Review by Heather Wilson
I am so thankful that we found Derek! Before working with him, walking my 100‑lb American Staffy was one of the most stressful parts of my day. He was extremely reactive — triggered by dogs across the street, cats, joggers, bikes, people rolling out their garbage cans, squirrels, birds, anything. I used to tense up just thinking about taking him outside, and every walk felt like bracing for an injury. I was overwhelmed, frustrated, and convinced he was just being stubborn.
Once Derek showed me how to communicate clearly and consistently, everything changed. My dog now listens, he checks in with me, he’s calmer, more focused, and so much less reactive. For the first time, I can take him on a walk without feeling anxious the entire time.
Derek is a wonderful trainer — patient, smart, and genuinely invested in helping both the dog and the owner succeed. One of the most impactful things he taught me is that dogs live in our world, full of rules they don’t automatically understand. It’s up to us to teach them what is okay behavior and what is not.
I truly feel every dog owner could benefit from what Derek teaches. Thank you for helping me get my confidence back!
Review by mariah schieck
Derek was amazing! I adopted a very shy and fearful dog. He was able to help me work with my dog and bring out his personality while working on his commands and work with him around horses! I highly recommend Derek! I now have a happy, playful, spunky dog with amazing commands and recall! So happy!
Review by Hailey C
To say Derek has been wonderful, would be an understatement!!
His communication has been outstanding. He is doing great with my dog. He has already made such a difference.
Review by Nate Thompson
Derek is the best! He taught us how to train our puppy Chase for 8 weeks and it has made all the difference for him. Derek is very knowledgeable and really cares about the dogs. We really liked how he bases the lessons off of what Chase needs and what we want to focus on for him as well. He knew exactly how to get Chase to learn and the best thing was Chase had a blast! I don’t know how we are going to break the news to him that he won’t get to go play with Derek every week now but we definitely feel like we are better dog parents and Chase is better dog. Thanks Derek!
Review by Sharon Schmidt
I absolutely give Confident Canine Coaching 5/5 ⭐️’s. I brought my English Springer Spaniel puppy to the program to specifically work on his confidence and his ability to be more independent. It has been a process getting him there but since starting with the program I have seen huge improvement. Derek really took the time to access my dog and what his particular needs are. In doing so Derek was able to construct a productive and realistic plan to help me achieve my goals for my dog. I have stuck with training and continue to work with Derek. His program works without gimmicks and there is no crutch. It is solid training that is meant to last. Relationship building with your dog not a quick fix that stops working when you take off the “magic” collar. I highly recommend this program for people who want to learn and have a relationship with their dog that is solid and reliable.
Review by Warren King
We’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with Derek and made great progress with our young Shepherd Mal mix over our eight week program. Having done training in group puppy classes, this time we wanted a more personalized approach.
We did both home & offsite training sessions to get our puppy more comfortable in public and work on real world skills. Derek’s training philosophy, positive reinforcement and insight of our puppy’s motivations made our sessions always enjoyable.
We highly recommend Confident Canine Coaching and look forward to working with Derek again! Thank you so much!! Warren & Kelly
Review by Kelli Mikaelsen
I found Confident Canine Coaching through an online search. Derek and I had a long inital conversation and right away I was comfortable with him and his approach to training. Lots of positive reinforcement, hence, Confident Canine Coaching. Derek listens to your questions and concerns and then develops a program that you are capable of continuing with and reinforcing. That being said, I do not believe any of us will ever even come close to having his dog training skills or his understanding of dogs, but we are able to manage what we are taught. Thus, making a great home environment for the dog and family. I am extremely grateful that I found Derek. My dog and I would not be where we are without him. I believe Derek is a Dog Whisperer!
Review by Deanne Aboumrad
We would like to express our deep appreciation for everything that Derek from Confident Canine has done for us in regards to training our puppy Arelo. The story started with someone dumping her on our property and my wife falling in love with her. We decided to adopt her and shortly after we felt like we may have gotten more than we bargained for.
Arelo seemed to be very difficult to get calmed down and was a bit aggressive towards anyone getting close to her. We contacted Derek and decided to enroll her into his five week owner/trainer program. He started off with very basic training techniques and the initial work was training my wife on how to handle Arelo.
We fast forward to 6 1/2 months later, only to find out that our “Little Girl” has turned into a very kind and stable puppy. We feel that we can take her anywhere with extreme confidence that she will be very well behaved.
We continue to train with Derek on a regular basis and she continues to improve with each session. We would like to highly recommend Derek and we also want to thank him for all of the extra efforts and treats he continues to give Arelo. So grateful to have connected with him.
George and Deanne
Review by William Calkins
I cannot express how thankful I am for helping us with our pup. We were on the verge of having to re-home Maverick and now I am completely confident in his future with our family. The knowledge and insight that was shared during our program was incredibly helpful and honestly life changing for us. Not only did my pup gain confidence and security, but so did I. We tried several trainers before and were unsuccessful. I highly recommend!!!!!
