Our youngest golden retriever pup just finished the Doggie Boot Camp and E-Collar Board & Train programs of the Happy Retriever. She is ten months old and completely responsive to commands. Our older golden also did these classes a few years back and she did awesome as well. I highly recommend the Happy Retriever for any dog training needs. The staff is outstanding! read more

The Happy Retriever - Pet Training Near Me - Holliston, Massachusetts

Fantastic facility. Very helpful and professional staff make everything easy for my new puppy and me. Puppy 101 class has made an enormous difference. They offer several different types of classes and helpful bump-up sessions. Highly recommend. read more

They are "running a business". Be prepared to be treated as such. 600% APY LATE FEE for a one night stay. Doesn't matter we spent over $2400 in the 5 months prior. Buyer Beware: Do Not leave your credit card on file with this company. Already paid a 50% late pick up fee -so $155 for one night boarding, but they wanted more and took it unauthorized from the credit card on file. read more

The Happy Retriever - Quinley - Pet Training Near Me - Holliston, Massachusetts

No response to my email after 2weeks requesting an evaluation for training so I showed up in person and completed a form and was told they would email me. Another 2 weeks later and no email. The location and training program would've been ideal for us. read more

the happy retriever has new owners and it is not the same! I reserved 2 nights in later July and had to cancel it. gave weeks of notice and they refuse to give me back my deposit. read more

We've recently had our 1.5 year old dog complete a 10 day Board and Train program. We've really enjoyed the support. We've also utilized the boarding services. They are more expensive than normal boarding, but your dog receives training while there. We are in our "training era" for our dog and have been actively utilizing their services since August 2024, from training programs, bump days and boarding. We've worked with other trainers and facilities and have had the best success at The Happy Retriever. read more

The Happy Retriever has helped our rambunctious family puppy turn into a sweet and well behaved young dog. He is a nervous and highly sensitive dog, and the trainers really spent time focusing on building a relationship with Scout. Their focus on getting to know Scout has allowed him to be successful at training, instead of shying away in fear. The multi day board and train programs have instilled good training habits and skills within our dog. The bump up days have also been helpful to act as a refresher and continue good habits in our dog. We could not recommend the Happy Retriever more, and I'm sure Scout Tucker would say the same. read more

We took our 4 month old puppy to The Happy Retriever's Puppy 101 class for her initial training. The instructor was very knowledgeable and gave clear instructions as well as handouts that we could follow for continued training at home. We then moved on to their Boot Camp I course since we felt our pup needed more structured and advanced training. In one week we had a different dog (shout out to Hannah!) They provide "bump up" days which are not just doggy daycare with dozens of dogs but individualized training sessions throughout the day with a trainer who works on learned commands and sends a report card at the end of the day so you can keep track of progress or issues. The staff have all been very professional in my experience and willing to help and follow up with any of our concerns. read more

The Happy Retriever - Puppy - Pet Training Near Me - Holliston, Massachusetts

Very good trainers however they consistently open late, causing me to be late for work.

My one year old mini-goldendoodle attended Boot Camp shortly before Christmas. Learning to correct Max's behavior using a pinch collar has been a game changer. We can take him for walks now without any pulling or jumping on other dogs or people. Hannah and Jana did a great job training him. Being able to correct him was a big help when company visited over the holidays. read more

We have brought two of our dogs here for years. The owners have been less and less present over the past year and a half and we have had concerns with how our dog was being treated. When my wife tried to discuss it, they not only didn't respond to emails but when she asked the front desk personnel about her emails, the owners decided to gaslight her and make it sound like she mistreated their staff. How would they know when they aren't there? In a final disrespect for our years of business, the owners not only told us not to return with our dog(who they said in the email was one of their favorites), they tell us they were sad our dog would be a failure in life?!? Wow, be careful of these psychos. Our pup is happiest when she isn't being yanked on with a tight pinch collar by their teenage "trainers". read more

What a rip off!! My dog did the VERY EXPENSIVE Resident Two Week Training Program. None of the behavioral issues that they claimed could be corrected were. I don't have a clue how they are still in business. read more

Our sweet rescue dog, Sophie (70 lbs), loves spending time at The Happy Retriever! She was 1-1/2 when we brought her home and we quickly realized that she lacked training, was not socialized with other people and dogs, and had anxiety. We had tried different places and methods of training over the 6 months since adopting her with some success, but it wasn't until we had her evaluated and the trainers began working with her during Bump-up days that we really began seeing a difference. Sophie responded to their love and care and practically bounds through the front door in the morning to greet the staff. To move her to the next level in her training, we enrolled her in a week-long board and train program and are extremely pleased with her growth. As I write this review, she is there now enjoying socializing with the trainers and other dogs and "Bumping up" her skills to the next level. Our girl has matured so much over the last few months. We both look forward to continuing our relationship with the trainers and staff at The Happy Retriever. read more

My wife and I recently rescued a 4 month old Black Lab. We were in the process of researching where to take her for obedience training when one day I was at the bike shop and noticed The Happy Retriever in the same plaza. I checked out the website and liked what I saw so I emailed them. The lady who responded was very nice and helpful. I stopped in the following Saturday and talked to the owner, turns out it was his wife who had emailed me back. He spent over an hour giving me tips. The next weekend, I stopped back in to pick up some supplies, he gave me a lot of advice and actually talked me out of spending some money at his store. Very honest. A few days later, we brought out puppy in for a free evaluation. They spent over two hour just with us, told us all the packages they offer, pricing and gave us some more advice. Our dog will be starting obedience training there within a couple weeks. The pricing was very reasonable for the classes and they really seem to know what they're doing and care very much about doing a good job. In addition to the obedience training, there's a small store. They only carry products they really believe it that are made in the US. I found the prices to be pretty reasonable for a small store with all high quality products. I will be buying everything I can there and staying away from the big chain pet stores. read more

The Happy Retriever is an excellent place to take your puppy or dog for training. We just finished puppy 101 and will continues our pups training. The owners and staff are very helpful. The store and training areas are very clean. I would highly recommend this place. read more

The Happy Retriever - Pet Training Near Me - Holliston, Massachusetts

What a great place! We've been taking our puppy Great Dane here and he's almost graduated from puppy graduation! Great trainers and great atmosphere and a convenient local spot to pick up dog treats, bones, food, and toys for our Great Danes! read more

The owners and trainers are absolutely wonderful. I have had 2 of my dogs in their puppy classes and both are doing really well with their training. It is great that they offer continuing education for the dogs. The have pack walks and are very focused on each individual dog. Highly recommend! read more

The Happy Retriever is an amazing place and I'm so glad we found it! We started with their puppy 101 class with our 8 week old Labrador Retriever and continued with their Elementary School class when he turned 6 months old. Our puppy loved each of the trainers, so we decided to do a few bump up days and we recently just boarded him for a few nights. It was our first time away from our pup so we were nervous, but they did a great job of posting pics on their Facebook so that you know your friend is doing great. Their boarding facility is also in their own home, what's better than that?! Let me just say, we have a 40 minute drive to The Happy Retriever and it is well worth the drive! We will continue to go here for training, toys, food, and treats! Thank you Happy Retriever for helping our pup grow into a well behaved little man. read more

Beware if owner doesn't like you she's not nice to you, your dog, and even went as far as cancelling my boarding that was booked months in advance. read more

I had a very bad experience, the trainers could not read canine body language and insisted on a prong collar for fear related issues. Please consider the source of your dog's problems and consider a trainer who is more educated in body language. The "expert" didn't even look up from the paper long enough to see that her training partner was severely offending my dog by leaning over a gate and crowding her. They made a number of mistakes that I would expect to see only from people who are intentionally trying to upset a dog and cannot tell that it is working, not good, or do not know simple canine cues such as yawning, whale eyes, and pacing. They also were unable to define a simple term and used it in a creative way as compared to other more prestigious trainers such as Leerburg. read more

My wife and I rescued a hound dog puppy who had issues from the start. Not only was she sickly when we firs took her home (our vet helped us with that), but she was extremely skittish - we don't know if she was abused or if she just wasn't socialized, but either way, she was very frightened by strangers. It was to the point where she would absolutely flip out at the sight of people other than my wife or myself, or urinate herself out of fear. She also was not very obedient, but our main concern was the way she went into barking fits at the sight of other people. We took her to another trainer that didn't help us at all, the other trainer (Master Peace in Franklin - don't go there) wasted our time and money with cookie-cutter, "give her a cookie for being good" hippie training, but then we found Happy Retriever, and Mike and Dorothy did amazing work with us, and now our dog, while still nervous around people that she doesn't know, is much less reactive and is more obedient to us than before. The first thing Mike did was test her to see if she would bite him, and luckily she did not, she just cowered away. Then we went through a very effective training class in a small group of three dogs (whereas Master Peace had is in a group of about 10 dogs), and we learned many techniques to become our dog's Alpha, which was a key to making her trust people that we trust. She'll probably never be the dog that wags her tail and gets all happy to see new people, but at least now she warms up to people we introduce to her more quickly, and is nowhere near being out of control. The other trainer didn't even help us establish dominance over our dog. Mike and Dorothy at Happy Retriever made that step #1 to saving this dog. In addition to their training, they also offer walks for free and consulted us for free. They genuinely care about the dogs that they train, they are not just a money-making outfit, they genuinely are out to help dogs like ours. Mike and Dorothy saved our dog. read more

Our experience at Happy Retriever with our rescue, Dude, was fantastic! He was very leash reactive on walks, which made taking him out for walks pretty challenging. I was afraid that he was an aggressive dog and didn't know if I could ever take him anywhere. We tried Happy Retrievers on a recommendation from a friend. Their trainers are incredibly knowledgable and their reward-based training is extremely effective. Their focus is establishing the owner as the alpha and a level of trust on both sides. Their evaluation of Dude let me know that he was not an aggressive dog, but reactive because he was frustrated by the leash and wanted to play. Just that assessment gave me such peace. We LOVE Michael and Dorothy. Dude greets them as enthusiastically as he greets us. He loves "going to work" there. When we started, Dude was walking us, pulling on the leash etc., now we are walking him. Happy Retriever's services meet every need you could possibly have with your dog. After you graduate from the program, they offer free leashed trail walks on Saturdays to help you and your dog continue to practice what you learned. They stick with you and train you, the owner, as much as they they train your dog, which is the secret to success. After graduating the program, we still go for Bump Up, or refresher days because Dude loves it and gets a lot out of it. Dude is still a bit reactive on the leash, but after the program, I am properly trained to correct him the right way and every walk we take gets better and better. We both learned what we needed to for success. There is also a store on premises for products that you can trust for your dog. We got Dude a couple of chew toys for his birthday that have become his favorites. I highly recommend the Happy Retriever for any of your training needs. read more