Charlotte the Dog Trainer

Not a good experience for us. On the first night, Charlotte told everyone that if they had any problems with her that the last chance to get a refund was that night--our first red flag. We didn't see why we would have any problems. My husband and I get along with everybody, and even though as far as personalities go, she was a little on the harsher side of the spectrum, it didn't worry us. The main problem with the class was that it was all about negative reinforcement for the dogs. We were the only couple in the class with a young puppy, and being so young, our dog just wasn't taking orders like the other dogs were. When we asked Charlotte for help, she told us that we needed to assert our dominance more and show her that we were the alpha. For example, when we asked Charlotte what to do when our dog would bark at us from her kennel where we put her during family mealtimes, she told us to throw a can at the kennel. She wanted us to yell at, push, and yank our dog, which we did, although doing it didn't make any positive difference in our dog's behaviors. The choke collar Charlotte gave us definitely helped our dog not to pull on walks, but as soon as it came off she would pull again. We were practicing these training methods at home each week in between classes, and all the negativity was a strain on our family and on our relationship with our dog. As the class went on, I dreaded going every time, and after leaving, I always felt drained. During the class, Charlotte would have us walk the dogs around the room, while giving us complicated instructions on how to step, how to turn, when to turn, what to do with our hands, how to move the dog, how to speak, etc. I always felt stressed trying to follow all of her instructions perfectly, while also trying to make my dog perform the intended actions. Then if I made any mistakes, Charlotte would stand next to me and loudly tell me everything I was doing wrong, which flustered me more. Then at the height of my anxiety one night, she said to me, "I'm sorry, but you have bad energy." (Like, um, yes, of course I do?) Anyways, it was just awful. After the class, we continued the techniques we had "learned" in her class for the next six months with no improvements in our dog's behavior. We signed up for Petco training, and after a few pleasant sessions that taught us about positive reinforcement, our dog's behavior completely turned around. I didn't write this review for a long time because I was a little scared of Charlotte. I think that's why there aren't more, lol.