Hannah was fantastic with our new rescue dog who was from a puppy mill and very fearful, which…read moreturned to LOUD barking and growling at times. She helped our entire family, especially our young kids, learn how to get Pepper comfortable and acclimated. After a few weeks with Hannah - plus continued work on our part for awhile to come - we have a well-adjusted dog who is living the best life that she deserves. We'll go back to Hannah in a few months to move to the next step, which is getting Pepper comfortable with other dogs. Highly recommend Hannah, esp if you have kids that are involved in the training process.

From the owner: The Proper Puppy offers in private, in-home dog training and puppy training programs in the central…read moreCincinnati area. Our specialty is training excellent family dogs! Our dog and puppy training programs go beyond basic obedience and focus on the real-world skills your dog needs to be a welcome member of the family. From hiking off leash to sitting quietly at a cafe, a well trained dog is a joy to have around. You don't have to drive to classes or send your dog away for quality professional training. We know dogs learn best at home, that's why we come to you! We can teach you to train your dog with private lessons or take the leash and do the training for you, either way you dog is learning from the best. Call us today to get started!

Had an amazing experience with Mark! The progress my dog has made with him is amazing and in short…read moreperiod of time! I use to struggle to take him on walks or go to an outdoor restaurant without him barking, whining, and getting overwhelmed. Now he sits under me and watches calmly. I also feel like my dog trust me so much more because Mark taught me the importance of advocating for him and how to. He has an extensive knowledge on dogs and does an amazing job of teaching you about your dog and their behavior. Would 1000% recommend!

I hesitated to write this for nearly a year because I believe Cheryl is passionate about what she…read moredoes, however, her training was not a good fit for us, and we did not see results, despite spending $1700. For what it's worth, she's respectful, prompt, and brought her own dog to a few sessions to help my puppy with anxiety. She also has a good game for place training, and when I switched away from her methods this was the only thing we kept doing. This review will be long, but this is the main takeaway. I'd caution anyone from considering this "balanced training". It is not. The primary goal is conditioning a prong collar correction to a verbal "No!". It is purely punitive, not balanced. It's no different (& arguably worse) than the traditional 'crank & yank' style described in her book, just dressed up nicer. I'd advise future customers to use *EXTREME* caution if considering using an e-collar with Raise the Bar. An e-collar is NOT a punishment tool that you can slap on and hammer a dog with. For any behavior. Increasing punishment without clarifying the alternative desired behavior creates conflict. It's bad for the owner-dog relationship. Despite this, when unclear prong collar corrections didn't work, escalating to the e-collar was suggested at every single session. When I had concerns about shut down dogs/frustration, or feeling uncomfortable with the w/the level of corrections, I was met with contempt and told that based on 30yr of experience, this is just how it's done. Years of experience don't equal best practice. 1. Prong collar- it needs to be properly fitted. A loose prong (recommended by Cheryl) delivers inconsistent corrections and takes away the physics of the collars design, so you're no longer protecting the trachea or distributing pressure evenly. She recommended increasing the gauge of prong when corrections weren't working. I tried to discuss that this would require more force to deliver a similar correction, but shut down and told a 2.25 is a "puppy collar". In reality it delivers a higher level correction or "bite" with less leash pop. Most dogs should not be using a 4mm prong, especially loose, bc it's virtually ineffective. 2. Balanced training uses all quadrants of operant conditioning. Raise the Bar is almost entirely punishment based. Praise is not positive reinforcement. You can't be balanced and anti-treat/reward. When you hire a private trainer, you're paying for someone to train you, not your dog, and when asked 'why' she does things, she's not able to articulate it well. 3. Leash pressure- she couldnt get 1 of my dogs on the placeboard and gave up when he put the brakes on and reared back on the leash. She couldn't see that he just didn't understand leash pressure (which I've now taught him). He needed to be encouraged to go on in a way he understood. Next visit when he was on it she asked how, & I told her I was able to get him on in minutes with treats and free shaping, she was disappointed I had used food despite her method being ineffective. 4. **E-COLLAR**- please do NOT let Cheryl put an e-collar on your dog. I am SO glad I was enrolled in an e-collar course before she started suggesting it. She lacks fundamental knowledge of modern day e-collar use, likely bc it relies on foundations she doesn't use (ie a positive marker word & reward, low-level stim overlayed on well known commands via neg reinforcement, working under threshold). For crate anxiety she suggested putting an e-collar on my fearful puppy, & stimming at high levels until quiet, also suggested dropping a heavy textbook on the crate. Frankly this is abhorrent training. My dogs are now all e-collar trained and it's rarely ever necessary to use at aversive levels , esp not paired with "No" to induce handler fear and certainly not on a fearful/reactive dog. I could go on, because I don't think this is individualized training, but will digress. This training is conflict & punishment based & we did not reach any goals with her methods. I am pro-balanced, but this is compulsion. I'd suggest she expand her knowledge because her current methods have the potential to do serious harm. My relationship with my dogs was never worse than when we trained with Raise the Bar. The best thing about this experience, was that it lit a fire in me to learn to train dogs myself. They're now off leash heeling, hiking, no more reactivity, even went on a trip with us. Our results speak for themselves. I'll leave it there.

Megan, our trainer, did an amazing job with Bowie! He now listens, doesn't jump on people and comes…read morewhen he is called. Thank you so much for all of your help! I recommend Unleashed to anyone who needs help with training their dog, they do such a wonderful job.

Virginia Simpson and her staff are extremely professional and attentive to the dog owner and the…read moredog. Her training of our German Shepherd was excellent and she continues to help our with training if something comes up. We have been with Virginia for almost a year and I cannot say enough good things about her knowledge of training dogs. What I like the most is that once the 2 or 3 week training is complete she doesn't just say goodbye and you never see her again. She continues to support and that is of utmost importance to me.

My husband and I enrolled our 4 month old puppy in a puppy obedience class here and feel we got…read moretremendous value from it. It's a one hour weekly class lasting for six weeks. It was helpful to have a dedicated time and place to focus on training our dog with expert oversight when corrections were needed. Le and the team were calmly persistent with puppies and focused on achievable and useful training: sit, stay, down, leave it, and leash training. They offered collar (for leash training) treat, and behavior recommendations and achieved a good balance of individual pup and group instruction. Our pup loved the socialization as well.

From the owner: Dog Aggression, Puppy Training, Basic Obedience, and Off Leash Trainingread more

We love Tori! I was skeptical about getting a dog from the start. I insisted that our little guy…read morelearn his manners and we chose Tori to help us out with this. He is so well behaved and it is all because of her. She is so friendly and nice and willing to answer any and all questions. I love that she's not afraid to correct the dog parents too when we aren't doing something that's in the best interest for our fur baby! We get compliments all the time about how well behaved he is! I haven't ever had a dog before so it was nice to know the proper way to do things with him and what habits we shouldn't let him develop. I would definitely recommend her to friends and would bring another fur baby to her (although it won't be for awhile much to my husbands dismay).

I took my puppy to Pawlished after a not so successful attempt with another trainer. Our golden…read moredoodle puppy, now 8 months old, is full of energy and sass. After working with Tori, we get compliments often about how well behaved our PUPPY is in public. Tori is a gift that every dog parent and dog need in their life! She is down to earth and real and I don't feel judged when I lose focus, and I sometimes do. Our pup lights up when she sees Tori.

We are now in our third course with our Great Dane pup at Alice's Companion Dog Training:…read moreintermediate obedience. Have very much enjoyed these classes and appreciate the one-on-one tips and feedback to better train our pup. Every instructor we have had has always made sure to ask if there are any questions each class which is very helpful! Really appreciate the affordability of the classes as they mirror Petsmart training price but with so much more value!! Would highly recommend but do know you have to put the work in to each week to get the best results!!

They are reasonable and trainers truly love what they do. They make sure you and your dog are…read morehappy. Also does private training.

I've been working with Elissa for about 2 months now and I am so glad she came into my life! She is…read moreextremely knowledgable, caring, and great at what she does. My 10 year old toy poodle has MAJOR separation anxiety and she's come a long way since we started the training with Elissa. I've learned SO much from Elissa!

Elissa is a thorough, skilled and caring trainer. She listened to my concerns/needs. After meeting…read moreme and my dog, she developed a workable plan that met my rewards-based method preference. I rescued an 11-month German Shorthaired Pointer who had a very high prey drive and absolutely no recall. My GSP is now a reliable trail and beach dog who responds to a code word ("Come" no longer worked when we met Elissa.) and/or whistle. Elissa worked with us 4-5 times, but mostly she gave me the understanding, skills and followup exercises to work with my dog myself. She explained behavior theory behind the exercises, showed me how to properly carry them out. She followed each training session with detailed notes and other resources. Success wasn't instant, but steady. With Elissa's help, I have a trustworthy companion whom I feel comfortable letting off leash.

We took Ayla, our dog, to Teach Me 2 Sit for some socialization and obedience recall. We are so…read morepleased with everything that she has accomplished with Jordan.It went over and above our expectations. He is truly a dog whisperer and loves his work. We recommend "Teach Me 2 Sit" to everyone!Jordan is the answer to our prayers

From the owner: Hi, my name is Jordan and I’ve been professionally training and working dogs for over a decade. My…read morecareer in law enforcement has given me the opportunity to work side by side with dogs in situations where obedience, discipline, and communication are key. Whether your choose to experience a one-on-one session or a custom board and train I’m excited to take the skills and tools I’ve learned over the years and apply them to your dog to improve the communication and relationship with your furry friends.