Client Testimonials

"Kris is amazing! We worked with her when we adopted our 5 year old foster dog and she was awesome at helping us all build positive and rewarding relationships. I like how she focuses on positive feedback for desired behavior as a way to teach and learn. Kris is super patient, understanding and flexible. Took a lot of elements of our lives into consideration like having young kids and different situations we might be in and needs we have. I can't imagine using anyone else for training!"
Lauren W.

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"I really enjoyed working with Kris. She seemed to have a special connection with Molly, my 5 month old Cavachon. Molly was hard to control at first but Kris gave me some strategies to get her under control. Kris is a very pleasant person and I enjoyed knowing her for this brief period."
M. C. B.

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"Kris is one of the best trainers in Atlanta! She is trusting, honest and reliable. We did training for our goldendoodle at our home and our dog did a 360 literally with the training she gave her! We loved the way she interacted with our dog from playing with her to the training! Goldendoodles are hard to train and we were amazed with how well she trained our dog. Kris is also an amazing photographer! She would take photos of our doodle around the house or inside and include them with her weekly training emails! Our doodle passed all of her training at the end of the sessions! Couldn't have asked for a better trainer! Highly recommended!"
Natalie M.

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"Kris is incredible at what she does, and because she is so passionate about it, it is so much easier to adopt new skills as owners & enrich your relationship with your pup as well! We adopted a spunky puppy who missed her socialization months, and Kris worked with us each session on so many different tips and tricks that has helped our pup so much in her daily life. We can tell immediately that positive reinforcement is the key way to communicate with our Willow and we are going to continue to use all we have learned as she becomes an adult dog. It takes the work on your end as an owner to really see all the results you want but having a great 'coach' has helped us take the right steps to be more consistent & intentional! It’s pretty amazing what these animals can do."
Jessica G.

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"Kris was so helpful with teaching us to how to train our puppy for basic skills as well providing guidance on how to help him overcome his fear of new people. Scheduling sessions was very easy and communication was excellent."
Sarah E.

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"I recently took a Dog Parkour class with Kris and my dog loved it. Because we hike a lot I wanted my pup to learn how to interact with obsticles in the environment with confidence. She learned to jump, balance and climb, all on command. The class was so much fun. Kris is the best!"
April T.

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"Kris Hale made a big difference in how my dog & I now interact. Of course, I needed to be trained more than my dog. I have lived with dogs most of my life, but Kris showed me how to get the best results. I adopted a 5yr old Lemon Beagle from a rescue group. My dog now looks to me for cues & obeys willingly & quickly. Thanx to Kris I feel my dog & I have a closer connection. Kris herself, was an absolute pleasure to work with. She was always calm, never berated my dog or .................me. Her methods are humane, calm & consistent. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Kris Hale to train YOUR dog!"
Ester S.

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"Aspen and I took the Intro to Parkour class with Kris. Kris is very passionate about her students and their dogs enjoyment, training, and safety. Kris is a caring and compassionate instructor with great teaching skills and extensive knowledge regarding dog training using positive reinforcement. Aspen and I have been so inspired by our Parkour class with Kris that we submitted our Novice Title, which we just received! Looking forward to more lessons with Kris!"
Sandy W.

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"Kris was excellent with our puppy. She used positive reinforcement only, communicated clearly, problem solved with us, and was genuinely interested in our pup's well being while tailoring strategies to train her effectively. With her help, our pup was set up to be a confident, well-behaved dog."
Aparna K.

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"Kris was fabulous with our two dogs. We desperately needed help w/ one of our dogs and Kris just took up both of them in her lessons. We received exactly what we needed in training. Now we can take our dogs anywhere and not have to worry about them."
Cynthia G.

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"Kris is amazing! She was so patient and kind with my dog. She is also so knowledgeable. When we met, we came up with a plan together on things we could work on and at each meeting she provided handouts with important information such as crate training, potty training, introducing people to my dog etc. She explained each skill in detail and we would practice it together so that my dog and I could continue to work on skills alone. I've seen such improvement in my dog’s behavior, confidence, and approach to new people that I am not nervous to bring my dog in public anymore. My friends and family have also noticed a huge improvement with my dog and are very impressed! I highly recommend training with Kris whether it's your first dog or not. I could not be more thankful for all of her hard work and everything she taught Willow and myself!"
Brandi D.

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"Kris was great to work with and I would highly recommend her for anyone looking for a fantastic trainer. Everything she told us was research backed and she was very knowledgeable. She helped us with our puppy."
Alexandra C.

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"Working with Kris really helped us with our new lab puppy. She was patient and knowledgeable and encouraging along the way. She even worked with our 7 year old son to help him interact better with the new pup. Thanks, Kris!"
Hannah P.

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"We loved working with Kris! Our 1 year old golden retriever loves people, but was way over excited with her greetings. Kris gave us great guidance on how to use positive reinforcement and enrichment activities to help divert our pup's energy elsewhere to have an overall calmer greeting. She was attuned to our dog's body language and made adaptations to the plan for greetings on the fly. As a bonus, we also got to work on some leash skills and fun ways to keep adding enrichment. We would highly recommend working with Kris if you are looking for creative ways to positively reinforce the behaviors you want to see!"
Meredith R.

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"Kris has been an amazing support for my foster dogs and for their adopters. She always helps us understand the why behind our dogs' behaviors and gives us actionable steps to help us overcome their issues. When we implement Kris' suggestions successfully, our dogs always improve. Highly recommend her services as a trainer and behaviorist."
Laura H.

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"Kris is a great dog trainer and behaviorist! She helped me so much when I first rescued my dog at 19 years old and was so lost on what to do with her behavior issues. She was understanding and such a great resource to have as I learned more about how to best take care of my dog and her anxiety. I highly recommend!"
Madison D.

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"Kris was extremely helpful with training for our 1 year old puppy. She clearly has a way with dogs (and people!) and gave us some really useful tools to help us with our sweet girl. Would highly recommend her services!!"
Linea F.

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"Kris Hale is not only an exceptional dog trainer, she is an amazing human being. Kris is incredibly passionate about dogs, she is knowledgeable, thorough, kind, caring, and patient. She creates an individual and sustainable approach to training for each dog she works with. I first met Kris through volunteering, where she helped navigate even the most challenging of behaviors with various shelter dogs. Kris approached every case individually and took the time to get to know each dog and his or her behavior, then created a training plan. She has truly saved lives through coaching adopters and foster parents who have had dogs with a number of behavior concerns that may have initially appeared to be issues too difficult to work through. Instead, Kris set these dogs - and owners - up for success.

When we recently adopted an abused and neglected dog from a very unique background and needed some help, I did not hesitate to reach out to Kris. Our dog previously had little to no human interaction, and none of it was positive. Kris has helped us build our pup's confidence slowly, and provided recommendations that have allowed us to slowly make progress in building trust with our dog, and even making training fun! Most importantly, she helped me set expectations, and reminded me that the progress may feel slow at times, but it would be worth it. We are definitely making progress and could not have done this without Kris' expertise.

Kris is the absolute best, and five stars aren't even enough. I'd highly recommend her for any training needs for your dog!"
Amy C.

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"Kris is a fantastic person and dog trainer! I met her while volunteering at Best Friends, and she gave me many tips to help me walk/work with the dogs.

Kris also provided training for several of my dogs and gave us valuable training information. She uses positive reinforcement and is patient and kind with animals.

Another thing I appreciate is how Kris is realistic and won't mislead you. One of our dogs, Charlie, is super impulsive and has a high prey drive. Kris helped manage our expectations by giving us realistic goals but also being honest about probably not being able to quash his prey drive completely."
Erin J.

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"Kris is fantastic to work with. We started early, planning for our puppy's training. Kris was very flexible with scheduling and provided good guidance. Our Aussie Labradoodle puppy loved working with her, she gave good coaching to us new puppy parents and also was available outside of training hours for advice. Would definitely recommend her as trainer."
Jayesh I.

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"We have absolutely loved working with Kris! We were apprehensive about finding a trainer that would be willing to work with our pittie rescue that only used positive reinforcement, but then we found Kris! She met and exceeded all of our expectations. We could tell the difference in our pup's behavior after a couple sessions. Kris has helped us understand how to train our dog using only positive reinforcement. She is accessible to answer any question we have and really got to know us and our goals before we began. We saw such good results that we bought a second package to continue working with Kris. She's super knowledgable and provides real-time feedback during training to help us correct in the moment. She treats us and our pup with respect and love, and Kris deserves all the credit for our pup's new tricks and improved behavior. We cannot recommend Kris enough; she's been an absolute game changer!"
Liz R.

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"I had a fantastic experience working with Kris. I have a 1 y/o rescue who had been having problems with impulse control and bite inhibition. Kris was able to provide a lot of helpful insight, tools, tricks, and knowledge about how to help my dog. He has improved a significant amount already! I am very grateful for Kris, Best In Dog, and the experience I had. I would highly recommend these services. Thanks again Kris!"
Sarah S.

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"We had a wonderful experience with Kris coming to our home to work with our newly adopted beagle, Iris. Iris was very skittish and tentative at first...by the last visit, though, it was like having a friend over to play. Kris worked with us on basic commands, socializing Iris with her older pup brother, Wesley, and other little quirks that are characteristic of beagles. As a teacher (and because she's a teacher), everything she told me made so much sense...and reminded me of my middle school classroom! I look forward to staying in contact and getting little tips along the way."
Elizabeth L.

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"Kris has been volunteering with our shelter and foster dogs for quite a while and has been an amazing asset to us. She has worked with staff, volunteers  and fosters to teach them positive training methods to work with our animals. She is great at explaining animal behavior and training techniques so that anyone can successfully work with their animals. I highly recommend Best In Dog for your training needs."
Michelle H.

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"Excellent trainer and experience for both my dog and myself. Stella, my dog, loved Kris right away and looked forward to her coming to the house. I learned so much and Stella did also! We have grown so much together and have bonded unlike any other dog I've ever owned. I would highly recommend Best in Dog for anyone who needs help with a puppy or and adult dog that is a rescue!"
Ann B.

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"Kris has been a lifesaver helping us with our new puppy!  This is our 5th dog, but Kris taught us things we never knew which helped us get off to a great start with training.  She is a skilled communicator with people and dogs!!  
Kris comes to our home, which is far less stressful for the dog and far more convenient for us.  She is also very responsive to our questions in between sessions via email.  My husband and I highly, highly recommend Kris from Best In Dog!!!!"
Debbie P.

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"My pup Lou is 1 1/2 year old pit mix rescue. He had been neglected and abandoned when he found his forever home. He has so much love to give but was incorrigible. Kris came to the rescue. Personal home training was a life saver for us. Kris really goes the extra mile. It is evident she's a teacher! Lou is a young dog with a lot of energy, but he listens to commands, walks nicely on the leash and is able to navigate through everyday distractions. He's not perfect, but he's come a long way in a short time. Kris has so much experience and is a great communicator. Give your pup the benefit of a truly caring professional."
Elyssa L.

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"Thank you so much for all of your help, time, care and advice these past weeks with acclimating Bella. You really are an expert and your positive approach with both her and our family has been tremendously effective."
Susan

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