Canine Kingdom Downers Grove

We brought our friendly 1-yr-old dog, Gracie, here for training this past winter. She completed over 30 sessions across 3–4 months. Our main goal was to get her walking properly on a leash. Unfortunately, after all that time, there was zero improvement in that area. I truly wish I were exaggerating. While she did improve slightly with “sit” (a command she already knew) and could do “down” with a treat, the core issue we came in for—leash walking—remained completely unresolved. I raised concerns halfway through the program, and was told to “trust the process” because our dog was still building trust with the trainers. At one point, they canceled a scheduled meeting because Gracie “wasn’t where they wanted her to be,” and then switched trainers. When I asked why, I was told the previous trainer had been bitten by another dog. As we neared the end of the program, I emailed the new owner, noting that while the staff was polite and the facility clean, we were concerned with the lack of progress. He called and assured us he would get Gracie on track—but even after a few extra sessions, we were told she was “done,” despite her inability to walk on a leash still. I asked the trainer to show us any improvement on the final day, and he couldn’t get her to walk even 20 feet without pulling. It took nearly 20 minutes to go that short distance, all while he talked in circles to divert attention from the lack of progress. We spent $2,500 for this training. It was, sadly, the biggest waste of money we’ve ever spent. Perhaps it operated better under previous ownership, but as of now, I would not recommend this facility.

Our dog cooper did puppy training here and it was extremely successful. The staff is very friendly and truly love dogs. They made it very easy to trust them with cooper all day. The in person training sessions with the trainer are extremely beneficial and make it easy to reinforce things learned at home. Would highly recommend Downers Grove Dog Training to anyone looking for dog training, grooming or boarding.

Absolutely horrible experience with this company. I went with my sister to meet their head trainer and learn more about the services that they offer. The trainer who we were supposed to meet showed up late and while we were waiting had a very weird experience with the woman working the front desk and the gentleman who asked to take my sister dog to the back to get an evaluation done. He did not introduce himself and as he took the dog to the back the woman at the front desk said oh he’s a bit weird but he does a good job. So bizarre and unprofessional. The place also had a weird smell. We then continued waiting for the head trainer to show up and the woman at the front desk told us his dog was dying and that was why he was late. I personally had just put my 16 yr old dog down and understand how hard that is and were optimistic about their services. He finally showed up and proceeded to ask the same questions he had asked my sister prior to meeting and said verbatim that he is new and doesn’t know that much about training dogs. How could you be a head trainer at a pretty large facility and say that. They also had no certifications or licenses on their walls. He then went into the back room to ask the other trainers some questions we had as he couldn’t answer them and we could hear them talking about my sister. And one of the female trainers said that the owners need to train their dogs not us and this isn’t our problem. What kind of business acts like this? Oh an unprofessional one. I told the woman at the front desk we could hear them talking about us and she said OMG and ran into the room they were in to tell them to stop. When he came out he said that they don’t offer any guarantees, which ok that’s fine but gave us no confidence in their services. We really wanted to support a local small business but were very disappointed. They also made my sister who was very pregnant at the time feel very uncomfortable and spoke down to her about being pregnant. They said when we left there was no charge to be paid as no services were rendered. My sister said thank you and I will think about this as I need to speak with my husband but then weeks later they charged her $50. They will not send a refund and are not responding to her emails. Because of this you will be reported to the BBB and sadly have told a lot of people in the community the experience we had. As a small business owner myself you should all be ashamed.

Had a call with Anthony to discuss training opportunities for one of our dogs. We were very clear with what we needed and they assured us they could meet this. Anthony was late to the in person meeting and was unprepared. He asked the same questions we had already discussed prior. While waiting for Anthony the head trainer didn’t greet us and was unprofessional. They charged me a fee for the trainer - the trainer never met with us and I never received a refund. Complete waste of time. They are very unprofessional and unorganized. We decided to try out Doggie Depot and are very happy there.