About Us
“It’s not our dog’s job to live up to false expectations. It’s our job to help our dogs live up to their potential.” – Tamara Tokash
Though you may be most familiar with the title of ‘Dog Trainer’ Nobu is much more than that. He’s a ‘Dog Advocate’. His goal is the help dogs live their best life through educating their guardians using force, fear, and pain free methods.
Nobu has been training dogs since 1992. His list of accomplishments include accredition by the International Association of Behavior Consultants (IAABC – ADT), Kim Brophey’s Family Dog Mediator, certified graduate of Trish King’s Canine Behavior Academy I and II, volunteer at the Tracy Animal Shelter, and Usui/Holy Fire Reiki Master. Dogs have been part of Nobu’s life from the day he was born. He began training dogs in Southern California where he was born and raised. He and his family relocated to the San Joaquin Valley in 2000 where he continues to train. His pet parent experiences includes a variety of breeds; Akitas, German Shepards, Huskys, Shih-Tzus, Chihuahuas, Yorkies, and Pit Bulls.
He’s passionate about dogs and continually seeks out new techniques and information about them. In addition to dog training, he also provides dog walking, pet sitting, holistic bodywork, and Reiki Therapy. He enjoys working with dogs of all breeds, ages, shapes, and sizes, and of course their owners too.
Nobu’s motivation stems from his desire to improve relationships between pet parents and dogs. This is extremely important to him because a happy and educated owner is less likely to drop off a well behaved member of the family in the country or at the animal shelter. Nobu strives to improve the quality of life for both pet parents and dogs. He currently resides in the San Joaquin Valley with his beautiful wife, son and two furry kids; Sammi and Molly.
His experiences and education include:
International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants – Animal Dog Trainer accreditation
Usui/Holy Fire Reiki Master – Marion Hakata
Slow Thinking is Life Saving For Dogs (Four seasons) – Laura Donaldson
Family Dog Mediator – Kim Brophey
Animal Emotions – Karolina Westlund
Learning the Ropes: All Things Leash Handling – Michael Shikashio and Grisha Stewart
Defensive Handling – Michael Shikashio and Trish McMillan
L.E.G.S Applied Ethology Family Dog Mediation – Kim Brophey
Aggression In Dogs Conference 2021
Separation Anxiety Shadowing Program (Two seasons) – Moira Hechenleitner
Certified Graduate of Trish King’s Canine Behavior Academy (Levels I and II)
Certified in Pet First Aid by the American Red Cross
Certified PETCO Canine Education Instructor
Dog Trainer for the City of Dublin
Dog Trainer for the Town of Danville
Dog Trainer for Decadent Pets
Dog Trainer for The Pampered Pet Boutique
Canine Good Citizen Evaluator
Pawdemonium Fly Ball Judge
"It takes as long as it takes."
~John McPhee
Our Philosophy
We are force free trainers. What is force free training? It means we do not use pain, fear, or intimidation as motivators. In the last two decades the emphasis has been towards methods that use minimal pain, fear, or intimidation—or none at all. The change has been driven by improved communication from the top applied behaviorists and veterinary behaviorists. These professions agree that use of physical confrontation and pain is unnecessary, often detrimental and, importantly, unsafe. Trainers have found more benign and sophisticated tools by studying applied behavior science. Karen Pryor’s Don’t Shoot the Dog made the case that training and behavior modification can be achieved without any force whatsoever. We believe the most humane and effective way to train a dog is using positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement does not mean permissive nor does it mean giving into all of your dogs desires.
We do not employ or advocate the use of aversive based methods used by traditional, balanced, or hybrid dog trainers. Positive reinforcement training is not only about rewarding good behavior but about establishing a relationship with your dog based on trust and respect, not fear and domination. We teach owners to observe and reinforce desirable behaviors with attention, treats, praise and play. We want dog parents to understand the importance of giving their dogs agency. Allowing their dogs think, learn new things, and to make correct decisions. We often use marker training as a way to efficiently communicate correct behavior to the dog.
Nobu Endo