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Elite

Therapy Dog Training


Top Therapy Dog Trainers in Cincinnati, OH

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What is a Therapy Dog?

A therapy dog is a dog that performs a service for other people. Typical therapy dog tasks are going to nursing homes or hospitals to cheer people up. For your dog to qualify, he/she must be friendly with strangers, and with training, be able to work around a high level of distraction and to understand personal boundaries, such as not jumping up, licking, mouthing, etc.

Research shows that therapy dogs can have a positive effect on a patient’s mood, stress, and pain levels during facility stays. Children, in particular, respond positively to therapy dogs. They are more motivated to participate in treatments, feel optimistic about the future, and experience an overall sense of calm when a certified therapy dog is present.

Therapy dogs can promote social interaction between individuals within communities that may not otherwise experience socialization typically. Therapy dogs offer unconditional love, non-judgmental interaction, reduce stress, anxiety, and loneliness and provide an overall positive distraction to ailments.

Goals for Your Therapy Companion


  • Socialization
  • Lower Pain Levels
  • Motivation
  • Provide Comfort
  • Decrease in Stress, Anxiety, and Depression
  • Promote Healing
  • Increase Overall Optimism
  • Ease Loneliness


Not all training packages may be available at our Dog Training Elite Cincinnati location, please reference our pricing page for complete information on services offered.


Therapy Dog

Therapy dog training is based on your dog's abilities.

$2,495

A therapy dog volunteers alongside you, where permitted, and provides comfort to others. Examples include cheering people up at nursing homes or hospitals.

A good therapy dog is naturally friendly with strangers, able to work around a high level of distraction (with training), and able to understand personal boundaries, such as not jumping up, licking, mouthing, etc (with training).

  • Puppy Selection advice
  • Private, one-on-one training sessions in your home and the community 8 Sessions
  • Group Training Classes 1 Year
  • AKC Training
  • Therapy bandana, ID Card, and Certificate of Training
  • An exclusive directory of therapy events and locations for you to donate your time
  • Come
  • Sit, Down
  • Place
  • Heel
  • Quiet
  • Off, Wait
  • Leash Manners
  • People Manners
  • Load up in the car / kennel
  • Make a friend
  • Choose one personalized greeting (high five, shake, hug, etc.)
  • Top-notch off leash obedience
  • Distraction Training
No items for Cincinnati East

Our Balanced Theory

We base our training around the "Classical Conditioning" model (a.k.a. "Pavlovian" or "respondent conditioning"). This includes developing conditioned or automatic reflexes to commands. In its simplest form (after proper conditioning), when the owner says "sit," the dog automatically sits without thinking about it. Our unique techniques ensure our program is a success no matter what behavior we encounter.


  • Empowering Owners
    We empower Owners to train so their dog knows who to obey at all times.
  • Personalized
    We deal with problem behaviors on a personal basis.
  • Environment Specific
    We train wherever issues tend to arise (i.e. jogging, park, home).
  • Supportive
    We support Owners in the off-hours (when training is "not in session").
  • Involved
    We work with all members of the household.
  • Simplified & Customized
    We plan training around the owner's schedule and require only 20 min/day follow-up practice.
  • Continued Training
    Additional programs / group sessions offered after in-home training.
  • Lifetime Investment
    We follow up & are invested in the owner's success long-term.
  • Satisfaction Ratings
    Our high client satisfaction rating sets us apart from competitors.

We help your dog become a valued companion and beloved member of the family. Read what our customers have to say and then give us a call!

We are so thankful for Scott & Jen! We were at a loss about where to even begin with training our 3 mini aussies, but they broke it down into very simple tasks each week. Having them come to our house was so helpful and also served as accountability for us (the humans) to work on the training before the next session. They have given us a strong foundation with our dogs and have helped improve our daily lives more than I can even explain. The group sessions are also so helpful for our dogs and for us. We are forever grateful! Thank you!
— Alison Liddic
Posted July 17th 2024
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Jen and Scott are phenomenal to work with! Jen has a great calm and firm demeanor for training and Scott is playful but also firm as well! They are a great team to help for great obedience training! We are now working onto more task training for Service Dog work and they are incredibly knowledgeable and trustworthy to help individual needs for specific service work! Additionally, Michelle is very responsive with calls, texts and emails for communication and scheduling! Highly recommend working with DTE!
— Liz Burley
Posted July 16th 2024
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Loved working with Alex. Feel like this company and trainer excelled at working with our dogs and helping teach us to be better trainers as well.
— Dante Zompetti
Posted July 6th 2024
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Alex was a great trainer! He really took the time to show me the steps to train my dog at home. My dog (11 months) is so much calmer now and I love to go on walks with him now.
— Cora Merrow
Posted July 3rd 2024
google
Alex exceeded our expectations with training our two golden doodles. He was very knowledgeable, and patient throughout the process. We would highly recommend him to anyone given the progress we’ve seen with Sammy and Roxy.
— Rebekah Manis
Posted June 30th 2024
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Wonderful experience with Alex and Diane! Our dog is very well behaved thanks to Alex training us. Bunny learned a lot too! 😊
— Betty Coutant
Posted June 30th 2024
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Thank you to our trainer, Alex for changing our lives for the better! We moved to Cincinnati back in December, and it was quite an adjustment for our two dogs (3yr & 1yr) to live in a busy apartment community. The dogs were reactive when they saw other dogs, jumped each time we had guests over, and high-stress on walks (lots of leash pulling and inattention issues). From day 1, Alex taught us unique skills to combat these issues. Alex always went above & beyond for training classes, ensuring we never felt rushed and throughly understood the materials from class. There is no one we trust more with our dogs than Alex! I cannot say enough good things about our experience. We can now enjoy walks without being pulled & have guests over with minimal jumping. Thank you Alex & Dog Training Elite.
— Emma
Posted June 30th 2024
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It’s been a pleasure working with Alex! He is very intuitive and my dog warmed up to him rather quickly considering his temperament. I have a 4 year old Shiba Inu named Dai Dai and he trusted Alex enough to follow commands promptly, and he responded very well to any corrections that Alex gave him on the first day they met. Dai Dai does not like anyone or anything near his neck area, and he has the tendency to scream, but he didn’t do that with Alex! Dai Dai was excited and ready to work everyday thereafter that Alex came over. Having Alex come over and help train me and Dai Dai has been a blessing. Alex was also incredibly flexible and worked with our schedule. He is passionate about his career, and gives 200%. We couldn’t be happier with the level of care, expertise, consideration, and training we received. Thank you Alex. Breanna and Dai Dai
— Breanna Bohan
Posted June 25th 2024
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I have a very large beautiful Chesapeake Bay retriever who is powerful and playful – only two years old. Within a few short weeks I feel confident that have command of the dog which enables us to have a wonderful time together. Lucky is calm and attentive on the leash and very patient with our 14-year-old senior citizen dog Lily. Alex our trainer is knowledgeable explains things clearly and best of all Lucky gets very excited when it’s time for training
— Molly J. Hall, MD
Posted June 16th 2024
google
Dog training elite sent Alex to our house to help us train our dog. He was very knowledgeable and helped us understand our dog's behavior and what we could do to train her. Very impressed with him and how well his training worked! Our dog is now trained and certified as a service dog, and she is doing great! I fully recommend Dog Training Elite, just be ready to do your part in training your dog too!
— Alex Washburn
Posted June 14th 2024
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Wonderful process, Alex was so great with Bree. They were very flexible with training sessions and the training worked so well!
— Jill Flood
Posted May 31st 2024
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Choosing Dog Training Elit Cincinnati East, was an amazing decision. From the get go, once I requested information, I knew I made the correct choice, for myself and Patty (Doberman). The staff were very informative & made sure they got Patty (Doberman) to meet the goals I was looking for. I highly recommend Dog Training Elite for any level Dog you may have & you will not regret it.
— Tomas Galarza
Posted May 23rd 2024
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So happy we chose to work with Alex from Dog Training Elite! He is incredibly knowledgeable and took the time to understand our concerns with our 3 year old anxious/reactive pomston. It didn’t take long for her to learn commands and he was able to help us with tools to calm her. We’ve seen a big change in her and now feel confident to continue using what we’ve learned! Thank you thank you thank you!!
— Britney Rudolph
Posted May 23rd 2024
google
Our trainer, Alex, was patient, knowledgeable, and attentive to the specific needs of our dog. He really trained US well and we looked forward to each of our sessions. We feel empowered to keep reinforcing the training. We are looking forward to our group sessions at the park next! We highly recommend this trainer and training method. Worth the cost!!
— Valerie
Posted April 28th 2024
google
Dog Training Elite helped us with our 3 year old basset who had severe separation anxiety. She knew basic commands, and Alex was still able to take us to new levels and met us where we were at with our specific issues and needs. Highly recommend!
— Cory Reynolds
Posted April 22nd 2024
google
Alex is an outstanding dog trainer who worked wonders with our 6-month-old Bernedoodle, Snoopy! His kindness and patience were evident throughout the training sessions, and Snoopy responded positively to his techniques. Thanks to Alex, our family now and enjoys peaceful walks, and we no longer dread visitors at our front door. Alex’s expertise has greatly improved our relationship with Snoopy, and we highly recommend him for anyone seeking effective dog training. -The Fitch Family
— Little Rascals Photography
Posted April 9th 2024
google
Alex is a fantastic trainer. His love for dogs is easy to see. We loved how quickly he learned our puppy’s personality and adapted training to optimize her strengths. The whole experience was easy and delightful. Everyone in the company is friendly, professional and supportive. I absolutely will use them on our next dog and strongly recommend them to everyone.
— Jenna Meyer
Posted April 1st 2024
google
Our experience with Elite Dog Training was amazing! Alex our trainer was wonderful with my dogs. They have several physical limitations that he was respectful of and provided multiple options for them. I could tell each time that he thought about our dogs before each session and what might work best to help them. Above all I could tell that he loved what he does, which came through and helped to make our experience so successful. Not only are my dogs better behaved but I can see their confidence has increased. My dogs are both rescues who have bad cases of PTSD, so seeing them come into their own and feel comfortable has been the best part of my experience.
— Amanda Boeshart
Posted March 23rd 2024
google
Our sweet puppy is doing so well with her training! Thank you, Alex, for the excellent training!! She’s about to pass her service dog training certification test and we are so excited!! She’s gone to many restaurants, group therapy, counseling and COSI for the day!! It’s so great to have her with us all the time!! Thanks so much!!
— Sarah VanAs
Posted March 17th 2024
google
Excellent trainers. Friendly! Really cared about how my dog and I were progressing.
— Josh VanAs
Posted March 16th 2024
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