About East Bay Dog Spot Dog Training

Force-free training center

East Bay Dog Spot is a force-free, all-positive reinforcement dog training center at RB Office Park, 4645 Gulf Breeze Parkway, in Gulf Breeze, serving owners in Gulf Breeze, Navarre, Pensacola and Pensacola Beach. Its group classes and private training packages cover puppies, adult manners, advanced skills, tricks, rally, therapy dog work and Feisty Fido classes for reactive dogs, along with problems such as jumping and separation anxiety. Clients get handouts, lifetime access to an online video library, free monthly pack walks and $10 workshops.

The team

Owner and instructor Makayla Thompson, an eight-year Air Force veteran, took over in 2022. She is a certified professional dog trainer (CCPDT-KA) and AKC Canine Good Citizen evaluator, and under her the business won Best of the Emerald Coast Dog Training in 2022 and 2023 and Nextdoor's Neighborhood Fave 2023. She is also president of the Friends of Santa Rosa County Animal Shelter. Instructor Christie Mendoza, who leads the Feisty Fido, rally and therapy dog programs, is CPDT-KA certified, an AKC evaluator and an APDT member. Kayleen Anderson also teaches.

What owners say

Donna Brenner wrote that the trainers "truly care about the animals" and that classes are "structured and fun."