My pups and I had the great fortune of meeting Debbie, of Debbie's4dogs yesterday. She came out to…read morethe house to give us some pointers on working with my little pack. We have 6 pups ranging in age from 1 1/2 to 18. One of my younger pups has been having problems with resource guarding so I researched dog behaviorists in my area. Debbie was an obvious choice. I would never consider working with a trainer that used any type of negative methods and I felt confident that she would treat my pups with respect and kindness. Debbie stepped into my yard and immediately the pups took to her. She had a calming presence and used body language that had my painfully shy chihuahua mix walking right up to her. Ricky has NEVER approached a stranger before! Debbie taught us easy and effective ways to work with our babies to make them feel relaxed. My pups loved her and she very quickly inspired confidence both in us as well as the dogs. Debbie took the time to explain her process and the science behind it. She was so patient with us and the pups and I felt comfortable asking questions. She passed along so much excellent info and helpful tips. Debbie left us with a personalized packet of great information that helped reinforce what we learned. Working with her was so different from working with a standard trainer. Debbie has studied dog behavior in depth with a focus on reactive pups. Her methods are based on the most current science related to dog behavior. She has such a calming presence and I could actually feel the pups relax around her. Debbie left us with a packet of great info. This wasn't a standard print out, but instead she took the time to personalize the info and tailor it to our individual dogs and our specific needs. After some fun foraging for treats in the yard all the babies were worn out for the rest of the day. Anyone who has raised puppies knows that is a wonderful thing! After our session, Debbie encouraged us to check in with a text. We really noticed a change in our pack's demeanor that extended into the following day. We will most definitely keep in touch with Debbie. I know she will be a wonderful resource going forward and I can recommend her without reservation to anyone who cares about their pups happiness and wellbeing.

Got a great recommendation from Bryan Colletti, about a personal dog trainer named Stef Corbeil…read more She was absolutely phenomenal, extremely personable, accommodating, and my Belgian Malinois George loved getting trained by her. If you are looking for an excellent teacher, do not hesitate to give Behavior Unleashed a call and you won't regret it. Her record speaks for itself and her teaching skills are impeccable. Every time she got done working with George I noticed the results immediately. No doubt, five star rating! Keep up the great work Stef!!

Bad experience with Heidi's in home pet care. After a long interview that went over our…read moreexpectations and our reluctance to use a typical kennel facility, we felt comfortable that our dog was going to be treated, for the most part, as their own pet. We discussed in length about how our dog is not normally left in a kennel for extended periods of time and we didn't' want that for him. We were told that the business owner would be on vacation and in the middle of moving so she was going to have one of her employees keep our dog at her home (we also met with her several times), We were told that our dog would be in the home with her and kenneled if she had to leave. She even mentioned at one point that our dog would probably sleep with her son (we did not expect that). We were also told that the business owner might be able to pick him up and take him back to her facility after her vacation. We opted to keep him where he was to make it less traumatic for him. When we dropped our pet off, we provided the sitter with instructions for feeding and reiterated our wishes on how the dog would be cared for- limit kennel time, never in the kennel with a collar on, don't keep him in the heat too long.. etc. Our first facetime call to check on him we could not see our dog, and when asked where he was, she said he was in the kennel because she had to rotate dogs in the kennels to keep them safe. We can appreciate and understand that, but we were never told this is what was going to happen. When we did see him, he had his collar on which we explicitly said we did not want because it could get snagged and choke him. We facetimed a couple different times the subsequent days, and I even tried calling at different hours each day and every call except for one he was in the kennel. I would ask if she could take him out so we could see him, and he would go straight to the water bowl and gulp water like he hadn't had any for a while. When this was questioned, we were told he did have water. We have never seen him gulp water the way he did even after a couple mile walk when he is hot and tired. We called the business owner to express our concerns, she asked what we wanted her to do, and I said go get our dog, and she said that is not an option as her facility was not up and running yet. She acted like our concerns were not valid, and said it was a problem that I was facetiming so much, and we are only seeing a snippet of what is happening. While I agree we only see a snippet, when you call at different times and it's always the same thing and he gulps water the way he was, it clearly appears that he is in the kennel way more than we were told. Upon picking our dog, up he was outside in their fenced area and his gums were grey, which is a clear sign of dehydration, and we noticed an injury on his head. The sitter said the cost would be $15 more a day then what was already agreed upon, which was resolved. Once home we also found our dog lost 5 pounds, even though the sitter told us he ate great. We fully understand some dogs will lose some weight under stress, but we weigh him weekly and has consistently put on 2-5 lbs a week and never lost an ounce. We called the business owner the next day and our concerns fell on deaf ears. The business owner was very defensive, and we were basically crazy for expecting what we did. We were told our expectations were too high and ended up hanging up on us. Even if our expectations, were too high, we made them clear during our interview and they still took on the job. Had they said this is how he would be taken care of, we would not have used this facility. We sent a text recapping the conversation and expressing how unhappy we were with the whole situation but have yet to get a response. A little customer service goes a long way, and they didn't do anything to ease our frustration. Let's just give them the benefit of the doubt and say he wasn't kenneled much as we think, I don't understand how he can come back with grey gums from dehydration. This clearly shows he didn't have access to water. When we asked about the injury to his head, the owner stated they were fully aware of that, but nobody bothered to tell us. We still don't know what happened. We do not recommend this business and will never return.

I highly recommend Heidi's In Home Pet Service. Heidi took care of our German Shepherd while we…read morewere on vacation. Mav tends to be very needy and he did great while we were gone. She took her time getting to know Mav before we left so he would be comfortable with her coming into the house. Heidi even did an emergency wellness visit for us while we were at work. She checked in on Mav in less than 30 minutes and got right back to us to let us know he was ok. Thanks You Very Much Heidi!!

I live well over an hour away from Canine Academy but its well worth the hall to get there. Bill…read moreand Peggy are the owners. If you ask for a tour they show you everything, including thier house! They are very friendly and great with the dogs. Even if we haven't been there in months they still know the dogs by name and remember thier "quirks". They even follow any special instructions we give them like giving a bed time treat to the dogs everynight before bed. We've been to other kennels but none of them match up to the Academy. We don't trust anyone else with our dogs.

I dropped off my Labradoodle and Maltese this week for a grooming. It was our first time at Tails…read moreand Tangles and I must say I'm very impressed. Both dogs were done in the timeframe that was committed and they were both happy dogs when I picked up. Ashley, the groomer brought my boys out with an update on their experience which I appreciated. Both smelled great and we're sporting a new bandanna. I was most moved by a follow-up call on the next day from Ashley. She wanted to check in and see how the boys were doing. She also was concerned with my Maltese because he has allergies. I appreciate Ashley and the warm welcome to Tails and Tangles. Our next grooming appointment is already scheduled.

My two cats love coming here! I have been going to rails & tangles since they opened. I have…read morebrought my cats to other groomers in the past and they seemed almost terrified when I picked them up. The girls here truly love animals and it shows. They know my cats by name and truly seem excited to see them when I call to book an appointment. They do a really great job washing, trimming nails and doing the "lion" cut on my fluffy fat cat that constantly gets knots. I recommend them anytime anyone needs a groomer. I'll try to post some before/after pics soon.

If could give this business no stars, I would. I sent my beautiful BEAUTIFUL, teacup yorkie to this…read moregroomer after looking online and realizing it was very close to my home. Barbara, I'm assuming the owner and groomer, asked me a million and one questions about how i wanted my dog's haircut. I explained to her that I wanted her face & beard trimmed down, not too short but just enough so it's not drenched when she drinks water and dripping everywhere. I also specified that i wanted my dogs hair length to be around a 2-3 in reference to the clipper guard length. This awful haircut was $75, she didn't accept anything except cash & was running the business out of her dirty garage. I'm so appalled at my dogs haircut and the service i received today I cried. My dog looks horrible. Here's a before and after picture. DO NOT FUCKING GO HERE.

Barbara does a great job with my dog, Tank. She cares about animals on a very deep level- I trust…read moreher complexly with my dog. I would recommend her to anyone!

We used Vacation Property Check to watch our house while we were visiting our daughter, son in law…read moreand grandson for 6 weeks. We had real reservations being away from our house for so long especially during these New England winters. Our fear of frozen pipes and thoughts of unchecked water damage previously kept our visits short. Vacation Property Check gave us peace of mind that someone was watching our home and that if there were problems they would be addressed before they became an expensive disaster! Kerri was very thorough in checking the potential trouble areas of our home and communicating with us frequently just to let us know that things were ok. She made sure that our place looked occupied by taking in the mail, news papers and even turning on different lights in our home. We even received a written report when we returned home on all of the visits that she made and what was found. Vacation Property Check rates are very reasonable for the peace of mind that we received! We have already schedule them for our next trip out of town.

Essential Canine offers both indoors, outdoors, and private classes. I met Hitchcock…read moreserendipitously through her family, who still live in Forest Park, where I also reside. I was walking my vivacious puppy, Duke, and noticed that the woman passing by had a really calm dog, who happened to also be around Duke's age. The woman turned out to be Hitchcock's daughter; I mentioned I was looking for puppy training; and the rest is history! Duke and I first took private lessons with Hitchcock at our home, to learn the basics of loose-leash walking. The first couple of weeks after adopting Duke, I was about to go crazy, because he was such a puller while walking. Within the first lesson, I started to regain my sanity--and dignity! I knew Essential Canine was going to be my new best friend in training Duke to be a good little pup. Since then, we've taken multiple training sessions, both indoor and outdoors, with Essential Canine. I recommend graduating from private lessons at home, where there is less distraction, to basic obedience classes hosted in the training ring at Dave's Soda and Pet Food City in Agawam. Going to a foreign location to your dog increases distraction--shoppers, toys, new scents, and even Hitchcock's own dog--offer up new challenges to overcome. This summer, Duke and I also graduated from Essential Canine's Group Obedience Class, which takes place in the picturesque Hilltop Farm in Suffield, CT. We joined a class of similarly-aged puppies who were in need of group distraction, like us. Duke, per usual, was an energy ball, but Hitchcock gave me specific techniques for working with his high energy. "You've gotta be more exciting than everything else around" was one of the nuggets I've taken with me. If he's excited by the other dogs, I just act a buffoon and redirect his attention! I also learned that he's highly treat-motivated and will do just about anything for chicken or cheese. The thing that stands out about Essential Canine, and Hitchcock as a canine massage therapist and trainer, is that she really works to customize the training experience for each dog/human team.

Amazing trainer!! She is so experienced, and deeply understands dogs. She gave me great practical…read moretips to train my rescue :) I love that she was able to tailor her training to approach my dog.