Meet our N.Bethesda trainer

Michael Kelly

Michael has been training dogs for over ten years now and has a wide background of different training skill sets. His specialities include but are not limited to; teaching foundational obedience skills for pet dogs, training for competitive obedience, agility, behavioral modification for issues related to fear, aggression, and rehabilitation of dogs with socialization issues whether they be with people or dogs. He truly embraces the challenge of creating custom training plans to fit each individual client’s needs, and being a life long support system for any issues that may occur. He has four personal dogs; two Belgian Malinois named Maui and Zulu, a street dog from India named Charlie, and an Akita puppy named Jireh. Training for him is a family business so they are all heavily involved in the process of helping his clients and their dogs.

Read Michael's Bio

Michael is a certified professional dog trainer with extensive experience working with shelter animals and helping to create manageable household behaviors. Michael most recently worked at Greenbriar Veterinary Hospital. While at Greenbriar Michael was able to apprentice under the tutelage of Renee Nappier and Caroline Shedd. He was able to gain expertise with training dogs towards titles in competitive obedience and other dog sports.

Michael and his wife have three dogs, Raja, Maui, and Zulu. Upon adoption Maui was incredibly fearful and under socialized, however Michael was able to work through those hang ups quickly and build his confidence to the point where was able to obtain his first obedience title through the UKC. Raja, an Akita mix, was an incredible escape artist from the beginning. Michael quickly realized through consistent communication and Raja’s love for food they were able to tackle and achieve many things from there.

Want to claim a complimentary training consult? Contact Michael with the form below.

We brought our dog in after several years of challenges with socialization and aggression. We were at the point where anytime we took our dog out in public, he was wearing a muzzle and was miserable. Old Town has been extremely understanding and accommodating, really showcasing an understanding of how to care for dogs with challenging personalities. Most of the care for challenging dogs is done by their training team, including Michael who we also use for training. He has gotten our dog to the point of walking off leash, playing with other dogs, and really doing a 180 on the stress we had with him before. Incredible company!

Christopher B

Michael Kelly the dog trainer at old town pet resort is an excellent dog trainer. Due to Covid our dog had less interaction with other dogs and had a lot of anxiety around other dogs barking and lunging at other dogs. We had tried other dog trainers but it did not change his behavior. Michael took Bailey for a week and slowly integrated Bailey with different dogs and reduced Baileys anxiety by mixing him with other dogs at the day care and taking Bailey to dog parks etc so that he got comfortable with other dogs I think he did a great job and I cannot thank him enough for helping our dog get back to normal. Michael gives your dog personal attention and is extremely caring with your dog. The training your dog gets from Michael is absolutely worth it.

Paree B.

Signed up for the stay and board with Michael, and he was great. Providing me with daily updates on my dog as he was training. Very informative and showed my dog lots of love and care. He provided me with great direction post training to ensure the things they taught sticks. I high recommend if you are looking for a quality dog trainer.

Nathan E.

Our family starting working with Michael Kelly when our puppy Elvis was just 10 weeks old. We’d had a rough start to puppyhood with Elvis (our first family dog) eating two tiny stones which landed him in the hospital with an endoscopy. Needless to say, it was not an easy beginning.

Michael was instrumental not only in helping us with training but in coaching us through that difficult time and teaching our three kids how to handle him. Elvis worked with Michael every Sunday for a number of months. The results are awesome – Elvis is a confident, happy dog who is flexible and well-behaved. He gets along great with other dogs and people alike. And seeing the connection Elvis and Michael developed was phenomenal.

I can’t say enough about how great Michael is. I recommend him wholeheartedly for any dog training and dog support across the board.

Jacey S.