The Top 5 Dog Trainers in Atlanta

December 4, 2018

1) Mark Spivak- Comprehensive Pet Therapy, Inc. – Best Overall Dog Trainer

No dog trainer in Atlanta matches Mark’s background of competition training, pet dog training, behavior modification experience, education, and canine neuroscience research.  Mark has won multiple titles in AKC obedience, ASCA obedience, and Schutzhund, where he won a regional title and was a national level competitor.  He has also coached many Atlanta students to high-level obedience competition titles, as well as titles in conformation, rally, agility, tracking, and schutzhund.  He has either trained or directed the training of over 50,000 dogs- and over 50 cats. Mark is well known for his knowledge and innovation in addressing a diverse array of behavior modification issues.

Moreover, he was one of the co-founders of the Emory University Canine Cognitive Neuroscience team that became the first research team to train dogs to take MRIs without the use of sedation or restraints.  Subsequently, he has co-authored peer reviewed papers on canine cognition, delivered a worldwide webinar on canine neuroscience, spoken at major conferences, and filed a provisional patent for use of awake MRI for gustatory testing in the pet food industry.  In addition, Mark has been a court approved expert witness in more than 25 civil and criminal cases around the country, where legal issues involved canine behavior or training.  Certainly, Mark’s resume is unmatched in the Atlanta area, which makes him Atlanta’s top overall dog trainer.

2) Patricia King- Comprehensive Pet Therapy, Best Service Dog Trainer

Patricia has trained pets professionally for over 20 years and trained service animals for over 14 years.  She has achieved a competition title with her Labrador Retriever, Bailey and trained thousands of pets and pet owners in group class, private instruction, and board training.  Nevertheless, Patricia is best known in Atlanta for her successes in the service dog field.  For more than a decade Patricia has operated puppy raiser classes for the Atlanta chapter of Canine Companions for Independence (CCI).  Concurrently, Patricia has trained numerous service dogs for CPT. Patricia-trained dogs have successfully assisted clients suffering from a myriad of disabilities, including psychiatric, hearing, narcolepsy, autism, epilepsy, POTS, stroke, carotid dissection, Parkinson’s, paralysis, cognitive impairment, and brain injury.  Furthermore, she continues to expand her education to improve her abilities to meet client needs.  Patricia is undoubtedly Atlanta’s top service dog trainer.

3) Karen Smalley- Comprehensive Pet Therapy, Inc.- Best Competition Dog Trainer

Karen has trained pet dogs for over 20 years, where she has an outstanding reputation.  Yet, where she really stands out in Atlanta is in the competition training field.  Karen has titled every dog she has ever owned as an adult, has multiple Utility Dog (UD) titles, the AKC’s highest level, and has achieved numerous blue ribbons with every dog at every level.  Karen is also a phenomenal tricks and flyball trainer.  Whereas few pet trainers also excel in the competition realm and few competition trainers also exhibit proficiency addressing pet problems and communicating with pet owners, Karen can do it all- and do it to the highest level! Her combination of excellence puts her atop the pedestal as Atlanta’s top competition dog trainer.

4) Lisa Carrol- Comprehensive Pet Therapy, Inc.- Best Dog Trainer for Board Training

Lisa has trained dogs and horses as a hobbyist for close to 30 years and trained dogs professionally for over 20 years.  She has titled dogs in AKC obedience, including winning a prestigious Dog World Award, and schutzhund, where she has won titles and placements.  Lisa and her husband also trained a working police dog that seized over $500,000 in narcotics.  Yet, nowadays, Lisa focuses on pet dog and service dog training for Atlanta clients. Her extensive experience, her exposure to world and national caliber trainers, her natural gifts for communicating with animals, and her charm when communicating with people enable Lisa to capably address the needs of any pet owner, any breed or temperament of dog, and any problem or goal.  Lisa’s implements her dog training craft outside of Atlanta in the city of Cumming, where we believe she is the Atlanta area’s top dog trainer for board training services.

5) Alexandra (Alex) Collier- Comprehensive Pet Therapy, Inc.- Best Dog Trainer for Private Lessons

Alex has a degree in biology from UGA.  After UGA she worked at the GA Aquarium in downtown Atlanta, where she became a certified aquarist.  While at the Aquarium, Alex focused on developing and implementing conditioning and behavior shaping techniques that coaxed aquatic animals small and large, including manta rays and sharks, to cooperatively enter a water-sling and subsequently remain stationary for veterinary care.  And if Alex can train a manta ray and shark to be friendly and cooperative it is no wonder that she is a master at training dogs.  Alex’s forte is private instruction and in-home private instruction.  Her combination of patience with dogs and people, human-dog and human-human communication skills, likeability, and talent make Alex Atlanta’s top private and in-home private dog trainer.

 

(Atlanta, GA)

(Sandy Springs, GA)

(Cumming, GA)