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.

Well for one, I came in with my step daughter a couple weeks ago to find gravel for an aqaurium and…read moreto buy white clouds for my tank. They have a very limited supply of aqaurium gravel and the man in the fish department totally ignored us. And when another customer appeared, he helped them instead. Their supplies are over priced and the store is very small. Will not be back. Will do all my business from now on at Discover Aqautics. Yes you pay a little more on what you buy there, but their stock is in greater abundance and their fish are much more better take care of. Bought 17 white cloud minnows (and a Pleco) from them and each one are thriving. Zero stars for this petsmart and 5 for Discover Aqautics.

We signed up for dog training at PetSmart with Jonathan, also known as JO. We have one on one…read moretraining for about an hour weekly for six weeks before starting a second series of lessons. More than halfway through this first series, we are so pleased with the results, which are helping keep us and our dog safe. JO is a very skilled dog trainer. More than once I've thought of him as a dog whisperer as our one year old rescue dog responds almost instantly to the new commands he teaches her. My husband and I then immediately practice them with our girl to ensure the lessons are sticking. We practice in the training area and around the store, which is always full of distractions to test our dog. The lessons have stuck and we use them regularly at home and when we are out and about. Recommended.

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.

I couldn't be happier with Off Leash K-9 training! Tracy, our trainer, was amazing! The videos she…read moresent everyday showed me his incredible progress and that he was well taken care of. Everyone was flexible and easy to work with ... even able to accommodate a schedule change while I was out of town and so I was able to take advantage of the boarding with the training! The first day our pup Quincy was home I took him outside to do his business and he saw a deer! Yikes. Before he would have been on a leash and pulled my arm off. He popped off like a shot - I called him and he came back! WOW! Amazing. Thank you, Tracy! You have been incredible to work with and our whole family will be happier with a dog that is not only in control but able to serve others out in the world. 5 STARS!

Doug from the Delhi location was excellent! He not only helped train Jax my GSD, he trained me in…read moreunderstanding behaviors and what works for training and why. He gave great explanations and scenarios to further assist my understanding. I HIGHLY recommend Off Leash Cincinnati (Doug) for your dog training needs! I will be coming back for further training in the near future

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

Best dog training in the city of Cincinnati! Mike Dixon is a pro and got our reactive pitbull /…read morestaffordshire mix dog Tank back on track within 3 sessions of working with him. Mike is reasonable and excellent to work with. He has over 25 years of dog training working with reactive dogs, aggressive dogs, and normal dog training as well. Highly recommended for puppies, younger and older dogs! Thank you Mike

I contacted Mike Dixon to help with my new 10-month old German Shepherd puppy. Unfortunately, she…read morehadn't been properly socialized so she was rather aggressive, especially around our kitchen island and wherever food was. She nipped at everyone in my family and outright attacked the first trainer we called. My vet recommended Mike since he wasn't just a basic obedience guy but also did behavior. Working privately with Mike, my dog went from aggressive and anti-social to one of the friendliest dogs you could ever meet. More than that, after her behavioral issues resolved, we worked with Mike to get her certified as a therapy dog! There isn't another person on this planet I would ever turn to if I needed help with my dog.

We had an excellent experience with Jeff, the owner of WMK-9. This was the second time he trained…read moreour dog, Bentley, we needed help with excessive barking and command recall. Jeff did an outstanding job -- he completely resolved the issues and gave us the tools and confidence to continue reinforcing the training at home. Jeff is knowledgeable, professional, and truly understands dogs and their behavior. Bentley came back calmer, more responsive, and we feel more confident to take Bentley out in public. I would highly recommend WMK-9 for both dog training and boarding. We are extremely happy with the results and will absolutely continue using Jeff in the future.

Since moving to Cincinnati, my biggest concern was finding a boarding facility that could handle my…read moreShiba Inu. He's definitely a 'my way or the highway' kind of dog, but the team at WMK9- Well Mannered K9 was incredible with him. They boarded him for a week and a half and kept us completely at ease with frequent photo and text updates showing he was happy and comfortable. It was so heartening to see him making friends and enjoying his own 'vacation.' I also love that they offer flexible training programs both onsite and at-home. I can't thank them enough for going the extra mile for our treasured pup; we'll definitely be back!