Sarah is an amazing trainer!!!! She took the time to demonstrate each skill and helped us at every…read morestep. She was so patient with us and our two puppies. We highly recommend her for anyone looking for dog training.

Our family was impressed with the training we received from Sarah at K9Elite! She was timely,…read morethorough, and more than patient with both our puppy as well as us human clients! She delicately showed us that we had as much to learn as our newly adopted puppy Bubba did! She informs you exactly what to expect before each lesson, asks if there are any particular struggles you'd like to work on and happily fits them in the course. We were given paper copies of each lesson with detailed items to work on as "homework", which was fantastic given our families' opposite schedules, we all had something concrete to read and see where exactly Bubba was at in his training if one of us was not able to attend class. We went from having an overly hyper, semi-destructive puppy with no boundaries to a playful, mentally and physically challenged pup who is now understanding that there are rules and rewards for following them. Highly recommend!

Tracy is an amazing asset to the dog community. From behavioral training to doggie transport, she…read moreis the BEST! There is no one else that I would trust my four-legged kids with! Five stars and two very enthusiastic thumbs up!

Doug Salvio worked wonders with our dog, Bruna, a young rescue hound mix, who is SO super high…read moreenergy. Although we love her dearly, she was wreaking havoc in our house- the kids were scared of her, she was making a mess of the house and yard, and quite honestly we had zero control over her. She wouldn't stop barking at my husband, and I was covered in bruises from her jumping on me constantly. We were fed up and desperate, so we hired a trainer who came to our house- long story short, she charged us a lot of money, and we got nowhere. She was a positive reinforcement only trainer, and it basically just made our dog obsessed with performing for treats. In the absence of treats she did not follow any commands, and she'd break the command as soon as she was rewarded. I do think strictly positive reinforcement might work for some, but not all. We opted for a new solution, and I found Dogs by Doug online, with good reviews. Upon our consultation, I got the feeling he understood exactly what Bruna needed, and he recommended a four week board and train program. It's always a risk leaving your dog with a stranger for four weeks, it requires a lot of trust. I instantly felt like I could trust him, and you can tell he really cares for his client dogs and remembers all of them. He sacrifices a lot to constantly have dogs boarding in his home at overlapping times. Well, fast-forward four weeks, and Bruna is home. We instantly noticed a difference in her overall behavior. He told us he was going to teach her to relax, and that is literally what he did. She has been responsive to all of her commands, and at times when she breaks a command or does an undesired behavior, we now have the tools to deal with it. Walking her on a leash has become a great experience. She walks at our side at our pace, no longer dragging us down the sidewalk. I am beyond impressed with Doug's ability. You can tell he's a master of his craft, with lots of experience. He did his job with Bruna, and now it is our responsibility to keep up with the training. We are going to try our very best, and follow up later this summer! We HIGHLY recommend Doug. Our household is entirely different, at peace again and we got to keep our good girl (and our sanity). Doug Salvio worked wonders with our dog, Bruna, a young rescue hound mix, who is SO super high energy. Although we love her dearly, she was wreaking havoc in our house- the kids were scared of her, she was making a mess of the house and yard, and quite honestly we had zero control over her. She wouldn't stop barking at my husband, and I was covered in bruises from her jumping on me constantly. We were fed up and desperate, so we hired a trainer who came to our house- long story short, she charged us a lot of money, and we got nowhere. She was a positive reinforcement only trainer, and it basically just made our dog obsessed with performing for treats. In the absence of treats she did not follow any commands, and she'd break the command as soon as she was rewarded. I do think strictly positive reinforcement might work for some, but not all. We opted for a new solution, and I found Dogs by Doug online, with good reviews. Upon our consultation, I got the feeling he understood exactly what Bruna needed, and he recommended a four week board and train program. It's always a risk leaving your dog with a stranger for four weeks, it requires a lot of trust. I instantly felt like I could trust him, and you can tell he really cares for his client dogs and remembers all of them. He sacrifices a lot to constantly have dogs boarding in his home at overlapping times. Well, fast-forward four weeks, and Bruna is home. We instantly noticed a difference in her overall behavior. He told us he was going to teach her to relax, and that is literally what he did. She has been responsive to all of her commands, and at times when she breaks a command or does an undesired behavior, we now have the tools to deal with it. Walking her on a leash has become a great experience. She walks at our side at our pace, no longer dragging us down the sidewalk. I am beyond impressed with Doug's ability. You can tell he's a master of his craft, with lots of experience. He did his job with Bruna, and now it is our responsibility to keep up with the training. We are going to try our very best, and follow up later this summer! We HIGHLY recommend Doug. Our household is entirely different, at peace again and we got to keep our good girl (and our sanity).

I am writing to recommend Doug, who recently trained our 10-month-old pitbull mix, Lucas. Before…read moretraining, Lucas was difficult to control and didn't follow commands, mainly because of his size relative to our three smaller dogs. After a month of training with Doug, Lucas is now trained on all commands and the e-collar. Since Lucas has been back home, he listens very well and has a much better relationship with our other dogs! Most importantly, it was clear that he loved Doug. Doug was an excellent trainer for Lucas and our family. He is extremely patient with both dogs and humans and is incredibly knowledgeable about all things dogs! He loves what he does, and it shows. I am so grateful to have met Doug and highly recommend him for any behavior or training issues your dog may have.

Ted at Alpha dog was absolutely amazing. He taught me so many new things about my dogs and how to…read moreproperly correct them. He spent just about two hours with me and both of my dogs and what a difference from the beginning to the end of the visit. One of my dogs has a really hard time with other dogs. He brought his dog with him and before he left they were walking together and laying near each other. He also helped me bring my dogs near my neighbors dogs who I've always had an issue with and they were great. He really brought a different side out in my dogs and I couldn't be more appreciative and grateful for his help. I would absolutely recommend Alpha Dog to anyone who wants a good, reliable, honest and caring person to help with their pups. Two thumbs up from Jada, Bentley and I.

I just want to say if you have never took a class here your missing out!! This place is amazing at…read morewhat they do! I have never been disappointed in the services they provide here. They care so much about your pup! They even accommodate for dogs that have a harder time. I honestly can not say a bad thing. I recommend them to everyone! We will definitely be signing up for more classes!

Never did hear back from anyone at this place. I wasn't asking for a refund, just a transfer of…read moreservice so I could attend classes another time or maybe get something from their shop. I don't live in the area anymore, so now they have just profited off of me.

We absolutely love Mike he puts the dogs first and focuses on praise based training. Explains the…read moreprocess and takes a family approach working with the dog to achieve the results. My daughter faithfully works with her pup. She is 11 has social anxiety; we wanted her to have training with her dog so she could be in control this has help her as much as her dog. We are so appreciative of everything she has learned and will continue to learn. We also love the quality leather leashes and collars my old leash hurt my hand with these we are able to have a quality grip and last like any collar you need to put have it on the proper size my child buys a ton of fancy ones but when it comes to going out we alway use our leather so we know we have the best grip and our collar won't slip off or break!

I really wanted to like Mike and believe in the training we were doing there. I spent over $600 on…read moremy dogs here including the upsell on custom leashes and collars. The collar was poorly fitted on my dog so that he was able to slip his collar and get away on a pack walk. It also stained my clothing and my white dog badly when we went out in the rain despite using the mink oil on it as requested. As soon as I got to class my dogs would be taken away from me and Mike would mainly handle them. The result being that my dogs listen to Mike in the studio but do not listen at home even though I'm working with them daily. After completing 12 sessions we continued to go to playgroups. I mentioned to him that my dog became aggressive with a friend and he brushed it off telling me that I should pick my friends better and trust my dog. Not sure this is the best advice considering no matter who it is I can't have my dog biting people. After I spent my $600 on classes, and bought into every up-sale I was told that I was no longer welcome in group Because another group member saw me at a dog park with her dog. We were the only ones there, I didn't let them drink out of the water or eat any other dogs poop. The day before Christmas I woke up to an extremely aggressive message (8 am- before business hours even) telling me I was no longer welcome in the group. To be quite honest I wasn't ever actually told that I couldn't bring my dog to the dog park but I need to let them go to the bathroom in between appointments we had that day it's not some thing that I even do often. Besides learning some hand signals that my dogs don't respond to despite continuous personal work with them, I walked away in a worse position then I started in and light over $600. I forgot to mention also that he told me my husband wasn't allowed at training.

This review is for the dog boarding service of Lindenau Farm. We have used their dog boarding…read moreservice for almost two years now, and there is no one I trust more to care for my dogs than Sarah and Mike. Sarah used to be a vet tech, and knows so much about dogs, as far as behavior, care, and nutrition. She actually loves our dogs like her own, and it shows by our dogs enthusiasm when we are headed to her house. We can't even mentioned her name, because my dog gets so excited. The dogs have a huge fenced in area to play outside, and get to see horses. They come home exhausted, and sleep like the whole next day. We pack their food and drop off at an established time. She or Mike are always there for pickup or drop off. We pay by Venmo, which is really convenient. She sends us videos of our dogs playing outside during their time there, and will text us any concerns. This is the absolute best dog boarding facility in the area.

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.