Mother of Beasts K9 Training

The Bulletproof Puppy package runs eight weeks with two private sessions a week, for puppies 16 weeks or younger. It covers potty training, bite redirection and early obedience, plus calm exposure to new surfaces, traffic, sirens and fireworks.

The six-week Behavior Modification program works on reactivity, fear, resource guarding, separation anxiety and aggression using counter-conditioning and desensitization. The six-week Obedience program builds sit, stay, recall, leash manners and impulse control around real-world distractions.

Virtual 30-minute lessons run by phone or Zoom. Scent work and dog sport classes are listed on her Meetup group.

Pricing Summary

The 1.5-hour in-home assessment is $250, and a 15-minute phone consultation is $39. The six-week Behavior Modification and Obedience programs are $1,200 each, and the eight-week Bulletproof Puppy package is $2,800.

Virtual 30-minute lessons are $100. When a rescue refers a client, 10% of the training package goes back to that rescue.

Policies

Every dog and family meets Mary for the $250 assessment before booking lessons or a package, except the Bulletproof Puppy package. Puppies must be 16 weeks or younger to enroll in that package.

Mary does not offer board-and-train. She will not promise a dog will be fixed by a set date.

Mother of Beasts K9 Training is Mary Prevo’s private, in-home dog training business serving San Diego County. Mary works directly with every dog and family, with no handoff to another trainer and no board-and-train.

She specializes in reactive and aggressive dogs, the cases many trainers turn away. Her approach leads with rewards and motivation and adds structure only when a specific dog needs it.

Mary has worked with Southern California rescues since 2004, training dogs pulled off euthanasia lists. She and her dog hold the internationally recognized BH-VT obedience title, and she is a Professional Member of the International Association of Canine Professionals.

Programs include the eight-week Bulletproof Puppy package, six-week behavior modification and obedience programs, and virtual lessons. Most families start with a 1.5-hour in-home assessment.

Accomplishments

Mary and her dog earned the IGP BH-VT obedience title, scored by a judge flown in from Austria and recognized internationally. Her dogs have trained or competed in Schutzhund, barn hunt, agility, dock diving, Fast CAT, lure coursing, obedience, protection and tracking, with first-place and High in Class finishes.

She is a Professional Member of the International Association of Canine Professionals and attended the 2026 IACP and CANIS conferences. She has studied under Susan Garrett, Fenzi Dog Sports Academy, Ivan Balabanov, Dave Kroyer, Stephanie Vichinsky and the retired head trainer of the San Diego Humane Society.

How to Get Started!

Call or text (619) 800-5884, use the contact form, or book online. Share your neighborhood, your dog’s age and what you want to change, and Mary will tell you whether the $250 assessment is the right first step.

Their Training Philosophy

After 22 years of helping rescues across Southern California pull dogs off euthanasia lists, and training the ones nobody else wanted, I’ve learned that dogs learn through clear communication and a relationship worth working for, and the dog usually isn’t the one who needs the most teaching. I train you and your dog together, every session, because you’re the one holding the leash at 6 a.m. when a skateboard rolls past. I lead with rewards and motivation and add structure only when a specific dog needs it, never as a default. My competition titles taught me precision, and I hold pet dogs to that same standard: clear, fair, and proven out in the real world, not just in the living room. Nothing happens to your dog behind a closed door, because I don’t do board-and-train.

A Tough Case They Solved

Rocky was a pit bull mix in foster care with real reactivity, the kind that makes every walk a gamble, and dogs like him often wait a long time for a home. Instead of working in a quiet living room where he’d look perfect, I took Rocky and his foster family to three different parks over three sessions, each with its own triggers. At each park I walked the foster family through spotting Rocky’s triggers early and handling him through them, then handed the leash back so they could practice it themselves. Changing parks meant Rocky learned to cope in new places, not just one familiar one. As he became more settled, adopters could finally see the dog he really was, and Rocky got adopted.

What New Clients Can Expect

Your first session is a 1.5-hour, $250 in-home assessment, and it starts with me listening. Every family has a list of problems, and I want to hear all of them, in your words, along with your dog’s history and the moments things go wrong. Then I triage: we decide together which issues matter most, what it will take to fix them, and roughly how long that will take. When there’s time, we don’t just talk; we start working on the most important issue right then, so you see how I train and how your dog responds. You’ll leave knowing your priorities, a realistic plan and timeline, and whether one of my programs is the right next step. I won’t promise your dog will be “fixed” by a certain date; anyone who does is guessing.

More From the Trainer

My credential can’t be faked. I earned the IGP BH-VT, an internationally recognized obedience title, in front of a renowned judge our club flew in from Austria. He scored every command, every response, and every move my dog and I made against international standards. I didn’t award that title to myself or buy it from a training school; a stranger with nothing to gain decided I’d earned it. Behind it are 22 years of hands-on work with tough dogs and rescues across Southern California. I’m also a Professional Member of the International Association of Canine Professionals, which holds members to a code of ethics with real review.

And I never stop learning. In 2026 I attended the IACP conference in Newport Beach and the CANIS conference, which brought together some of the world’s most respected trainers and behaviorists. I’m the only San Diego trainer I found who attended both. California doesn’t license dog trainers, so anyone can call themselves one. Ask me about every credential I hold, who awarded it, and what I’ve studied this year. If a rescue refers you to me, 10% of your training package goes back to that rescue. I can prove my work and I can prove my credentials. Unfortunately, the majority of “trainers” have fancy websites and social media, but don’t have the education to back them up.