Elite Dog Training in Unionville, TN

Where to start: Brad Okeson is an outstanding trainer as well as a supportive listener and incredible teacher. He is all of these and also generous with his time and talent. Brad has been training our dog to be a therapy dog for our school. He assessed the puppies in our dog’s litter when they were 49 days old and chose our pup for his temperament, explaining how he was chosen. The very next week, Brad began working with our puppy, Cosmo, and me, as his owner and handler, in the environment for which Cosmo was chosen: our school. Brad has faithfully, continually, and patiently addressed issues, explained our puppy’s behavior, determined goals and helped us to reach them. Brad’s demeanor is pleasant and his style is gentle and firm - Cosmo adores him. He is delightful to learn from and watch in action. Cosmo is now eight months old and he is beloved by students and faculty alike. Cosmo’s behavior is so obedient, loving, and gentle that some of my colleagues have arranged to hire Brad to work with their own dogs in their homes. I cannot adequately express the admiration and gratitude I feel for Brad Okeson but I highly recommend him to you as you consider training for your pup.

Brad is the best!!! He is so attuned and amazing at his job. He made all of our dog dreams come true as he personalized our experience down to every detail. Everything little thing I wanted to change and work on, he made happen, happily and easily. I’m so thankful I went with elite before anyone else. I truly don’t know where else I would have gotten this wonderful experience with the best results.

Brad was a pleasure to work with and very patient with our stubborn beagle. Our beagle had food aggression issues. Brad help us understand the reason for the behavior and how to best deal with it.

Very reliable! I wouldn't look anywhere else for dog training.

Brad is great. If you need your dogs trained in the Nashville area give him a call!

Brad has an incredible way with dogs. He’s patient, knowledgeable, and does a great job at making every session productive and enjoyable. Highly recommend him to anyone looking to get better at communicating with their dog and see real progress along the way!

Brad is phenomenal at communicating with dogs and has a unique ability to make training both effective and enjoyable for both dogs and their owners. If you’re looking for a trainer who truly cares and delivers real results, I can’t recommend Brad highly enough!

My 3.5 yr. old lab mix, Oreo, was becoming more reactive and territorial over time. He was our first dog (Covid dog), and we hadn’t properly socialized him or taken him places. It gradually grew to the point where we were having to put him up when guests came over and run outside to get him when anyone pulled up. His unpredictable behavior made me extremely anxious! I knew we had to do something, so I looked up dog trainers. The first thing that drew me to Elite was the free in-home evaluation and positive reviews … some related to reactivity and aggression. I met Brad and felt very comfortable with him. He was knowledgeable and extremely thorough when asking questions about history and behavior. He genuinely wanted to know what was going on with my dog and how to help him. Oreo responded well to Brad immediately. Brad was always right on time and even stayed a little longer at times to work on something we’d mention. The in-home sessions were so helpful, and he showed us what to do between visits. We are now in the stage of doing group classes, which I was very nervous about. My alpha male, reactive, unsocialized dog just attended his first group class and did amazing! I was/am shocked at how quickly he has progressed. At home, we are still figuring out guest interaction and logistics, but I have confidence knowing that on the leash I can control him in most any situation. With a bit more time and practice, I think we’ll be able to control him just using voice commands. He already responds to all of his voice commands off leach under normal circumstances. I can’t recommend Elite enough for most any issue. I honestly wasn’t sure if it would work or work well enough to be worth the cost for our dog, but it definitely has been. I realize now how wrong we went about things … we had not given him boundaries or taught him how to behave in a way he could understand. Just like with kids, I actually think he likes his boundaries and feels safe when they are in place. I’m excited for Oreo’s future and continued learning.

I highly recommend Dog Training Elite. My trainer was Brad. He was very knowledgeable and patient with our dog. Great results.

Dog Training Elite is absolutely the BEST. I have had dogs my entire life and never seen a dog more wild than our Flair. She is a strong black lab & has so much energy we had lost control. We could not even walk her around the block due to jumping, pulling and running. My parents nicknamed her "the wrecking ball." After being knocked down and having my elbow dislocated, I decided to get help. I'm so thankful to have found Brad. He came to our home for a consultation and then began coming on Friday mornings for training. Brad is so knowledgable, patient, caring, and kind. He is definitely the kind of person you would want training your dog. He also taught my daughter and I how to work with and support all the new behaviors Flair was learning. I was amazed at how quick she responded to training. After a few weeks she listens, follows directions, does not jump on furniture or people. Flair even walks on a leash like a champ. This morning we moved from walking in the neighborhood to Lowes. She is doing better than I ever expected and it is all because of Brad. We are so thankful to Dog Training Elite for helping us enjoy every moment with our sweet girl. Flair even got her first pup cup today as a reward for doing such a great job!

We just finished our in-home classes. Brad is a great trainer. He's serious about his work but he also makes it fun. He's patient, he listens, and he cares. It's amazing what he can do with our stubborn dog, Willow, in such a short period. My husband and I have learned so much from him and we are extremely grateful. I'm happy that Jackie has joined him. She's lovely and a great trainer as well.

Brad is an exceptional dog trainer who transformed our Australian shepherd into the best-behaved boy both at home and in public. His expertise and effective training methods worked wonders, and we saw remarkable improvements in our dog's behavior in a short period. Brad's approach is professional, compassionate, and tailored to our dog's unique needs. We're so impressed with the results that we've already planned to have him train our new puppy, Keeko. We highly recommend Brad to anyone looking for a skilled and reliable dog trainer!

My trainer Brad was awesome and worked well with my dog. He gave me lots of practice to help myself and my dog master the new skill. He was informative, patient, and personable. I enjoyed each session and the group sessions gave me the perfect opportunity to see how well my dog really did after receiving the training. It is well worth the cost.

Great training and excellent trainer. In home training Malancy was very knowledgeable, personable, and has a passion for training. She made us feel at ease and was able to train us as well without making us feel dumb. If you want a trainer, she's the best.

Malancy was our trainer and she was wonderful! She was calm and patient with our very young, energetic and head strong boxer dog! She was extremely knowledgable and confident in her abilities. She gave me the confidence to know that my dog was not untrainable. I have seen tremendous improvement in my dog. My dog is listens and respects me now and doesn’t try to rule the house anymore. I loved our experience! Thank you Malancy!

Malancy (our trainer) is fantastic!! She really understands my GSD and within minutes of meeting us was able to assess our dynamics and relationship. Sofia WAS very reactive and we didn't gave good experiences leash walking or participating in canine/human activities. Working with Malancy has been a game changer for us. Sofia and I participated in a human/canine obstacle course race and she did not react one time to dog teams we passed during the race or even getting to the start line. I highly recommend Malancy to help improve the relationship you have with your K9!!!!

ELITE - 5 STARS - Working with Malancy has been a blessing.I was at my wits end. One of my four canines began acting out in an aggressive behavior toward another one. They could no longer be in the same room. Since working with Elite the tension has lessened, they can now be in the same room or outside, together, and with each session I learn something new on how to continue to be a happy canine family. Malancy practices really easy, practical, and life lessons training. Highly recommend if training is needed.

When your puppy goes from the size of a baked potato to the size of a small bear in a single year its easy to miss some critical training! Our trainer Malancy got us back on course and really helped me through some frustrating behaviors while never wasting time on things I wasn't worried about. I appreciated that she didn't come into our training with her own idea about how Herman should behave, but listened to what things were important to me. No shaming me into keeping him off the furniture or the silly "alpha" rhetoric that's all over the internet. Just simple, executable commands that all build upon each other to help your dog understand exactly what you need from him. He didn't learn any silly tricks but rather improved significantly on his manners. Additionally, she helped us work through the difficulties of training one dog in a two dog household and tailored the training to include both dogs where possible. She was super flexible with scheduling and incredibly patient with my giant, lazy boy.

So happy to have found Dog Training Elite for our 11 month old Pyredoodle, Sophie! Gracie, Sophie’s trainer (and I suppose ours as well 😊) is fantastic! She is patient and consistent whenever we have a lesson. We always looked forward to the in home lessons with Gracie and now look forward to the off site ones as well. Sophie is becoming (and continues to become) a well mannered pup thanks to Gracie!! Shout out to Brad and Malancey as well, Dog Training Elite is AWESOME!!

Malancy (our trainer) is fantastic. We have gone from a wild boxer puppy (10 months), named Kash, to an easily controllable one year old in a few short weeks, with her help. The progress on a weekly basis is unbelievable. I come away from each session completely shocked at what our puppy is learning and the control that Malancy is teaching my wife and I to have with him. An added bonus is it really seems like Kash is enjoying being trained. I highly recommend this program to anyone who has a four legged friend that needs help with manners. The difference is night and day and we certainly have not regretted this decision.