Santa Cruz County
Dog Training & Puppy Classes

Helping people & dogs become better life partners.

Located in Santa Cruz County since 1999

8022 Soquel Dr
Aptos Village, CA, 95003

We love your puppy school! We are attending puppy class with our German Shepherd puppy, Kip. With the guidance of Sandi & Cindie, Kip went from being fearful and hiding under the chair to blossoming into a happy playful puppy who enjoys the class, the dogs, the people and comes when we call! We are signing up for the year long program so we can continue the great success we are having. 

Thank you so much for all of your expertise, compassion and your wonderful classes. 

Wow our final reactive rover class!  It was very worthwhile, with your guidance on how to work with Brizzie as well as the video's and homework, I am retrained for the better!  Brizzie is doing quite well with me and likes the 'new' person on the end of the leash. Thanks very much to you and Irene for the great class.

The very best puppy and dog training we've ever done! The trainers were so fantastic at helping us with our very active puppy and high-energy dog. Thanks Living With Dogs!

Every morning Lucy and I go out to the street side of our property to get our paper and put our 92 year old neighbor’s paper on her front porch. Lucy always wants to sit on our driveway and look as far as she can see up and down “her” street. Today she saw a man and his dog walking towards us from up the street. As they got close Lucy recognized Luna from one of our Living with Dogs Classes. Luna is about 9 months old and Lucy is 14 months old. After their polite greeting puppy play broke out and Lucy slipped out of her collar and ran into the street. I immediately used our emergency recall word “Hurry” and was thrilled to see Lucy spin around and run to me. This is the second time we had to use our emergency word and I can’t describe how overwhelming the emotion is when she turned each time and came running at full speed. I am sure the anxiety  in my voice calling out HURRY and the outpouring of love when she returns are ingrained into Lucy’s brain thanks to Living With Dogs!

We were hiking with our dog Mattie on a hot summer day in Garland Ranch Park in Carmel Valley, where they allow dogs to be off-leash. Mattie was trotting ahead of us on the hiking path to get out of the sun and wait for us in the shade under the next large tree. As she approached what looked like a stick in the path, it coiled up, hissed, and rattled at her! Mattie stopped in her tracks, right near the agitated rattlesnake. I immediately called out her emergency recall command, and she promptly ran back to me. I gave her lots of praise and treats as the snake slithered off into the bushes. I put her leash back on, and we continued safely along our way.

Thank you, Sandi, Cindie, Irene and Janee, for helping us train for emergency recall! I am so glad we trained this skill and practice it regularly.

You, your training field and your business are all really exceptional. You should be very proud! Living with Dogs is quite the asset for the people and dogs of Santa Cruz county and beyond :)

I am so impressed and pleased with the classes, locations and wonderful trainers.  Thank you.  

Thank you Sandi Pensinger. We connected through the love to Treibball and became instant friends. (I think Duncan won your heart over too) You are an AMAZING trainer and teacher. You have inspired me in so many ways and I look forward to working with you again. I hope we get to meet in person because I have a big hug waiting for you. Nick, Duncan and I send our love and sincere thanks for your help.

Frida is a total obsessive ball retriever. 

Today we were playing in a park with her ball and it bounced out of her mouth across the grass directly away from me and across the street. She sprinted after and as she got the the curb I said "Sit" and she did! She sat and focused on the ball as it rolled across the street while an on coming car slowed and stopped. I was 20 yards away so it took be a few seconds to catch up. The car moved on and I said 'Fetch' and she retrieved her ball. 

Mocha had the opportunity to perform her sits and downs today when we were returning home from our walk today. We encountered a large group of handicapped children (blind, mentally challenged, etc) which appeared to be on a field trip. Everyone was a bit startled when they saw the BIG black dog approaching! I put Mocha on a sit/down which brought cheers of delight All gathered around as Mocha performed a couple of commands. Then she sat politely while a couple of children gave her a treat and was able to pet her soft fur. Even the blind child was able to pet her. When we continued on our way, we got a very big thank you!

So I would like to pass along this "heart-felt" moment and thank you for your wonderful training and sensitive approach in understanding dogs.

Taking classes at Living with Dogs helped me raise my Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy to become a well-adjusted and obedient dog. I never dreamed of having a dog whose recall is almost perfect although she is only 1.5 years old. I can tell Zeema at a 30 yard distance to NOT roll in a dead seal and to come instead. Or to leave the neighbors cat alone and to stay at my side. Wow! is all I can say. And all of these achievements with positive reinforcement and gentle guidance.

We started with the puppy kindergarten, went through Family Dog 1-3 and are now attending Family Dog 4 as many times as we can. FD4, in fact, is the best class to generalize a dog's obedience and responsiveness no matter what. Because we meet in different places that provide varying kinds of distraction such as gophers, bicycles, runners, children, you name it, as well as practice on how to behave in a restaurant patio setting. The real world in a controlled setting while playfully practicing obedience with your dog and other committed dog people. We love it!  

Last night in the dark August, my Siberian Husky, got out of our gate and ran down our driveway toward our very busy road. I called her and she actually came back! I guarantee that a couple of months ago before we started your Family Dog classes and your Reliable Recall Games she would not have come back.

All I can say is "Thank you!" You've shown me how to build a great relationship with my dog. You're amazing and I just want to tell you how much we appreciate all the skills that you've taught us.

We had a great time in the Family Dog Class! The hand targeting was especially helpful! Recall (Come When Called) was one of our main obstacles because we live on a farm and there is lots of open space to run, but using hand targeting I can be much more confident that my black lab will come barreling through the field to come to me! It has made a huge difference! Thanks!

I want to let you know how much Mickey, our rescue boxer, has transformed since taking your Reactive Rover class and the beginning Scent Work class.  He is still a work in progress, but I can now take him for short walks.  The most amazing thing is that when he finds himself in a stressful (another dog nearby) situation, he sizes up the situation without charging.  And then comes the miracle.  He turns and runs away from the dog!  It is taking him less and less time to relax after one of these encounters.    Mickey is really enjoying the Scent Work class.  He is so tired afterwards, he is becoming quite the couch potato.  Hard to believe but true.  Thank you for offering these wonderful classes.

Thank you so much for the help in training our dog, Pippin.  I think it was as much training for us as it was for him.  You and your trainers really helped us understand how dogs think and how to read what he is feeling.  

Thank you so much!! 

We have the most wonderful dog in the world and feel very thankful to you for your time and attention. Skyy is so amazing and I never knew how to train a dog/puppy so your training has given us a base for an beautiful life together. We will look forward to seeing you in the future. We will recommend you to all our friends.

Thank you!

One of the  most exciting events in Family Dog 2 was having my golden retriever, Betsy, off leash at the beach and after 30 min. of playing, I called her name and she came running across the sand headed straight for my hand target...    I was so overwhelmed!!  Thank you!

Wow, thanks so much.  I just received your Treibball Handbook and briefly read through it.  What a wonderful job you have done to outline the rules and training methods.  I can’t wait to get started!

Thank you so much for your dedication to this sport and to all dogs!!!