Proving Ground Kennels

Felix really knows the make up of how a dog’s genetics and drives work. This is such a good foundation to have when it comes to tailoring training to your dog. My Aussie/​border collie mix is a rescue and has a lot of anxiety. He has really helped me understand her better and make her feel safe and happy. We have finished her basic obedience and are almost done with advanced obedience and she has gotten her Community canine and Good citizen canine awards from the AKC. The cost is well worth what Felix teaches you and I don’t think you will find a more educated trainer here in the valley. The fitness class is also way fun (for both dog and trainer!) Meeting Felix has been such a blessing and a positive experience for my dog, Ariel, and I and I would recommend him highly to anyone.

I can’t say enough about how much Felix at Proving Ground Kennels has helped with my Doberman Pinscher, Enzo. Enzo is a two-​and-​half-​year-​old European Doberman and to say he is a handful is putting it mildly. I had tried several trainers before reaching out to Felix, and I’m so glad that I did. Enzo is very stubborn, high energy, and has a mind of his own. It had gotten to the point where I couldn’t take him in public or on walks, and I was constantly worried about having people over to the house because Enzo was always unpredictable. On walks, Enzo would act erratic when cars, people or anything passed by. He would start biting at the leash, displaying aggressive behavior, and I wouldn’t be able to control him. It became so bad that neighbors would make comments that I shouldn’t own such an aggressive dog in a neighborhood with families.
After the first few sessions, I knew that Felix was the right trainer for Enzo. He understands how the Doberman Pinscher thinks and why Enzo behaves in certain ways. Felix was always very patient with Enzo, never rushed him and made sure to always end the session on a positive note. Felix’s training style is the perfect combination of positive and negative reinforcement, and positive and negative punishment.
Felix is helping Enzo become adjusted to being around other dogs and people he doesn’t know. Enzo has always been very anxious and with Felix’s help, Enzo can now channel this anxiety in a positive way because of the obedience training. In Felix’s group obedience class Enzo is learning how to socialize with other dogs and be in a new, different environment. Felix also offers a group fitness and agility class, and it’s amazing to see Enzo learn the different obstacles on the agility course.
Enzo has even be able to earn the title of AKC Community Canine which is something I never thought possible.
It’s been a long road but with Felix’s help, I can finally see a more obedient, happier Enzo who isn’t so anxious or fearful. Thank you Felix for all your hard work with Enzo, it is much appreciated!

I have a 2 year old high energy (and very large!) rescue named Huck. I’d worked with another trainer before with little success at conquering basic obedience. As soon as there were distractions (people, dogs, etc), his listening skills went out the window. We recently moved in with my boyfriend, who came with 2 more dogs as well as 2 cats (aka things to scare and chase), it became very apparent we needed help.
Working with Felix was the best decision I made. His one-​on-​one attention and training tailored to Huck and the issues we had was amazing. I had doubts that we’d ever get to the point where Huck would lay down, and remain down with distractions (dogs, people calling for him, toys being thrown), but we’d achieved that within the first couple of weeks. I also was a big fan of getting 2 group lessons in addition to the private training, as going into that setting helped solidify and prove what he learned wasn’t just in a quiet, controlled environment.
He has turned into a wonderful dog who not only listens to commands, but thrives from learning and practicing the way Felix has taught.
In addition, I can happily report that not only has Huck been broken of the habit of chasing the cats, he has been caught snuggling with them on the couch. It really has been an incredible transformation and process.

Felix from Proving Ground has been amazing with my 7 year old stubborn rescue. He is a border collie mix, so his age doesn’t affect him and he still acts like a puppy. I am about to move across the West Coast into an apartment, so I needed to make sure my dog would behave OK in his new environment. After a few sessions, he immediately had more respect for me, and I could really see this difference from his training. Felix was also available nearly ²⁴⁄₇ to answer any questions I had about using the new tools and behavioral tactics. I was a bit scared at first, but Felix stuck with me through it, and I now have a much more well behaved dog. I’m so glad I went to Proving Ground for help, and I would recommend it to anyone.

My family rescued a 2 year old Australian Shepard/​Board Collie mix a few months ago, a very loving dog with high energy that needed channeling, morning and evening runs were not taking the edge off. I contacted Felix at Proving Ground Kennels about working with Beaux. Felix met with me and Beaux he assessed his personality, strengths, and areas that need improvement, we talked about my goals for Beaux and we developed a plan together. Since Beaux was a rescue I did not know much about his background and how he would react in certain situations, but Felix helped me understand Beaux and how to work with him.
Beaux has finished the basic obedience course and obtained his Good Canine Citizens Certificate. We are working on the advanced obedience training with plans to get him certified as a therapy dog. In addition to the obedience training Beaux loves the K9 Fitness and Agility Training program Felix offers. He is very excited when it time for him to run the agility course. The training Beaux has received from Proving Ground Kennels has taken the edge off, he has high drive when it is called for but is calm and listens when it is necessary. We can take him to dog friendly stores and patios without concern that he will be disruptive.
Felix is truly invested in the dogs he trains he takes time to understand both the dog and the owner and works hard to help both meet their goals. I would recommend Felix and Proving Ground Kennels to anyone who is looking to train their dog.

Hands down the best dog training service in Arizona! Ive tried so many other options in the past including other larger dog training companies and Ive never felt that i got my moneys worth. Thats not the case with Proving Ground Kennels. After the first session i was already seeing results and after a month i had a much better behaved dog. Felix has made my life much easier with his top of the line training methods. I fully recommend Proving Ground Kennels for any dog training purposes!

We have a German Shorthaired Pointer (who is highly energetic & crazy — just like all GSP) and training is a MUST with this breed. We tried another training place before going to Proving Ground Kennels and we didn’t have much success there. Our friends told us about Felix, the owner of Proving Ground Kennels, and thank God they did. Felix worked with our pup and us to help us harness his crazy puppy energy into focus for training. Felix is an outstanding dog trainer. He knows what kind of dog your have (soft or hard) and what type of training works best for your dog, which gets results! We have completed basic and advance obedience training. We are currently doing K9 Fitness and Agility (which our pup loves doing) and hope to start some hunting training soon. We now take our pup out to Dog Friendly Patios with us and everyone says how good he is. Thank you Felix!

Gotta brag about the progress our Irish Wolfhound pup has made with our cats. We have 3 cats and one other dog. The trouble maker, Pesado was a rescue pup we got ~7mo old in October 2011. While him and our 1^st dog got along great, Pesado had a strong prey drive and would constantly hunt for and chase our cats. Though no physical damage was ever done to our cats we could definitely not trust our pup to be unattended.
We tried Many different training suggestions to break the behavior but nothing was remotely successful until we were introduced to Felix Pachon, owner of Proving Ground Kennels. He is truly a dog whisperer and knows his stuff! He has spent Countless hours training, not only our pup, but my husband and I as well! He takes the time to help us, as owners, understand why dogs act and behave the way they do and how we, the owners, can act as the pack leaders to raise our dog to become the pup we want him to be and how we can encourage the dog to aspire to please us!
I am still amazed daily on the progress Pesado has made and continues to make. I am now able to go to bed with our sweet, snugly pup, Pesado on the bed with me where he will cuddle and sleep for a few hours while my husband finishes work and then at that time we still crate him (hopefully in the not too distant future we will be able to trust him out all night). Pesado is now calm around the cats, instead of always being on the hunt, and the cats will actually sleep on the floor in the same room as him. Lately, I have been able to pet Pesado with one hand and one of our more brave cats with the other hand while they both remain calm and content with the attention.
Pesado was a pretty ‘urrr, durrr, I sneeze and hit my head on the ground’ kinda pup but he is becoming such a wonderful part of our furry family and my only regret is not utilizing Felix sooner!