Archie went to camp with Gina for three weeks and came home a different dog. I'm still a little…read moreamazed. He's a five-pound chihuahua who shakes when someone new walks in the room and basically lived on my lap or behind my knees. I'd worried a trainer would either give up on him or scare him worse, but from the very first day Gina put so much thought into making him feel safe. She texted that afternoon to say he'd already jumped into her daughter's arms. When he barely ate the first couple days and I got worried, she talked me through it and told me he'd come around, which he did. She took him on long walks around the park and the neighborhood to burn off his nerves before she ever asked anything of him. His crate became his safe spot at her house, a familiar place that was all his in the middle of a busy home with other dogs and parrots and training going on. And she started him on tiny, predictable rules, sitting before a door, coming when called, so he always had something he understood to hold onto in a new situation. She explained that for an anxious dog, knowing what to expect is half the battle. She also refused to pick him up every time he got scared, and warned me that part would be harder for me than for him. She was right. Somewhere around the second week he started smiling in the photos. He was hanging out with her little dogs and her family, going on field trips to the park and coffee shops, staying on his place while she walked away, heeling next to her. He knows sit, place, heel and here now, and he does them for me too. The turnover at my apartment took a couple hours and it was real work. She sat me down and explained everything before we ever touched the dog, then had me practice with Archie while she corrected what I was doing wrong. She's kept sending reminders and answering my questions since, including a few dumb ones about shampoo and brushes. Here's the part I still can't get over. We went to a party a couple weeks after he got home, which is a huge deal for Archie. He sat on other people's laps. He licked hands. He barely cowered. Six weeks ago he would have spent the whole night shaking under my chair. Everyone at the party noticed and commented on the change in his demeanor. I was a proud mama that day! If your dog is the anxious type, the one who hides, trembles, won't eat around strangers, or has to be carried everywhere, I really want you to hear this. A lot of trainers are set up for big confident dogs and don't know what to do with a scared little one. Gina does. She never rushed him, never forced him, and never made me feel silly for babying him all these years. She reads a nervous dog and meets them where they are, then slowly builds them up until they can handle the world on their own. That's exactly what Archie needed. I honestly feel like Gina is just getting started with him, and I'm already thinking of when I can work with her again. If you have a tiny, anxious dog and you're on the fence, go with Gina. Archie is a different dog and so am I. Thank you again for everything you did for him, and for me. Archie sends smooches. Sheri

I can't say enough good things about Brandi and Perry Bailey of RSK9. Their work has given my pup…read moreand I so much freedom and balance. Pebbles (blue heeler, 1.5 years old) would never listen to me, would not sit or lay still, and had a lot of other obedience issues that caused her to be stressed or confused. She was a TOUGH dog to train and I was concerned I couldn't find the solution for her to get basic concepts. This view has completely changed since working with RSK9's 3 week program. I would HIGHLY recommend them and their methods - you can tell they genuinely love working with dogs and it's made a huge difference in giving my dog the chance to find real rest at home. They send DAILY updates with photos and videos which was so nice. This isn't a regular class or something you just pay for; it's truly an investment that you and your dog will be using for the time you get to share together. Side note: it's worth doing 3 weeks versus 2 weeks. At the 2 week mark is when Pebbles really started to understand her marks and cues. From here there is so much more that can be refined and Brandi/Perry really capitalize on that threshold being crossed!

We live in DC and it's a 45-minute drive to Your Dog's Friend, but chose them anyway after *lots*…read moreof research about the best puppy kindergarten and dog training classes in the DC area. I love that they are a nonprofit organization, how experienced their trainers are (with all relevant certifications), and that they are positive-only (as recommended by AVSAB- American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior - and is best supported by research). We started with puppy kindergarten with our golden retriever (6 sessions, starting around 14 weeks) and LOVED it. I can't say enough good things. The trainers at Your Dog's Friend are so knowledgeable about research-based, positive training and socialization. Everything we learned from Sarah Stoycos and the other trainers we have put into practice with our puppy, Griffey. After puppy K, we signed up for puppy first-grade and will be starting this weekend. We hope to keep going all the way through Canine Good Citizen and potentially do some of their nosework and agility classes, as we think Griffey would enjoy them!

We had a great experience with the basic obedience class! The instructions were really clear and…read morethe lessons moved quickly enough that my dog stayed engaged the whole time. I'm already seeing improvement in her recall when we're at the park! Highly recommend these trainers and will be back for more classes.

Strangers always comment on how well-trained my dog is and friends always ask me to train their…read moredogs for them. The truth is that a well-trained dog is just as much about training the handler as the dog. My family has taken 5 dogs through Dog Sense, 3 all the way through Advanced Obedience, and our dogs were taught to follow US instead of us chasing after them. My mother took our first family dog there and when my sister and I returned with our dogs, some of the same experienced trainers were still there 19 years later, a testament to their years of experience. Don't waste your money on the pet store classes, Dog Sense is the place to go in Montgomery County. A well-behaved dog is a real gem to have around!

l like it a lot because they attend to my puppy promptly and do keep him caged like in other places…read more they are very professional

Awesome trainers hands down and New facility location nestled in the Potomac Valley shopping…read morecenter! While the location of facility is just recently opened, the business itself has actually been around since 2017. We decided to go with them in 2022, signed up for the Board and Train and hands down, the best investment I've ever made for my pooch (and myself ofc). I wish I knew them then with my first doodle. We had David then for our 2 weeks B&T, fast forward 2 years later we are still getting on going support from Caroline, David, Dylan (aka the treat guy for Bailey..lol) with weekly pack walks, pop up training class, group lessons, etc. If you are serious about getting your dog trained and better behavior or you simply need guidance to be a better dog owner, get in touch with them! Signed, ~Bailey, the pooch with attitude who used to bite/tug on his leash during walk, to a confident dog who can behave in public and proudly earned his CGC after :)

Very clean training facility with easy parking. Andrew was very responsive and described the…read moreprogram well. Our dog was afraid of him. The training/boarding program is expensive, and we were worried that it wouldn't lead to our long-term goals.

Always have a good experience at PetSmart. I like going to this location because it's close to my…read morehouse and it's very convenient on this day. I decided to go to PetSmart to get my dog some toys, food treats, and also a lifejacket for swimming. T The associates were very friendly. They are very helpful. We're trying to find the correct lifejacket for his size. Thankfully, we were able to find one that fit perfectly. Also, they are very helpful with help me decide on a different type of food for him because now he's allergic to chicken so I want to find a good dog food that was able to nourish. But also something that he would enjoy of course in PetSmart at the ambience is always good. It was very clean very organized and overall was a great time. I'm very glad they were able to help me anywhere very friendly and willing to go over and beyond to make sure I was satisfied

I had a terrible experience with PetSmart Grooming and absolutely do NOT recommend this service…read more I took my dog in for a haircut and I completely understood that, depending on his coat, it might be necessary to shave him. That was never the issue. What I do NOT understand is why I was charged an additional $40 for "dematting" when there is absolutely no evidence that any actual dematting was done. His coat was simply shaved, apparently without any attempt to carefully work through or remove the mats. When I asked about the extra charge in person, the staff could not give me any real explanation beyond basically pointing to the invoice and telling me to pay it. I also contacted customer service by email, and the experience has been just as awful. I still haven't received a proper response, and we're now going into the third week. So I paid extra for a service that I don't believe was actually performed, received no reasonable explanation, and then couldn't even get a response from customer service. I will absolutely NOT be coming back to PetSmart Grooming. I'm taking my dog to Petco from now on. Save yourself the frustration and your money.

We worked with Julie to have our 10mo old Australian Shepherd trained. The entire process was very…read moresmooth, from the consultation to training, to the transition home. We spent a lot of time reviewing our goals together and our trainer followed through with the plan that we set together. She stayed in constant contact with transparent updates about the puppy's progress and answered any questions we had. Given the puppy's breed and determination, she required quite a bit of foundational training. Since returning home, she's a pro on the leash (complete transformation). Walks are far more enjoyable - no more barking, pulling, lunging towards moving vehicles, and now has a peaceful relationship with the mail box and trash can. Another high priority was addressing the puppy's reactiveness to our child - puppy is now able to follow my lead during potentially chaotic interactions. Overall our program length was 6 weeks long and completely worth it. We are thrilled to have these foundations instilled by a professional who also cares for the dog. Highly recommend!

Our family highly recommends Controlled K9! We adopted our boy Mortimer last year after he had been…read moreliving as a stray, and we were really struggling when he came home with basic manners, reactivity, and having him settle in with our other dog. We ended up sending both of our boys for a six-week board and train with Kelia. It seemed to only make sense to send both dogs so they would have the same baseline training. Kelia was amazing! She kept us informed just about every day with videos and texts so we could see that the boys were happy and making progress. When Kelia brought the boys home, she spent a few hours with us, showing all the commands and techniques that she taught them, so we had a seamless transition. The "place" command alone has been lifechanging. (Although as you can see in the picture, they sometimes refuse to use separate mats, LOL.) We use the command before we feed them, initially when guests come by, and when we just need them to settle down a bit. It has reduced the stress and chaos in our house tenfold, and we actually can see the boys relax when they know they have a place to go and chill out. Kelia also gave us the tools to make leash walking and general obedience so much more successful. There are a lot of options out there for training. What set Controlled K9 apart for us was (1) our boys lived with Kelia, her family, and her dogs during training - they were not staying in a kennel and were in a real-life, loving environment, and (2) the promise of lifetime, free follow-up support. The boys have been home now for about 3 months. The training has stuck, and we feel like we really have the tools we need to make life pleasant for all of us, including the boys. Kelia has also proactively checked in to make sure things are going well, provided tips on the best way to reinforce training, and has responded quickly when we have follow-up questions, including offering a visit. Over three months later, we are still completely satisfied with the training and support provided by Controlled K9 and Kelia, and we would use them again in a heartbeat.

Obsessed with Senior Trainer Jimmy Got a simple dog you need…read moreto just sit and stay? Go to Petsmart on a Saturday with all the other commoners and basic dogs - follow pee smell to the paper sign-up form. Stop reading here. Got a four-legged friend you want to see become their best furry selves, motivated to behave, and eager to build a trusting relationship with you? Go see Jimmy. Continue to page 2 of ramble for why. What you get from Pack Place K9: Tactical and actionable guidance backed by canine ethology explanations and anchored with strategic relationship building and communication maturing goals True, true, true and deep expertise BEYOND breed stereotypes, Cesar Milan soundbites, and other Frankensteined tips Astute insights to help you understand behavioral nuances so your training works for him/her FISCALLY responsible and wallet-respectful advice and programming that works Also, it's really nice to have a service that has a modernized customer experience (centralized portal, automation, etc) and is simply well-ran/organized. What you DONT get from Pack Place K9: Aggressive upsells of unnecessary products or irrelevant services Pushy training schedules and timeboxes counter-productive to your pet's learning (or your busy life) Canned, generic, and rigid training programs don't deliver results you thought you paid for My Story Max-Gaston is a 3 year old oversized Husky mix too wicked smart and skillful for his own good. That's OK - he ain't my first dog; I figured we'd figure it out. At 9 weeks, Max already scaled his playpen on the first try. By 3mo, Max mastered all fundamental commands. By 5mos, he figured out how to open doors. Around 6mos, he figured out how to turn the key to UNLOCK the door in order to open it because we started locking those damn doors. Currently weighing around 100lbs, Max matched my size but was equipped with a pulling instinct possessed by Togo himself. Walking him became an impossible task. With 90%+ obedience rate across a rich vocabulary spanning 3 languages, Max was perfect....indoors. As soon we exited those doors, he forgets his own name. I thought I'd have to Rapunzel this guy forever. By the time I got to Pack Place K9, I already sought services with a 5-starred celebrity hunting dog trainer and former SeaWorld animal trainer - they were great but not meant for Max. I've invested in swimming and boarding and other memberships and about anything you can waste money on - Max had fun; Max was not impressed. At the end of my Pack Place K9 FREE evaluation with Jimmy, I was handed practical tips to achieve Goal #1 without wasting any sessions on it. By the time I got to session #1, it was already night-and-day. Honestly, by the end of Session 1, I questioned every cent I've wasted in the three years of nonsense that I thought I was happy with. I walked away from Session 1 understanding Max's behavioral drivers and nuanced body language within reactivity that was substantiated with environmental props...of other dogs positioned as stimuli. I am out of character count to rave about Session 2. Jimmy is changing Max's life...literally because I no longer have to Mother Gothel this furry son and there's hope he won't have to be a "house husky." TL;DR: My furry nieces and nephews are getting Pack Place K9 training this Christmas. I will try to buy some sessions of their humans too.

Pack Place K9 has been treating my baby boy, Benito, the absolute best. He's a puppy with so much…read moreenergy and very confident in himself, so I needed a place to teach him basic obedience and other areas we were struggling with at home. He has been working closely with Julia (thank you Julia!) who has taught my baby boy so much and she is able to keep up with his crazy energy! After he completed his 3 week new member orientation, Julia patiently demonstrated to us the training to continue doing at home so Benito can enhance his skills. I continue to use their daycare/training service so Benito has the opportunity to continue learning and socialize with other pups. Plus, Benito is always so excited when we walk up to the front door of the facility, and always greets staff with excitement-- which is a definite green flag when putting trust in leaving your fur babies all day somewhere without you there. Pack Place K9 has staff who are very professional and trustworthy.

Alexis grooms my Pixie Grrl to the T Pixie always returns…read moreto me happy and unstressed. Thanks Alexis and DogieZone.

Earlier this year, my family spent over $6,000 to board our three dogs at DogiZone from May 16th to…read moreJune 4th while we were traveling. One of our dogs, Sophie, only had one eye left but still had vision prior to her DogiZone boarding. She required extra attention due to her condition, especially with daily eye drops and ointment so that she could retain the vision in her remaining eye. This, along with other detailed care instructions, were communicated to DogiZone when the dogs were dropped off. However, when we picked the dogs up on June 4th, Sophie was completely blind and DogiZone refuses to admit any fault nor take any accountability. On May 15th, one day prior to dropping off the dogs at DogiZone, Sophie was examined at the Animal Eye Care Center in Gaithersburg and the doctor confirmed that everything was fine with her remaining eye and her vision should remain fine as long as her prescribed eye drops/eye ointments are applied daily. On May 16th, all 3 dogs, including Sophie, were dropped off at DogiZone and care instructions were clearly communicated to the staff at DogiZone, especially emphasizing the need for Sophie to receive daily eye drops and eye ointment so that she would retain vision in her remaining eye. In addition, between May 16th and June 4th while we were abroad, we called DogiZone three separate times (spaced out between the beginning, middle, and end of our trip) to check in on Sophie, to not only confirm that she was doing okay, but to also ensure that DogiZone was following care instructions and provide Sophie with her necessary eye drops. On all 3 of those calls the receptionist assured us that Sophie was completely fine and that she was being given her eye drops. On the morning of June 4th, we picked our dogs up from DogiZone and immediately noticed Sophie's eye was red. Likewise, when Sophie arrived at home, she was not able to navigate and was clearly bumping into walls/objects. It was obvious at that point that Sophie was completely blind and much to our dismay, DogiZone did not once notify us of this obvious fact during her boarding nor when she was picked up. We immediately reached out to her eye doctor at the Animal Eye Care Center in Gaithersburg and were able to get an appointment that evening. The eye doctor confirmed that her eyesight was fine prior to be boarded, but she was now completely blind. That same day I called DogiZone and spoke with the manager Reagan. I had informed her of the fact that Sophie went blind during her stay at DogiZone and none of this was noticed nor communicated by the staff to us. However, she told me over the phone that the staff claimed to apply the eye drops and did not observe anything wrong. This is completely incongruent with the timeline of events I have laid out. Additionally, her statement was not supported with any meaningful proof as she confirmed that they have no CCTV or video recording in their facilities and are just relying on the word of the employees assigned to take care of Sophie. Furthermore, they failed to also report anything wrong with Sophie during her stay at DogiZone. This baffles me as it is quite easy to spot that a dog is blind and cannot navigate on their own. To me, the lack of attention/care from the staff points to extreme negligence and incompetence. All they had to do was apply her eye drops or at the very least call her vet/eye doctor when they noticed something was wrong. The fact that this was not flagged to my family when we proactively called them on 3 separate occasions during the beginning, middle, and end of our trip highlights the gross negligence and/or incompetence of DogiZone, especially when we were paying over $6,000 to board our dogs. What makes this experience even more painful to this very day is seeing Sophie struggle on a daily basis due to her blindness while trying her best to adapt to a situation that she did not deserve and could have been easily avoided. I would highly recommend against using DogiZone's services, especially if you expect your dogs to get proper care and attention.

Dr. H is the best. She loves birds, and as a bird owner I love to see it. We took our tiny…read more6-month-old bird in for her first check-up, and Dr. H was so kind and sweet to our scared little one. She had a feisty little doggo in the exam room next to us, and she had the little canine moved to another room because our bird was terrified of the barking. She assessed our bird, Mango, and gave us such valuable tips and info. Her assistant was lovely as well. We had some follow-up questions about our birdie's care days later, and she responded promptly as soon as we emailed (9 pm, btw). Who is this angel?! We feel so lucky to have found her!

I visited and toured the cat rooms prior to an upcoming stay. The building needs maintenance. Bad…read moreodors--cat urine, feces--start outside the front entrance. Strong animal odors--urine, feces, wet dog--were present in lobby, back rooms and cat rooms. Many dogs were barking loudly. Barking was audible in Kitty City cat room. Cat apartments in Kitty City are large, double level and passably clean. Cats seemed calm.

Attended a training at Paw by Paw Dog Training and while I have been around dogs my entire life,…read moreDavid not only enhanced my knowledge he also taught me new ways to work with and handle and understand the dogs that I walk and have over nights with. David made the training easy to understand and gave practical demonstrations. David and everyone at Paw by Paw Dog Training were friendly, professional, extremely knowledgeable and patient. I am looking forward to putting into practice all the new techniques and additional knowledge learned. Thank you!

My husband and I have 2 very reactive hound mix dogs, and we have worked with a handful of other…read moretrainers without any improvements. We've been attending weekly, private, behavior-modification lessons with David, and not to sound cliche, but the training has changed our lives. My dogs would lunge, bark, and bite when bicycles, dogs, kids, cars, etc. would pass by on walks, and now I can confidently walk them without fear of them reacting. We can comfortably walk our dogs on a loose leash, and also, put our dogs in 'place' when guests come over. The pricing for training is extremely fair and the results speak for themselves. Highly recommend Paw by Paw for any training needs!