Toriano The Wolfkeeper Sanzone

Toriano Sanzone is a liar and a thief. I stupidly paid him $ 500 up front for a package of lessons, and it ultimately became clear that he and I weren’t on the same page. He agreed to refund me $ 375, $ 50 of which he paid. That was over a year ago.
I have pages of text messages from him promising to pay me, offering excuses, doing everything but paying the money he owes. All I wanted to was to get the dog I adopted from a shelter trained and therapy certified.
I’m not rich, that was a decent amount of money to me.
The only training here was that I learned to never again pay up front.
I love Unilocal and have been using it for years. But as you can see I have never written a review. Warning people to stay away from this con artist is the only thing that’s ever motivated me to speak out here.
Do business with this scumbag at your own peril. I’m not the only one he’s cheated, and I’m sure I won’t be the last.

If you want your pet to be treated cruelly and kept in an unclean, awful environment, then bring your dog here. This guy wants your money, nothing more. I can’t stress enough that letting your dog stay with this trainer is endangering your pet.

I have a 12 weeks old Olde English Bulldog. Toriano did an excellent job training him with the following: potty, crate, basic commands. He is no longer Jump on kids and furnitures. Does not bark when I have guests or Vaccum. He taught me proper nutrition specifically for bulldog. He’s the best out there! Not your average dog trainer.

Toriano helped me get my new rescue dog through some major adjustment issues on arrival in my home. He has also shown great follow up too and a genuine interest outside of the dollar.

A scam! He did nothing he claimed. He is not a licensed dog trainer or business owner. If you want him to take your dog and «train it», expect to rehabilitate your dog afterwards and spend a lot of money on vet bills… because unfortunately my dog suffered the consequences of my naivety trusting this man!

Toriano is my dog trainer in Chicago. He has totally transformed my pit bull Buddha from a crazy out of control dog with no manners to a gentle giant that is very sweet, polite and attentive. His techniques not only help the dog but it also gives you tools as the alpha to keep your dog on point at all times. His philosophy of dog training is amazing (see his book) and he really practices what he preaches. I highly recommend his courses for any owner who has a any kind of dog that needs help with socialization, training, and purpose.

I just want to say that Toriano has trained one of my dogs to perfection and now he’s working on my second dog, a puppy. The puppy is learning quick and Toriano’s techniques are pretty amazing. Couldn’t handle this pup without him. If you have a dog that needs some sort of training whether it’s jumping on people, biting, pulling on leash, anything, he can take care of it pretty quickly. He’s very pro-​active and knows how to get the owner involved in the training as well, if they wish. Do it!

SSDT is an excellent option for folks who are serious about producing a sociable, obedient dog.
I met the lead trainer Toriano Sanzone through a friend, and my girlfriend and I have been working with the SSDT about once a week since we got Otis. Otis is a 5 ½ month old Cane Corso with a very sweet temperament but we also know that in a couple of years he could weigh up to 150 pounds. Accordingly, getting him obedience trained wasn’t really option it was a necessity and we took this into account when we chose SSDT because they came highly recommended for big breeds (and small and medium breeds too, as we would come to find out).
Classes come in a number of formats, but our favorite has been the group sessions because we get to expose Otis to other dogs of all breeds and sizes, with a professional observing and telling us what behavior means what. Corso’s have the reputation of being rather suspicious and without the proper amount of socialization, they can become guarded and overly protective which can result in aggression. This was our greatest fear when we got Otis and I think SSDT deserves the credit for bringing my once fearful and suspicious puppy out of his shell and turning him into the «happy to meet you, what can I do for you?» dog we have today.
Otis loves people, other dogs and children. He’s not too rough or too timid. I have several small children in my family and I’ve had four of them at one time crawling all over him, tugging at ears, lips, etc. Otis doesn’t just tolerate it, he seems to enjoy it. At 5 ½ months old, Otis has mastered practically all the basic commands and is even getting some more advanced stuff down like heel under his belt. I recently took Otis on vacation to the Wilds of Pennsylvania where he got his first taste of the woods (and off leash time) without any incidents. He listens well which I attribute to games in SSDT classes. There were deer trails and other critters in the woods and, like the pigeons here in Chicago and though they definitely get his attention, a firm «no» prevents him from taking off after them.
Long story I feel very confident in my dog, and that allows me to really enjoy him.
Toriano’s approach is very hands on, specifically his «puppy yoga» technique, which we try to do with Otis every day. This has really kept Otis loose and used to being touched. But I think what really won me over with SSDT is that the program isn’t just about teaching my dog, it’s about teaching my girlfriend and I how to teach and interact with our new dog – sort of like the old teach a man to fish adage. This has proven far more valuable.
Beyond that, I can’t really express what an encyclopedia of knowledge Toriano is about dogs. When we first got Otis, it seemed everybody and their mother had an opinion about caring for him and they were all different: what to feed him, how to bath him, how to interact with him, what time to walk him and, we soon found that the only common denominator amongst all this advice was that whatever you are doing at that moment was wrong and there advice was the best and only way.
Toriano is the type of person who wants to explain to you why he’s doing the things he does when training but also doesn’t neglect that there are many paths up a mountain. He’s very sensitive to the dogs needs but at the same time, he doesn’t overly personify the dogs, which is something I feel can be quite damaging to a dog’s education/​demeanor.
Regarding this last point, I’ve read some bad press about Toriano, which I can’t really speak to other than to say that from what I have read it looks like a personal issue rather than professional while the other charges (there is a youtube video out there that I had to watch like six times to see what these trolls were talking about) seem hypersensitive bordering on absurd. There is certainly no abuse or maltreatment going on at SSDV from what I can see. So if you’re that kind of dog owner who knows a dog is a dog and wants to produce a well adjusted, well trained one (comes when you call him, no whining, no biting, no habits people generally find annoying) I would say this school is a safe bet.

I’ve seen him first hand as well.
FILING A FORMA\L COMPLAINT.
I’m not saying it’s not for you. But I +am+ saying I am not happy with how he treated me, my dog, and our training needs.

Toriano Sanzone employs techniques that are harsh and shockingly cruel at times. His approach was completely ineffective with my dog, who had a history of being abused. After using his program and taking his advice, we had her in pronged choke collars that he’d push us to yank so hard that she’d Unilocal in agony, at the slightest hint of ‘disobedience’. Never did it seem to occur to him that this was an animal that only knew harshness, and the whole experience left her stressed, rail-​thin, deeply confused, terrified and still untrained. It wasn’t until I took her to a new trainer… one who believed in incorporating positive reinforcement and love… that my dog did a complete 180 and became the best pet one could ever dream of. I deeply regret subjecting her to his program, and I don’t believe this person should be in business. I feel very sorry for his dog, Diesel, as well.
He’s very nice with people and a good businessman and marketer. That doesn’t make him a good choice for your pet. Please look elsewhere. I’ve met others that feel the same way about Toriano… bad bad bad.

Sanzone’s training methods are compulsion and pain-​base, using harsh leash corrections with prong collars. The science of learning theory has brought dog training beyond these methods (think how they do marine mammal training). There are much better options out there.

I have seen the training first hand and would highly recommend the services of the Sanzone Academy of Dog Training, specifically those of Toriano ‘Wolfkeeper’ Sanzone, to anyone with either a new puppy or older furry canine friend. There’s nothing like a doggie trained the Wolfkeeper way!
Toriano’s dedication to the ‘Wolves’ he trains is admirable. Even if during a brief street encounter, the Wolfkeeper’s ability to engage the wolf so quickly is impressive and something you really have to see.
Two thumbs up for ‘The Wolfkeeper’…oh and let’s not forget he’s written a book about WolfKeeping!!!

I have been taking my dog to training classes with Toriano at DOPA for almost two years now, and I’ve just started my new puppy as well. He’s amazing with dogs. That «dog whisperer» guy has nothing on him! And he not only trains them to be obedient and sweet, he also trains *you* to train and handle them, which is probably far more important in the long run. He also has each owner do «doggie yoga» with their pooches at the beginning and ending of each class. Yes, it sounds weird and new-​agey, but I think it’s been really beneficial in terms of relaxing my dogs, but I also suspect it’s good for the larger dogs’ joints and hips. (Plus, it’s a lot of fun seeing him stretch his giant pit bull with nothing but a yawn from the dog.) I highly recommend DOPA Dogs for their classes and many services.