About Happy Dog Training

About Happy Dog Training

Professional Dog Training in Southern California

Welcome to Happy Dog Training! Do you want to improve your relationship with your dog? Learn about the power and benefits of play-based training? Are you looking for reliable obedience? Or building your dog’s confidence? Do you need help curb aggressive behaviors? Are interested in GRC Dog Sports? Or are looking to book an engaging lecture on dogs? Whatever dog-related goals you are looking to achieve, we can help. In addition, we offer our virtual training and coaching service worldwide.

About Us

My name is Ralf Weber, and I am the owner and lead trainer of Happy Dog Training. I am a Training without Conflict™ certified professional dog trainer. In addition, I am an advanced certified dog trainer by the International Association of Canine Professionals (IACP CDT, CDTA). I am specialized in relationship-based, play-based, and motivational training. As well as reliable obedience, behavior modification, GRC Dog Sports, and canine education. My team and I work with clients all over Southern California in person. In addition, we serve clients virtually worldwide. We can also help you. Our programs cover a wide range of areas. We offer basic and advanced obedience classes and canine behavior modification. Additionally, we help resolve aggression in dogs and build confidence in fearful and anxious dogs. We also offer adoption support, train for GRC Dog Sports, and many other areas.

Working With Us is Fun!

You will love working with our amazing Happy Dog Training trainers. We take the time to help you understand your dog better. Our team is personable, friendly, and easy to work with. We openly share our knowledge with you so you and your dog can become a better team. Contact us to schedule a strategy session or consultation with Happy Dog Training. You get to meet us, and we develop a custom training plan to help you achieve your training goals.

In addition, Ralf and Sarah train highly reliable service dogs. Visit our service dog business Total K9 Focus to learn more. We train high-level service dogs for many cardiac, diabetic, and psychiatric conditions.

How We Train

An Introduction to How We Train YouTube Play Hover Icon

The Happy Dog Training Team

Certified Dog Trainer Ralf Weber

Ralf Weber

(Lead Pet Dog Trainer)

Certified Dog Trainer Sarah Gill

Sarah Gill

(Lead Service Dog Trainer)

Our Dog Training Services

Board and Train Obedience
Have the best dog ever! Our comprehensive board and train obedience program teaches your dog all the basics but goes far beyond what pet shops or other companies offer.
Building Confidence
Does your dog feel insecure, look nervous or bark out of fear? Is your dog afraid of loud noises, seeing strangers, or just scared of everything? Does your dog lose it when you leave home? Or…?
Resolving Aggression
Living with an aggressive dog is stressful. Never be certain what will happen on your daily walk, potential injuries, vet bills, legal consequences, etc. You don’t have to live like this.
Dog Training Shadow Student
As a Shadow Student, you get to spend an entire week with Ralf. You will participate in all client cases and with all board and train dogs. We will talk about dogs and dog training all week.
Virtual Dog Training
Virtual training sessions are great! Discuss and work on your training goals and challenges from the comfort of your home. Especially with fearful dogs, this is a great way to get started.
Book a Dog Lecture
Book one of our engaging and entertaining dog lectures for your next event. To date, our most popular dog seminar is Understanding Dogs, but Ralf can speak on any dog-related topic.

Client Testimonials

Testimonial by John & Isa for Rukus
“Rukus is an amazing dog! The training he had at Happy Dog Training was life-changing for the better. He is so loving, and he listens so well. We can’t say enough about Ralf and his magic on our animals.”Rukus
Testimonial by Pat V for Flynn
“Working with Ralf was a pleasure. He built Flynn’s confidence and taught me much about training dogs. Thank you, Ralf!”Flynn

Services and Area

We are located in Southern California and train dogs nationwide. Happy Dog Training currently offers local dog training services in the following counties. Riverside County, Orange County, San Bernardino County, Los Angeles County, and San Diego County. In addition, we offer our board-and-train program nationwide and all virtual training services worldwide.

Do you want your new puppy trained right from the start? Are you looking for help for your fearful dog? Do you need to resolve a severe aggression problem? You came to the right place! We are experienced, professional dog trainers. Ralf has trained over 1500 dogs in over 18 years, and Sarah has trained over 1200 dogs in over 11 years. Consequently, we can help you with any dog training goal.

What We Offer

For many of our clients, we train their dogs from puppyhood, getting them off to a great start. However, we also have extensive experience training rescue dogs from all imaginable backgrounds and circumstances. Our Board-and-Train program is our most popular.

We can help you, regardless of your dog's challenges or training goals. Being a professional dog trainer means having experience, knowledge, and skill. Further, we developed a highly effective training program to specifically help fearful dogs gain more confidence and become the best possible version of themselves. Building Confidence is our second most popular training program.

Last but not least, we are experts in dealing with all types of aggression in dogs and are often the trainers of last resort after many other programs have failed. Most of our aggressive dog clients previously spent significant money on half-baked solutions without much improvement. This is different from us. We will give you an honest assessment of what goals are realistic for your dog. We will tell you what can be resolved reliably and what likely needs to be managed before we start.

Our flagship product is our board and train program. But our virtual dog training and coaching services have become quite popular over the last couple of years. Our setup enables us to deliver online dog training services from our indoor and outdoor training areas. This allows us to help clients worldwide.

Other Resources

Also, check out our Free Dog Training tips on Separation Anxiety in Dogs, Potty Training aka Housebreaking, and Leash Handling for expert solutions to common challenges.

Additional Services: Presentations and Q&As on Dogs | Professional Service Dog Training

Contact Us and Start Training

Finally, once you're ready to move forward, please use our dog training contact form to schedule a free phone consultation or book a paid, in-person consultation.

Terms, Conditions and Privacy Policy

By using this website you agree to all Terms and Conditions and our Privacy Policy.

About Ralf and Sarah

Happy Dog Training is the pet dog training business of Ralf Weber and Sarah Gill. We are certified professional dog trainers in Southern California. We are specialized in advanced obedience training, all forms or behavioral challenges and service dog training. For behavioral training, we are known for our work with aggressive and fearful dogs. Our service dogs, through Total K9 Focus, have a nationwide reputation for their reliability, longevity and performance.

Ralf Weber, MS, TWC CPDT, IACP CDT, CDTA

Certified Professional Dog Trainer Ralf Weber is lead pet dog trainer of Happy Dog Training. Ralf is a long-time dog owner of German Shepherds. During his career, Ralf has worked with over a 1500 dogs of many different breeds. Moreover, Ralf has a thorough understanding of all aspects of canine training. This includes evolutionary psychology, ethology, and, most importantly, learning science. Ralf is specialized in resolving dog behavior challenges—especially fear and aggression. Apart from this, Ralf trains dogs in basic and advanced obedience, service dog tasks, and GRC Dog Sports. Ralf is further certified in a broad range of other canine training areas. Last but not least, Ralf is the author of the behavioral book If Your Dog Could Talk: Understand Your Dog Like Never Before.

Ralf loves helping people have a better relationship with their dogs. He is a certified professional dog trainer in the Training without Conflict™ methodology by Ivan Balabanov (TWC CPDT). Ralf is also a member of the International Association of Canine Professionals and also holds their basic and advanced dog trainer certifications (IACP CDT, CDTA). In addition, Ralf is an AKC-approved evaluator for the AKC Puppy Star, CGC, and Advanced CGC programs and is also certified in canine first aid by the Red Cross.

Sarah Gill, Certified Professional Master Trainer

Sarah Gill, is a professional service dog trainer and handler. Sarah entered the world of professional service dog training after a car accident. As a result, she had to use a wheelchair for almost two years, trying to maneuver in a house not designed for it. No one expected Sarah would walk again. This opened her eyes and became a driving force behind pushing herself to defy the odds. When she regained some stability, Sarah attended a dog training school and learned how to train service dogs. Sarah completed her Master Trainer Certification and gained further experience by training new trainers. However, the school wasn’t accommodating to those with physical difficulties and PTSD. Hence, Sarah moved home to Dallas. In 2019, Sarah teamed up with Ralf and moved to California.

Sarah started this journey because she had a trained dog to mitigate her disabilities. But Sarah needed additional tasking for a new diagnosis. The only option she could find was getting a second dog for the new diagnosis. She knew there had to be a different way to address this. Sarah's passion is changing the ways of the service dog training industry.