Alohomora Dog Training

Sandra, the head trainer and owner of Alohomora Dog Training, found her passion for dog training at the age of eighteen after her family adopted a dog with an unknown history of aggression.
Since 2015, she has gained extensive knowledge and experience through training with over 10 species of large animals, box stores, private dog training businesses, board certified veterinary behaviorists, and board and train facilities.
Sandra now specializes in in-home work with aggression, reactivity, and anxiety-based behavior modification for dogs.

Training Philosophy

Alohomora Dog Training believes that animals deserve the best version of us.
They strive to understand the canine mind and create effective communication between dogs and their humans.
Their research, hands-on experience, and time with top professionals in the field have led them to believe that dogs learn most effectively and retain knowledge longer with motivational, force-free training methods.
They aim to change the way humans interpret their dog's behaviors and provide positive, structured training programs to help owners understand their dogs like a pro.

Services

• Reactive Rovers: For dogs that struggle with reactions to dogs, people, or other things.
  Includes 6 in-home training sessions, up to 4 sessions with human assistants and demo dogs, Whole Dog Wellness Assessment, Reactive Rover handbook, Reactive Dog Success Kit, a 30-minute check-in session, access to discounted continuation services, and lifelong phone, email, and text support.
• Puppy Primer: For new puppy owners to avoid bad habits and prioritize socialization.
  Includes 5 in-home training sessions, 10 Day Training socialization outings, Puppy Primer socialization handbook, Puppy Welcome kit, access to Paws in Park group class, access to discounted continuation services, and lifelong email and text support.
• Back to Basics: For building basic obedience cues and manners.
  Includes 4 in-home training sessions, Back to Basics handbook, Welcome Kit, access to discounted continuation services, and lifelong email and text support.
• Day Training: For busy owners who want an overall well-trained dog.
  Includes Intake Session, selected number of training sessions, Transfer Sessions, and Equipment Package.
  Packages include Foundations, Ultimate Dog, Mastery, and Rebound.
• Walk & Train: For dogs that need physical and mental exercise.
  Includes Meet-N-Greet, selected number of Training Walks, Transfer Sessions, and Harness.
  Packages include The Rookie, The Veteran, The Expert, and The All-Star.
• Paws in the Park: A subscription service for current and previous Alohomora dogs to practice skills in group classes.
  Includes 2 Paws in the Park sessions every month, tailored training plans, and ongoing support.
  Subscription options include 30 Day Renewal and 90 Day Renewal.

Certifications

CPDT-KA (Certified Professional Dog Trainer - Knowledge Assessed)

Specializations

Aggression, Reactivity, Anxiety-based behavior modification, Puppy training, Basic obedience, Loose leash walking, Socialization, Mental enrichment, Decompression

Training Methods

Reward-based, force-free, motivational, classical counter conditioning, operant conditioning, clicker training, relaxation protocols, management protocols, desensitization, decompression, ethology, husbandry, nutrition, enrichment

Customer Reviews

• Chris & Penny (Badger): "Badger was creating a big rift in our home.
  When we called Sandra, Badger had just bitten my boyfriend's mom, we argued about what to do with him constantly, and we were ready to break up over the dog.
  Sandra came in with so much knowledge and compassion.
  One of the first things she said to us was 'He's not giving you a hard time he's having a hard time' and it changed so much of our perspectives, especially mine.
  She taught us so much and Badger is a different dog now.
  You're awesome girl!!!"
• Spencer (Athena): "I rescued my dog from an abusive BYB situation.
  She really struggled with meeting new people at home and on walks.
  Sandra was super respectful of Athena's space and worked hard to earn her trust.
  I learned an incredible amount about in-depth doggie body language, which is super helpful as a rescue worker.
  What really sold me on this trainer's package was that Sandra hires people to be "guinea pigs" for your dog's training.
  It great learning how to handle Athena around strangers and expose her to new people with the trainer there."
• Savana & Harrison (Lucky): "Our dog was super reactive to other dogs and people.
  We tried working with a few other trainers in town over the last few years and no one shared the knowledge Sandra did regarding reactive dogs.
  She taught us a ton about his triggers, how he communicates, and clicker training.
  We LOVED her explanation of bribes vs reinforcements - it helped us understand why we couldn't get him to listen unless we had food with us and be able to teach him to listen without it.
  We never thought Lucky could make so much progress in just 6 weeks!"
• Jake (Drax): "Wow.
  I couldn't say anything else about the help this trainer provided.
  I'm amazed at the difference in my Malinois.
  He was extremely anxious and becoming next level destructive as he entered adolescence.
  I've owned working dog breeds my entire adult life and have never dealt with anxiety like this in a dog before.
  All the obedience training and exercise in the world wasn't helping.
  Sandra came in and helped me identify all the things I was doing wrong.
  She changed my entire approach to dog ownership."
• Melody (Eugene): "Eugene LOVES Sandra!!!!!!!!!!
  We adored training and learned lots of awesome skills for my little grump.
  I LOVE that Sandra focuses so much on the emotional relationship between you and your dog and heavily considers the human side of dog training.
  She never got annoyed with me for asking silly questions or needing instructions repeated again and again."
• Kayla (Daffodil): "Daff is the most over excited dog in the whole world.
  She nips, she jumps, she scratches, she barks and whines, she hits me with toys, etc.
  As Sandra always says: she's just always ready to party.
  Sandra came in and within minutes had my psycho jumper in a sit and dropping toys on command.
  She adjusted our exercise routines and implemented lots of opportunities for Daff to rest and I saw immediate changes.
  I never thought it would be possible for her to be so chill.
  Thanks Sandra!"
• Esmerelda & Dausha (Lilo): "My wife and I have learned so much from her 5-week puppy program and training with Sandra was always fun.
  We are both happy with the progress Lilo has made thus far and know it’s the best choice we could have made in reaching out for guidance and support from Sandra."
• Charlotte (Whizbee): "I wanted to make sure my puppy would grow into an adult dog that could handle the world well.
  My family and I are super socially and physically active and we wanted a dog that could keep up with that lifestyle.
  Sandra gave us a lot of tools to work on potty training, important obedience cues we still use everyday, and so much amazing socialization info - Whiz is close to two now and just about bomb proof and it's fully thanks to Sandra and this program.
  If you want a solid adult dog, this is the program and trainer for you."
• Kallik & Haily (Nanook): "Sandra helped us train and socialize our puppy who was a rescue from Greenland.
  My husband was born and raised there and it was super important to him that Nanook was bilingual as an ode to both their roots.
  Sandra studied words to use and pronunciation for commands in Greenlandic before our first session.
  This simple act of kindness shocked us.
  This trainer went above and beyond for us and our dog and we will forever be grateful for the skills and knowledge she gave us."
• Nicole & Mason (Opal): "My husband and I both work 65+ hours a week, so finding a training program that allowed us to take a back seat without sending Opal away for a board and train was amazing.
  Sandra worked in conjunction with our dog walkers to help with leash walking and "come."
  At home, we saw a huge improvement in her jumping and stealing shoes.
  The updates along the way and transfer sessions that Sandra provides were low maintenance enough to feel attainable, but incredibly helpful.
  She's a wealth of information."
• Natalie (Castiel): "Cass went through Sandra's puppy program when he was a baby, but I didn't do a great job on upkeeping his training.
  Three years down the road and we definitely needed a refresher!
  We did the 6 sessions and Cass immediately 'rebounded' into better behavior.
  We both needed the brush up and now he's back to performing cues well.
  Thanks Sandra!!"
• John & Frankie (Elvis): "We're both retired so we adopted a young german shepard mix from the spca last year.
  He is very high energy and didn't listen to commands at all .
  He pulled John down on a walk in January which caused him to break his hip.
  Our daughter found Sandra online and we called her the day after we got home from the hospital.
  she came to work with Elvis two or three times a week.
  We saw instant changes in his bad walking habits and he learned how to sit, stay, come ,and is very engaged on walks now."

Social Media Links

Instagram: @alohomoradogtraining