Trail & BoneReviews of trailandbone.com

I would recommend this course to any and everyone! My ~2 year-old, 60 pound dog, Nala, came from a shelter and my kids and I fell in love with her instantly. She was so sweet in the meet and greet room and was gentle with our other dog (a 10 pound Cavapoo). I had no reason to believe she wouldn’t do well on a simple walk around our neighborhood. On our first walk she barked and lunged so aggressively at nearly everything that moved - kids on bikes/scooters, joggers, other people with dogs, squirrels... How could such a sweet dog at home act like she was going to attack others. People I came across were legitimately scared when passing by. I was scared and embarrassed, and had no clue why she was doing this or what I could do. Being such a big dog, I knew she needed physical exercise, so I started going out on walks just as the sun was coming up so I didn’t accidentally run into anyone. It was isolating and I was losing hope for any normalcy with her. As I sat crying one day and willing to pay a lot of money for someone to help me with Nala, I came across the resolving reactivity course. Matt’s methods spoke to me. It seemed kind to the dog (no harsh punishments, etc.) and he emphasized that he was training the dog owner more than the dog. Perfect - I’m not a dog trainer and needed the education. In desperation I purchased the course (which was surprisingly affordable!), and began immediately. I started seeing small improvements within days, and now just over a month later, I’ve completed the course and can honestly say it has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made! I feel like I can take her on walks now anywhere without any fear of her losing control. Our whole world has changed! I can’t thank you enough for this training and I’m so proud of Nala and of myself for sticking with the process and trusting each other along the way!

This is the program you have been looking for! Follow the modules, do the work! Ask questions, film your training sessions and you will go far! This is what I did and I have seen amazing results with all 3 of my dogs. The app works great for chat sessions and viewing the modules on your phone. Matt is great at answering questions and explaining details to help you be effective with your dog. Before this program, I had used a positive only dog trainer with 1:1 classes and then another online program and was stuck at a reactive point with my dogs. For the first time in years I am out in public again with my dogs (for now just 1 at a time) with a goal to walk all 3 at once, and I know with following this training it is and will be possible.

My dog is a 5 year old Carolina Dog mix who was rescued from Mexico. We think she was either a street dog or under socialized and abused. Plus, her breed is naturally nervous and wary of strangers. And their bark is exceptionally loud and scary. I remember the first time we took her to the vet. Her loud bark bounced off the walls of the small room for 10 minutes while the vet threw her chicken from across the room. That was the visit. I learned to micro manage every situation that we encountered. If we had house guests we would meet them at a neutral place, walk around a bit together, bring her to the house through the back door while our guests sat still on the couch, position her crate so she could watch them sit still while she anxiously chewed on a bone from the butcher and after all that she could tolerate their presence in the house. We worked with a positive trainer who taught us to use treats liberally and taught us to take her on walks in nature away from others where she could sniff to her heart’s content. And she did get better. But still, last Christmas after 3 years of training, she barked so aggressively at my in-laws and they were so upset that my Christmas was pretty much ruined. Then she scared the neighbors’ kids in a situation that I didn’t foresee and she was trigger stacked. I had followed Trail & Bone’s previous program but I got an email from Jon, the owner, saying that Matt could resolve the reactivity completely. So I signed up. When I saw the video of Matt in a bite suit meeting a dog who bit him continuously and then I saw the same dog out in public as docile as can be I thought “who is this man and how in the world did he transform that dog?” In the course I learned step by step how he did it and how I could, too. Recently my dog and I have moved to an apartment building. Now she can ride in elevators and walk down hallways and stairwells with strangers and have no reaction. She’s excited to greet company at the door with no prep whatsoever and we can walk in crowded places with no signs of nervousness. And most importantly, I’m not nervous either. I am so impressed and so grateful for this course. It really has opened up our life together. Thank you, Matt

My husband and I have two Australian Shepherds. One is 7 and one is 2 and a half. Our younger dog started to become reactive to mostly other dogs, even though we take them to training with a group. I think it started when a smaller dog went after him over a year ago when we had him with us at a restaurant. Slowly, the reactivity increased but was not constant, and then it became a bigger problem when we had him out. He is a big guy and at 65 pounds lunging on a leash, I was not sure if I could get him back to the sweet guy I know, or how this problem even got started. After a bad trip with our dogs we had two choices. Fix the problem or leave the dogs at home. My husband and I were distraught and we found this course. We actually did the whole course from start to finish, and I really believe I have a different dog. Although a lot of trainers can give you pieces this really made me understand a lot more about the issue, how our dogs daily life increased the problem and that our younger dog was a different dog and he needed different things to have a fulfilling life. I'll keep doing the work that is needed. As a result of this course, I feel confident that I can handle any situation and that our lives will continue to improve together. I highly recommend this course to anyone who has a reactive dog, but you have to be willing to do the work.

This class was so helpful. I have a three-year-old Golden Retriever who had been through lots of training but remained leash reactive. Matt's explanation of the dog's behavior sets the groundwork for his pillars of reducing reactivity. I felt immediate relief when we began our "taste of freedom" walks as did Otis. We had so much fun exploring schools, parks and open spaces without the usual triggers around the neighborhood. Following the weekly videos and step by step instruction was helpful and by the end, Otis was able to walk past other dogs on a path without having a meltdown. Matt is receptive to questions and answered my notes almost immediately. I highly recommend this class and Matt's approach. It was life changing for both of us!

We have an 11 month old corgi-aussie mix- Skid (short for Skid Steer). He was quite reactive towards people and other dogs... Just completed the course and happy to say that things are SO much better! We did each module in order, as suggested, and took the time to make sure we understood and thoroughly worked on each action item before moving forward. Skid just went to an agility competition this morning with tons of other people and dogs around. We parked him right near the entrance so that Every dog and person that went into and out of the competition ring had to walk by us first. He just observed, was curious, didn't bark.. he even let a big man come up and pet him. Before he would have barked/lunged at all the dogs and wouldn't have let the man pet him. I think one of the biggest take aways is that We now have the Confidence to properly teach him what is and isn't acceptable behavior, and He is Conifident in Us- we got his back and he knows it! I would highly recommend this course to anyone struggling with reactive dogs. Thx Matt & Jon, keep up the good work

I give the training program 5 stars, it's great. I would like to take a star off for the backend handling but I won't because the program really helped us. I will explain at the end about the issues. I found the program very easy to follow. The work is done on regular daily walks and playing with your dog (if they like to play) and in every day living with your dog. Matt explains what to do and why it works. I love the analogies he uses to explain things, they made a lot of sense to me. We've mostly only been involved with treat based trainers since we brought home a puppy almost four years ago. Behavioral problems developed over time and continued to get worse. We saw progress with this program very quickly and it didn't seem like a huge effort to accomplish that progress. Our dog seems much happier and I think he likes the clarity of the authority we developed as part of the training. We still have things we're working on but I have no concerns, I know we will be able to accomplish them. We just need the training opportunities to present themselves to address those remaining things. The issue I illuded to at the beginning, when I signed up, a free three month membership to the Pack was offered and then it was a per month charge. The program was brand new, I actually signed up before it was open. When I got the reminder email about the charge coming up after the three months, I wanted to cancel that. There was no where in the training site to do that. I had to send a couple emails to even get a reply and then I was told it was already cancelled and was given a link to manage my subscription. Well that link didn't work AND I was charged for the next month. Another email was sent and then a credit was given. So it was all fine in the end but I felt it was very unprofessional that there is no way to manage a renewing subscription and wasn't impressed with the correspondence involved in getting it taken care of. Coincidentally right after this, I received an email asking for my experience with the training program. I replied to that in quite a bit of detail and had a couple of questions in it about our specific situation. I received no reply to that, which was disappointing. I really would recommend the program to anyone willing and able to take their dog on daily walks.

I have really learned a lot about my reactive dog through this course. It really is about training the owner. Matt is very patient and instructive with good encouragement along the way. Great value for the training.