I really enjoyed the beginner and advance obedience classes my dog and I had. we really learned a lot! My dog went on to earn Good citizen title given by American kennel club. Thank you for teaching me the skills to have a dog that behaves better then most kids lol read more

Unprofessional, with VERY little to no instruction/feedback. Can't believe this dog training center still has business with the way that they treat people&their dogs. Beware, seems like they may have something against small dogs. Paid $125 for a 6week basic obedience class which was more than 2X the cost of other dog training facilities in the area. However I chose this place based on all of the "fabulous" reviews I found (most of which are ONLY about the owner Donna)& the fact that they had such an array of agility courses I figured I could establish here & find the perfect agility/sport class for my dog. So let me just fill you in on what to expect for your hard earned $125. This was not my 1st dog class but again I chose this place because they seemed to have so much to offer. At the 1st class the instructor never introduced herself or even asked what any of our names or our dogs names were nor did she ever take attendance. After, I wasn't feeling so hot about the course but thought I'd give it another week, it was after all a whole new experience for me& my dog. The instructor(Kristin) would show us commands using her dog(older well trained lab)as the example, which is fine but think it would benefit students more if she used the dogs in class. During the majority of classes she walked around& shouted out what commands to do& I never got any feedback if I was doing the commands correctly or incorrectly. If I did get any feedback it was only when I asked. I also continually asked how to reward my dog with toys& I got little response& through the duration of the course found myself continually Googleing dog training, something I shouldn't have to do when I paid $125. Other students I talked to in the class also felt frustrated&our class# continually dropped each week. I got no substantial input from the trainer. It seems that she only has worked with or knows how to train a very food motivated dog like a lab. I'm sure my other dog, a lab mix would have done fabulous. During the course we never got 1 handout, email or verbal about what commands we learned or what to work on during the week. However, at 1 class we were somewhat reprimanded for not doing our homework. As far as training philosophy I was kind of shocked at some of the things we were told & wondered where the instructor got her training(which you won't find anything about the other trainers on their website). During an exercise one lady was told not to go through door 1 because her dog "didn't like that door". I don't think any dog should be forced but in this case there was no effort to encourage the dog, yummy treats a super fun toy etc. Doesn't that encourage the dog to get what they want? If I back up I won't have to go in the vet etc. I also was a little shocked when the trainer somewhat defensively told another student that (Halti)"head collars should have stayed with the horses" this student had a strong pulling beagle that had got her poor head stuck in the class-dividing gate multiple times. I personally had very good results from the Halti& it actually was given to me by the other training facility I attended. The trainer did however strongly defend&suggest the pinch collar(which if you do any research will find pinch collars should be last resort) After class2 I was still leaving feeling very frustrated &angry. So I decided to call the owner because I wanted the class to be positive for my dog. When I finally got a hold of her (didn't return my messages)&expressed my concern Donna did not seem worried her customer was dissatisfied &eventually told me should would talk to Kristin. The next week at class Donna was there but she never said anything to me or contacted me after that. For the last class I asked my trainer(Kristin) if I could make up on a different day &she told me I could go to Donna's Saturday class. I thought ok I'll give this place 1 more shot &see if Donna is as amazing as the reviews out there say. Unfortunately, Donna's class was no better. I was basically ignored during the 1st half & when another student came late & sat on the bench Donna rudely asked are you gonna join us or just watch? When I moved to my dogs side instead of having the dog come to me she corrected me & when I asked what I was supposed to do I was told that by moving to the dog "I might as well be wearing the collar & leash" & after I asked what to do AGAIN I was finally given instruction. When the class was done, which was supposed to be my last week & course test. I was told nothing &have not heard from this business since. Overall, this was a terrible class, waste of time &money. I think the trainers really enjoy & are very skilled at training their own dogs but are missing the mark tremendously in helping others train their dogs. The trainers make the class feel very serious, tense, &make very little if any effort to help students. I strongly advise anyone thinking of going here to watch a class before you enroll &waste your money. read more

Eh. Thats how i feel about it. I recently got a shelter rescue. Shes two and stubborn. When i was explaining that to the person they laughed and were like good luck with her. In class she was struggling alot which also made me really frustrated. The class was just too distracting for her. I asked the trainer about private classes. I was willing to pay more, no prob. "Oh so youre never going to take her in public? Never around other dogs?" She just had an attitude. I just wanted basic training in a non stressful environnent. Then I'd take her for regular classes. So we ended up dropping out. Shes been doing better at home. Were getting basics down a bit and then ill take her to fido in ferndale. Ive heard nothing but good things. Also this place isnt air conditioned. Hot as heck. They have guidelines too about what kind of shoes to wear and what in general is most comfortable for class. The girl in the office looked cute in a uniform but t by e trainer had pretty much the opposite of everything the web site said. Just not impressed at all. read more

I agree with what someone else stated that I feel like there could have been more feedback from the trainers during this class. Also agree that they use their own trained dogs for examples but I think it would also be beneficial to use a student dog while instructing what to do. Some of the training seemed to be directed more towards future agility training in my opinion which is not what I personally was looking for. I also thought the add in of students when classes had already started felt kind of disruptive. I had a hard time getting a hold of someone when I had a question regarding the final class. I Facebook posted, called and left a message, and private messaged them on Facebook to get an answer. Unfortunately I was only finally contacted 4 days later when I posted a bad review on their page. I feel like had they just called and apologized for the misunderstanding I would have been ok with everything. Rather I felt like I was being attacked for their short comings. IN RESPONSE TO DOG ZONES RESPONSE OF MY REVIEW: First of all nothing was said about any building issues nor did I refer to you as "unprofessional" in this review or did I say there was "no" communication. I stated there could be more communication. I also stated that along with demonstrating with your trained dog which is great that using a non trained dog would be helpful. To show how to get the dog to do it correctly. It was just a suggestion that I feel would be beneficial. As for making excuses for my dog well that just never happened. The only thing I may have said was I need to find a better training treat because he doesn't really like the ones I had. I did plenty of homework with him. I also was never offered one on one sessions because I'm sure I would have took you up on that. As for the scheduling I started on Sundays from the beginning. When the new building was opened I asked about what day I should come and this is what you stated "You should attend the class day and time for which you first signed up for". Again I signed up for Sundays so very confusing I would say. BTW I responded with I was confused and never got a response back, nor did anyone call me back from my voicemail I left (I have read at least 1 other review that also stated they never received a return phone call), and you only finally responded to my private message when I posted an unsatisfied review on Facebook which you no longer have an option for reviews on Facebook which is interesting. To say that I became "belligerent" is absurd. Like I said before a simple phone call with an apology for the misunderstanding regarding class scheduling and not getting back to me right away is all that was needed. As for the "rare and unfortunate situation" then why do you state on another response that there are 2 other people besides me you supposedly have a civil suit against. 3 people is rare for a small business? Threatening former clients with a legal suit for responding to your messages and simply posting a review about their experience in my opinion is not very professional to say the least. I also refuse to engage in any more replies to my review from Dog Zone. read more

Before I begin my review please note that Dog Zone has moved to a new location in New Baltimore. I never trained at the old facility but from what I understand this new facility is a HUGE improvement. About a third of the space has rubber flooring for agility and other sports. The rest is concrete which is not ideal for training since some dogs seem to have an aversion to laying down on a hard cold surface. Hopefully we will be seeing the addition of more rubber flooring in the future. My experience with the obedience class was sub par. I have a very reactive / hyperactive young Aussie mix. During the class it was extremely difficult to keep my dog from barking constantly especially when she was more interested in bark than her treats. I felt really bad that my dog was ruining my classmates experience but I was just told to quiet my dog with out any suggestion from the trainer on how to do so. We made pretty much all of our progress at home. We've had a better experience with agility classes. At first we had the same issue of constant barking but have now got it under control with focus training suggested by a classmate of ours. The beginner agility class focuses on short 3 - 4 obstacle sequences with teams taking turns. The trainer offers critique and corrections as you go. We were very quickly moved up to the advanced class. Though my dog was making very quick progress I feel as though we were moved up to make more room in the beginner class. But we have had very good experience in the advanced class. The advanced class breaks down the course into 2 or 3 pieces with the trainer offering critique and corrections. Teams get to run the full course at the end. As it is the last class of the day it is generally allowed to run over the standard 60 minutes and usually runs about 90 minutes. One of the biggest things that has kept me coming back to Dog Zone is that it offers and open practice from noon till 5pm on Thursdays where you can come and practice on the agility course at your convenience. This has very much made our progress very fast as we can work on specific things that we are having trouble with. I have not found any other facility that has open practice time available like this. Before you commit to Dog Zone or any other facility I highly suggest calling and asking if you can sit in and audit the class you are interested in to see if it is the right fit for you. read more

Don't ever go there. I wish I could give no stars. I signed up for a six week class and me and my dog were dismissed without a refund of 170 dollars. I lost out on 2 classes. I really don't understand why we were dismissed. I worked with the dog when I could and we were doing really good. He's a good dog compared to some of the dogs in the class and I can't understand why we were dismissed. The instructor was not very helpful and I feel like I got better help online. I know this sounds like an unhappy customer and there is always two sides to every story but if you're a trainer and charging 170 bucks for six weeks I feel like you have a responsibility to do your job to the highest degree. Disgruntled customer that cannot afford to blow 170 dollars and then not get full value in return. I do not recommend this place whatsoever. read more

This was not good experience for me. The teacher started late every time at least 10 mins on average and one class it was 20 mins late. She then would end class 5 mins early at $ 21.00 a class I think she should give the whole 60 mins. She also had us walk ours dogs going in a circle for at least 5 to 10 mins warming up with no instruction as she talk in her office on her phone. Very disappointed. read more

Not so impressed. I love supporting local business and gave them a try vs chain store classes. They are unresponsive to calls. Never answer the phone. Training consisted of walking in a circle for 20 minutes. When my puppy wouldn't respond they suggested a training collar with spikes which i am not a fan of. You would think when a customer paid for a service and they stop coming the business would wonder why? read more