DDH Dog Academy

We are absolutely blown away by the love and care our dogs received during their stay with Sonseira and her Team. We have 2 x dachshunds (3yrs). They were reactive toward other dogs, new people and small children. They were also difficult/impossible to walk and we really needed some help. The day they arrived, we received photos of them engaging with new dogs…by the end of their stay we were getting videos of them walking, going to a cafe, playing in a pack of dogs and loving all the humans around them. It’s of course scary to hand over you beloved pets to strangers, but we quickly felt at ease due to the Team’s great communication and beautiful photo and video updates. Not only were the dogs trained, but we also received training to ensure their new behaviours stick. We are now practicing everything that we have learned, and are so grateful for the calm and confident dogs that have returned home. Thank you so much Sonseira, and Team.

We sent our two large dogs to DDH for a week of socialization and behavior training, and we couldn’t be more pleased with the results. Sonseirai and Reece did a fantastic job with all their hard work! Both our dogs, who were previously quite shy and reactive in group settings, can now confidently integrate with a pack. Even our more reserved boy has grown significantly in confidence and matured to a confident dog. We highly recommend DDH for anyone looking to improve their dogs' social skills and overall behavior. They will send you daily updates and videos, showing the progress made from day to day.

I sent my 2 daschunds there for behavioural work. They are nearly 3 yrs old but have never been to kennels before, one showing reactive aggressive behaviour to people and dogs, the other very scared of any dogs. The aim was to teach them to integrate into a pack without being fearful or reactive and reduce the aggressive behaviour. This was done by letting them stay at the Durban dog hotel for 4 nights whilst receiving behavioural work. Sonseirai and her team are amazing, they took such good care of my dogs firstly and honestly I hardly recognised them when I got them back. Together with Sonseirai we were able to sit down at a crowded restaurant without any drama at all. My dogs were completely comfortable in that situation whereas before I wouldn't have been able to walk in the street with them without constant barking and lunging. I can't wait to carry on following Sonseirai's recommendations and to see my dogs thriving and growing into sociable pooches.

Sons, Candice, Reece, Stormy, Anita and the entire rest of the DDH team have been incredible from when we met them a few years ago to now! We booked our 2 big Ridgebacks in for 2 weeks of behavioural work with Sons recently (they normally just did the isolated day care visits when we where in town). Our dogs have been living in very remote locations with us and have been very isolated from any other dogs over the last 5 years. They were not socialised and showed aggression and anxiety with other dogs when we visited Durbs. Being power breeds we knew it would be important to get a professional to assist us in integrating our dogs back into a social environment and also assisting with their leash behaviour going forward. After just 1 day the difference was massive, after 2 weeks it's like we have 2 different dogs. They are calm, confident, well controlled and generally much happier now that they are socialised and handled correctly. We have learnt so much about our dogs and ourselves, Sons has given us tools that we would never have been able to implement without her experience. She showed a huge amount of patience towards our dogs and towards us as owners who also needed training! Their facilities are excellent, spotless with the most amazing employees. You can rest assured your dog will get beyond top notch care. To invest time and effort into your dogs is very rewarding and I would encourage others to do the same. It's just incredible to see 2 dogs who were anxious wrecks in social situations now running with the packs at DDH, playing at dogs parks and enjoying coffee shop dates. We can't rate Sons and her team enough and what they have done for us and our pooches. We are lucky to have them!

Sonseirai is absolutely phenomenal. She has helped change the life of a rescue dog. Before going to the Durban Dog Hotel our rescue boerbull was extremely challenging as she had come from harsh living conditions, this has completely changed after her training. I would highly recommend their services. Outstanding job Sonseirai, we can’t thank you enough

My pitsky checked in at DDH for a week to get social training and behavior training and wow he is a completely different dog, he still has his hyperness which is his personality but with the tools given by Sonserai I am now the owner and not the other way around 😅. You definitely get what you pay for and it's worth every cent! The team at DDH are simply the best and Khai misses them and his doggy friends so much. He certainly lived his best life while on his little vacay, and will be visiting often to play with his fur buddies 🐶♥

My 2 Daschunds (10 & 14 yrs old) were extremely clingy & very anxious about being left home alone (even for 10 minutes) without human company. Sonseirai met my girls & gave excellent advice on how to manage their anxiety & encourage them to be independent & self sufficient little ladies. It's Day 2 (since training) & our house is a calm happy place with 2 much more relaxed fur-children.