Believe In Dog Helps to Balance a Dog’s Mind, Body and Spirit

Believe in Dog, Houston, TX

OWNER: Stephanie Bennett LOCATIONS: 1 FOUNDED: 2017 AREA: 7,000 square-foot training center that includes an 800-square-foot boutique, plus 1/2 acre with 4 outdoor play areas employees: 12 full-time, 7 part-time website: believeindog.com facebook: /puppyexpert youtube: /houstondogtrainer instagram and tiktok: /houstondogtrainer TOP BRANDS: Bark Pouch, Blue-9, Earth Animal, Elle Vet, Honest Kitchen, Koira, LickiMat, Outward Hound, Pro-Mohs Canine Supply, Smallbatch, Squishy Face Studio, Tall Tails, Tuesday’s Natural Dog Company, Tug-E-Nuff, West Paw, Woof

Stephanie Bennett

HAVING WORKED WITH DOGS for more than 20 years, Stephanie Bennett dreamed of opening a center that combined innovative training methods with enrichment and overall wellness. In 2017, she bought a dilapidated, 25-year-old warehouse in Houston, TX.

“I had a clear vision, and I knew I could turn it into something special,” she says.

During renovations, Bennett continued to train dogs out of her home and in the parking lot of a yoga studio, with the latter location helping to inform what would become the brick-and-mortar Believe In Dog a year later.

“I wanted it to feel zen and spa-like — where dog training meets zen,” she says. “I came up with the name first, then the logo. The design evolved around those two things.”

The brand’s calming color scheme and logo appear throughout the space. At the logo’s center, a lotus flower.

“It symbolizes purity, patience, love, and compassion for all things, and is a perfect representation of our training methods,” Bennett says. “The name and logo epitomize our ultimate purpose: to use positive and kind training methods to balance a dog’s mind, body and spirit.”

The ½-acre property includes a 7,000 square-foot warehouse, which houses an 800-square-foot boutique, two indoor classrooms and a private training room, plus four outdoor play areas. Believe In Dog has gone from 50 customers and two staff members in 2017 to today’s 6,700-plus customers and a staff of 20, along with classes seven days a week.

“Our revenue continues to increase each year,” Bennett says, with training services contributing 86% to monthly revenue and product sales (growing significantly the past two years) at 14%. “From year one to today, Believe In Dog has grown almost 1,000%.”

Believe in Dog’s zen approach flows throughout the physical space and mission.

Wholistic Design

Clients enter the center through a gated dog-friendly courtyard filled with plants, statues and a small fountain. The lobby and boutique area features stained concrete floors softened by boho style rugs, with a leather couch and a giant silver Buddha helping to set the mood.

“Soft pastel colors, light fixtures that look like clouds and spectacular wall murals are just some of the ways we have created a very cool place that sets us apart,” Bennett says.

The area connects to the private training room — set up like a therapist’s office — and two classrooms (one large, one small). She says, “I make them feel like real classrooms with colorful school lockers, toy boxes, cots, and shelving units of dog exercise and training equipment that looks just like P.E. equipment.”

Sprinkled throughout the large classroom are everyday items — a vacuum cleaner, shopping cart and skateboard — used to introduce puppies to common and novel stimuli and to desensitize adult dogs to their presence.

“We never use any methods or tools that cause the dogs to experience fear, pain or intimidation,” Bennett says, adding that they’re not necessary. “We don’t allow electric collars, prong collars, choke chains or leash yanking to be used in any way. We teach people how to create mutual respect, communicate effectively and co-exist peacefully with their dogs.”

BRANDING POWER: The Believe in Dog logo adorns everything from treat bags to congrats signage.

Group Effort

Believe In Dog has become known for its group classes.

ARTISTIC TOUCH. A classroom mural features Stephanie Bennett’s dog Waylon and continues the zen aesthetic.

“We can have as many as 30 group classes on the schedule every week,” Bennett says. “My vision for Believe In Dog was to create a place where people could bring their dog for fun classes and activities, throughout the dog’s life.”

The mostly one-hour group classes run for six weeks each, covering puppy socialization, basic manners, intermediate skills, confidence building and help for reactive dogs, plus trick training, nosework and adventure outings. The center also offers private and one-off classes.

Bennett’s mentor, Dr. Ian Dunbar, invented the concept of puppy socialization classes and encouraged her to specialize in puppies, believing puppyhood affords the best opportunity to influence a dog’s behavior.

“I started my puppy programs with one group class and one day of what I then called Puppy Pre-School,” she says. “I never imagined that one group class would grow into as many as 10 Puppy One classes per week and that Puppy Pre-School would become our signature, drop-off Puppy Day School program.”

Bennett also studied leash reactivity in earnest after adopting leash-reactive stray Pitbull Hank. She then created Reactive Rover classes.

“It is an extremely popular class and typically has a wait list of at least a month. We are currently teaching our 100th Reactive Rover group, and I am incredibly proud of that.”

Products With Purpose

Although small, Believe In Dog’s boutique offers a wide variety of products not found in big-box stores, including its own branded treat pouches and relaxation mats. Chews sell the most, followed by leashes, harnesses and collars, and then training treats.

The boutique began carrying food this year — Honest Kitchen and Smallbatch — as Bennett believes a holistic approach to training includes four elements: mental enrichment, physical exercise, effective communication and good nutrition.

“Each product is curated specifically by myself and the Believe In Dog team, including our staff tester dogs,” Bennett says. “Whenever possible, we purchase our products from small, local and women-owned businesses.” Sourcing and sustainability are also important.

Believe In Dog tracks its customer base using a combination of softwares designed for dog-training companies and retail, easily pulling up each dog, their age and what products they’ve used.

“We can also see what classes they are taking, or plan to take, and help them shop for class-specific items,” Bennett says. Suggested, but not required, class training products include a canine balance harness, treat pouches for hands-free training and a good leash.

TAKE A SEAT: When dogs and their people need more space, they find it in Believe In Dog’s private training room.

Enlightened Expertise

While the zen vibe and wholistic approach are big reasons why clients choose Believe In Dog, they stay for the exceptional service and expertise of the staff. “We are a very personal business. The dogs love coming to us, greeting the staff, and generally do not want to leave when their day is done,” Bennett says.

She credits Operations Manager Joanna Covington (a past client turned fulltime staff) with the business’s growth and the reason it runs like a well-oiled machine. “Joanna has taken so much off my plate and enabled me to continue to actually work and train dogs instead of getting bogged down with running the business.”

There are four managers, five sales/front desk staff and 12 trainers. All trainers have to know all the products, how to fit them and ring them up, since they work later than front desk staff. Trainers must be certified or working toward certification with the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers and, once certified, take continuing education credits to remain certified.

The Believe In Dog team celebrates student milestones on social media.

Reel Love

Believe In Dog believes in social media. “Our social media presence is the coolest,” Bennett says of accounts on Instagram (the brand’s main focus at 16k followers), Facebook (2.6k followers) and YouTube (800 subscribers). “We post everything on social media and often post multiple times a day.”

Created first by various staff and now by the business’s social media manager, posts include videos created for each puppy’s first Puppy Day School session, highlighting who they played with, their progress and enrichment activities. “Parents love watching, rewatching and sharing these videos,” Bennett says.

Videos are also used to market upcoming classes and to show dogs using products the boutique sells.

“We also share Reels of puppies doing fun holiday activities, themed photoshoots, and so much more,” she says. “Last year, a Reel of our dogs dressed up as Peeps for Easter went viral, and we gained over 4K followers on Instagram.” The reel has almost 200k likes.

Students have plenty of room to learn and play at Believe in Dog.

Fulfilling a Vision

Believe In Dog has changed Bennett’s life completely.

“Twenty years ago, I was an actress in Los Angeles,” she says. “When I lost my father traumatically, I wanted to dedicate my life to something I love. I decided to take a risk and become a dog trainer. It doesn’t sound crazy now, but 20 years ago, it was pretty radical.”

Bennett has made life choices, such as putting off getting married and not having children, to achieve her vision. Launching the business was very tough. “Over the past 20 years, I have been consumed with working toward creating what Believe In Dog is today,” she says.

With the business established and Covington’s help, Bennett hopes to slow down and spend more time with her family, including rescue dogs Willow, Waylon and Cash. Although for her, slowing down means expanding to a nearby building to grow the daycare program and finishing a book about “how training dogs teaches us to take care of ourselves.”

She says, “I feel pretty lucky to have found my purpose, to be able to not only make a living, but also make a difference — trying to make the world a better place, one dog at a time.”

Five Cool Things About Believe in Dog

1. Scholarship Fund: Created to keep rescue dogs in need of training in their home, the business has awarded 50 scholarships totaling about $10k since its launch in 2023 and $13k in rescue discounts on top of the scholarships. One cool way the brand raises scholarship funds: by renting out its fenced front yard for dog-friendly gatherings.

2. Behavior Blueprints: Around 100 free training materials live on believeindog.com to help those unable to afford training services, plus potential or current clients to learn about Believe In Dog’s training philosophies. Written, updated and edited by Bennett and her trainers, materials cover topics from body language, enrichment and reactivity to basic and advanced skills.

3. Enrichment-Based Daycare: The upscale program is for Puppy Day School graduates older than 8 months. The purposely small program (eight dogs to one trainer) includes group training, individual neighborhood walks, appropriate group play and holiday activities. One small-dog and two large-dog groups meet one day each week, and the program soon will expand to five groups, one day each week.

4. Fall Festival: Since 2022, this annual event has been held at a private ranch for human and dog clients to get out of the city. Registration is $90 per dog with attendance at about 75 dogs in 2025. Bennett says, “We bring a pop-up store so people can purchase products like long-line leashes, harnesses, treats and toys.” Activities include a doggie bouncy house, nosework mazes, lure and agility courses, a photo booth and swimming.

The boutique offers products that support Believe in Dog’s training and enrichment.

5. Signature Murals: Muralist and tattoo artist Yoshi Romero created Believe In Dog’s two photo-op murals. One is in the boutique. “We tell our training clients that their goal should be to become the center of their dog’s universe,” Bennett says. “Yoshi came up with the idea of a puppy flying through the clouds with that mission.” Her favorite mural is in the large classroom. “I showed Yoshi the logo, gave him a picture of my dog Waylon, and he painted the entire lotus with spray paint, and the dog looks exactly like Waylon, only he’s wearing a kimono!”

PHOTO GALLERY (13 IMAGES)