I called Lehigh Valley Dog for a consultation earlier today and was left extremely discouraged and distraught afterwards. I spoke with Gwenevere Marx, and, as she was collecting information about my sweet boy, she immediately shifted to lecturing and belittling me. For context, my pup is a male American Bully. When I adopted him as a puppy back in December of 2024, he had a slew of health complications - his litter was neglected and a few of the puppies passed away, but when we received our puppy, he had to be treated for malnutrition, oxygen deprivation, canine coronavirus, seizures, and parvo. These complications persisted well into my first eight to ten months of having him. My dog wasn't neutered when we adopted him either, and my vet strongly advised me to wait until he was two to get him fixed. I intend on getting him neutered this summer, now that his health has leveled out. I also enrolled him in an obedience course when he was eight to eleven months old, and he passed the course! I have been looking to get my dog enrolled in some training to work on his reactivity. My dog is not aggressive, but he is reactive with other dogs while on walks and has trouble with jumping on visitors in my home. He is easily excitable, which is why I was turning to training as a mode of recorrection of unwanted behaviors. During our consult, Gwenevere berated me over the phone, declaring that my dog's breed was "the top ten most dangerous breeds in the United States," and that I "waited far too long to enroll him in training" and that I "didn't socialize him enough." She also stated that my "vets and breeder were lying to me about waiting until he was 2 years old to get him neutered so the vets could gauge me with bills and my breeder would want me to return the dog after a year because he had grown to be too aggressive." Gwenevere was also distracted on my consultation call, she was on a drive and eventually pulled off to have private conversations with someone else. She even placed me on hold at one point so she could carry on with her private conversation. Once she hopped back on the call, she became quite dismissive and said she was now on her way to train a service dog and told me to call her back "once I figure out what I want to do." One thing is for certain, if this is how she chooses to conduct business during an initial phone consult, sight unseen, I can't imagine how she is with the animals during in-person trainings. read more

I have no rating for this woman who presents herself as able to train any dog. She is a thief!!! $2100.00 dollars. 1.... 3 hour private session Followed by 3 group sessions where her dog stood in front of my dog...beared her teeth and expected no reaction from my dog. In front of an entire class Gwen humiliated me and my dog by insisting I double prong collar my highly aggressive dog.... Are not those the dogs she claims to be able to work with!!!!! the BAD kids in the class. I believed her.... I trusted her... Do not believe her... Do not trust her... she is a thief. read more

WARNING: Gwen is not actually able to certify therapy dogs (although she will charge you money to "certify" your dog) My family went to Gwen to have our dog certified as a therapy dog; a service she says she offers. My family paid $600 and had one session at Gwen's home, where Gwen tested our dog and said that she passed the certification, and she gave us a certificate. When my mother went to volunteer at the local hospital, they informed us that Gwen's program is NOT a certification program, and that our dog still needed to go through a certification process (which by the way, cost only $40). read more

Shocked at how unprofessional this owner is. I called Gwen at 4:30 to discuss a behavioral consultation for my dog. She said she was in the middle of a session and could call me back in 30 minutes for a full phone consultation. Absolutely fine! Well she never called. At 6:30 I texted to see if she could still talk to me. She responsed at close to 10pm asking if it was too late to call me back. I said I could still talk and guess what! She never actually called me. Having now read some reviews about her use of shock collars, prong collars, and outdated "dominance" tactics, I think I dodged a bullet but this is still no way to run a business. read more

Lehigh Valley Dog Training - Pet Training Near Me

I am writing to provide a detailed review of Lehigh Valley Dog Training, operated by Gwenevere Marx. Although she claims to have over 35 years of experience in dog behavior and training, my experience during a two-hour consultation session at her home on December 6th 2025 did not reflect the level of expertise she advertises. Throughout the session, Ms. Marx refused to make physical contact with my dog, despite the fact that he displayed no signs of aggression--no growling, lunging, or jumping. He simply cried for attention. Both she and her assistant, Amber, remained across the room for the entire two hours. They were very impersonal and wouldn't even shake hands with us, the human clients. At one point, Ms. Marx threw treats toward my dog, even after I explained that he accepts treats gently. She also declined to take the leash and demonstrate any basic training techniques... Isn't that what I'm paying her for, to show me the basics? She replied with "you wouldn't want to see me correct your dog"...I'm sorry what is that suppose to mean? Are you abusive? Additionally, she repeatedly mispronounced my dog's name despite multiple corrections, and she made several comments to both myself and my boyfriend that were belittling and inappropriate--particularly toward women especially myself. Her overall conduct throughout the session was unprofessional, dismissive, and lacked even the most basic common courtesy. She did not listen to any of our concerns regarding our pet. Instead, she spoke in circles, frequently contradicted herself, and spent considerable time criticizing other companies and telling unrelated stories. None of this offered any useful guidance or techniques for the issues we came in seeking help with and seeking help for. During our session, her boyfriend walked into the room while we were speaking and held an unrelated conversation with her, and at another point, a friend of hers also entered and had another conversation with her. These interruptions were disruptive, disrespectful, and highly unprofessional. She also picked up her phone multiple times throughout the appointment and began texting. I paid $1,100 for this session and was only able to recover $500. I do not believe the remaining $600 she kept is justified given the lack of service she provided. This experience left me extremely disappointed, and I feel it is important for others to be aware of the concerns surrounding this business. I strongly encourage any potential clients to research this company thoroughly, including reviewing the numerous complaints filed with the Better Business Bureau, before trusting them with the care and training of their pets. I made every effort to communicate my concerns directly with Ms. Marx but she showed no compassion or understanding and offered no apology for her actions. She also did not demonstrate any willingness to address the issues raised. read more

The other reviews are spot on. Gwen is an abhorrent human and should not be working with the public. She's actually good with the dogs but, we were in Service dog training despite her frequent insults about my dog and her breeds (she truly only likes German Shepherds and in talking to other families with non GSD's, she insulted their dogs as well). She has no idea how to interact with actual disabled people. The Sunday "group" classes are in a huge field full of holes, as a disabled person, it was incredibly difficult to try to keep up and none of the trainers, especially Gwen, would ever offer assistance. The final straw was when she was shit talking a friend to another client/trainer in front of everyone then had the nerve to try to slut shame my 18 year old daughter who came to class to help me for wearing shorts she deemed too short. She then sent me a vulgar text when I got home. I replied and told her we wouldn't be returning and she never even took the time to reach out to us. Thousands of dollars down the drain. Luckily we found a new trainer who is 1:1 not 5-10:1 and my girl is thriving. I'll be curious to see if she comes in here to try to say I have the wrong school. I don't. I can post pics and screen shots if you'd like! read more

Gwen is the perfect example of bad business!!! She required a deposit from me to make the appointment. Then the night before she called and said she needed to postpone/cancel but would get back with me. Two days later contacted me to reschedule and I let her know I will not be needing her services afterall. She then argued with me on the phone about how she is the only one in the Lehigh Valley that could help my situation. Then questioned who I went to and I informed her that was none of her business. She proceeded to tell me if I got a trainer they could not help, and would not beable to do what she does. I find it amusing that the name of the business is Lehigh Valley Dog Training, but she claims she isnt a trainer, shes a behaviorist. I had to end the call because she wanted to argue like I child and I am not interested in the back in forth nonsense with individuals that mimiac fraud. Gwen has absolutely no class and it is apparent she does not care about dogs or their owners at all. I maybe out my deposit but after reading other reviews I could have been out a mortgage payment. I see it as a blessing in disguse because she obviously wasn't the right fit for my situation. I would not recommend this business and I believe that karma will catch up with her. read more

TLDR: Gwenevere Marx utilizes outdated, aggressive training methods to "train" dogs. She charges strictly for her consultation sessions and has stated in email that her group training classes are free to attend. If you truly care about the wellbeing of your dog, find a proper trainer -- not someone who charges almost a grand for a consultation service and a prong collar. On the 13th of June, 2025, my fiancé and I took my 22-month-old puppy, Emmie, to Gwenevere Marx of Lehigh Valley Dog Training to assist in potential dog-to-dog aggression. Previous to the in-person meeting, we were told that there would be a consultation between Emmie and Gwenevere's three dogs, who would tell which classes Emmie would need to be placed in. We were also told that the total cost covers both the consultation and the weekly trainings. During the consultation, Gwenevere asked us questions about Emmie and what our expectations were for the trainings. When she brought her dogs out shortly thereafter, she quickly assessed that Emmie has dog-to-dog aggression -- this was nothing we did not already know. It was at this point that Gwenevere brought out a small prong collar and demonstrated how it works, explaining that it is no more harmful to the dog than a mother's nipping of the nape. However, when Gwenevere placed the collar around Emmie's neck, and then demonstrated the "proper" use of it, my fiancé and I were appalled. The second that Emmie began to growl at Gwenevere's dog, Gwenevere snapped the prong collar to the point that Emmie was (barely) on her hind legs, crying out in visible pain and attempting to get to us for safety. She was clearly confused, scared, and -- most importantly -- in pain, despite the promise made that the prong collar does not hurt the dog. (Upon further research, this is factually incorrect, and there is a reason these collars are banned in many other countries, where positive reinforcement training is more popular.) Despite this, my fiancé and I entertained the rest of the session, to see if, perhaps, Emmie's behavior would be changed as Gwenevere said it would. And her behavior did change -- but not for the better. Emmie went from being very lovable, curious, and energetic to being frightened by the mere presence of another dog. Gwenevere reassured us -- both in this consultation and in future emails -- that this was the goal. However, this is not at all how a dog should act. A dog should not suddenly be terrified of other dogs, especially an 8-week-old puppy, as evidenced when we introduced Emmie to my parent's new dog. Upon reflection of the consultation, my fiancé and I determined that we did not want to go through with these training services any longer. I sent Gwenevere an email on Sunday, June 15, explaining my reasoning and requesting a refund of the $930 she charged us. The response I received from Gwenevere is that the fear Emmie exhibits is the goal, that it means Emmie is "fixed," and that Emmie does not even need the training sessions (this is contradictory to her telling us how important the sessions are while we were there and that we need to be dedicated to them). Gwenevere refused my fiancé and I even a partial refund of the money spent, and she has not responded to any of the other emails I have sent her since then. Do not make the same mistake that I did. Gwenevere Marx claims to be a dog trainer, but she is not. She utilizes outdated and aggressive "training" methods that have not been practiced by respectable trainers since the 1950s. She charges an outrageous amount of money for a consultation session, and she weaves fabricated stories regarding expectations for her training classes (which you apparently will not need after she miraculously fixes your dog in the consultation). Gwenevere, if you are reading this, I am still waiting on a refund. You have caused my young puppy trauma that I am still working to overcome with her. This is not right, in any way, shape, or form. read more

I called this business to inquire about getting my dog some help. I wish I had recorded the whole conversation. I will say I do talk faster and I was definitely trying to give her all the information I could about my pup. I was explaining some of the behaviors like she asked me to.. She had asked a question here and there and I answered. My pup was also now barking in the crate because my husband had just come home. I had the phone on speaker and I realized she called my name so I stopped talking to let her talk and she literally proceeded to yell at me like I was an annoying child or something. I mean yelled at me to the point I just hung up after she said her main piece, no words came out of my mouth, and I had tears welling up in my eyes.. I felt so embarrassed And belittled.. I was in utter complete shock. Even my husband was in shock and when I told him for the sake of Dexter if you would like us to see what they have to offer.. I would be okay but only if you continue the conversation. He said he absolutely would not do business with someone who just went off on me like that.. (He heard the whole exchange) No attempt of being like Hey can I stop you, I'm finding it hard to do my job with so much information.. How about you only answer my specific questions from now on.. Anything to center the conversation politely. I would've completely understood that and been more than willing and accommodating. But she just yelled at me and made me feel so small and uncomfortable. Like on and on. I've never felt that way in my life. Her customer service was awful. Then she called me and left a voicemail from a different number still blaming me, saying how I just wouldn't shut up and was going on and on, with zero apology about her behavior in our prior call. I sent her text back telling her I just couldn't accept her behavior and that I'd asked my husband if he wanted to try with her but he refused as well. So we'd be taking our business to another trainer but thank you and wished her a nice day. Had she addressed me the way she did in her voicemail, during the call I would've apologized MYSELF, given it another go, done better. But the way she treated me to then casually send me a VM still going on about how it was my fault and not at least apologizing when you don't have to be a brain surgeon to know you hurt my feelings. She knew she had reacted horribly because she knew it wasn't a dropped call or anything like that. I almost wasn't going to post this review and gave it a day or so to think it over. But I was telling someone today about my terrible experience and they told me to speak up. I know the recorded portion of the conversation doesn't prove much about how she treated me. It's my word against her. I'm only doing so because thinking about it.. if that's how she treated me.. How is she treating a dog who can't say anything? Very scary. read more

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Look up Marx's Lehigh Valley Dog Training. You will Find many unfavorable reviews. I am again looking for a dog trainer after a terrible experience with this owner. I'm sad to see this woman is still traumatizing dogs and owners, not to mention the 800$ I paid her. Makes me sick to think about it. read more

We rescued our German Shepherd puppy at the age of 8 months. Athena is now an 80lb 1 year old. We were at our wits end in the beginning because she was not properly trained or house broken. Gwen came to our home with her assistant trainer and her training dogs. She performed a thorough and impressive assessment teaching us how to manage Athena when we have new visitors, when she was having accidents, and when she would get out of hand by not listening, biting, etc. Her Sunday training classes follow up on the instructions that she gave with additional training along with other dogs/owners, and the socialization that is so important for this breed. She not only trains German Shepherds, she has all types and sizes of dogs in her classes. Gwen handles dogs with the expertise that can only come from years of experience, as well as with the specialized knowledge that she has. She has studied animal as well as human psychology and it shows during her training and instructions. She understands dogs so well and we are so very happy that we found her. She has also gone the extra mile in helping us with extra instructions as needed and is available to her clients by phone whenever there is a question or a problem. My husband and I love Gwen and the time that we are able to spend with her and her dogs with ours. I am happy to refer her to my friends and even to strangers at the Vet! Her knowledge of dogs and their behavior is so impressive. Her talent for training is even more! read more

Lehigh Valley Dog Training - Pet Training Near Me

Follow up to review comment since I can't edit it - I didn't say I paid 4000, I paid four figures as in 1100 and you offered to let me use your address for the tazer to ship since we live in town. I won't post your address since that would be inappropriate but I assure you that you indeed did recommend a tazer as you yourself used on your female German shepherds fighting years ago. And my last name is Smith, I have the poodles that you only recommended waiting two additional months for classes to start and hung out to dry with a dog situation and kids after paying over a thousand dollars for your services. I called you and left messages for follow ups from three different numbers and you never even had the decency to call back because you were too busy with your litter of puppies. read more

Worst training that I have ever experienced! Just read the reviews and I agree with what everyone else says ... I experienced the same .. smoking , leaving to go outside and talk on the phone while leaving her very inexperienced helper to " train " don't waste your money !!!!! read more

This would be zero stars if possible. The owner is rude, unprofessional and a complete charlatan. She promises miraculous training, only to revert to a shock collar on the first visit. She charged $900 for one session where she shocked (abused) my dog twice. She is being reported to the Better Business Bureau as we speak. Stay far away from this business. read more

Horrible experience! Please don't waste your money. I paid $600 for life time training. I thought that meant TRAINING! My first time going to Bethlehem started by standing by myself with my dog and hoping someone would tell me what to do. My puppy was 4 months old and no way a behavioral problem. I finally was told to go to the puppy circle where we proceeded to walk around in a circle. I expected to get instructions on how to train my dog instead of giving commands and expecting her to know what to do. I told the trainer my dog doesn't know any commands yet and I asked when the classes start. Well folks, that's all you get! You walk around in circles in a big field with 60+ other dogs, some with aggressive tags and many with muzzles. Just an awful experience!!!!! read more

So thankful for Marx's Lehigh Valley Dog Training. Gwenevere and Dana came to my apartment building and spent THREE hours with me and my dog before they okayed her for group sessions. At first I was skeptical when she said that she'd be able to correct my girls behavior on the first day... but she really didn't stop until she did. Gwenevere was very thorough explaining everything in great detail which helped make me feel more comfortable too. Additionally, she did spend some time working with me as an owner making sure I do what's right. The group sessions are great and well controlled. Everyone is so welcoming and understanding. Literally everyone "just wants to get along". ;) I've read some other reviews for Marx's prior to contacting them. There was a few people mentioning that her technique might be excessive. After seeing the training first hand and participating I can guarantee everything she does is safe an effective. Gwenevere really is a dog behavioralist who understands how to effectively communicate with the animals and I look forward to learning more from her. Overall, I'm extremely satisfied with my experience so far-and my dog is much happier when I'm happy. I will recommend over and over again! read more

Gwen came to our home to help with one of our dogs who has begun to show aggression. While she did give us some good tips, her style was very aggressive. Following her technique I felt hurt the dog and made the situation worse. I don't think you necessary meet aggression with aggression. I'm not here to bad-mouth her - this may work for some dogs, but for me it was a disappointing experience. I tried her techniques for one month and I know she'll say I didn't give it enough time. But I know my dog and I could see this type of training was not working. She also sold me a prong collar for my puppy who wasn't even in the mix. That was ridiculous. read more

Gwenevere Marx is amazing! I had a fearful girl and always said I wished my prior dog had still been around to help her out... Then I found Gwen and her 3 German Shepherds who are specifically trained to train other dogs. It was like a dream come true. We made more progress in 2 weeks with her than I had made in the 2 years prior with countless other trainers. After paying for the initial home visit, weekly classes are free for life, which my girl needs to keep her confidence up. There are many dogs there going through various issues and multiple trainers on site to help out and answer questions. I strongly recommend Gwen to every dog owner! read more

Absolutely horrible experience! I'd give negative stars if I could. Charged me and my fiance $800 to come to our house for approximately 2-3hrs. Gwen and her so called assistant smoked cigarettes the entire time they were there. They're very unprofessional in my opinion. All her techniques revolved around a prong collar and yanking on the leash. Promised lifetime classes which turned out to be at a park with however other many people she managed to get money from. Biggest waste of money and time. I'd avoid at all costs. read more

Bad bad bad. Abused my dog, refused to return my money then reported my review to yelp CS to that it would be removed. Look for a real trainer so your dog doesn't get a bruised neck or traumatized against ever wanted to go in a crate (like mine did). This woman showed up at my apartment smelling like smoke and booze, took $600+ then told me I could just buy a vest and that would get my dog into restaurants and stores as a service dog, her training of 2 haphazard prong collar attacks were sufficient. No thanks. read more

Horrible Horrible Horrible. Came to our home got out of the truck and said to me " shut your mouth and go stand over there, you are too emotional over your dog and we are the experts" as she blew cigarette smoke in my face. Very rude and totally unprofessional. read more

Terrible. Couldn't train my dog, did no follow ups and was no help at all. I don't recommend this trainer to anyone. We were charged almost $650 before she even met my dog...judging by the other reviews she does this with everyone. Do yourself a favor and hire someone else. read more

Words cannot express accurately how happy I am with this training! We have only done one session and Tank has already made a complete 180! 10/10 would recommend! read more

It was a HORRENDOUS experience! Gwen uses a PRONG COLLAR to hurt your dog into submission. I have a 10 month old, 15 pound puppy. This was not appropriate for him whatsoever. I could see if you have a large, aggressive dog who HAD to be stopped from doing certain behaviors. But, a puppy whose main problem is getting too excited? I think NOT! Additionally, I spoke with her extensively on the phone before I agreed to training. She told me she has a 'hold' for the dog, which imitates the way their mother teaches them. She said NOTHING about a PRONG COLLAR! I feel so very misled, and would NEVER have signed up for her training had I known. If you have a SMALL DOG... STAY AWAY! There are many other POSITIVE training options for you! Clicker training is the way to go! I urge anyone who cares about their dog - STAY AWAY! read more

I want EVERYONE to see this review i WOULD GIVE HER A 0 STARS IF POSSIBLE i have never completed a review of any business in my entire life and i was so pissed off at this owner GWENEVERE MARX after my conversation with her most of the time when i get a review for a business i never fill them out because of how crazy busy my life is but i am taking the time to write this because of how disgusted i was with her and i don't want anyone to have to pay $600 for SHITTY TRAINING i hired her for multiple things but my utter most important thing is i wanted my dog to stop getting out of his crate and biting the metal bars because he was breaking his teeth off. So i hired her because she said and i quote " Their is multiple techniques i can try with him" "all you have to do is continue the crate training with him multiple times a week" so i have been training him the way she thought me to and this comes with free dog classes with other dogs but never did she say i have to take him to classes if i want the issue fixed i missed 3 weeks because of a death in the family and vacation and she has the nerve to tell me that she did say that and say "well i didn't see you at class Sunday " i had plans and now i have spent $600 for training and + $500 to replace everything that my dog has damaged. after i confronted her asking if their is something els i could do she said no and we tried 1 option not multiple like she originally said. when i asked for my money back because the main thing i wanted done was not fixed after 1 year of training she said it doesn't work like that you idiot. DONT PAY THIS IT IS TERRAIBLE TRAINING DIDNT WORK FOR THE MAIN THING I NEEDED FIXED ON MY DOG PLEASE DONT USE THIS WOMAN I HOPE SHE GOES OUT OF BUISNESS read more

Don't use this trainer they take your money only Spey a hour with my dog and took my $500 worst trainer in the wold don't trust

over priced - did not do anything for us but bring us a prong collar. Her assistance did the actual "work" in our house while she just kind of sat there. The whole thing was a waste of time and money and did not improve the situation. I would not recommend this training service at all. read more

I just thought I would let everyone know how its going since Gwen has been to my mom's home to work with Sam. Her husband is as amazed as I am. Gwen stopped the crazy barking out the window, my mom has done exactly what Gwen showed her to do and now they have a nice quiet house. Sam did stop lifting his leg in the house and even waits by the door to go out. When people come to the door my mom points at him to stay quiet and the barking stops. Sam is ignoring the other dogs he sees walking and he is much nicer on the leash. Thank you or everything! read more

BEST dog behaviorist and trainer in the Lehigh Valley hands down!!!!! Gwenevere and her team are amazing. I cannot say enough goods things about this team. Gwenevere has not only taught me so much about my fur baby but has also fixed my Australian Shepherds fear aggression. I absolutely love the obedience and socialization classes. Top notch! read more

High priced and made promises they didn't go into detail with from the beginning. It was a pretty penny to have a 2-hour in-home training and to be able to attend classes, which they don't focus on shock collars, they focus on chocking, prong collars. Our German shepherd was okay in the beginning, but once we had our first child, the dog began acting up (possessing, growling). So what are we told to do if our trained dog had ANY future issues (since it's a "lifetime" trainee) is to call Gwenevere, the trainer. She gave some tips over the phone, including putting the dog on a super long leash and just chocking her with a collar when she growls, but to come in the home and really help, was ANOTHER $800. I think they left that out with the intro pitch. We ended up trying a different trainer to try and make our child and having a dog work and that trainer, including our dog kennel/camp all say the prong collar is the worst way to train and only creates fear in the dog. Also, we were told the classes are year-round and 1-2 times we would make the hour commute there to find there was no class! Do your research beforehand and get ALL the info from the beginning. read more

It was a HORRENDOUS experience! Gwen uses a PRONG COLLAR to hurt your dog into submission. I have a 10 month old, 15 pound puppy. This was not appropriate for him whatsoever. I could see if you have a large, aggressive dog who HAD to be stopped from doing certain behaviors. But, a puppy whose main problem is getting too excited? I think NOT! Additionally, I spoke with her extensively on the phone before I agreed to training. She told me she has a 'hold' for the dog, which imitates the way their mother teaches them. She said NOTHING about a PRONG COLLAR! I feel so very misled, and would NEVER have signed up for her training had I known. If you have a SMALL DOG... STAY AWAY! There are many other POSITIVE training options for you! Clicker training is the way to go! I urge anyone who cares about their dog - STAY AWAY! I would give 0 stars if I could! Pros: NOT A THING! Cons: SHE DID NOT EVEN GIVE ME MY MONEY BACK - EVEN THOUGH I AM NOT TAKING ANY OF HER TRAINING CLASSES! read more

You basically pay them $300 to bring you a prong collar, which they charge $20 for. Then they tell you to pull on the leash every time your dog does something you do not want them to do. They tell you, you can attend unlimited classes ( but these classes are outdoors, therefore they are only held when the weather is favorable). Now I am out $320 and all I have is an untrained dog and prong collar. Don't waste your money!! read more

I have never in my entire life been treated with such rudeness. I had a last minute change in schedule (for my father-in-law's heart surgery, not that it matters) for which I called to reschedule the appointment. I called first thing in the morning for a noon appointment and immediately apologized that I would need to reschedule. Whoever I spoke to, who I will assume was one of the owners, asked me what I was re-scheduling for with one of the nastiest, attitude laden tones I have ever encountered. Because I was so taken aback by both the tone and the question, I responded that I needed to be available to take my father-in-law to or from his (emergency) heart surgery. She continued to tell me that it was a major inconvenience and just went on and on about how it was such late notice, etc. I re-iterated that I needed to be available to take my father-in-law in for (emergency) heart surgery. Finally, she indicated that it was an okay "excuse", not that her tone or attitude improved at ANY point in the conversation. At that time I decided that whoever this person was, she was not welcome in my home just based on her AWFUL attitude and so I told her that I would not need her services now or in the future. I realize that re-scheduling can be an inconvenience and had it not been so sudden I certainly would have called sooner, but nothing justified the just plain nasty way that I was spoken to. This is the first Yelp review I have ever done in my life, but I really felt a need to make people aware of the nastiness that I encountered with this company. read more

I was very disappointed in my experience with Marx's dog training and Gwenevere. To be brief- do not waste your money or subject your dog to their "training". My experience is as follows: I rescued a coonhound mix in the fall and immediately felt desperate for help in training him. After a long phone conversation I was CONVINCED Gwenevere would be able to help, so much so that I decided to sign up my coonhound rescue and my lab mix. My lab mix, who I've had for over 5 years, always loved when he saw me pull out his prong collar, he'd get so excited because it meant walk. Within a week of starting Gwenevere's training he would pull away and hide from the collar. In the second week he became withdrawn and didn't want to interact with anyone or anything. The coonhound went from being defiant and full of nuisance behaviors to snapping at me any time I got near him. As a matter of a fact in the 3 months I'd had him he didn't once try to bite me, then I took him to his first class with Gwenevere and he bit me multiple times. We couldn't even join class. I was told to get him a muzzle and that it would get worse before it got better. He certainly kept getting worse, then classes took a break for winter. I backed off "training" with the prong collar and was seriously reevaluating if it was worth returning to classes since this was the ONLY training method being offered and it didn't seem right for my dogs. Then my work schedule changed to weekend only (when classes are offered) so I figured it was a good excuse to see if I could get some kind of refund seeing as I paid $600 for both dogs for an in home session and "lifetime" classes, or so I thought. Turns out I paid $600 for a barely 2 hour in home session that left one dog afraid of me and the other wanting to bite me. I am disappointed in myself for ever having let someone like Gwenevere near my dogs. Even for the in home session she was just cold towards the dogs. I cannot support training with scare tactics to make my dogs subservient. I wanted to build a trusting relationship so they would respect me as their owner (okay, "mom"), but I set us backwards and ruined the relationships we did have. I have since sought out help from a trainer that uses rewards to train-- I was thrilled to see my coonhound who constantly challenges me LOVING learning to listen. Seeing the difference in my dogs response to both situations, I strongly encourage anyone looking for a dog trainer to look past Marx's/Lehigh Valley Dog. There are better options, don't put your dog through the stress of finding out the hard way like I did. read more

**IF YOU LOVE YOUR DOG STAY AWAY FROM GWEN** I should have thrown her right out of my house when she reeked of alcohol, and was slurring her words at 10:00AM, which she blamed on a recent dental procedure. Her idea of training, is borderline abuse to where my dog wound up turning against my husband, and I. Her idea of training, is using a pincher collar, and choking him out. She says she does not believe in positive reinforcement. She turned my dog, who had food aggression, into an almost unrecognizable dog. I will be making it a priority to write as many bad review's on her until she is out of business. I will be contacting the local news station as well to get this story out there. She is a joke, and when I asked for my money back, she refused stating she worked hard. She took about five cigarette breaks during our time as well, in her car with her "training partner" who was just her husband, who was also clueless. If you love your animal do not trust this woman at all, I have also reported her to the better business bureau, and have been in contact with someone already. She is NOT qualified, and should NOT be allowed to continue her so called "buesiness." She is an abuser, and the worst person I have ever come accross. My poor dog is scarred from her. Please stay far far away, there are much more qualified, and compassionate trainers out there. STAY AWAY!!! read more