Whole Dog Institute's intensive day training program has been a fantastic investment. Blue made…read moreastonishing progress in a few weeks, and we have been able to maintain key skills at home. I would highly recommend this program for anyone looking to jump start training or correct bad habits. We learned about Whole Dog Institute's day training program after attending puppy class the year before. Our puppy class instructor, Kate, had done a great job of teaching us how to instill good manners in our new puppy, and we had the best of intentions to follow through. But then work, school and and life happened, and 18 months later we found ourselves with a sweet, friendly family pet who we had allowed to develop a few really bad manners. We enrolled Blue in the 15 day-training intensive with the goal of improving Blue's three problem behaviors: leash pulling, impolite greeting of guests, and recall. When we came for a "parent-teacher meeting" at the end of the first week, I was amazed by the skills and commands Blue had already learned. Not only that, but it was clear that Blue LOVED learning and working in his training sessions. He was eager and excited to work, and actually seemed proud to demonstrate his new skills! Blue has always attended dog day care for socialization and exercise. However, I've never seen him more exhausted then after his days at Whole Dog Institute. He would return home, stretch out the floor, and fall into a deep sleep until the next morning. The mental work of learning takes a lot of energy. In the morning, as we were packing up to leave the house for the day, Blue would stand by our front door and whine because he was so excited to go back to school. Kate and her team followed methodical, quantitative assessment methods to track Blue's progress on a dozen or so commands and skills. Manners are consistently reinforced throughout the day. This means the staff asked Blue to wait at every gate, every time, even for pick up and drop off. Before the program, Blue was a relentless leash puller and had damaged his trachea pulling on a collar and put his spine out of alignment pulling in an easy walk harness. My son could not walk him around the neighborhood. WDI showed us how to correctly use a prong collar, using a light jiggle to remind Blue to leave slack on the leash, and a light redirection sideways if he is pulling forwards. I was hesitant at first, but Blue is happy to have this collar put on before a walk (he hated having his easy-walk harness put on), and he seems comfortable, happy, and calm when walking, without the relentless urge to tow us down the street. Blue walks easily and even my son can walk him. If the leash becomes taught, a small jiggle is all it takes to remind Blue to create some slack, and even this small reminder is rarely needed. Walking our dogs has now become a fun family routine, instead of an unpleasant shoulder-straining chore. Another problem behavior we wanted to addressed was rude greetings. Thankfully, since he weighs 60 pounds, Blue no longer jumps up on visitors. However, he is very curious and friendly, and his favorite way to learn about a new guest to the house is a hearty sniff of the person's butt. Kate taught Blue a command to touch his nose to a visitor's outstretched hand, which gives him an outlet for his intense need to sniff, without goosing the guest. A third command that has "stuck" in the weeks since graduation is "wait". We give the verbal and hand cue to show Blue the boundary of a doorway and ask him to wait instead of allowing him to shove his way through ahead of us. Blue still wants to push ahead, and the command is a good reminder to help bring his focus back to us. "Wait" has been especially useful as a safety tool when unloading our two dogs from the car. Blue learned many other commands, and I'll admit I have not practiced these at home. So, I was excited to learn that WDI is now offering "refresher" day stays. We are planning to bring Blue a couple of days a month to keep his skills up and help us to incorporate more of what he has learned into our home routines.

We had a wonderful experience with Whole Dog with our new puppy, who is a 5-month old rescue. Irina…read morecame over for a 90-minute in-house consultation and training. She was excellent, gathering info about our puppy and then doing some basic training work with treats. But most helpful was the great method for potty training. Because our puppy was OK being in a crate the method was perfect. The puppy is in the crate for a couple hours, and then is out for 2 or 3 hours on the leash with us or very close at hand. We keep her on a regular schedule of eating, doing business, games, training, etc. She only had one mistake in 2 weeks of using this method, and of course the mistake was our fault. We plan to enroll her soon in some of the group puppy classes Whole Dog offers. They are excellent and have very fair prices. Robert

UPDATE: the owner of this location reached out to me and was incredibly nice. She offered to let us…read moreuse the days that had expired, which is more than generous. Thanks Cindy for such great customer service! First of all, most of the people that work here are truly wonderful. Our dog LOVES going to camp and they really do seem to enjoy taking care of him. It's great watching him have so much fun on the cameras! That being said, please be aware of a few things. The only affordable way to pay for daycare/boarding is to buy "packages" upfront. What will never be mentioned to you however is that these packages have expiration dates. When is the expiration for the days of camp that you already paid for? They won't tell you until it's already expired! I specifically contacted them to ask how many days we had left on our package (something else they don't keep you informed of unless you ask) before I booked more. I was told we had 3, so I booked 3 more daycare days. Then when my husband shows up to pick up the dog, they charge him $25 and tell me on the phone it's because our last 3 days expired! So not only did we not get to use the days we'd ALREADY paid for, then we get charged for another one, at full price! In one fell swoop, they get $75 out of us, who have been loyal customers for 2 years! All I'm saying, is make sure you ask when the expiration date of the package is you're buying (get it in writing) so you can use what you pay for - hopefully I can save some other poor soul from wasting all of the money we did.

If I could give less than 1 star I would. Not sure if it is because of management changes or what…read morebut the last time I boarded my dog here she came back with what I think was kennel cough. I vowed never to board her here again. I thought after a few months I would try again since reviews looked better. There is new management now someone named Ashley. I called the day before and booked a daycare visit. I even double checked with the girl and had her records sent over the girl assured me it was ok and to bring her in the morning. I even called my vet In Florida and her daycare there also. Her Bordatella shot was good until 12/2021. All correct on their files but somehow this company continues to report incorrect findings. If a business can't be honest and just own up to their mistake it shows poor quality in manager and owners. Notice my first review of this place was pretty nice and honest. I Brought her in at 6:45 am and they said oh her bordatella is due we can't let her out she will be crated until we can contact you further. Mind you at this point I had already dropped her off and was already at work! If I would have known this I would have never dropped her off. I had to leave work and come back and get her and then drop her back off and then go back to work. ** Yes when I called they did give me my package back of 60 some dollars which was good. Another clue dog parents is your dog does tell you if she likes daycare ...at least mine does because she has been going since she was a puppy. I had 3 other doggy daycare centers in NC and one is next to a vet check my dogs vaccination records that state she was good until December 2021. She cowered as soon as I brought her in and she peed on the floor and tried to go straight to the exit door!!!! Should've been my first clue! I feel bad even bringing her back here. After this experience I will NEVER EVER AGAIN BRING HER HERE!

Jeff really knows his stuff and his tips and tricks work really well. Highly recommend!read more

He's likely quite skilled but very costly. I would look around--$200 for 75 minutes seems…read moreexcessive. Maybe he has a magic wand.

Pamela is exceptional in understanding a dog's character, energy level, and body language. She…read morehelped us with several issues over the last two weeks and we continue our sessions to reinforce learned behaviors. We met with Pamela while discussing the possibilities of socialization for our 9-month-old puppy. She asked more questions, quickly understood the things we wanted to work on, and suggested the best plan that fitted the needs of our puppy and our lifestyle. Over the last two weeks, she met with the puppy, took him to different places, assessed his reaction to people and other dogs, and build fundamentals of better reactions. After two training sessions, I noticed how much more responsive my puppy is and how less he is nervous about distractions on walks. She also gave us a lot of advice regarding jumping (before that we tried multiple methods and those have not been as effective), counter surfing, how to redirect out puppy energy into useful work, so on. Pamela is a very experienced trainer and we are looking forward to learning more from her and our collaboration.

Pamela has been SO incredible at getting our lovely but very active and somewhat addictive (to…read moreballs, sticks, anything she can put in her mouth) golden retriever puppy to learn to let go, to calm down, and to behave. She has also helped us to be better at understanding Darby's motivations and emotions. Fun and effective training for everybody!

Valerie is amazing. My 5 year old Lab rescue mix was a giant ball of anxiety. He had separation…read moreanxiety, tennis ball anxiety, you name it. As long as he was with people, he was great but could never be left alone without tearing things up or hurting himself. I had done crate training with him but could never get him to buy into the crate. He would eat blinds, butter dishes, loaves of rising bread (that was a fun day). He would hide to keep from going in the crate - including in the neighbor's bushes for hours without making a sound. You name it, he did it. I have never seen such an anxious dog especially after a lot of training where I had worked with professionals! Val came in and within 2 visits, I could tell a HUGE difference in Montross. Don't get me wrong, Montross and I have put in the work but Val saw some minor changes that have made a WORLD of difference. I cannot recommend her more highly. She is worth every penny and worth the calmer, less anxious dog! (Hint - she cost me less than 2 sets of our wooden blinds!)

I have been attending Val's agility classes for many years. My dog loves the class. Val is…read moreextremely knowledgeable and experienced in agility competition and knows how to bring that to her students. There are other agility instructors much closer to home, but I will gladly drive the hour it takes to get to Val's class.

This review is long overdue. We used Bull City Pet Sitting for two years for daily check-ins/potty…read morebreaks for our senior dog before he passed away last August. Melissa and Stacey were his primary caregivers. They looked after our sweet boy with such care, showering him with love and treats while we were at work. They always sent the sweetest pictures of him and updated us with how he was doing. On two occasions BCPS looked after him while we were out of town. They accommodated our timeframe requests for the number of visits we wanted him to have, administered his medication, catered to his picky eating habits, and showered him with lots of love. BCPS always had excellent communication and put us at ease when we were on trips. When our boy passed away last year, BCPS grieved along with us and sent the sweetest sympathy card in the mail. It meant so much. When the time is right, we will adopt another dog and will absolutely work with BCPS again. They are amazing.

Wow! Amazing experience! We usually take our dog with us when we travel, or leave him with family…read more But now he is senior and requires a bit more care, plus he hates riding In the car and the aforementioned family was coming with us on this trip. So we signed up with Bull City Pet Sitting. From the beginning, I was really impressed with the website- they asked so many pertinent questions! Things I never would have thought to share! Everything from nicknames to hiding spots to what day our trash pickup was! The owner Stacey came out to meet our dog and see our space. She was awesome, and I felt so comfortable leaving her organization in charge. Jenn was our assigned sitter and she went above and beyond! Our dog loved her (I could tell by the amazing photos she shared on every visit!) and she was great about communication. She took into consideration his special needs and cared for him so well! It was such a relief, as a caretaker for an elderly dog, to have a couple of nights away and not worry about him. I will DEFINITELY be using Bull City Pet Sitting in the future!

My dog, Julep, was very reactive on the leash and would get extremely overwhelmed with meeting new…read morepeople and hearing loud noises. After working with Kassondra for four weeks, Julep has shown tremendous improvement on her walks and has gotten more comfortable with meeting new people and dealing with loud/scary noises. During our training, Kassondra was extremely patient with Julep, who often takes a while to warm up to people. Kassondra was also very patient with me as I was learning the proper ways to handle Julep on a leash. In the past, I had dealt with trainers who were not as patient, so working with Kassondra was a breath of fresh air. After each lesson, Kassondra would send a write-up with homework, which was a great way to get an outline of our session and what I needed to work on in between trainings. Kassondra also helped us work through some of Julep's separation anxiety issues and gave us some great resources to use on addressing this anxiety. Kassondra is extremely knowledgeable on dog training and how to handle reactive dogs with high anxiety and fear of new people. When looking for a trainer I talked to several local businesses/trainers, but after speaking with Kassondra I knew she was the pawfect match and would give Julep the support she needed! I wish I had found her sooner!! If you are looking for a dog trainer, I highly recommend contacting Kassondra as she has plenty of programs that can fit your dog's needs!

Had Kassondra come to train my new Golden Retriever puppy as a first time dog owner. On top of…read moregiving me great guidelines for where to start and how to go about teaching a new puppy in general, she made herself available for questions and concerns about generic puppy care and things to expect. Couldn't recommend her for new pup training, and am looking forward to following up with her for more advanced training as my girl gets older!

I contacted Janet last month to help my mom with leash training for her dog. My mom's dog, Chloe is…read morea sweetheart but had recently pulled my mom so hard while walking that she fell. My mom is 78 so I was extremely concerned about this. I was referred to Janet by a friend. I called Janet and discussed the situation with her and was pleasantly surprised at how fast she scheduled an appointment with my mom. Janet was very professional, compassionate and most of all EFFECTIVE. After two sessions my mom's baby had stopped pulling. I've walked with my mom and Chloe twice since the training and Chloe hasn't been pulling and I feel so much better about my mom continuing to walk her. I highly recommend Puppy Prep by Steele!

Our experience with Janet was absolutely amazing! Our 3 year old rescue was so sweet with us at…read morehome, but had started exhibiting bad leash aggression and became very territorial (and scary) whenever someone came to the house. Janet taught us some very simple yet highly effective changes that we were able to begin immediately, and we saw such a positive change! No matter the question or issue we brought up, she had a suggested answer or solution. Unlike several other trainers or companies we considered, Janet didn't require tons of time or a huge investment, which was so appreciated. She's truly passionate about what she does, and that shows in every aspect of her training and communication, and has translated so well into the betterment of our lives with our pup! You won't regret working with her!

We hired Angel for behavior training of our dog, a 2 year old rescue that we adopted in March 2020…read more Soon after we adopted him, we realized that he had severe separation anxiety, dog reactivity and people reactivity. We were concerned about how best to care for our pup, especially as first-time dog owners. We can't say enough positive things about Angel. To begin with, she listened to each of our concerns (we had many) before we even hired her and shared her thoughts on how she would tackle the training. We were impressed that she truly took the time to listen and understand our questions, and we decided to hire her. Our first training session was over video chat due to the pandemic. We went over the allotted time because Angel was so thorough in discussing the training plan with us. We learned a lot about how to care for our dog in general (e.g. body language, assessing comfort level, when to seek support from vet for behavioral issues). The main takeaway from this training session were detailed, step-by-step methods for addressing several of our dog's behaviors. Angel's main focus was getting to the root of the behaviors, our dog's emotions, and making sure that he was confident and comfortable. All of the training was based on positive reinforcement. The second part of our training session was an outdoor in-person meeting (socially distant, masked) at a park with the purpose of learning how to desensitize our dog around other dogs. Unfortunately, when we arrived Angel realized that our dog's baseline anxiety level was still too high to successfully begin the desensitization training. We still completed that hour meeting to practice other training, and Angel offered to meet us for a second in-person meeting, free of charge, in a few weeks to try desensitization training again. The techniques that Angel has taught us have led to noticeable positive changes in our dog. We are continuing to utilize what she taught us and, overall, feel that we are better equipped to be good dog owners.

Angel is wonderful! We hired her for help with our recently rescued dog who was having several…read morebehaviors including bite inhibition. As two new dog owners, we learned so much about how to interact with our pup in order to avoid his triggers and reward good behaviors. No bites since we started working with her! Angel helped us with muzzle training so we could safely bring our little one to the vet and he would actually be able to receive an exam. He actually gets excited when he sees the muzzle because of Angel's expertise in training! It was clear Angel truly cared about our family and went above and beyond in taking time to make sure we had the tools we needed. We couldn't have asked for a better experience and highly recommend Angel to any families who need support.

Puppy Class with Karen was great!…read more We have been in this store over the years, and recently the service has improved. We recently adopted a new puppy and decided to take the PetSmart Training course. If you are reading this, you know that puppy training is as least as much about the human as the canine. Karen worked well with both. She has a great understanding of dog behavior and did a good job with us as well. The class was small (only 2 puppies) and so attention was very individualized. With prior puppies, we have taken group classes with reputable local organizations. Karen's class was superior, and we are very pleased with how she has helped us train our dog.

Good pet store, friendly staff. Clean floors and organized shelves. They offer a wide variety of…read moreproducts too, so you have multiple options!