Leadership Based Dog Training

Phenomenal dog trainer! I highly recommend, I have a very different 5 months lab:) after even the first session. Thank you so much! I wish I would have met him before with my previous dog as I had brought him to JR dog training and had a very negative experience, my previous dog was fearful and JR was extremely rough with his techniques and training making my dog even more scared. I wish I would have trained with Michael in the past and I recommend everyone to call Michael, watch his videos, he knows how to solve any and all behavior issues and coaches owners very good. Gives you homework to follow and you'll have a different dog before you know it and you'll be a different dog owner as well! He’s very understanding! Skilled like no one else in Montreal, watch his videos and you'll see for yourself! Great experience!

Thanks to Michael, the relationship with my dog has improved significantly, making everyday life noticeably smoother. Adopting a two-year-old cocker spaniel with entrenched behavior patterns presented challenges like resource guarding, reactivity, separation anxiety and stubbornness. Michael's guidance shifted both my mindset and my dog's, establishing clear boundaries that fostered a stronger relationship and built trust between us. We focused on the basics, beginning with our walking routine. Now, without any pulling or distractions, we both enjoy our walks. This foundation set the stage for establishing boundaries, leading to a significant decrease, essentially eliminating his interest to resource guard. Once my dog was able to trust that I was his leader, everything fell into place and the love between us also grew immensely. To be completely transparent, I had worked with a few trainers before, but it was Michael who ultimately delivered the results we wanted and very much needed. I'm grateful for his effective training, it was all worth it. A big thank you to Michael!

We had an amazing experience with Michael while training our almost 4 years old black Lab, Zoro. Our dog, in only 3 sessions, totally changed his bad habits of pulling on the leash, getting reactive to some other dogs and not responding to commends while distracted. Michael, with his great expertise, patience and professionalism, helped us to enjoy walking with our sweet dog and helped Zoro to be even happier. We are totally grateful and, if you’re looking for a dog trainer, doesn’t matter what issues, Michael should be your #1. Many thanks Michael!

Great experience. We worked with other trainers and they gave up on our dogs. With Michael, in no time at all, our dogs learned to walk properly and behave properly when encountering other dogs and people while out walking. The change in their behaviour is nothing short of miraculous.

My experience with Michael has been nothing but exceptional. My dog used to eat my furniture, bark when I left the house, embarrass me when I took her on walks, and poop all around the house. All of those problems vanished after meeting Michael for a few sessions. Even though my schedule is so busy, he managed to adjust his time frame to suit my availability! He brought good energy and made sure to serve what he had exactly promised. Right now, three weeks after meeting him, My dog stopped eating furniture, does not even jump on the bed or couch without my permission, walks like a perfect dog, and poops only when we go for our walks.
It is life-changing to go from trying to guess what your dog has messed in your house when you leave to knowing that you will find an obedient and loving companion waiting for you to play together.
THANK YOU MICHAEL!

Michael came to us after having problems with really bad separation anxiety to the point where she would poop in her crate. And within one session she learned how to walk, to stay and to be less reactive to everything around her. She has not had an accident in her crate since he came and we are so eternally grateful for him! She has gained new confidence and now listens and trusts us even more. Could not recommend someone more qualified. WOW.

Michael was just simply amazing! He was able to help my never-before-trained 14 year old little brat. There’s already a very visible difference in my doggo’s behavior, one session in. Truly amazing
He was also extremely patient and adaptable considering my dog is basically deaf and partially blind. Can’t recommend him enough

I cannot recommend Michael highly enough. We’ve tried other trainers in the past and all their new age, positive reinforcement only approaches were a waste of money. Michael’s love of dogs really comes through and he truly cares about the well being of your dog. He provides dog owners with the tools and teaches us the techniques needed to be the pack leader for our dog so she can feel happy, safe and confident while being a well adjusted member of the pack. Margo, our 18 month old Golden, had a couple of issues that needed addressing. She is a kind and gentle dog for the most part but would turn agressive at times, earning the nickname Cujo. She also had issues with resource guarding and counter surfing. Michael taught us how to deal with all these issues and showed us that Margo didn’t need the training, we did.

Dear Michael, just wanted to express as a family our deep gratitude for your dedicated work.  Thank you so very much for your kindness, wonderful instruction, and professionalism.  You were able to correct Zorro's aggressive behavior after only two visits. Despite his small size, Zorro was very aggressive towards strangers. Now he is well educated and follows our instructions much better:)   Thank you once again for your help

Very professional knowledgeable and punctual. Michael gave us good and practical tips to address some behavioral issues with our Morkie. Highly recommend this dog trainer.

Working with Michael was like MAGIC! The dog’s behaviors drastically changed after 1-2 sessions. From lunging and barking when seeing another dog to calm and quiet! Amazing! Walking our 2 dogs is such a pleasure now without being pulled in every direction! Michael is very knowledgeable and patient. I recommend him to anyone who needs help to be able to enjoy their dog to the fullest. Make your dog happy too!

Michael.the dog whisperer!
Highly recommended, helped out with our pooch in no time. Most importantly he helped us understand how to go about things.

Best training for ours dogs and us!
We have… had very reactive dogs, and was not possible to walk with other dogs or little fear, what going to happen.
Now, it’s a plaisir to walk with them, and enjoy the environment.
Michael is the best on is work!
Very highly recommended!

Micheal was amazing with my girl Holly. He's transparent and will give you the right training to get you the result you want!

Michael provided real, practical ways to help us manage our dog's reactivity. He first showed us how his methods worked with a demonstration, and then took his time to teach it to us. The absolute best part was that he didn't just teach us the theory at home - he actually brought us to dog parks and walked around our neighbourhood to test it out in real scenarios. Moreover, he didn't quit on us until we got the results we needed. Prior to working with Leadership Based Dog Training, we were with another trainer who was more expensive, and bottom line, couldn't deliver what we needed in real world scenarios. Our neighbour saw us struggling with our dog and gave us Michael's phone number, saying that he was the only dog trainer that was able to help him with his dog - and now, I gladly say the same.

As a life-long dog owner, I was skeptical when my partner suggested we get a trainer for our 3 y.o pitbull/lab. But within 3 leadership-based sessions, I've seen an enormous improvement in his general temperament and on-leash behaviour. Michael provided us with the right tools and techniques to train our dog in a humane and effective way. Michael is the best trainer around here, period.

AMAZING trainer! Made my 8 month old pup extremely hyper active pup into a great walker! HIGHLY recommend!

Our dog Maxx is a rescue dog who was reactive. Loves people but would lunge at other dogs. Was it something that traumatized him when he was younger I don’t know. He would also pull on walks it was out of control. Within 4 sessions Maxx is now a different dog, no more lunging and the pulling is stabilized he also has a dog friend! Michael knows what he’s doing and he’s really good at it.

Really good experience. Very happy with how fast my dogs behaviors changed once I started doing the right things consistently. Trainer is really nice and easy to learn from.

I was amazed at how quickly Michael was able to correct my dog's issues. Well worth the money. Thanks Michael.

Michael was referred to us by a friend to help us with our 3 and 1/2 year old retriever with what we thought was aggressivity towards other dogs, but ended up being lack of leadership on our part. She was also very fearful of many things. We were given exercises to help and within a week we saw a big difference. Next was the walking. In 1 session she was walking better than she ever had and there was no more pulling! Michael had a lot of patience with me throughout every exercise and I highly recommend him.

Michael was fantastic! We were having trouble with our puppy that was barking, nipping and refused to walk. When he came for the first session he knew exactly how to deal with the situation and was very patient with us. Quickly our dog was listening and walking perfectly on leash. Highly recommend and have passed along his contact information to friends in similar situations.

We had Michael come to our home for training he had a really tuff customer on his hands a Canadian eskimo we are super pleased with the results. Micheal gave us many tools to help with the problems we we’re having. Thank you so much i would recommend him to anybody.

Michael came to us at a desperate time when we were at our wits end with an aggressive dog and not sure where to turn. We had first approached a very well known, local dog training centre who told us that our dog would need intensive boot camp style training and that it would take a month and cost us $2600!
We were referred to Michael and he knew what approach to take and confidently told us that he could help. And he did! In just a few session with us and our dog, and by employing some basic techniques and training, we were able to transform our dog into the loving and enjoyable pet we had longed for. Thanks so much, Michael!

We own a 11 month old Bernese Mountain dog who was developing some behavioral issues. We could barely control him at the time as well as walking him outside was becoming nearly impossible. We previously had hired another dog trainer before hiring Micheal and results weren’t showing and lasting well enough for what our dog needed. We needed somebody who knew how to work with a 80lbs dog and how to change a bad behavior into a good one but one that would also last and that’s when Micheal made that change & results have not only shown with a matter of weeks but have also stayed. We have seen some distract changes and have been keeping up with the work that Micheal has done and we are so happy to see that our dog is slowly mastering these technics better and better each day. Micheal has also helped us control our dog whenever a visitor would ring at our doorbell and how to have a calmer dog who can control his temper instead of running to the door and be overly excited. We are beyond happy as owners that we can now work and communicate on a better level with our dog who can follow along & enjoy his training that Micheal has set for us. He is professional, responsive & very patient. We are so glad we hired him.

Michael is a real deal. Great attitude and highly focused to every detail. He has a great way to train you and your dog so that there is a mutual understanding between you and your Pet. My dog Tiger goes by its name was really a wild one. I have tried 3 trainers before Michael for my dog. With one of them I board and train my dog for a week as I wanted to see if my Dog changed a bit. When I brought my dog home he didn't let me pet him and tried to attack me the next time I gave him a pet and didn't eat for 3 days as for being a Lab you can't believe as they are food crazy dogs. So I gave a call to the trainer first he denied but when I told him strictly I will complain he told me I'm sorry I was aggressive with him because he was very energetic and was over weight so I fed him while skipping days. I couldn't believe myself, 2nd trainer told me to give the dog away and buy a new puppy and he will train him as it's very hard with him, 3rd one took money came for 1 class and told me if you have any other small dog I will train him but not this one send him to a shelter or put him to sleep and buy another one. I was thinking that these guys are Professionals and a life of an animal doesn't matter with them and we believe them and leave our pets to them. Sorry for being lengthy with my comment.
After having just 4 sessions with Michael my dog is a real deal now very calm with my children, listens to everyone on and off leash no more pulling no lunging. Journey from being wild Tiger to a pet Tiger. Thanks from our family for Making Tiger special.

We own a Portuguese Water Dog, a very high energetic puppy, at 3 months old. Our puppy was always nipping/biting, we could not go for walks properly and she was always barking.

After searching for all kinds of training videos from YouTube that did not work, we decided to contact Michael for 1 on 1 sessions since we did not want to go to a dog training school due to the pandemic.

We immediately saw a big difference after 3 sessions, our puppy's behaviour improved tremendously. We're happy we can finally take long walks with her and the nipping/biting and barking has stopped.

Outstanding results!

We were the 3rd owner of a one year old Border terrier mix rescue, We had no information on her past but knew she was deeply scarred. After enrolling her in classes, reading up on the web and reinforcing good behaviour, it was clear that we had run out of options. She could not control (her anger) around other people or pets. We were then introduced to Michael Wilkes training, through a mutual friend.
Michael has this innate ability to relate to not only our pet, Guinness, but incorporates the owners into the training sessions. The improvement with Guinness was almost instantly. He creates change in disruptive behaviour primarily through trust. In a very short period of time, he was able to take Guinness for a walk, socialize with other dogs and adhere to our commands. I can’t say enough about Michaels training methods, not to mention, enjoyable to work with. Unfortunately covid hit towards the end of the training sessions, and sadly we lost Guinness to a terrible accident.
I would highly recommend Michael, without hesitation.

Michael was excellent with our Golden Lab puppy (4-41/2 months), Luna.
Helped us with all those stubborn puppy stages that can be hard, from biting to jumping to walking properly on a leash.
Not only did the puppy learn but WE learned so much!
Highly recommend!
Paula

I went from an anxious demon dog with sore hands from him pulling, barking and aggression during walks.now he is calm and happy in less than 1 1/2 hours! So much enjoyment outside now. I will be following up with a few other concerns because I know Michael can teach me how to handle my pup!

Great, common sense approach to behaviour modification.humane, with very quick results. Huge thumbs up

Nous avons eu une super bonne expérience avec Mike! En seulement 2 sessions, notre chien a beaucoup progressé! La méthode de Mike est très efficace et donne des résultats rapidement. De simples petits exercices quotidiens a permis de grandement améliorer notre relation avec notre chien! Le service est très professionnel et adapté à nos besoins spécifiques. Je vous le recommande fortement!