I could not be happier with my experiences with On Command.
From day one walking in, I have felt welcomed and comfortable. Those that work at the front counter are very nice and knowledgeable. They are always ready to greet my puppy and my puppy is always ready to greet them! It says a lot to me when my puppy is happy to be there.
I have completed their puppy preschool, 101 Beginner Course, and just started their 102 intermediate class. The trainers are the best! They really know what they are talking about and provide clear and concise instructions.
I started off with the puppy preschool as this was my first puppy. I also wanted to test the waters with this facility. The puppy preschool gives you a one on one session with a trainer and two group classes. The one on one was great because I didn't really know how to potty train and did know how to handle things like play biting. Marilyn (sorry if I spelled the name wrong) did my one on one. I can say with confidence that she is the reason I continued at oncommand. She explained that they do no treat training because that means the dogs are only listening for the treat and not because we asked them to do something. She gave me tips on how to stop my puppy from eating too fast (which I still use today) and how to handle her separation issues. She really made me feel comfortable not having a clue of what to do with this new puppy.
The group puppy classes were amazing! I'll admit I really wanted to do it so I could play with other puppies. who wouldn't? But they were also very informative. I had both Marilyn and Courtney, one for each class. They talked about how to introduce your puppy to new objects like bikes, vacuums and stairs. They explained how it was about building confidence with your dog and bonding with them as well. They covered items like teeth brushing, general grooming, first aid, handing and more. You could tell that both trainers knew what they were talking about. I really liked how they were able to answer any questions, and did not make us fee awkward or ashamed for asking what may seem like something everyone should know.
For the beginner class, we were indoors at their location. This was good as I suspect my puppy many have wandered off had it been outside. There was about 10 of us, so it wasn't too crowded. We had Marilyn as our trainer. Marilyn was very patient with everyone and was willing to take our dogs as an example if we were struggling. She never seemed to get frustrated or irritated, even when it took multiple tries with the dogs (and the humans!) to understand something. We worked on all the basic commands and at the end of each lesson I truly felt that we learned something and was confident I could continue training at home. She even stayed late after the class and answered any questions we had. That's not something you see everywhere!!! My puppy was pretty young to go through the class (started at just 4 months), yet Marilyn was very reassuring that while young, she can still learn, she just may not have the attention span of other dogs.
We have now started the intermediate class. This is outdoors at a park. I really like this because it helps build distractions that I want my puppy to ignore. For this class we have Courtney. She is just as awesome as Marilyn. I know that she has two classes prior to ours and she is outside for those as well. Yet when we get her, she is still very energetic and ready to dive in. This class has dogs of all ages, from mine that is not even 6 months to what I would guess is a few years old. This also combines dogs that had the group basic class, private class, and their boot camp class. Courtney does really well in explaining what we are working on and how we need to proceed. If we do not understand, she just re-explains it, which is great because its not just the dogs learning!
I also board my puppy and get her groomed here. This place covers everything! They only feed your dogs what you bring, no random treats. This is great for dogs with special diets and allergies. When you board they also get to play in doggy day care so you know they are not shoved in cage somewhere. My puppy has never been hurt while spending time in there care, so I know they are well supervised. When ever I pick up my puppy she is always very happy yes doesn't want to leave. I get her groomed while she stays for boarding so when she is returned to me I have a very happy super clean puppy. I've never met the groomers or seen where they get groomed, but I imagine is is just as great as the rest of the place.
I plan on completing their advance class as well as the CGC test. And I know I will continue to bring my puppy here for as long possible. Thanks On Command for always being so wonderful!!!!! read more