Pet boarding/training in Santa Barbara

“If you're looking for a dog trainer or boarder in Santa Barbara, Follow the Leader is the absolute best and will completely change how you interact with your dog! We first met Eric when we were searching for a trainer who worked with foster dogs. Eric immediately understood our foster and helped us understand all of the behaviors that we had been naively reinforcing. After seeing the incredible results that we had with our foster (who was adopted shortly after Eric fully trained him!), we signed our dog, Roscoe, up for training and boarding with Eric. We had worked with two other trainers in Santa Barbara before to varying degrees of success, but Roscoe remained anxious, unable to handle change, difficult to manage on leash, and reactive to motorcycles and buses. We had resigned ourselves to building a routine around these behaviors, but Eric showed us why this wasn't helping anyone and how we could better communicate with Roscoe to have the fully trained dog we had only dreamed of. Roscoe is now calm around distractions and off-leash trained, and we understand how to communicate with him so that he understands our expectations. Our lives are so much calmer, quieter, and easier, all thanks to the amazing FTL crew. We also now have a trustworthy and loving place to send Roscoe when we travel and know that he'll come back with in the right mindset. The magic that happens with FTL is undeniable and will make you question why it took you so long to start training.“

“We have had about 6 shepherds and malinois who we trained but we did not know how to handle Ella. She had been at the shelter for 18 months and she was super sweet but incredibly reactive barking and growling and lunging at people that came into our yard and home.. Which is extra scary with a dog that is so big and so fast. Joe helped us understand what was driving her behavior and helped us change it This wasn’t theoretical or at his location with Ella. This was with us in real situations so that she learned and we learned Joe was also available and proactive in helping us between sessions and really cared about the outcome. We greatly appreciate his help in making Ella the great dog she can be and in making our house a much calmer place for us, the mailman, the fedex guy etc ?“

“Todd is the best... He is so good with dogs, and with people too (which is half of the equation, right?). He empowered my 76-year-old aunt to handle a (pretty crazy) 90+ lb dog safely. Then when my aunt passed away, he kindly offered to give the new owner a lesson to bring them up to speed on his training. Completely decent human being, and the training was reasonable and so worth every penny. I will look no further for training or boarding needs in the future. Thank you Todd! ??“

“As someone who loves birds I was thrilled to finally get a chance to come here! The lobby was like a museum with all different kinds of birds! It’s definitely a special place and must see if you are a bird enthusiast like me! I didn’t even bring my birds…HA I went to go meet birds! I suggest that all bird lovers who come to SB Pet Hospital bring their own feed. The hospital provided me some but I ran out quickly after 6 or 7 feeds. Who needs the discovery channel if you can just go to the waiting room at SB Pet Hospital and get a full experience.“