Love. They teach you how to train your dogs. Very personalized. Help me train my current service…read moreanimal

I recently enrolled my 14 week old puppy into Jackie's Basic and Beyond class. This review will be…read morelengthy but if you're looking to skim, the cliff notes are that Jackie harmed my dog giving her a correction in which she yelped in pain, and is now refusing to refund my money for a 6 week program I won't be utilizing for obvious reasons. I warn anyone looking for a safe class utilizing positive reinforcement against doing the same. I will start by saying multiple red flags happened and I genuinely should have just left, but didn't have time to process and my biggest regret is staying when I had a bad feeling. Before class, all materials by Jackie's state they do not allow on leash meetings between dogs. I arrived early assuming there was some protocol for waiting for class and making payments that allowed the dogs to safely enter without interacting (based on their own statements and previous training experiences, as this is the fourth dog I've owned in my adult life). To my surprise, as multiple other dogs entered, no trainers or employees made any effort to distance us to prevent on leash interactions. I ended up picking Sadie up to insure this didn't happen. To the other owners credit, all seemed to know enough to make attempts to separate their dogs to the best of their ability. But this tiny room was holding three adult sized dogs, two puppies, and all of their owners with trainers filtering in and out to get payment with no system to distance them or safely have them enter training? (Response to this concern from owner is their lobby is under renovation as if there is no other system that could have been worked out, staggered entrances, waiting in cars or parking lots, lol) Fast forward to being in the actual training, my 14 week old lab was identified as an "alligator" meaning she takes treats hard/bites hard. I don't dispute that at all, it's something we've been working on. (When I mentioned we were working on it, Jackie laughed at me saying that was like her working with her child on not playing paintball in the house???? I don't know what that means but she asked nothing of my background of going to training or what I was doing to work on this). She approached my puppy and asked if she could show me how to correct it, I said yes. (That's literally why I'm in this class, why would I say no). Imagine my surprise when she grabs my dogs head and pushed her back by her loose skin until my 14 week old puppy literally yelps in pain. I was shocked and confused, and went through the rest of the class to their credit, with no other incidents related to my dog. I will say that they brought in an adult dog who had graduated from all of their programs, and had him demonstrate some tricks. When he went to be placed on a table, and chose the wrong one (there were two tables) his owner gave him a "no" command and went towards him, and the dog flinched. That coupled with what I had just seen with my dog told me as full a story as I needed. After discussing with my partner, I reached out to the business and told them based on this incident, this training didn't align with what I wanted for my puppy. I offered to pay a pro rated amount for the class I did attend, and asked for a refund for the rest, and to part ways. In the first email response from this company about my concerns (you can view them in my google review as I attached screen shots) while yes my dog did yelp in pain, it was quieter than her bark?? This seems to be Jackie's personal measurement of dog pain based on decibels. That's the only thing I can discern. They offered for me to transfer to another trainer- the entire business is called Jackie's training?? And I was with Jackie?? In the second email they state that after reviewing the same video as the first email, magically, there is no yelping!!! What a relief that is, as in the first email, we got into what pitch level the yelping is. Amazing to see it never happened! Jackie firmly believes she had the right to hurt your dog and charge you for the pleasure.

Having worked at this facility I can tell you that all the dogs that come in for board and train…read moreare not trained by certified trainers. What is more disheartening is the owner who is certified to train isn't there most of the time. So she's allowing the inmates to run the asylum. The group classes are run half assed. One training class I audited the trainer and the clients sat the whole time! How do they think training is happening by sitting! And the trainer was pontificating about nothing and eating the the cheese that was meant for the dogs. There was no education of how dogs learn, how many times you use a dog's name or how many times you issue commands. The poor people are NOT getting their moneys worth. Dog training should be taught by Certified Pet Dog Trainer (CPTD). Unfortunately the owner of this facility has decided money is more important than doing right by the people and their dogs!

I signed my puppy up for Teamworks per the recommendation of a veterinary assistant when I brought…read morein my 10-week old puppy for her first check-up. I wanted an introductory training class that wasn't at PetSmart, so I tried it when Riley was about 16 weeks old. Riley and I did the 7-week Puppy Class (Positive Socialization and Introduction to Basic Manners) with Christie. There were four puppies total in the class, so I loved the attention we each received in our hour. Christie is a great trainer. She is very knowledgable and helped me get a new harness to walk Riley that would allow me to control her more. Of course, she is patient with the pups (and the humans). I wanted to continue bringing Riley to classes there (Puppy Agility, and Canine Good Citizen), but (1) you cannot miss a class and as the summer came, that became hard to schedule, (2) I moved to Durham, so I was no longer close to Capital Blvd., and (3) I started law school. I would recommend Teamworks to anyone. I attribute Riley's good manners and attention skills to her solid base training. I also gained confidence by training her, which was good!

Can't say enough great things about the pack at Topline K9!…read more After we brought the newest member of our family home from a great rescue org, we needed training as new dog owners. Topline provided private coaching in our home in addition to group lessons in real world locations like parks and businesses. Under their guidance, our sweet boy learned respect us as his leaders. Later we went through a Canine Good Citizen class, and Merlin graduated with honors. He now holds his AKC Good Citizen certification. If you're looking for a canine training program that has the same passion for you dog as you, Topline K9 Solutions is your answer!

Our puppy needed obedience classes so we decided on Topline K9 with Lisa Rosendahl and her…read moreassistant Rae! These classes were held in AniMall (which is located in Cary Towne Center). I think that our pup learned tons and so did we. I would definitely recommend these classes to anyone with a puppy or untrained dog!

We purchased our Moyen Poodle puppy from Michael and Sandra at the Dog Academy of NC. We had a…read moregreat experience. Our puppy, Raven, was 7 months old when we picked him up and Michael had worked with him and he was amazingly well trained and behaved. Michael took time to teach me his approach to training and it was tremendously effective. I can't say enough about the good experience we had with the Dog Academy of NC.

If you have any reservations about training with Mike at Dog Academy of NC, I'm here to dispel them…read morefor you. Mike is one of the best trainer's we've ever met and I can't express how happy we were with choosing him. He is professional, extremely knowledgeable with decades of experience training dogs, and most of all really does care about your dog. But even more important than that, he cares more about who your dog could become; stronger, happier, and more capable in every way. As I'm sure you can relate, its hard to choose the right trainer for your pups. They're family and we love them like children so this can make us very protective of them. We want them treated right and with love. Sometimes that makes us overly protective of them and blinds us to the fact that our own over-loving can be what's contributing to behavioral or confidence issues with our dogs! Sometimes we just don't even realize we are holding our dogs back and that discipline and structure is the best love you can give them. To some people his methods may seem harsh at first, but I assure they are safe and effective. My wife and I were this way at first, but after we understood the process and saw the results, we were converted. Structure, then love. And the love will fix your dog, but first there needs to be structure. This was the case with our 5 year old pitty Max. He is the goofiest sweetheart and was never aggressive, but had major confidence issues. He was good with dogs, but fearful of people and even flies. Any loud-ish noise would make him nervous and he had separation anxiety. We brought him to Mike to get some training on being less afraid of people. We thought he was pretty well trained and only needed some touching up. From the first session we found out that his issues were much deeper than that. And worst of all we had no idea that we were essentially contributing to them and reinforcing his nervous state. Through the next 3 weeks we left Max with Mike for intensive training of which we participated in 3-4 training sessions a week. Max made great progress, but more importantly, we did too as his dog parents. Mike taught us so much about dog psychology and how to better communicate with him. By the end of the training we were doing what we thought would be impossible with Max; calmly hanging out at a brewery with him! Mike taught us all how to be more confident and build a better relationship together. Mike's training exceeded our expectations and it was worth every penny.

My dog, Julep, was very reactive on the leash and would get extremely overwhelmed with meeting new…read morepeople and hearing loud noises. After working with Kassondra for four weeks, Julep has shown tremendous improvement on her walks and has gotten more comfortable with meeting new people and dealing with loud/scary noises. During our training, Kassondra was extremely patient with Julep, who often takes a while to warm up to people. Kassondra was also very patient with me as I was learning the proper ways to handle Julep on a leash. In the past, I had dealt with trainers who were not as patient, so working with Kassondra was a breath of fresh air. After each lesson, Kassondra would send a write-up with homework, which was a great way to get an outline of our session and what I needed to work on in between trainings. Kassondra also helped us work through some of Julep's separation anxiety issues and gave us some great resources to use on addressing this anxiety. Kassondra is extremely knowledgeable on dog training and how to handle reactive dogs with high anxiety and fear of new people. When looking for a trainer I talked to several local businesses/trainers, but after speaking with Kassondra I knew she was the pawfect match and would give Julep the support she needed! I wish I had found her sooner!! If you are looking for a dog trainer, I highly recommend contacting Kassondra as she has plenty of programs that can fit your dog's needs!

Had Kassondra come to train my new Golden Retriever puppy as a first time dog owner. On top of…read moregiving me great guidelines for where to start and how to go about teaching a new puppy in general, she made herself available for questions and concerns about generic puppy care and things to expect. Couldn't recommend her for new pup training, and am looking forward to following up with her for more advanced training as my girl gets older!

Best doggie daycare ever! Classes are amazing and very well done! I would recommend Thinking Dog…read moreto anyone.

Communication is not very good. A training class was rescheduled to accommodate travel but I…read morereceived no notification. I missed the class prior due to an emergency, but there was no follow up note providing guidance on what was learned and what to practice to prepare for the next week. The room was too small for the number of dogs they had. Get ready for long winded explanations and very little practice at the training. My puppy got bored a lot. It's asking a pup a lot to just sit there when there are so many other dogs in the room. I only attended half of the classes I paid. A webinar could've been just as effective.

If you have an anxious or fearful dog, I can't recommend Proactive Dog Training enough!…read moreI have a smaller dog with some pretty significant anxiety and behavioral challenges. At one point, I was even advised to consider medication--but I really wanted to explore training options first. That's when I found Javier Mendoza and his team, and I'm so glad I did. The transformation has been incredible, especially in such a short amount of time. My dog went from being afraid to walk past even a single stranger on the sidewalk... to more confidently walking through a crowded airport. The difference is honestly amazing. I've also seen a huge improvement in how he responds to other dogs and people, and his loose leash walking has gone from a struggle to something we can actually enjoy. What really stood out to me was how knowledgeable and supportive Javier and his team are. They didn't just train my dog--they took the time to explain the "why" behind everything, breaking down the science in a way that made sense and answering all of my questions along the way. Of course, I know training is an ongoing process, and I'll need to keep reinforcing what we've learned (and probably come back for a few follow-ups). But the progress we've made so far has exceeded my expectations. If you're dealing with an anxious, fearful, or reactive dog, do yourself a favor and check them out. Total game changer.

Our dog Calvin has been home from his two week stay for about a week now, and we could not be more…read morepleased! Prior to his stay at Proactive, walking him was exhausting and I'm amazed my arms were still in their sockets. He also loved to steal things and run through the dog door to the fenced back yard and either hide it (like a Christmas present he stole from under the tree until we wised up and moved them all) or just play chase (which we never won). He also would dig a lot (especially if it was wet and muddy!) and loved to make a snack of our other dog's poop. After he went through training at Proactive (we did the two week Ultimate Dog Package), he is SO well behaved. He's still his fun-loving self, but he listens and does what he is told. It only took two times correcting the poop eating and digging and he has stopped trying to do it. Walking him is an absolute joy, we've even been practicing dropping the leash in areas we feel it's safe to do so and he's been great. I HIGHLY recommend Proactive...all the trainers were great, and you can see videos daily of their progress while they're gone, as well as meet them for practice sessions. If you're at all considering dog training, just call them, you will not be disappointed!

Awesome people! Patient and knowledgeable. Respond to emails quickly…read more The training has made a huge difference with both my dogs. My new rescue went from anxiety ridden, scared of everything dog, to a confident girl. I was hesitant of using the collar at first, but it's not painful to the dogs, and they respond so well to it. Easy scheduling website with several different locations to train. You can go at your own pace. Would highly recommend them to friends and family!

We adopted Cooper from the SPCA last June. He is a lab mix; sixty-five pounds. He is a sweet boy,…read morebut needed to learn some manners. Four lessons later and Cooper is doing great. He listens! He comes when called, sits, places, and we are still working on heel and down (because his human needs to be more confident - not because he isn't smart). Special shout out to Diana, who was extremely kind and patient with me. I needed more training than Cooper. ;) Diana is extremely knowledgeable, experienced, caring, and all around just great to work with! Highly recommend Off Leash K9 Training and now we are looking into So Fetch for future adventures! You will not be disappointed if you take your dog to Off Leash K9 Training for training. You and your dog will both benefit and your bond will be enhanced!