\"\"Hi and welcome. My name is Scott Malvestiti and I am the creator of the Dog Park Ready program and owner of Canine In The City. For more than 20 years I’ve been working with dogs of all abilities.

Growing up we always had a family dog…and there always seemed to be a cat hanging around, too…but this isn’t where my interest in dogs started. No, like so many others, my dog story began with adopting a dog, named Sergio, from the San Francisco SPCA on February 5, 1997. He wasn’t just any dog, however. He was, as the SFWeekly put it in an article about Pitbulls in which he was featured, “a leaky bag of nerves.” While I didn’t like the way it was phrased, the author was right and that dog changed my life…I know it’s cliched, but it’s true!

I graduated with a BS in Hospitality Management and a minor in business from CalPoly Pomona, so naturally I was waiting tables! Waiting was my night job, but most of my days were spent learning about training and working with Sergio. It was awesome to see how quickly he was changing into an obedient and more trusting pup. Others in the park noticed his change and asked for help with their dogs, too.

It didn\’t take long to realize I had found my calling and before the year was up I started Canine In The City, a dog walking service that specialized in off leash training walks. That service expanded into a daycare/training facility I called Citydog Playcare, but most still called it Canine In The City. Realizing I still had more to learn (there’s always more!) I completed the Marin Society’s Training Academy taught by Trish King, which at the time was the only program like it in the SF Bay Area. My curiosity with training and techniques continues to this day.

Over the past 20 years I’ve helped hundreds of families build their relationships and straighten out “issues”. Last year alone I logged upwards of 4000 walks with my pack walks. Though I used to joke around with other walkers and trainers about how I’d love to have a boring pack of well behaved dogs, the truth is there is great satisfaction working with the pups that need fine tuning and to see those dogs with “issues” turn their lives around.

The summer of 2016 brought a huge change. I am blessed to have a wife and 2 wonderful girls I can also directly attribute to Sergio, and after more than 2 decades in SF, we picked up our roots and moved to Atlanta to provide a better place to raise our children. With the move also came the opportunity to reevaluate my priorities for the business. I knew that large pack walks were no longer where I wanted to focus my energy. The part of the business I really enjoy, and the reason I started this whole adventure, is the training. So I created Dog Park Ready training with the goal, not of winning any sort of obedience trials, but of having a dog that is great at home, out on a leash walk, or off leash in the park.

And that’s what I hope to do for you. Whether your dog just needs basic obedience and socialization, or they have “issues” with other dogs, humans, skateboards, bicycles…you get the idea!…I look forward to meeting you and discussing how we can be of service.