"Rude, unprofessional, negative, fraud, crook, arrogant, offensive, belittling, insulting, bully, awful, threatening, mean, nasty, shady, pressuring, abusive, obnoxious, combative, intimidating, humiliating, thief, horrible, harassing, hustler, demoralizing, and traumatizing . . . " These are some of the words used to describe this woman on a half dozen review sites. Do yourself a favor and check these out. And you'll note that the 5-star ratings are suspicious at best. During an initial consultation for $90, my wife and I fell to the pressure tactics of Ms. Levenson and signed up for six private sessions. Ms. Levenson's troubling behavior was just as iterated here by so many. And so, concerned we checked online reviews on her, her business practices and her training program and after our vet would not prescribe the two drugs for our dog that were to be key elements of her program, we tried to cancel the very next day. Apparently, per the signed contract and receipt which we were not given a copy of, no refunds are issued, this despite no services having been rendered and having paid for the initial consultation. This will teach us to read the fine print and online reviews in the future. A truly decent person would have credited our account. As a result, we are out $500. I strongly encourage everyone to think twice, long and hard before getting involved with this woman. Read the passionate negative reviews here: https://www.google.com/search?q=barb+levenson&rlz=1C1GCEU_enUS821US821&oq=barb+lev&aqs=chrome.0.0j69i57j0l4.6566j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#lrd=0x88349345e62efa71:0xa5ef8015bd9964a9,1,,, https://www.yelp.com/biz/levenson-barb-dog-training-centers-oakmont http://www.citysearch.com/profile/8627106/oakmont_pa/levenson_barb_dog_training_centers.html https://www.judysbook.com/Barb-Levenson-Dog-Training-Center-Animals-and-Pets-oakmont-r64344p1.htm#reviews https://www.yellowpages.com/oakmont-pa/mip/levenson-barb-dog-training-centers-467165871 https://www.yellowpages.com/pittsburgh-pa/mip/barb-levenson-dog-training-center-467551209 https://www.bark.com/en/company/barb-levenson-dog-training-centers/Y4Emq/ https://www.superpages.com/bp/oakmont-pa/levenson-barb-dog-training-center-L2012517880.htm read more

Barb knows a ton about dog behaviour, and will teach you how to train your dog. She means well, cares about the dogs... but can't seem to understand how operant conditioning works with humans. All-positive training for the dogs, almost all punishment and negative reinforcement for the humans. Wrote to me and told me never to contact her again after she saw me say (on my Facebook page) that the Basic Obedience ribbon we got from graduation "May not be as fancy as some of the ones my friends get, but it's baby steps". Sorry, Barb- I still have that ribbon hanging in my living room, but I'm hanging out with people who have ribbons from national specialties and Westminster. Advanced titles it took them years to get. I was trying to be humble. So, yeah. If you like being made to feel like you're a piece of c**p, Barb is the right choice. It's a shame, she really does know a lot. read more

Barb is very rude and belittling! Don't waste your 300 dollars plus, she loves to sell treats , harnesses , leashes etc.. that you can get on chewy or amazon much cheaper. Every week I had anxiety before class worried she would berate us for not knowing the homework. I have a life and don't need to be made a fool of about homework or not holding the treats right . Please don't go here . My dog and I found a wonderful trainer at north Pittsburgh dog behavior! Training there is a joy and we look forward to going every week ! I give no stars to barb Levenson . read more

So happy for Misty Pines! Don't ever go to barbs class! She will charm you while you are paying your hard earned money and then ridicule and embarrass you to the point you are forced to leave and she gets to keep your money. She accused my husband of hitting our puppy. OMG! Who hits a puppy. Please don't go here. Misty pines is the best. read more

I have been training with Barb for a few years now. I can honestly say that my dogs are the best dogs they can be because of her help and guidance. She has helped me take a reactive and scared dog and helped me train her to the point where I have multiple agility titles on her. I also have trained a second dog with her from a puppy, and she is the most well behaved dog I have ever owned! She has such a great eye for seeing things in your dog that you may have missed, and also has a great mind in thinking outside the box in what works best for you and your dog. I can not imagine how my dogs would be if I didn't have her! read more

I have received many emails about this place. More people need to review places so that others know what to expect. I wish I had the reviews before talking to her!!!!! We are very upset on her treatment and many emails she wrote that followed, i was scolded for writing on my own Facebook page when i said nothing about her directly. I was told to remove everything or would never see any refund for something that didn't start.I was accused of everything in the book. All we wanted was to train our dog. Be careful where you go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! read more

Although she claims to use positive reinforcement, Barb Levinson's principal training method can best be described as starvation. At her first class, she told me to substantially reduce my dog's food intake in order to increase his motivation to be trained. A few weeks later, after I ignored her advice and after I withdrew from her class in frustration at her methods, my veterinarian told me the dog was underweight and needed to be given more food. Barb Levinson's methods should be unacceptable to anyone who cares about dogs. read more

This first time I have written review. I would not recommend this school. She yells at the clients, if she would treat humans like she does the dogs thing would work out better. She is not a people person. Well then you should not be teaching people how to work with their dogs. My dog weighs three pounds, does not eat treats so I was having hard time getting my dog to do the lessons. She said I was over feeding my dog and might as well called me a liar. My husband was doing the lessons and she would not talk to him, she would come out ask me a question. I told her go ask him. I just quit going. I didn't even try to get my money back just didn't feel it was worth the fight. For all of our sanity we just stay away and just would not recommend her school. read more

After reading about defamation/slander lawsuits and yelp reviews I have decided to keep this short and sweet. First time I have ever felt compelled to write one of these: You will be dissatisfied by the content of the puppy class and the demeanor in which you will be treated. It's cheaper than other alternatives in the Pitt area but trust me when I say, it's not worth it. Note: Check yellowpages.com for more "helpful" reviews. read more

We recently brought home our first puppy without any experience at all. We knew we needed a lot of help and Barb was recommended to us. She has helped us tremendously over the past few months , teaching us how to prevent the behaviors we don't like and how to start training the ones we want. It's amazing how our puppy is gradually gaining more calmness and impulse control with her help. Dog training can be very hard but Barb is there to offer tons of help and guidance for all of your problems. read more

Went through many rounds of classes at this training center and my dog's basic obedience did improve, however even after doing everything Barb told me to do, she still criticized me and often contradicted herself (she'd tell me to practice his homework in other places and then another time tell me not to take him out of the yard but she would say this as if she never suggested I practice elsewhere). Eventually, I did a private lesson and nothing came out of it as a result except Barb recommending medication for my dog, which I was not thrilled with, but was willing to try. The medication either made my dog fatigued or irritable and he was not himself. Barb wanted him to stay away from other dogs and not go on walks. This ended up creating a bigger problem than I ever imagined because his reactivity became even worse. After deciding to cut my loss and part with her center, I found a new trainer who has helped us make more progress in just 2 sessions than I did after almost 20 lessons at Barb's. He encourages walks, which I have said all along is the only thing that seems to help. My dog is no longer on any medication and he is able to be around other dogs in a controlled setting and can play nicely with small children. Like I said at the beginning, my dog did improve with his basic obedience at this facility so if you have a mild mannered dog, this might work for you. But if you have a reactive and high energy dog such as mine, I'd suggest going elsewhere to avoid escalating the problem or ending up with a dog that has to be medicated. read more

Barb is very passionate about dogs, her training and her techniques. If you are looking for a trainer that will make a difference Barb is definitely the trainer you should need to connect with. She has classes for all levels of obedience... and focuses on positive results. read more

Having said in her first email that she wouldn't trouble me again, she then sent more emails - her students were appallled at my accusations (what accusations?), she was sad I needed to attack her personally ( we were very careful that nothing we said was an attack on her), she would not lower herself by attacking back (but if I'd only bothered to listen I might have understood); she would not diminish my opinions (but it wasn't worth responding to me as I had a closed mind); we never wanted to learn anything anyway (which is why we paid for a class?). In the end, we added her to our "blocked sender" list. In all her rants, she never responded to any of my concerns in my initail email. read more

In addition to Rona M.'s review, be sure to read the negative reviews on this site "that are not currently recommended." Our experience was very similar to those stated therein and we feel obligated to post this warning. Unfortunately we did not read those reviews beforehand and after attending only one class we are now out $375 non-refundable dollars. All in all it was a very unpleasant experience. read more

This woman should be out of business. She has no right to claim an ability to train dog owners. She is unprofessional, takes money without the ability to fulfill on her promises, hates people, and punishes anyone who does not bow to her belief system (which is insane). Her BBB rating is an F. I was remiss in not researching her more fully. My puppy was traumatized after class, and I was physically ill. At the orientation, which was a painful two hours, she told us that dogs who were neutered or spayed too early would have life-long physical disabilities. My puppy had been neutered the week before. She asked for problems we had with our pups and every one of them required a private session to correct. She is all about taking money without providing a service. read more

By far and away the most unprofessional and fraudulent experience I have ever had. I made an appointment to meet with Miss Levenson following some increased aggression by my one dog towards its littermate. After filling out numerous forms and questionnaires about my dog as well as paying the up front $90 I scheduled to meet with this trainer the next day. The first appointment did not go well since she double booked. After discussing at great length with her how I would not crate my dogs and other certain practices that I did not agree with she offered me a plan that would be specifically created for my pet but I would have to pay upfront 400+ dollars for six future private lessons around this plan. She said she would send me via email the plan and other information that night by 5 PM. I did not receive her email three days later late at night the day before our first session. Despite it being late I opened the said email which laid out a detailed plan on how to start to create my dog into participate and numerous other practices that I discussed I would not do with my animals. These notes however Work generalize cut and paste from the Internet notes and we're not at all Taylor focus to my specific problems. When I attempted to discuss this with Miss Levenson she stated that if she would've been aware that I did not wish to create my dog she would not have offered to help me since there are no other methods for her available to help my dog. This was astounding to me since I spent 20 minutes our first meeting discussing this. I then refused to continue with the sessions and canceled my check. After which i began receiving threatening emails from her stating that Karma will come and get me and that my dog will end up dead. This leads me to conclude that this woman is nothing but a fraud and is extremely unprofessional. I would not recommend her services to anyone. read more

DO NOT TAKE YOUR DOG TO HER!! She is not a stable person. She is very abusive to people and teaches with humiliation techniques. I'm not sure why anyone thinks this atmosphere is ok for pets or humans. No one should be this desperate to put themselves through her unprofessional behavior. She will trap you by taking your money and misleading you. I wish I would have read her reviews before I threw away my time and money and subjected my dog to this for even one hour. read more

Barb and her staff are amazing. The classes are great and you learn a ton, but having Barb as a Q&A expert for all the little things that pop up with a dog as they grow is invaluable. We went through a basic class with our 8-year-old Cairn Terrier and are currently in puppy class with our Bernese Mountain Dog. We were skeptical that taking an 8-year-old dog to a basic obedience class. We were unsure if you can "teach an old dog new tricks." Well...you can. Not only is our dog better behaved but we were able to train her (through positive reinforcement and no corrections) to not be aggressive and snap/bite when taking something of value from her mouth. Barb and her staff are also excellent with our puppy. They are all experienced dog trainers and genuinely care about making your dog the best it can be. We constantly receive comments about how well behaved our 4 month old Berner is. It did not come easy but through hard work and the skills that we learned from Barb. Can Barb be hard on your for not doing your homework? Yes Is Barb opinionated about her method of training? Yes To me - none of this matters.... what matters most is the dog you get when you graduate from her classes.... if you follow her methods and put in the work - it is all worth it in the end. Nothing in life comes easy, and working with a puppy can be very overwhelming but if you stick with it, you will be one happy dog owner for the long haul. Thank you Barb! read more

I'm working with my second dog using Barb's positive reinforcement techniques. My dogs have responded well and I am very pleased with the progress we have made. Barb is direct and expects people in her classes to train twice a day for 5-7 minutes. If you can't commit to that work, then you won't be satisfied. Barb doesn't train your dog for you. She teaches you to train your dog! read more

We had a very bad experience with this trainer and would urge you to avoid her. Barb was a very poor teacher. She was derisive, patronizing, ogt upset very easily when dogs or humans did not respond in ways she hoped. Her demonstrations are difficult to follow and confusing. The pace of the classes was far too slow and dogs got bored; when they barked or wriggled, Barb became very anxious, which made her even more sharp and snide. We went there initially because she advertises positive reinforcement, but she is unkind to the people in the class and frankly it wasn't clear that she liked dogs all that much. Her approach clearly works for some (note the other review) but after my experience, we heard from other friends who warned against this place as well. read more

We brought our 1 year old dog to Barb as we were desperate for help. She was our first puppy (had always adopted older dogs) and she was traumatized from going to doggie day care. She lunges/barks and is out of control anytime she sees another dog and is super high anxiety. Within 2 weeks of going to see Barb for private training, we have already seen a huge improvement in our dog. Her anxiety is under control, she is happy and excited to do training every day. Barb's techniques are very different from other trainers we have gone to in the past and I'm very happy about that because her techniques work. I have never had this level of success so quickly with any of my previous dogs that we have trained in the past with other trainers and different techniques. Barb's goal is to help us be the best trainers we can be for everyone to be happy. She is very direct in her approach because she knows what she is talking about. She will tell you when you are being inconsistent and when you are not following directions so that you can correct your training skills quickly and efficiently. If you trust that she is the expert and follow her advice and guidelines, you will get the results you are hoping for. read more

Was totally disappointed! She had us do our first hour of training and she had me put the puppy in a dog kennel when we first arrived. She proceeded to tell me that a dog needs to earn the right to socialize. A puppy that is placed in a 4' exercise pen until you have time to socialize with it is cruel. Break a dogs spirit and anyone can train it. She put down another trainer in the first ten minutes and stated if we were not all in on her methods she couldn't and wouldn't help our puppy. She stated we could come to the classes since we already paid but we would not be helped. No refunds! She believes there is no alpha dogs and that is bull, every pack has a leader. She went so far as to say I had to promise not to say NO to my dog for 3 years!? I had do many issues with her I could write for a week! Needless to say my puppy who was abused for the first six months of her life by humans stayed in that kennel the entire hour and was not allowed to socialize with us. If you want a robot buy a mechanical toy, I want a dog that loves to be around me and comes around because it has a personality not because I give it treats. Please think about what you wanted your dog for in the first place. read more

She has a nasty attitude. She does way to much talking and not enough training. She is shady when it comes to money. I signed up for a class but needed to cancel before it started she would not return the deposit. I also had another situation occur and she's like oh ok sorry guess what no money back. She picks on certain people in class but not all. She tries to say she is passionate , but guess what you don't talk to people like that. I've seen husbands go to training with their spouse once never to return. The lady needs therapy and learn people skills. I'm surprised the old bat is still in the business. The few excellent reviews sounds like barb or one of her kiss ass helpers wrote them read more

My first review ever. After trying to start the puppy classes (that she advertises as rolling starts, which means you can start as soon as you get your puppy instead of waiting until the next puppy session starts) something came up with babysitting (I have a 5 and 2 year old) so I emailed her and said I wouldn't be able to start that night like hoped, but I was figuring out sitting arrangements for the weeks following and said I'd contact her ASAP. She wrote back and said she was "tearing up my paperwork with the understanding that I wouldn't be attending her classes & and that my puppy would be too old to start the following week! What?! He's 8 weeks old today! I was caught off guard by her rudeness and wish I would have read up on her reviews before emailing in the first place. :( read more

I have been working with Barb for over two years with my dog, from puppy class up to Rally and Agility. She is very knowledgeable and cares about her clients and their dogs. Barb went above and beyond to help us through a difficult anxiety/fear period. She does expect you to do your homework, as any teacher would. Like she says, you get the dog you train! I am so thankful to have found her! read more

IF YOU WANT A HAPPY WELL BEHAVED DOG! I've read the reviews and I'm surprised how these people don't get it. I called around to find a training program for my GSD when she was 7 weeks old. I found Barb. Barb is all about having the best dog, the dog I want to live with, without traumatizing it by choking it with a choke collar, hitting it, yelling at it, or saying "no" constantly. She is SO about keeping our dogs safe that sometimes she can be gruff, but the gruffness is about not missing opportunities with our dogs and about paying attention to our dogs in every moment. I've had dogs all my life and have trained them with the help of a trainer all my adult life. In the 80s and 90s, we used choke collars and loud scary voices. My dogs were well behaved but cowered and stuck their tails between their legs when they did something wrong. My newest puppy actually gets excited and acts out more if she's yelled at or feels threatened. She responds much better to positive reinforcement. Barb asks us to set our puppies' environment so they don't do things that we don't want them to do so we don't have to get angry or yell "no" all the time. My puppy loves going to puppy kindergarten. When she was really young, I didn't feed her after noon and now that she's older, I don't feed her after breakfast...I'm pretty sure, even though she's a very thin dog, that she's not going to starve to death, but boy does she love to train and get special treats like cheese and low fat hot dogs during class. When I forget my treats, I can buy them from Barb for a lot less than I can get them at the local pet stores. Barb gives us tools to help our puppies be less excited and anxious. Gently stepping on the leash a foot from the snap of my young puppy's leash, actually got her to calm down. She was soon lying down calmly with her head or paw on my foot, not traumatized at all. I have never had an issue with my puppy that Barb hasn't tried to help me resolve. Does she ask me to think about what I'm doing to cause the issue, YES! But I'm the human who knows what I want from my puppy. I'm the human who wants to make sure my puppy doesn't run into the street and get hit by a car. I'm the human who wants to make sure my puppy doesn't jump on people, or worse yet, bite them. Does Barb sometime address my issues gruffly? Yes, but she wants to make sure that I get the impact of my actions. When I change my behavior, my puppy changes...that's a powerful lesson...what more can I ask for. read more

Nastiest lady ever. All she does is belittle everyone. She seems to forget that WE are the ones paying HER. She also tells you to go against veterinarians advice, last time I checked she doesnt have her degree in veterinary medicine. Plus, she put a citronella collar on a dog, and it was spraying in the poor animals face for the entire class. How is that a good trainer? My dog and myself were traumatized by her. Her training methods are anything but positive.... read more

I have to agree with the previous negative reviews. While Barb knows her dogs, what she doesn't know is how to interact with humans. She is abrasive and overbearing and doesn't hesitate to scold dog owners in class like children. I put up with it initially because she guilt-tripped me into believing it was in my dog's best interest. However, once the berating continued into emails (both from her and her co-instructor who incidentally posted a glowing review here acting as just a student,) I'd had enough. Unfortunately you will never get your money back from Barb because that is what she loves most. She is constantly trying to sell you her products by telling you what you already have is ineffective and/or unsafe. She will tell you your dog "has issues" and push you into a $75 an hour private lesson, although she won't book you for anything less than an hour and a half. She will also try and push you into joining her other classes, even when it doesn't apply to them (she wanted my 5 year-old dog to join her Puppy class while he was already doing her Basic Obedience Training.) It's obvious that her previous work experience was in Sales! I don't want to pretend that I didn't learn anything helpful in her class. But I could've learned hot to make my dog sit and lie down with a more respectful, less expensive instructor. I'm not asking for a touchy-feely approach, just a professional one. Also, I think its dishonest for her co-instructor "Maggie D." to give Barb rave reviews without disclosing that she works for her. read more

if you have a lot of money to waste and do not mind being treated rudely, this is the place for you. this woman is sweet as pie in your 1st $90 lesson, encouraging you to sign up for a series.(This is designed to suck you in to her next series of lesson that will set you back hundreds of dollars (with terms of pay in advance, no refunds.) she is rude, mean, insulting, overbearing and very full of herself, telling you constantly what a great dog trainer she is. she is woefully unprepared for the 'lesson' series, w/ no written handouts from week to week. she merely spouts off her random thoughts about you and your poor dog verbally, w/ much verbal abuse of you (at 90$ an hour) for so poorly training your dog (a situation which only she can cure.) my advice: go to camp bowwow, animal friends, humane animal rescue, splashndash , xcel dog training, or keystone k9. they offer a series of dog classes for $60 to 100$ for 6 weeks , not $90 a class like levenson. ALL of those organization's human trainers will train you and your dog far better for far less money. and you and your dog will be much better off. read more

I want to point out that the two positive responses in these reviews were written by people who work with Barb Levenson. There is a good reason those are the only two. I went to her classes for almost 6 years and was dismayed and mystified by her inability to comprehend how to work with people. She's a big proponent of "positive" training methods for dogs but hasn't figured out that it also works with the dogs' owners. I've seen people leave crying, angry, frustrated and they never return. Of course, she keeps what they've paid her and doesn't return their money. Her teaching methods include bullying, demeaning, and harassing the students. She has no problem talking about the students in front of other students. In my case, she said I "disrupted" her class and I was asked to leave (I did not get my money back). I merely answered a question she asked without raising my voice or using profanity. I guess she didn't like my answer. She is a bully in her classes and can say anything she likes to the students but if you respond to the bullying you are asked to leave. Apparently, in her contract she can dismiss anyone for anything and keep their money and that's the scam she's been running for quite a while. There are other dog training facilities that won't steal from you and will give you good instruction. Do your homework before you sign on to any dog training facility. read more

A plea to anyone looking for a positive reinforcement training facility...do not be deceived by any multiple positive reviews (these are Barb's friends) regarding BLDTC. I am telling the truth. I attended classes at Barb Levenson Dog Training Center for almost 3 years. I attended Puppy Kindergarten, Basic, CGC, Rally Obedience and Agility. Under Barb's instruction (and with A LOT of PERSONAL work) I learned a great deal about dog training BECAUSE Barb's training methods BORROW HEAVILY from the best trainers out there (Susan Garrett, Susan Salo and Silvia Trkman to name a few.) Her facilities are spacious, but freezing in winter, sweltering in summer and VERY dirty. Her classes are THE MOST EXPENSIVE in the area and NON REFUNDABLE. If you last through your first class, Barb engages in high-pressure sales for the next level of instruction or continuing classes. She WILL shame and intimidate if you decline. Truthfully, you get what you put in to dog training like anything else in life. If you do not work your dog it is going to be obvious in class but I've witnessed PAYING students BELITTLED, SCOLDED, UNSULTED & DISMISSED. Barb may know something about training dogs (though her own dogs seem to be more afraid of her than anything else) but she is HORRIBLE with humans and it is the humans who PAY FOR and SHOW UP for classes. At the very least, that should earn them COURTESY, not CONTEMPT. Barb may have been in business for over 25 years, but how many clients has she lost and how many future students, and their dogs, will she continue to lose because of her UNPROFESSIONAL CONDUCT? Just check the dates of the reviews. Barb has not and will not change. Your dog and you deserve better. read more

Absolutely horrible, mean woman who makes you feel bad all the time, is nasty to all the dogs and charges very high fees to insult you! Do not use her, she will belittle you and ignore your dog! read more

Barb had us repeatedly hold our dog in an uncomfortable position after we told her we were there because the dog is too skittish and hard to train. Dog panicked each time and she refused to listen to me when I tried to explain I would need to slowly introduce this technique to my dog (keep in mind she should have been telling me this not the other way around). She had her assistant come over and continue the abuse to the point were the dog wanted nothing to do with me by the end of the class. Barb sent an e-mail to the rest of the class trashing us. Told us we shouldn't come back then refused to return our money. Yelp should create a -5 rating for this place read more