RUTH IS THE BEST! We…read moreneeded someone willing to teach us how to understand dog ownership. Ruth listened, gave a great intro class and handout. She is a very patient and a Master at teaching "us" what to do. The results are incredible and now we have a better home with a wonderful pet. DO NOT hesitate to sign up for this wonderful experience!

I highly recommend Whole Dog University. Ruth is very knowledgeable and professional. She did a…read moregreat job with my maltipoo, Jax and I.

Really helped my crazy dog! So glad I found them - every trainer is awesome. Also love the…read morecontinued training they offer.

We have taken 2 of our dogs to Sit Means Sit, they are wonderful. They are very loving and caring…read moreto the dogs as they train them. Our dogs are always excited to go for training, daycare or just to visit. All the trainers and personnel are exceptional and very helpful. They truly are loving caring dog lovers.

I started as a foster with PORT in their early days of conception and fostered with them for…read moreseveral months before they decided to completely ghost me. I ran into a situation where I needed some work done at my home, and I could not continue to foster the FOURTEEN foster pets that I had through them at the time. Rather than work with me, help me, and have empathy for my situation, I experienced a lot of pushback, and negative reactions to needing a break from fostering. My phone calls and texts were not being returned. When they were returned, I was met with attitude and a complete lack of understanding or compassion. After much resistance, they finally took the fosters back. They don't supply their fosters with food or supplies as they claim. Not once was I given any supplies for the dozens of animals that I fostered through them, even when I expressed that the puppies I was fostering were going through more food than I could manage. They also don't spay and neuter most of their animals before adoption. Now that I am back in my home, neither Regan, nor Jaime, (the founders of PORT), will return my messages asking about the well-being of my former fosters. If you bend over and break your back for them, you'll be great. But God forbid life happens and you find yourself unable to help, because you then mean NOTHING to them. Proceed with caution should you decide to do any sort of business with PORT. Don't expect a lot of help. Definitely don't expect compassion and empathy when life happens. Edit in response to PORT's reply: Port requires a minimum of 5 days notice for return, except in cases of emergency. I had an emergency. I explained this to you guys over and over and over again and your response was, "that must be tough." I had a dog through you that was being aggressive with a child. But you guys didn't consider a threat to someone's safety an emergency and were of no help. In some cases, I waited more than 5 days for you to help; I waited literally weeks! Not to mention that that dog was pregnant, and when I took her, you never advised me that that was a possibility. So I ended up with eight puppies, when I agreed to one. It was never "clear to you" that our foster relationship had come to its conclusion and that I wished to step away. I quite literally told you that once I was back in my home, I would take the animals back if they still needed placement. I notified you on July 10th that I could not handle all of the puppies. You did not take them until July 18th, and that was only after I showed up to get their shots and microchips, and had to PLEAD with you to help me. I notified both of you that Rusty was a safety risk, and you literally did not care. Even after notifying you of the unsafe circumstances, it took you two days to take her, and that was only after I refused to give you any more leeway. That was also after I had notified you on July 10th that I could not handle all of the animals that I had. You did not take Rusty back until July 31st. I let you know on July 28th that I was having trouble getting the kittens adopted. I notified you on August 4th that we needed to move the kittens. You did not take them until August 15th. As for the spay/neuter, it's irresponsible for a rescue not to spay and neuter before adoption, regardless of any contract. I also asked, several times, about getting my fosters fixed, and you never followed through. Don't gaslight me. You did enough of that when I was actually fostering with you.

we have to relocate and can't take Tilly. I need to know she's safe. she's so sweet has only lived…read morein our house. no others

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.

I did the thing I said I'd never do and got another dog. I couldn't help it, he was a puppy, he was…read morein the shelter, I didn't have a chance! When we arrived home I quickly remembered puppies are like toddlers and almost had a panic attack. I quickly signed up for the 7-week puppy course at Homeland K9 based on the recommendations of friends. This business is locally and veteran owned. Both Mike and his wife Kim are well known in the community and would do anything for you. The class size is limited and there are 4 dogs in our current class which is necessary due to trying to teach h new puppies (really it's about teaching the puppy owners but we won't tell them that). In our last class we were all amazing at the differences we have seen in our dogs already. We've received a collar, leash, and a "place" cot. By week 5 our dogs are all able to heel, sit, down, and place. Even when Mike tries to distract them. Do go into this thinking it's magic. You do have to put the work in to make it work, but if you do you will prevent a lot of problems in the future. He does have other classes for older dogs but this is the only class I've had first hand knowledge in. Very glad we are doing this!

Finn just completed a 10 session training curriculum with Chuck & Erin and we couldn't be happier…read more We are now confident that Finn won't run away if off of her collar, she is able to heel and walk without pulling, she comes, sits and lays on command and is overall just a much happier, well behaved and confident dog. Finn turns 1 year old on 8/15 and is ready for us to consider rescuing a sibling for her to grow up with. Thanks again for your passion, knowledge, and commitment Chuck and Erin.

The Dog Wizard Dayton is beyond words. The extensive training, expertise, and knowledge they have…read morecan't be beat. Always professional and provide outstanding results customized to the needs of the Dog and the owner.

Great grooming! Along with being able to sit down and have coffee and a treat! Also buy a treat or…read moretoy for my dog is great! Amazing customer service! Great atmosphere!

I took my pup here for 2 training classes and found the trainers to be very knowledgeable and…read morehelpful. Always willing to answer questions - even during non-class times.

I would highly recommend Positive Paws for your puppy/dog training. I have a Golden Retriever puppy…read morewho I was unable to stop biting me. I had her in training early on elsewhere and she did very well with basic training however I tried everything to stop the biting to no avail. A friend suggested Carla with Positive Paws. Amazing results. Bella was found to have anxiety and was unable to calm herself down which resulted in biting. Carla taught me how to calm Bella. She gave me the tools to help Bella. It's hard work but I have answers and a solid plan of action.

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.