BrightStar Canine

I had a very disappointing experience with Kimberly from Brightstar Canine Training during my dog Lilo’s board-and-train program. The first day started off fine. I reached out for an update and received a photo and message saying Lilo was nervous but doing okay. After that, communication became extremely poor. I repeatedly had to reach out myself just to get any information about my dog, and many times I received no response at all. Kimberly explained that an internet pole near her home was down, which made communication difficult, but as a dog owner paying a significant amount of money for a board-and-train program, I still expected consistent updates and communication about my dog’s wellbeing and progress. What was most frustrating was that I never received clear information about what training was actually being done with Lilo. I received very few updates, mostly just photos, and there was little to no explanation about the training methods, progress, or follow-up plan. The lack of communication caused me over a week of stress and worry wondering if my dog was okay. Unfortunately, after bringing Lilo home, I also noticed behavioral changes that were concerning to me. She came back significantly more nervous and reactive than before the program, barking at nearly every sound and appearing much more anxious overall. In the end, I decided to pull Lilo from the program early. Spending around $1,500 for an experience that left me anxious, uninformed, and concerned about my dog’s behavior afterward was incredibly disappointing. I believe communication, transparency, and proper follow-up are extremely important when someone is trusting you with their pet, and unfortunately that was not my experience here.

I can’t say enough good things about Kimberly. We dropped our pup off while we were on vacation for about a week. She had had an eye infection a couple weeks prior, and we thought it was all cleared up. A few days before we came home, Kimberly texted us and let us know that she was concerned the vet had misdiagnosed our dog bc her face and eyes were swollen. She got an appointment with her vet and took her for us and it turns out she was correct. We were worried, but Kimberly was so good about communicating with us and keeping us calm. She is a true dog professional who cared for our girl as if she was her own. Even with an infection, she was a happy pup coming home. I won’t bring her anywhere else!

Kimberly at BrightStar Canine is the absolute best. I brought her my 3.5 year old German Shepard/ malamute rescue when I inherited him and she made his coming home possible. Food aggression, general verbal commands, response without necessary reward. For lack of a better term, she worked out all his kinks. Without Kim’s help at BrightStar Canine Chance wouldn't have had his second Chance. We can’t thank her enough for her work and what she’s done for our pup!