Westside Dog Sports

I cannot say enough about Debbie and her skills. Her wealth of knowledge and appreciation for the human-​canine relationship is incredible.
I have had the pleasure of observing her with so many other students and their dogs, while with my own. Every dog and dog owner is different, so of course, she is aware of temperaments, personalities, skill levels and so much more.
I would definitely recommend Debbie as a group or private dog trainer.
My pup just graduated from the Novice class, and we are on to the Intermediate. He will most definitely become a GCC (Good Canine Citizen) thanks to all of the things I am learning in Debbie’s classes.
By the way, the location that she conducts the classes is awesome! Parking is easy, and the park is really nice! We are pretty much in the shade the entire time, which in So Cal, is obviously awesome!

Westside Dog Sports is a great place to get your dog started in agility or to continue training for more advanced dogs. I met Debbie in her obedience class and liked her so much that I started taking agility with her. I really appreciate her love for dogs and her patience with dogs and trainers. She provides a good balance of fun at class with the skills to progress each week.
When I started agility, I thought it would be all sport and herding dogs like mine. I was amazed to see dogs in every shape and size. Whether you want to go on to be an agility champion or not, her classes are a great place to bond with your dog. Also, my dog’s obedience and response to commands has improved beyond my expectations.
I definitely recommend trying a class with Westside Dogsports!

Debbie is great! I first met her when Murray & I enrolled in her intermediate novice obedience class at West Los Angeles Obedience Training Club, where she teaches several obedience classes. Prior to that, I took a few rounds of obedience elsewhere but was never as gung-​ho about going to class as I was going to agility class. Debbie made obedience fun! She got to know each of the dogs well, had fun games to work on improving our dog’s obedience, and even dealt with Murray being his crazy-​pants self.
I started taking private and semi-​private agility lessons through her personal business, Westside Dog Sports, a few months ago, when we decided to get a little more serious about agility. There aren’t many «true» agility trainers right in the city, as most live in the Valley or IE, where they can have a larger facility. Debbie is a hidden treasure and an exception to this — she is a great trainer and teaches the human side of the team handling while also identifying fun ways to shape the dog to perform at it’s best. Murray has improved tremendously since starting lessons with her and he squeals every time we get close to her place for a lesson.
All of her equipment is regulation-​size, she challenges you in your lessons, and she customizes her training to suit your dog. Each dog is different, so instead of trying to mold Murray into a border collie, she finds ways to increase his drive, improve my handling, and improve our team synergy. I have other friends who take lessons with her as well; we’re all around the same level but have different strengths and weaknesses and our lessons reflect that. Her methods are consistent with the best out there and she is constantly applying the state of the practice into her training.
Debbie has put advanced agility titles on her own dogs, and is an excellent handler herself. Her lessons are very affordable (and you can have a semi-​private with another dog/​handler if you want to share a longer lesson). She’s extremely nice and really cares about you and your dog. Best of all, Murray approves!
PS — She also teaches some group agility classes through Dogtown Dog Training (
) and offers private obedience lessons through Westside.

As far as Dog Agility and Dog Obedience trainers go, the owner of Westside Dogsports, Debbie Pinthus, is by far one of the best one could ever want as a trainer. First of all she loves dogs and has had dogs forever, so she knows a lot about dogs. She has been a trainer for so many years and she keeps up to date with new ways to train dogs. She has been competing her dogs in AKC, USDAA and CPE to name a few. As a trainer, she is very patient with both me and my dog. She teaches me ways to maneuver through the course that would help me have better control of my dog and be able to go through the course at a much faster pace. She has trained me and my dog so well, we were able to go to our first CPE competition and in one day my dog got 4 Qualifying Ribbons and 3 Second Place Ribbons. I know of another lady that Debbie is training who also did so well at another CPE competition. This lady ended up with something like 20 ribbons between her 2 dogs. Debbie works with me to make my dog (who is a rescue and has fear/​aggression issues) feel more secure and gain more confidence. Her price for agility training is very reasonable and worth every penny of it. There aren’t too many agility dog trainers on the westside so Debbie and Westside Dogsports is a great find!!!