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John Soares K9 Training, LLC Reviews
Throughout my career, I have seen one K-9 program after another, in various police, military and civilian organizations and have met some of the best trainers in the world, but I have never met anyone as accomplished and experienced as John Soares.
For the past three years he has trained the German Shepherds that protect my family and me and I couldn’t ask for more. His knowledge, experience and expertise in the field is unparalleled and is only over-shadowed by his personal touch that has helped my wife and kids feel more comfortable around working dogs.
I have, and would recommend John Soares to anyone that requires professional dog training at the highest levels. You will not find better.




Throughout my career, I have seen one K-9 program after another, in various police, military and civilian organizations and have met some of the best trainers in the world, but I have never met anyone as accomplished and experienced as John Soares.
For the past three years he has trained the German Shepherds that protect my family and me and I couldn’t ask for more. His knowledge, experience and expertise in the field is unparalleled and is only over-shadowed by his personal touch that has helped my wife and kids feel more comfortable around working dogs.
I have, and would recommend John Soares to anyone that requires professional dog training at the highest levels. You will not find better.
Rowan is now fifteen months old and more than one hundred pounds! We have been training with John for over six months. John spent many hours working with Rowan and me, giving me the confidence to continue even when things got difficult. John always encouraged me and stressed the importance of making it fun. His expertise is unmatched by any trainer I have ever known. As a result of our successful training, I have set some competitive goals for Rowan and myself. Since it has been such a positive experience, I have started training my seven month old rescue pup Ceili with John.
John trains even the smallest of dogs with sensitivity and enthusiasm. I feel fortunate to have witnessed him in action. From basic obedience to competition, I highly recommend John for all your training needs.
Cheers John to a long, happy, healthy training career!!!


Rowan is now fifteen months old and more than one hundred pounds! We have been training with John for over six months. John spent many hours working with Rowan and me, giving me the confidence to continue even when things got difficult. John always encouraged me and stressed the importance of making it fun. His expertise is unmatched by any trainer I have ever known. As a result of our successful training, I have set some competitive goals for Rowan and myself. Since it has been such a positive experience, I have started training my seven month old rescue pup Ceili with John.
John trains even the smallest of dogs with sensitivity and enthusiasm. I feel fortunate to have witnessed him in action. From basic obedience to competition, I highly recommend John for all your training needs.
Cheers John to a long, happy, healthy training career!!!

Immediately upon bringing Koa home it quickly became evident that he had some issues. Although he did well inside the home, taking him outside of the home was another story. It was impossible to take him on a walk as he would pull in every direction, bark and aggressively lunge at any other dog or cat, and was so anxious, he couldn’t even focus on any basic commands. In addition, he had fence aggression with our neighbor’s dog that was exceptionally frightening and difficult to manage (even through a 6 foot privacy fence). It seemed that our new dog possessed two personalities—which was scary since a 100-pound doberman has the ability to do quite some damage! My husband and I even became fearful that if we weren’t careful, that this dog might eventually turn his anxious and frustrated energy on us.
Within two months of bringing him home, we had Koa enrolled in a training program that came recommended to us. However, despite working with this trainer, and working with him at home, we did not see much change in Koa’s personality. It was at this point a friend recommended John Soares—a highly regarded trainer with plenty of experience working with the doberman breed.
We were very impressed with John from the minute we met him. His level of professionalism was immediately evident. He performed an assessment of Koa, and told us what he thought. While we absolutely loved John, but we stubbornly thought that because we were experienced dog owners we could put the training off for a bit and keep working with him at home just a little longer—oh how we were mistaken! Within six months of our initial meeting with John my husband and I were calling him back to schedule training.
Koa spent 3 weeks boarding with John, and we had several follow-up sessions so that John could train all of us. I can’t even begin to describe the huge difference that we noticed in Koa immediately—it’s like we have a new dog! Although he continues to be a work in progress, he now listens when spoken to, he has learned how to walk on a lead, and his fence aggression has almost completely resolved. In addition, Koa is now more confident—something that he lacked before. Koa has also become more loving and trusting of us as his owners. We firmly believe that John is a miracle worker that saved our dog (and us)! Words can’t even begin to describe how highly we think of John and his level of professionalism. He is truly the best, and we are so grateful for all he has done for us!
As he became older and grew larger (100 lbs.) he became increasingly difficult to handle. He would not listen unless we screamed at him and then only minimally. I had no control over him whatsoever and he barely listened to my husband. Walking on a lead consisted of Diesel dragging me down the street. He also became very dominant towards our German Shepherd that was in the house from the moment he came home. The last straw was when I was giving him a hug one night he just whipped his head around and bit me on the face for no apparent reason ! I did not require medical treatment but he did draw blood. Obviously we were very upset. I have been around dogs my entire life and this was the first time I had ever been bitten.
We came upon John Soares quite by accident. We were originally going to another trainer, but at the last minute that did not work out. That trainer recommended John.
Diesel was evaluated by John and it was determined that he was a Fear Aggressive dog and needed a lot of help. It was decided that Diesel would spend 3 weeks with John at his training facility. I have to tell you, those 3 weeks were very hard for me. No contact with Diesel whatsoever. Just a brief e-mail from John every now and then as to his progress.
The day finally came when we were to pick up Diesel. John brought him out and went through a whole training routine with him. We were amazed………….who was this dog? Diesel sat at attention, turned on a dime and worked with John off and on the lead. My husband and I both worked with Diesel and he actually listened to us and behaved.
It was a miracle!
Diesel is coming along very well. We still have to keep on him every minute. He’s very smart, if we slack off his training, it definitely shows. He constantly wants to revert back to that “wild, crazy, unruly” puppy. But because of John’s expert guidance we know what to do now. We know how to correct him and to do it immediately. We know how to reward him when he does something good. I think John is truly a miracle worker. He is VERY patient and understanding. I’m sure John would say Diesel actually was easier to train than me! John taught me to treat Diesel like a dog and not “my little baby”. I would highly recommend John to anyone that has a problem dog or just wants a well-behaved dog. Diesel will be going back to John both in August and then again in November while we are on vacation for “refresher” training and boarding. We already have him booked! I truly cannot say enough about John’s professionalism, his love of dogs and patience and guidance for the Owners!


As he became older and grew larger (100 lbs.) he became increasingly difficult to handle. He would not listen unless we screamed at him and then only minimally. I had no control over him whatsoever and he barely listened to my husband. Walking on a lead consisted of Diesel dragging me down the street. He also became very dominant towards our German Shepherd that was in the house from the moment he came home. The last straw was when I was giving him a hug one night he just whipped his head around and bit me on the face for no apparent reason ! I did not require medical treatment but he did draw blood. Obviously we were very upset. I have been around dogs my entire life and this was the first time I had ever been bitten.
We came upon John Soares quite by accident. We were originally going to another trainer, but at the last minute that did not work out. That trainer recommended John.
Diesel was evaluated by John and it was determined that he was a Fear Aggressive dog and needed a lot of help. It was decided that Diesel would spend 3 weeks with John at his training facility. I have to tell you, those 3 weeks were very hard for me. No contact with Diesel whatsoever. Just a brief e-mail from John every now and then as to his progress.
The day finally came when we were to pick up Diesel. John brought him out and went through a whole training routine with him. We were amazed………….who was this dog? Diesel sat at attention, turned on a dime and worked with John off and on the lead. My husband and I both worked with Diesel and he actually listened to us and behaved.
It was a miracle!
Diesel is coming along very well. We still have to keep on him every minute. He’s very smart, if we slack off his training, it definitely shows. He constantly wants to revert back to that “wild, crazy, unruly” puppy. But because of John’s expert guidance we know what to do now. We know how to correct him and to do it immediately. We know how to reward him when he does something good. I think John is truly a miracle worker. He is VERY patient and understanding. I’m sure John would say Diesel actually was easier to train than me! John taught me to treat Diesel like a dog and not “my little baby”. I would highly recommend John to anyone that has a problem dog or just wants a well-behaved dog. Diesel will be going back to John both in August and then again in November while we are on vacation for “refresher” training and boarding. We already have him booked! I truly cannot say enough about John’s professionalism, his love of dogs and patience and guidance for the Owners!



John Soares came highly recommended to us for our 2 year old German Shepherd, Rocky. We were at our wits end before we called John and had seriously discussed finding a new home for Rocky, as much as that idea broke our hearts. We just couldn’t handle his outbursts. Rocky is/was a good dog, but wasn’t trained enough to understand that WE were in charge – so it was the “Rocky Horror Show” oftentimes. If we walked him past somebody that was afraid of him he would jump up and bark in that person’s face. If we tried to introduce him to new dogs he pulled so hard that we lost all control. And the issues just went on. We, amateurishly, diagnosed Rocky with anxiety, separation issues, aggression and the list went on. Who knew he just “wasn’t trained” as John put it the first day he saw Rocky! We signed up for a 3-week, no visitation boot camp, 1-1 training with John Soares and WHAT a difference we see today. Rocky is calm (because we’re in charge) and so easy to manage. In fact, what John did was take away all the “fluff” that we were trying with Rocky and broke it down very simply for us. Today, things are much easier for all of us and we are able to stay in control by actually doing less. In fact, I think the training was really for US! John answered all of our questions and completely prepared us for maintaining Rocky’s new training. I would recommend him to anyone and would pursue further training with him for any of my dogs.

Being the owner of several imported high drive, high energy Doberman Pinchers I would entrust their training to no one else other than John Soares. Besides myself, I have recommended many dog owners to John and everyone has been extremely pleased with the results of his training. John is truly a “DOG WHISPERER.” I strongly recommend that if you are looking for the best dog trainer, and the Harvard of dog training, please consider John Soares as both you and your K-9 companions best friend and teacher. John’s methods are humane, proven and effective and in the long run cost effective.
I recently had to retire my German Shephard Explosives/Patrol dog due to health reasons which led me to start doing some research for a new dog. My co-worker Sgt. Blaski is also a K-9 handler and found a Doberman through Ray Carlisle. Sgt Blaski was very pleased with the work John Soares had done with training Stinger to the point where our trainer could continue the training we needed to complete certification. I am pleased to say that Stinger has been successful in his job and our department was also very pleased.
I began my search for a new dog that I could bring into my house with another male police dog and a female Bernese Mountain Dog. I also have a wife and young daughter and told John that the dog I needed had to be able to live in the house, but yet capable of doing scent work and aggression work. I kept in contact with John for approximately three months and during that time John would advise me on the dogs he had come into contact with and what he felt would work for me and my department.
I am pleased to say that back in May of 2010, I was contacted by John who told me he believed he found me the dog I was looking for right down to the color of the dog I requested. My trainer and I went to see John and were very pleased with what we saw John had done with the dog in such a short time. John was very concerned about our needs and was more interested in selling me a dog that worked for me than with making a business deal.
ONYX and I are about to be certified shortly and I have to say that the dog John found for me was not just a work dog, but a dog that fit into my home and the department I work for. ONYX knows when it is time to work and when it is time to be a dog. Although I would never leave ONYX unattended, I trust that he knows where he fits into the family and can still be a loving dog.
Thanks John, I am very pleased in your work and am proud to call you a friend.


I recently had to retire my German Shephard Explosives/Patrol dog due to health reasons which led me to start doing some research for a new dog. My co-worker Sgt. Blaski is also a K-9 handler and found a Doberman through Ray Carlisle. Sgt Blaski was very pleased with the work John Soares had done with training Stinger to the point where our trainer could continue the training we needed to complete certification. I am pleased to say that Stinger has been successful in his job and our department was also very pleased.
I began my search for a new dog that I could bring into my house with another male police dog and a female Bernese Mountain Dog. I also have a wife and young daughter and told John that the dog I needed had to be able to live in the house, but yet capable of doing scent work and aggression work. I kept in contact with John for approximately three months and during that time John would advise me on the dogs he had come into contact with and what he felt would work for me and my department.
I am pleased to say that back in May of 2010, I was contacted by John who told me he believed he found me the dog I was looking for right down to the color of the dog I requested. My trainer and I went to see John and were very pleased with what we saw John had done with the dog in such a short time. John was very concerned about our needs and was more interested in selling me a dog that worked for me than with making a business deal.
ONYX and I are about to be certified shortly and I have to say that the dog John found for me was not just a work dog, but a dog that fit into my home and the department I work for. ONYX knows when it is time to work and when it is time to be a dog. Although I would never leave ONYX unattended, I trust that he knows where he fits into the family and can still be a loving dog.
Thanks John, I am very pleased in your work and am proud to call you a friend.

More importantly, I saw the respect my dog had for John while I observed them working together. Now it is my job to demand that same respect from Buddy. John gave us both the tools to work on this together. I am forever grateful to John and thank him for the time he spent with Buddy.


More importantly, I saw the respect my dog had for John while I observed them working together. Now it is my job to demand that same respect from Buddy. John gave us both the tools to work on this together. I am forever grateful to John and thank him for the time he spent with Buddy.

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Call: (973) 506-4644
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