Consider carefully before leaving your K9 companion for weeks with anyone. Research will expose any issues that a business might have. The ChamberofCommerce.com is very informative. Reputable dog trainers prefer training owners vs board and train their dog. Explained that the dog was a rescue from a local animal shelter & the pet of a handicapped person. The owner wasn't able to manage him due to mobility & stability issues. This was a 3 yr Doberman; which is considered one of the top 5 intelligent breeds. The owner had been kenneling the dog outside for prior 2 months. The dog's worse behavior was jumping on people. Chose the 3 week option. The dog only needed to be trained for 5 commands; 1)Sit, 2) Down, 3) Stay, 4)Come, & 5)Heel. The dog knew sit but wouldn't maintain a sit without a reward & for more than a few seconds. The folder I was given stated 10+ commands. Trainer doesn't train the stay command alone. If you watch the posted training videos, trainer will use "stay" with sit & down. You don't get a stay alone, which can be sitting, standing, lying down per the dog's choice. The trainer claims to train the command "come" on a leash, which is useless. The trainer spends a lot of time posting Facebook material on non-related training. Per videos she doesn't train a behavior before adding a verbal. Dogs are visual creatures that, through domestication, evolved to prioritize non-verbal cues--posture, gaze, and gestures--over verbal commands. Hand signals work better than verbal. Verbals can be added after the behavior is understood. The best training duration time is a max of 5 minutes or less per session & multiple times a day. The facility is small & doesn't expose dogs to real world scenarios. The dog ended up staying a total of 7 weeks with added costs. He wouldn't complete any command with the trainer, her husband, or myself at the time of graduation. I visited the dog weekly. Owner visited twice. Duration of a command was never more than a 10 - 15 seconds max in posted videos, if the dog would actually respond to a command. The dog completed a sit and down in the last video posted & required a reward. Trainer was some male person who never turned their back on the dog. Trainer/owner called the day after failed graduation & stated the dog had to be removed from the facility for aggression towards a staff member, who was a minor left with the dog. The trainer markets themselves as a behavior modification professional. The trainer didn't exclusively train the dog. She told the Consumer Protection Agency with the KY AGs office that she promised myself that she would personally train the dog. Later, in court, she would blame the dog, or myself for the lack of expected training. The owner picked the dog up the day after the failed graduation. The trainer/owner handed the dog's owner an envelope. More than a week later I opened the envelope to find a check for $850, which wasn't even the last full payment. The check was canceled, per the bank, just a few weeks later. Eventually had to take the center to small claims court to get $917.00 & some odd change after paying a total of $2438 although the dog was never fully trained as the owner & the website guaranteed. The trainer's response was that they could come to the home & claimed in court that the dog was fully trained. There would have been no need for further training outside of the 7 weeks, if a dog were fully trained. I have trained 6 dogs in the last 2 years. When I read the website's faqs it stated "Totally" trained & guarantees that the dog would do all the training agreed upon when returned. During 2 yrs of slowly working through the remediation process, I filed a complaint with the BBB of Kentucky, the Consumer Protection Agency with the KY Attorney General's office, consulted 2 different lawyers, & finally filed a small claims after everyone urged me to do so. The complaint to the BBB is still posted and viewable to the public. read more

I took my dog to LCK-9 Training Center & chose Option 2, which states: Bring your dog to my home for a three (3) week "Doggie Boot Camp". ~ This option frees you up from the week to week process of doing obedience classes. I will train your dog fully and show you how to follow through with your dog's obedience training, behavioral modifications, and socialization. This option is also for problems with housebreaking your dog. I will totally housebreak your dog to ring a bell on a door and show you how to follow through. ($1150, $1450 for dogs 60 lbs and up) Upon arriving, I was asked to checkmark & make a list of things that I prioritized for my dog to learn while she was there. My main concern was RECALL. When I picked her up 3 weeks later, the commands that were went over with me, that she had been "taught", included: Sit, lay down, stay, shake, high five, heel, off, leave it, and jumping through a hoop. (She already knew sit, lay, & shake). I included several others on the list that were not taught. Two days after pickup, I texted saying my dog was inconsistent with commands. The trainer told me to "make her" do them & that the leash should signal it's time to work. I followed the advice, but nothing changed. Three days later, I followed up about recall--my main concern from the start. She told me to watch a video on her website. I explained I meant off-leash recall during outdoor play. She then proceeded to tell me: "basic obedience is everything on leash. I taught her to come in a controlled environment." This is not "recall" however. Recall is defined as: A dog's ability to come to their owner when called. It's a vital obedience skill for safety and control, particularly in off-leash situations. A reliable recall means the dog will consistently and enthusiastically come when called, even with distractions. At no point--either in the Option 2 description or in conversations with the trainer--was it made clear that the training was limited to **on-leash only**. When asked what to focus on, this limitation was never mentioned. I clearly communicated that off-leash recall was my top priority so my dog could safely play outdoors and return when called. Unfortunately, this was not taught. Side note (health concerns): The night I picked my dog up, she projectile vomited. I asked the trainer if she'd been sick during her stay, & was told "not one single time." Concerned, I contacted my vet & shared that my dog had dropped from 51.8 lbs to 50 lbs over the 3 weeks, despite getting smiley faces on her eating chart. She appeared very thin--her ribs were visible--was eating grass, & had mushy stools. The trainer mentioned another dog there had a "stomach bug," but my vet explained dogs don't catch stomach bugs like humans. I'm now dealing with a vet visit, stool testing, & medication. When we picked our dog up from training, she didn't seem like herself. She was skittish, withdrawn, & as if she expected to be punished during commands. This behavior continued at home, & she remained sick for weeks. After expressing our concerns to the trainer multiple times, she offered a free additional week of training. However, considering our dog's condition & the fact that she hadn't been taught what we originally requested, we didn't feel comfortable sending her back. I've went back & forth about posting this for months. Since picking my dog up, I've been trying to teach her the skills I paid over $1,200 for at LCK9 Training Center--despite not being a dog trainer myself, which is why I sought professional help in the first place. The day I decided to send her to another trainer was because that day, she was nearly hit by a car due to her lack of recall, a skill I made clear was my top priority. I'm sharing this now because I paid for a service, did not receive what was asked, and almost lost my dog because of it. Response to her comment below: I gave my dog to the pound??? She is right next to me. Good to know not only do you run your business poorly, but also spread false information because you were left a bad review. (She also blocked me on Facebook because I confronted her about spreading false info - my dog is indeed not at a pound lol). Terribly ran business. read more