Don, "The Tutor", has been a blessing to my family and dogs over the last four years. He has…read moreenthusiastically cared for and nurtured our two precocious golden-doddles, noticing and appreciating the nuances in their personalities and health, offering deeply-informed suggestions that always come from both a place of great experience and love for our dogs. In four years of walking and training services, he has never cancelled or been late, and on Don has always been extremely accommodating when my family's scheduling needs have presented obstacles. We trust him completely and recommend him with great enthusiasm! -- Paul Ciancio and family

We hired Don as a trainer for our very cute but very fear-aggressive bulldog rescue. Lulu had been…read morethrough two homes before ours, and she came to us with some issues. She needed someone who would be patient with her and who wouldn't give up on her, and Don was just that guy.  Over seven training sessions, Don worked with us to introduce Lulu to new people and new environments, making up for some of the socialization that she had missed out on as a puppy. He helped us with obedience work, and taught us tricks for keeping her in control when on walks. Don was so dedicated to her, and it was clear that he genuinely cared for her and wanted to help her be the best dog she could be. We liked Don so much that we also hired him for walks and boarding! Lulu always came back happy, and it was clear she enjoyed staying with Don and his wife Maria.  Thanks so much for everything, Don!!

When our Weimaraner's bad behavior with other dogs became dangerous, we were considering the sad…read moreoption of putting him down. Our vet recommended calling Linda first, and she was amazing. She saw the potential he really had, and taught me how to work with him. Years later, about a year before Simon died at a wonderful old age, he had made friends with a little male Westie and enjoyed "hanging out" with CoCo on the farm. In my book, Linda is a miracle-worker.

Experience, Talent, Integrity, Credentials Linda has…read moretrained 2 service dogs for my Autistic Daughter. They both responded beautifully to her positive reinforcement method with the "clicker". She also made sure that I could replicate her method and receive similar results independently. There are a bunch of "fly by night" trainers out there that don't have the same credentials or results that Linda has. Do your research and you will see that she rises above and is the clear choice if you are looking for positive results.

Rachel was an unbelievable asset to our dog Wilbur's progress. He comes from the suburban life, and…read moreto say he's not a fan of the hustle and bustle and noise in Hoboken is an understatement. He would cower and shake if a bus drove by, and if he didn't do that, he would take off like a rocket down the street back towards home. After doing some research for help in the area, we found Rachel's Wags and Wagons. After just 2 training sessions we noticed a huge difference in Wilburs behavior. And within 2 weeks he is more confident on his walks, and way less concerned by the loud busses that drive by. She even helped with his leash pulling. Now he walks like a proper gentleman. Rachel gave us the all the tools and training tips to succeed in his continued progress. We couldn't recommend Rachel enough.

This is a great pet training service overall - I tried it with our 1.3 year old Cavapoo who was…read morealways overanxious about everything and used to do a lot of leash pulling and not obey orders well. Rachel was the trainer and am happy to say that after 5-6 sessions, the dog is really well behaved , does not leash pull or run off near the cars or squirrels. Rachel showed us some good command techniques and we were able to effectively use them on the dog- she starts the training indoors and gradually goes outdoors. Even behaviorally Rachel showed us techniques on how to calm him down and make him listen to commands when he is over agitated. Also Rachel is a very good planner who explains everything before hand and plans the sessions much in advance. Overall i am a satisfied customer with a well behaved dog.

WARM & WONDERFUL!! I would recommend Virginia Dare to anyone who has any type of dog training…read moreneed. She is professional, warm, easy with pets and children as well as adults. Virginia is non-judgmental, patient, attentive and truly loves animals. Her pricing is reasonable and if I have any future needs, I am going back to her! There are levels of training - even if your dog is already good with basic commands, she can get him/her and you to the next level. I have a rescue who had a number of behavior problems (jumping, nipping, uncontrolled enthusiasm) - much of this is related to his age, but Virginia gave us tools that reduced and even eliminated his poor behavior. Training approach - Rewards-based (although there are alternative methods she will work with you on if you'd like) Technique - Praise / non-responsive to poor behavior (no military-style approach!) Responsiveness & Availability - Any question I had I was able to ask her either during the training session or in follow up (email or phone). Virginia's goal was to ensure we were getting the behavior we wanted to see. Whenever I had to reschedule a training session, she was very flexible and understanding. Overall character - Virginia is someone I'd love to call a friend - she is warm and friendly and is kind and consistent with everyone! I'd though my children (both 9) would be 'in the way', however, Virginia included them in the training sessions and it was great! My daughter became very skilled in training our Ivan. Virginia is very gentle with everyone and has a refreshingly open view of living with dogs. Follow-up - Virginia always followed up after each training session to ask if there were questions. She provided detailed reference for us that we could review and more deeply understand the 'why' of the training. She did explain everything during the training, but it was very helpful to have written material to refer to afterwards.

From the owner: North Star Canines provides private training lessons for good manners and obedience skills, and…read morebehavior consultations to resolve a large variety of problem behaviors. Training techniques are very effective, humane, and based on positive reinforcement. Certified trainer Virginia Dare has over 30 years of experience in the field. Serving Scottsville, VA and surrounding areas in Central Virginia.

So they have a new TV system and they can't put all the TVs on so they finally figured that out but…read morethey can't put them on the machines so you're stuck watching whatever they want to put on and guess what sports all day long. I'd like to see the news in the morning. We get there at 5 AM in the morning and the music is blasting. It Hass to be above the OSHA regulation decimals. Want to do the treadmill if you take it to high it goes right back to the first setting on the Elevation. Bathroom stinks of pee. I brought a lot of music to the attention of the growth counter and she said there's nothing we can do about it when I allowed to change. I said, can I speak to the manager manager at the same time that corporate said we're not allowed to change it and it's a new system and it can't be changed. I said that's ridiculous. I install systems all the time in peoples homes in every system can be lowered. Manager said I can make it louder and also told me to go get headphones that block out the sound. Really that's your answer to your member.

Will not let me get out of our contract ... my daughter tore her ACL and maniacs had surgery....I…read moredon't want to even give the 1 star but you can't move forward with out it.... and Peter the owner is a bully just saying .. he lost 4 customers off the bat and I will never recommend them !!! Sad!!