Melinda is an amazing trainer/behaviorist. She came to our house for 5 visits of about an hour…read more(sometimes more) each. She taught us everything we needed to train our dogs and was able to help us understand the subtle clues they were giving us. The one on one attention is great when you have dogs who are scared of others and don't want to leave the house, by training in the comfort of your own home you're able to ease the dog into things that he/she may not be comfortable with - such as leaving the house. I highly recommend Melinda, she is caring and very well educated - and just a great trainer.

I resurrect this review from the graveyard since my account was previously deleted. I contacted…read moreMelinda by phone, although her website wasn't as flashy as others, it was clear and concise with more impressively her credentials. She studied with Karen Pryor, one of the legendary refiners of positive reinforcement training in domestic animals... search her video of training a horse with a clicker! In 2005, I found myself with an unruly, headstrong 100lb 1 yr old child (American Bulldog). We found him on Petfinder, he had gone through 4 owners already before us at 1 yr old! I was in love with owning a dog like in "Homeward Bound". We now owned our Chance, but named Drake, previously Kalen, also known as Bruno and Stolfus pup#2. I digress. We had my mom over and she yelled something at me, Drake was about to eat her head off... in my secret dreams I may have thought it would be cool, but in reality I was (Oh Sheet, my dog is going to kill my mom" Melinda took pity on me and gave me a lengthy phone consult and suggested a few treat and practice with strangers exercises that have show great improvement. Previously, it's SO embarrassing to get a call at work telling you your dog child has bit another kid at doggie day care for the 3rd time and needs to be picked up immediately and can no longer return. Melinda has kindness and patience with experience. Don't believe the Cesar Milan, you know how many people have been bit trying his eagle claw vulcan submission grip? Trust Melinda with teaching your kid to be a good dog in training.

What can I say about Canine Academy except that it earns these 5 stars!…read more I took my aggressive pit Sheba here, years ago, and she went from not being able to even see another dog without throwing a fit... to sitting calmly, off lead, with full attention on my commands, after completing Deb's extensive training course. The woman is a miracle worker. I am a dog person so I am always suggesting Canine Academy for anyone who asks about training for their pups. It's been awhile since I have used their services, but I am thrilled to know they're there and our next dog will absolutely be on the list to graduate from the school!

I highly recommend Canine Academy! The staff is knowledgeable, patient, and kind. My typically very…read moreanxious dog Dumbo has improved since the very first day, he was even better within the first 10 minutes of our first session. You will definitely see results if you put the work in too! Thank you for everything, Debbie and Canine Academy!

Of course! Here's a more personalized version:…read more We can't say enough great things about Pete from Bark Busters! Our dog Rocky had some behavior issues that we were struggling to manage, but Pete's guidance made a world of difference. From the very first visit, he provided us with clear, effective techniques that immediately helped Rocky improve. His patience, expertise, and passion for what he does truly stand out. Thanks to Pete, Rocky is much better behaved, and we feel more confident as dog owners. If you're looking for a knowledgeable and compassionate trainer, we highly recommend Pete!

Please note this is for the trainer working in all of Bucks County (to my understanding)…read more Our trainer came over on a Sunday and informed us training would be approximately 2 hours. Almost 4 hours later the training session was over. We set another session for 2 weeks later. The trainer did not arrive on time. We texted and then called with no response. We finally got a response that he had out session down for 2 hours after we had agreed on and he blamed it on his scheduling team being in another time zone. He came over and we had to have a rushed sessions because our kids had to get to their activities. We set another session for 2 weeks later. He again didn't show up. We reached out and got a text back that he was in a training session. We were able to connect on the phone and he said he didn't have us on his schedule. He then blamed his phone memory being full. Given that the contract said you should give a 15 minute grace period and the trainer was not within that grace period either time I reached back out a few days later and said after thinking it over he hadn't built trust with us and we wanted a refund (and that he should keep the booking fee- we don't want to be unreasonable here). The trainer said he would sit at his computer and handle it when he could because he had only given 2 refunds this year so this wasn't too bad. That was on Friday. I gave him the weekend and reached back out Monday. Then Tuesday. Then again today which is a Wednesday. He is now ignoring me so I am sharing my experience with everyone so that you do not use Bark Busters. They can't be trusted. Do not use this service. Find a local trainer who charges by the session and will show more respect for you as a client.

I've had quite a few problems with groomers at several different Petsmart locations .The Petsmart…read morein Broomall, PA is a disaster. Occasionally I have my dogs groomed there, knowing they cancel without contacting me, and miss hair matts behind my dogs'ears and underneath but I was desperate. Today was the worst . I had a 5 pm appt to discover the groomer did not show and sorry but someone was supposed to call you. Ok.. I can deal with that. What could I say! But then she said oh, I think you made the appt for tomorrow at 5. Nope. I .did .not. I said I couldn't have. So I left. In the car I looked at the my screen shot I took when scheduling and discovered they changed the appt without my knowledge leading me to believe I'm going insane. This has happened twice before and I did believe it was me. When I went back in to cancel tomorrow's appt, I showed the screenshot as was told the computer does that sometimes ..

The staff here are friendly, helpful, honest and professional. If they don't know the answer to…read moreyour question, they will find someone who does. Generally the store is well stocked, clean and staffed well. Love the Rewards program!

Our boxer Biggie Smalls has been training and boarding with Eric since he was a pup. He enjoys his…read morestays at Katz Dogs K9 so much he sleeps for two days once he gets home. We definitely recommend boarding and training there.

Where do I even begin? Katz K9 is amazing. First, one of my dogs participated in the board and…read moretrain program. I was hesitant at first because of all the "professionals" out there, but it was totally worth it. Eric and Sam were so patient with me and took their time teaching me everything I needed to know so that my dog would continue to be successful. Secondly, I am a terrible procrastinator and things completely slip my mind. Multiple times they have worked with me last minute to get my pups in for boarding. Most importantly, my dogs love it there! I will forever recommend Katz. Even to my friends that live in Philadelphia!

Our dogs were happy when we picked them up. The staff were efficient…read more Our dogs were happy when we picked them up. The staff were efficient.

My dog goes to daycare & boarding here. Staff is amazing, friendly & they truly love your dog. My…read moredog loves going here.

Alex is wonderful. We are quite grateful to have come across his page on Yelp. He cares for our…read moreDoberman with great compassion. He's knowledgeable, skilled at what he does, & overall, you can tell his calling is to keep dogs in loving homes with owners who just need the tools plus support to train & love on their pet babies. If our Ketsia (Sisi) didn't love us so much, I think she'd hop on over to Alex's place :) She's strong-willed & protective but sooo loving & sweet. We're making great progress! Thank you, Alex.

I recently adopted a 9-month old dog and wanted to jump into training right away. I retained…read moresomeone who lived very close to me and had great reviews, but after a few sessions I realized our schedules were not compatible; I was not getting consistency and reliability from her. It's important for me to make progress with my dog, so I Googled alternate options and stumbled upon Alex's page. I called him on a Friday and he picked up the phone right away. We spoke for a while about my needs and he came out the following Tuesday for what was supposed to be a 2-hour visit. I fell in love with him immediately, he is not only so personable and likable on his own, but he really takes the time to LISTEN to what you need and work on those things right away. I had mentioned my priorities to my previous trainer, but I found that she was teaching my dog commands that didn't actually accomplish what I was after. In our first meeting, Alex worked on SO MANY of my priorities. He got my dog to go into her crate on command, taught her to "stay," showed me how to "walk with" my dog better on her leash, and (using a 30' leash outdoors) started working on recall with her. We were so immersed in what was going on that Alex started to go a little bit over our time, but he didn't want to stop because we were making such great progress. I told him if he wanted to give me a third hour right then and there that I was prepared to pay for it, and he did!! I learned a lot of things from Alex myself during our first meeting, like how to employ the use of "deltas" (which my old trainer never once mentioned) and how non-verbal cues are arguably more important than verbal ones. Again, my old trainer actually discouraged me from using hand motions, but once incorporating them into my routine I noticed that my dog was much more compliant than she had been. Another positive difference between my old trainer and Alex is he really takes the time to teach you why he's doing what he's doing, and encourages you to participate. My old trainer just taught my dog a command and had me replicate/practice when she left. Alex really makes you feel like you are a part of the teaching process. After our private session Alex recommended some "Small Group Therapy" for my pup. He came at noon on a Thursday to pick up my dog and she proceeded to go on a several-hour outing with his two chihuahuas and a dog he was fostering. The entire time he was out with her he was recording and sharing videos on an iCloud album. It was INCREDIBLE to not only see everything that was happening, but to hear him narrate why he was doing the things he was doing. I could not get enough of his videos and felt like I was there during the session. On top of Alex's excellent communication, punctuality, reliability, friendliness, competency, and effectiveness, his rates are OUTRAGEOUS in the BEST way! I truly believe he is under-charging for his services. I can get three hours with Alex for less than I paid for one hour with my prior trainer, and I feel much better about the work that is done during that timeframe. I adore Alex, and most importantly, what he is doing works. He really gets into the mind of your dog, and has such a wonderful way of connecting with them and their needs. I am elated to keep our work going - my pup has lots more Small Group Therapy outings in her future and it's wonderful that I have the option to use him one-on-one to teach her even more commands in the house. One day I hope to move on from essential commands to more fun ones, like "roll over" or "go get X toy."

We brought our 2.5-year-old hound/boxer mix, Buster, to Strong House Training Center in Bordentown,…read moreNJ because we were struggling with some challenging behavior issues. From the start, Chris Carr was professional, knowledgeable, and incredibly dedicated to helping both dogs and their families. Over the course of 10 days, Buster received 4-5 training sessions per day -- and the transformation was nothing short of amazing. When we picked him up, Chris spent a full hour training my son and me, making sure we understood how to maintain the progress at home. Since returning, Buster has been a completely different dog -- calmer, more focused, and so much more enjoyable to be around. We've even had friends and neighbors compliment his improved leash manners and overall behavior. Chris truly gave us the tools and confidence we needed to bring out the best in Buster, and we couldn't be more grateful. If you're considering a training program, I can't recommend Chris Carr and Strong House Training Center enough!

Honestly amazed at what Chris accomplished with our dog Figgy in just one session. Figgy is a 14…read moremonth old rescue who had issues with jumping, hated cars and was horrible on a leash. We had to spend 5 minutes just to load him into our car and would have to lift him in. When on a leash he would pull either pull or just lay down. Within 5 minutes Chris had him walking without pulling on a leash and got him to voluntarily jump in the back of our SUV! Chris walked us through his training process, the commands he would teach based upon our feedback of areas we wanted addressed as priority. The hardest part was waiting to the the results but as the saying goes good thing come to those who wait! The dog we picked up no longer jumped upon greeting, walked on a leash and was overall a much better behaved animal. Chris walked us through the training, gave recommendation and welcomed us to contact him with any questions or concerns. I would like to say the key takeaway which Chris stressed and I'll attest to is reinforcing the training; especially with a dog like Figgy who prior was allowed to let his bad behavior be considered acceptable. We ended up getting sick shortly after bring Figgy home and within a few day some of the bad behavior started to surface. Once we were able to get back to daily reinforcing his training from Chris he settled right back in to being the dog we knew he could be and Chris helped bring out. We are 100% satisfied with the results from Stronghaus and would highly recommend. Are the results worth it if you are willing to put in the work and stick with the training; 1000% yes! Chris showed us how to act as Figgy's leader, alleviating him from acting on bad behavior and being a dog who is now as laid back as can be and loving his new life. Worth every penny!