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

Whole Dog is a great place for training, terrific resource to our community. Wonderful instructors…read moreand great selection of courses. If you are looking for a place to build strong relationship with your pups, learn about positive training methods to change behavior over the long-term - this is the place to be! Liz is an amazingly patient instructor and people are really the ones being trained here. Even for the tough(er) nuts like reactive pups they can assist - you will not be disappointed by committing to your future happy household by taking classes here!

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!

We were visiting for a week and I was working during the day. I would be ok to run back to the…read moreAirbnb to walk my dog during the day but I felt bad she would be all alone in the apt all day. I came across this place on a Google search and reached out. I am glad I did. First they have to interview my dog to make sure she is not Cujo so that makes me feel better that they will screen all the campers there and second they make sure we have all the vaccinations. My dog loves it there and she has been there for the whole week and coming back exhausted. I feel better when I am at work while she is at camp. Definitely using them again if I get to come back to Durham on business.

We trained with Jeff over the Summer time after an extensive period of research on who we wanted to…read morehelp us with training our dog, a toy-reactive golden retriever. Jeff helped us contextualize our dog's behavior and understand their psychology better, so we can more effectively curb behaviors we did not want and promote behaviors we do want. As a result, not only has out dog behaved better, but we feel a stronger connection with them. This, in my opinion, is the benefit with Jeff. We all see our dogs as our perfect companions, and when we go through with training we want the outside world to see them the same way we do. Jeff helped us with this; not only does he get you and your dog on the same page regarding training and behavior, but he allows you to springboard your relationship with them to a level of greater understanding.

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

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!

Pamela is the best!!! I just adopted a second dog this week. My new dog Chance has been through a…read moreterrible tragedy in his life. His owners were killed in a double murder. There were three dogs in the home when it happened. One of the dogs was also shot and killed. Chance and his brother Champ survived the attack and were taken to an animal shelter in rural NC where they have been for the last month. I felt compelled that I need to adopt one of the dogs so they would know love once again. A good friend of mine is looking to adopt Chance's brother. I reached out to Pamela after I had a disaster in trying to crate train Chance. She was able set up a consultation in a very timely matter. She was so kind and you can tell she really cares about helping Chance make the transition to his new home. I really can't say enough good things about Pamela, she is a special person for sure. She has helped lift a huge weight off of me knowing we can work through things with Chance as he gets used to his new home and his second chance at love in his life.

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.

Very reliable and great communicators. Daily updates with photos. Your pets are in good hands with…read morethis team.

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.

I was allowed to add a class back. The program is good for socialization and basic training. The…read moredogs are appropriately sized so none are overwhelmed . Instructors were good and also exercised excellent covid protection. While some tasks are repetitive, it's required b/c of the rolling enrollment.

I was initially very pleased with these classes but soon the trainer's impatience with selective…read moreindividuals in the tiny puppy primer class and her unprofessionalism when people arrived late changed my mind. As an experienced teacher, I would hope that when a teacher feels disrespected by a member in the class, that she would speak to them privately after class to address the issue - not throw her hands up onto her hips, refusing to let the late class member and pup into the classroom until convinced by one of her assistant trainers. Also, the content in Jane's class is limited and repetitive.