A 5-day, owner-attended bootcamp in Sacramento, California. Monday to Friday. Backed by a full money-back guarantee.
★★★★★ rated by owners across our academies · 500+ reactive dogs through the Bootcamp
If any of that sounds like you, you're in the right place.
Your dog wasn't always like this. There was a day it changed. An attack. A move. A break-in. An injury. Or maybe nothing at all. Maybe he was a COVID puppy and the world just closed up around him.
Everyone said he'd grow out of it. He didn't. And he won't. Not without help.
You didn't cause it. The methods you were sold were never built for the real world. Treats work in the kitchen. They fail on the street. Board and trains work for the trainer. They fail when the dog comes home to you.
You're not a bad owner. You're an owner who was sold the wrong tools.
Not because we're magic. Because we do the one thing nobody else does: we train you AND the dog, together, for 5 days. Wednesday to Friday we take it into the real world. By Friday your dog walks past other dogs. By Friday he's off the leash, tearing down the trail, and coming back when you call. By Friday you're not on a 360 swivel anymore. You're just on a walk.
| Every other trainer | The 5-Day Bootcamp |
|---|---|
| Weekly sessions that plateau after month two | 5 days, 30 hours. Done by Friday. |
| A sterile training field where no dog will ever approach | Parks. Streets. The trails, off the leash. The actual places you actually go. |
| Board and train: the dog behaves for the trainer, then comes home to you | You're in the room all 5 days. You learn it. You own it. |
| Treats that work in the kitchen and fail on the street | Tools that work when a dog comes round the corner, on or off the leash |
| Pay everything up front and hope | A money-back guarantee. If your dog doesn't make it to the brewery, you get it all back. |
We've never had a dog not make it to the brewery on Friday. And the brewery is just the proof. The real prize is the off-leash trail run on Saturday morning, your first one without us.
A huge share of the dogs we see. Working-dog brain, pet-dog life. We give them purpose and control.
Big, powerful, judged on sight. Muzzle mandates included. Other trainers turn them away. Bring him to us.
Dogs pulled off euthanasia lists. Street rescues. Dogs who've spent a year in kennels. We take them.
Four bites. Kennel bans. Police cautions. We've taken those dogs. Every one got its freedom back by Friday.
One dog triggers the other. Walks in shifts. Backyard on a roster. Both dogs, same week, second dog half price.
Pocket-sized with a big attitude. Everyone laughs until they meet him.
The dog you have is literally the dog we want. That's all we do.
You'll sit there on Monday going "how are we going to make it to the brewery on Friday?" And then you're all sitting in the brewery on Friday.
After you apply, you'll have a short assessment call with one of our trainers. We'll ask about your dog: the breed, the age, what they do and what you've tried. Then we'll tell you whether the bootcamp is the right fit.
It isn't right for every dog, and we'll tell you straight.
We only take 8 dogs per intake, so your call slot is held just for you.
NorCal is the newest academy in the family. Same program, same standards, same guarantee, and the same trainers behind it. These are genuine 5-star Google reviews from bootcamps across our academies, including weeks led by Sam.
Timmy had bitten the mailman, bitten 3-4 visitors, and walks meant screeching, pulling and barking at any dog in the distance. By day 3 he was on a group walk; by day 5 all ten dogs were lying at their owners' feet at the pub. “I actually cried with happiness.”
Margot the mini Dachshund had been reactive to just about everything for 18 months. The day after bootcamp ended she rode a train to a packed event, calm and confident, with strangers coming over to say hello. “Genuinely one of the best decisions I have ever made.”
“All 11 graduated with honours!” Judy spent the week under the tutoring of Sam Lee and left with the calm dog she'd hoped for. “Thank you so much for helping Poppy (formerly known as knobhead…) have the calm and happy future she deserves.”
Vanessa arrived skeptical after subpar results with other trainers. “The transformation of even the most intensely reactive dogs in our bootcamp was mind-blowing.” She credits Sam's clear instructions and personalized feedback for every dog-handler team.
“I called him Stevie, Wonder why I got him, and I took home Stevie Wonderful! Walking him is now a pleasure instead of a duty.” Ruth thanks Sam in particular, “for your excellent teaching skills and for not letting us get away with mistakes.”
Jax was one of 11 reactive dogs on the week, with the team headed up by Sam. “We came home with a truly different dog, walking calmly to heel past distractions and generally passing other dogs without incident.”
A year-old retriever with zero impulse control who broke multiple flexi leads and once slipped away entirely. Three weeks after bootcamp he's off leash multiple walks a day, strolling past other dogs with a glance. “The results are life changing.”
“By day five you'll leave feeling confident, equipped with the right tools,” with a special shout-out to Sam, who led Emma's week: “incredibly knowledgeable, patient, approachable… It's a significant investment, but it's worth every penny.”
From wrestling a bear to walking free
The short clips show you the before and after. These show you the bit in between: full transformations, start to finish.
Owner: Christina, Modesto, CA
Anxious and unsettled, barking and lunging at everything from the moment he left the front door, and through the whole car ride. He was on Prozac with no change, had never been off leash, and once backed out of his harness and chased a person walking their dog. Family told Christina to rehome him.
Months of one-on-one sessions with a previous trainer, mostly obedience. Charlie became a good dog at home, but the barking and lunging came straight back on the street.
Spinning, scanning, unable to settle on anything, and blowing up at the first dog he saw. Christina booked for the following week, boarded her other dog, and commuted two hours each way, convinced he’d be the worst case we’d ever seen.
Off leash at a busy park, polite up close with other dogs, resting in the car on the drive over, chasing a stick, and wading into water he used to hate.
If your world has been shrinking, if you're walking at 5am, if you've tried trainers and you're still dreading the walk, fill out the application below. Tell us about your dog. We'll tell you straight if the bootcamp is the right fit.
By this time next week you could be standing on the trails watching your dog run, actually free, knowing he'll come straight back when you call.
A US$500 deposit is required to reserve a place on a bootcamp. The deposit secures the bootcamp date stated in your booking confirmation and is credited against the total bootcamp fee.
In this policy, “booking date” means the date on which we send your booking confirmation from Acuity. “Start date” means the first scheduled day of the bootcamp. Deadlines are calculated in calendar days using the time zone stated in the booking confirmation.
A cancellation or transfer request is treated as received when it reaches [email protected].
You may cancel your booking and receive a full refund of the US$500 deposit if both conditions below are met:
The seven-day cut-off takes priority over the 14-day booking window. If you book less than 14 days before the start date, a refund is available only if we receive your cancellation request before the seven-day cut-off. If you book within seven calendar days of the start date, the deposit is not refundable under this policy.
Where a refund is due under this policy, we will issue it to the original payment method within 14 calendar days after confirming receipt of your cancellation request.
Except as required by applicable law or where we cancel the bootcamp under section 6, the deposit is non-refundable once either the 14-day booking window has expired or the seven-day cut-off has passed.
Instead of cancelling, you may request that your US$500 deposit be transferred to another advertised bootcamp date, subject to availability. We must receive the request before 12:00 a.m. (local time) on the date that is seven calendar days before the original start date.
A transferred deposit remains a credit of US$500 against the new booking. A transfer does not create a new refund period and does not restart the 14-day period calculated from the original booking date. If no suitable date is available, the original booking and this policy continue to apply unless we agree otherwise in writing.
If we cancel the bootcamp, or make a material change to the start date that you do not accept, you may choose either a full refund of all amounts paid for the bootcamp or a transfer to another available date. We will not retain the deposit where you are not at fault.
This policy does not waive or limit any mandatory right or remedy available under applicable federal, state, or local law. Some sales may be subject to a statutory cancellation right. For example, the Federal Trade Commission’s Cooling-Off Rule generally gives a three-business-day cancellation right for certain sales made at a consumer’s home, workplace, dormitory, or a temporary seller location. It does not generally apply to sales made entirely online, by mail, or by telephone.
Some state or local laws may provide greater protections. Where a mandatory law conflicts with this policy, that law controls. A uniform policy cannot displace applicable state or local consumer-protection requirements.
Governing law: This policy is governed by the law of California, without limiting any non-waivable consumer-protection right that applies where the customer lives or where the bootcamp is delivered.
Send your request to [email protected] with the subject line “Cancellation” or “Transfer Request.” Include your full name, booking reference, bootcamp start date, and whether you request a refund or a transfer. We will acknowledge your request in writing.