my husband and I were losing hope. Whenever our dog was left alone, he would tear into whatever he could find. He destroyed two remote controls, a dozen CDs and a small couch (thank heavens it was inexpensive). He would also bark and howl and cry. Our neighbors were worried, and none of the tricks we had read about seemed to be working.
After just one session with Bill, we had a plan… and a plan that worked. He got to know us, our dog, and our situation, and came up with a solution that would work for all of our needs. He showed us how to think like our puppy, and how understanding the behaviors informed the creation of an appropriate solution. He explained our dog was anxious and insecure, and built a strategy to help our puppy build confidence and feel gradually more comfortable on his own. He helped us see why the dog wanted the remote… since we held it so often, our dog assumed it must the best toy ever! We followed Bills advice, and he hasn’t gone for the remote since.
Since meeting with Bill, we’ve seen great progress with our dog. We’ve had other issues come to the surface, but after a quick phone call to Bill, we now have the tools to address those issues as well.
The thing about working with Bill that I appreciate the most is the way his methods have strengthened my connection with my dog. It’s been wonderful to worry less about his destructive behaviors and put my focus on building trust between the dog and I. I am so grateful for the warm and knowledgeable way he’s worked with our little family.

Bill Stavers is a very nice man and a good trainer. He has worked with our goldendoodle twice and packed a lot into those two one-​hour sessions. Our pup now knows how to go to her «place» instead of jumping on the table while we’re eating dinner and is walking on her leash in a much calmer way without pulling. We feel that we understand our puppy a lot more than we did before we met with Bill. We highly recommend him.

My vet Dr Shane recommended Bill for private training. He also teaches puppy classes on Sundays and My Pet Naturally in West LA. The moment he walked in the door he started working with Palmer (my poodle mix) by ignoring him until he stopped jumping. Then saying hello and giving him attention when he was calm. He uses positive training methods as opposed to correction (withholding something of value like affection for unwanted behavior and giving something of value when you get wanted behavior). This type of training method was very important to me.
Bill had told me his sessions run about 1.5 hours and that was about as much as the doggy could handle. He also wrote everything out on paper before he left so we wouldn’t forget.
A week later I called about some behavior problems I was seeing and Bill helped me over the phone for about 20 minutes and gave me some good advice. I’ll definitely be working with him again.