Excellent trainers. They took good care of my dog during the board and train program.read more

I am in the middle of my experience with Glass City K9. Maybe I should wait until the process is…read morefinished, but I've seen so much growth in both my pup AND myself so far that I feel compelled to comment right now. I did not choose a board and train because it was *kind of* out of my budget and I didn't think it was necessary; it would have been easier and I *could* have made it happen, but I chose not to. I chose the "silver plan." Essentially, the trainers train us, the owners, to train our own dogs. We are paying for them to pass on their expertise. Keep in mind that if, as an owner, one does not FOLLOW THROUGH with the plan as given by the trainers, the results will not be optimal. I am, by profession, a teacher. So when I am told to specifically follow a lesson plan with my dog every week, I follow the plan. Religiously. I have a husky. I'm told they don't like to listen. When I adopted her (rescue), she was pulling me so hard on the leash that I was falling over onto the pavement. She cause me to wreck a perfectly good pair of Silver jeans, and she tore my belly button piercing (it never healed... it hurt a LOT... I finally gave up and took it out). I was not a happy dog mom. I tried positive "treat training" and she learned every command quickly but would only comply if offered a treat. Well, by week three with GCK9, my girl was stopping at street intersections without being prompted. Why? Because I trained her to do so because I didn't want her to get smoked by a car. This wasn't even part of GCK9's lesson plans; I kinda just added it in because it naturally followed with what I was being told to train her to do. I LISTENED TO WHAT THE TRAINER SAID AND I DID EXACTLY THAT, then when it all worked and my girl was so proficient she was getting bored, I did some add ons. Folks, know this: YOU WILL GET OUT OF THIS PROGRAM NOT WHAT YOU PAID INTO IT, BUT WHAT YOU PUT INTO IT. As for the e-collar... if you're that worried about it, Google "shock collar vs e-collar" and start there. I can put my girl's e-collar in my hand at the level at which I typically train her (which is super low) and I can tell you this: My physical therapist has turned up the tens machine on me WAY higher than I've probably ever turned up the e-collar on my pup, and I wasn't wearing a double coat to buffer it... and I've never been hurt by a tens machine. At the current stage, I only need to actually use her e-collar about 50% of the time. She just knows what she is supposed to do, and she does it. At the end of the day, folks, so far I have to say that I believe that I have gotten more value out of this training than my pup has. Here is why: In a world where I have had to stop paying attention to the news because I feel as if everything has spun into such utter chaos that it has caused me to up my meds and increase the number of mental health therapy sessions I have every month (depression and generalized anxiety disorder), training my beautiful dog has given me a sense of purpose and made me feel as if there is something among the chaos that I can actually control. I now wish that I'd have trained a dog before I'd had human children, because it would have made me a more patient, loving, and firm disciplinarian. My 9-year-old son is benefitting because he is following my lead and also taking responsibility for our dog's training, which is teaching HIM to be a better human being. If you do it right, your dog won't be the only one to change in a positive way; YOU will as well. I promise you that if you approach Glass City K9 with the right intention, attitude, and work ethic, you will have zero regrets.