About Rising Sun Canine Training

Rising Sun Canine Training is a dog training business in Marion, Illinois, serving families across Williamson County and Southern Illinois. Through weekly lessons and puppy training at our Marion facility, we help families turn everyday problems like pulling, jumping and ignored commands into a well-behaved dog they can take anywhere.

Meet Austin Todd, Owner & Trainer

Austin Todd has trained dogs for about ten years. He founded Rising Sun Canine Training in Marion to give local families a trainer who takes the time to understand each dog, and who teaches the owner just as much as the dog.

Every program is built around the dog in front of him: its personality, its history and what the family wants to change. From brand-new puppies to grown dogs with years of habits, the goal is always the same: a dog you can enjoy at home and take anywhere.

Rising Sun Canine Training trainer with a dog in front of the Rising Sun mural in Marion, IL

A Small Team That Knows Your Dog

Austin works alongside a full-time trainer at our Marion facility, so lessons are available throughout the week. Because we’re a small team, you work with people who know you and your dog by name, from your first lesson to your last.

We keep things simple and friendly: clear instructions, plenty of patience and homework that is easy to follow.

Rising Sun Canine Training trainer with a dog in front of the Rising Sun mural

Our Training Facility in Marion

Lessons take place at our training facility at 108 E Jefferson St in Marion. It gives every lesson the space and setup to train properly: room to practice leash walking, place boards for calm settling and plenty of everyday distractions to learn around.

As your dog gets more reliable, we take the training outside too, so good manners hold up on real walks and out in public.

Dalmatian settling calmly on a raised place board inside the Rising Sun facility in Marion

Check Out Our Reviews

★★★★★
Rated 4.9 from 55 reviews on Google
O
Olivia C.July 2026
★★★★★

Austin and Jaedyn are phenomenal at what they do with training. Ollie is a 5 year old golden doodle and it’s never too late to sign up for training! He’s a better dog because of it! They are super helpful and understanding when they know life gets in the way of the training sessions if you need to cancel . They were great will definitely be back in the future if needed for other dogs or further improvements

T
Terri E.September 2026
★★★★★

My Australian Cattle Dog is being trained to be a therapy dog here. They work well with us and are really great with training.

L
Lucas W.2025
★★★★★

We had a great experience with Austin. My 10 yr old daughter wanted to train her dog Blueberry and Austin showed kindness, patience, and knowledge during training sessions. He included the whole family and gave us the tools we needed to help our beloved pup become better trained. Austin was flexible with appointments and best of all he offered home appointments. Would recommend Austin to anyone! -Jana Waters

T
Terra V.2025
★★★★★

I highly recommend Rising Sun for training your dogs. They are very friendly, professional and, knowledgeable. Austin believes working with the least restrictive collars and doesn’t use special training collars or harnesses unless absolutely necessary. He gives you all of the tools(knowledge) to effectively train your dogs and works as hard if not harder than you do. Yes it does cost money but, you get what you pay for and more. I have worked with other trainers in the past but, this is the first time we have had private training. It makes a difference in that he can work directly with your dogs individual quirks.

S
Sarah L.2025
★★★★★

We had a great experience with Austin and Jaedyn. Both were thoughtful and kind considering not only our Cane Corso, but each member of the family. They successfully taught us tools and skills to implement with our dog. They were very patient and flexible throughout this entire process. We recommend this service!

K
Kevin B.2025
★★★★★

I have been very pleased with the training provided by Rising Sun Canine Training and the food they have recommended to feed my dogs since they’re started and they all usually free graze which makes be stopped since training because I’ve learned that if we’re training we need to be more in control. My dogs are 5 years and 3 years old with zero training when we started. My dogs have been more obedient and can perform in ways I never thought they would ever be capable of. I will also say that this training is just not if more so important for you as the owner because to understand your dog individually and their capabilities but also for you to understand patience is a virtue. That all being said I would highly recommend you bring your dogs here for training because you will not be dissatisfied coming here.

A
Amy C.2025
★★★★★

Austin and Jayden are great! Very knowledgeable, kind and understanding. They have helped me so much with my rescued German Shepard, that is tailored specifically to him!

E
Emely G.2025
★★★★★

Amazing!
Jaedyn and Austin really helped my mom and I with Coco our 1 year old gsp! He’s changed a lot over his lessons and I couldn’t be happier with the progress he’s made!

M
Michelle L.2024
★★★★★

WONDERFUL TRAINING!!!! I contacted Rising Sun Canine because I rescued a Husky that was not getting along with our Aussie. They really got into some very aggressive fights. In addition the Aussie was very hyper and did not listen. I was feeling very discouraged. I contacted Rising Sun Canine and Austin was very nice and informative and was able to set up training for my two dogs and made it convenient for my schedule. Training was not a cookie cutter training but tailored specifically for my dogs. I am truly amazed with how my Australian Shepherd behaves now. I can actually take him in public and enjoy him. You can see in photo they are getting along. Highly recommend Rising Sun Canine and miss the classes.Austin is very professional and truly amazing with the dogs. Also worked with his assistant trainer Jayden. Very sweet and worked well with dogs too.

C
Conan G.2024
★★★★★

We are so happy with our choice to use Rising Sun Canine Training! Austin was fantastic. He came to our home and our dog Gus listened to him from day one! Austin taught us how to work with Gus through the week to ensure he was learning what he was being taught. Austin was also very patient with us when had a bad week with doing our work with Gus.

By the end of the process, we have a wonderfully obedient dog, and Austin was one of the main reasons for that. We’d use him again in a heartbeat and would recommend him to anyone looking to train their dog.

V
Vic G.2024
★★★★★

I highly recommend Austin and his staff at Rising Sun Canine Training. My two year old was still acting like a puppy when I took her to Austin. She was biting, jumping on everyone, barking and jumping at the tv, not coming when we called, dragging me on the leash, etc. I was embarrassed because I knew it was my fault; I just didn’t know how to properly train her. Luckily, I found Rising Sun Canine Training and now have a well behaved, happy girl I can take out in public. Austin obviously loves dogs (and they love him); he guarantees his work and has actually offered to come to my home (an hour’s drive) for a free session if needed. He truly cares and wants you to have a happy, well trained pet.

C
Cierra S.2024
★★★★★

i have nothing but good things to say about this company/trainers. My dog is my best friend, but we have had some issues with him being destructive. I really felt like Austin and Jaedyn do a great job training the dog, but an even better job training the trainer. I couldn't figure out why my dog was chewing at my hardwood flooring even though I take him out multiple times a day and play with him. I hadn't really put myself "in the dog's shoes" to figure out why the issue was happening but Jaedyn and Austin are dog whisperers, they really helped
me understand what was going through my dog's mind and how to correct it. Not only did my dog stop chewing at the flooring, but I know how to better understand him and push him to be the happiest and best behaved dog that he can be, whilst minimizing his anxiety. Half of dog training is training the trainor, I believe. Knowing the reasons behind my dog's behavior and how to correct it was essential. I went through weekly lessons and noticed a pretty big change in my dog's behavior almost immediately! I had some homework to do after lessons, and they did a good job at making it easy to follow. The prices were very reasonable too. If you're having any issues with your doggo, I highly suggest reaching out to them. Their training store also sells pet food and toys so they've honestly become my one stop.

Where We Train

Our facility is in Marion. Families come to us from across Williamson County and the surrounding towns.

Marion Herrin Carterville Crainville Carbondale Johnston City West Frankfort Benton Williamson County

Ready to Meet Us?

Claim your free in-person consultation. We’ll meet you and your dog, share a few training tips you can use right away and recommend the right program.