Dog Obedience Group - Boarding, Training, Daycare

This is quite belated but since I would like to save others the horror of dealing with Elizabeth and her “ training techniques” a few years ago we dropped our sweet but anxious dog with her for a week for a vacation. She said she would work on some training with him and work with us after. When she arrived at our home she had her dog with her, after we told her that our dog was not always good with others. She made multiple inappropriate remarks , which we brushed off at the time since we didn’t really have another option. During the time that we were away she sent pictures where our pup seemed happy and well cared for and she reported that he was doing well and even made a few new doggie friends. When we arrived to pick him up about a week later he was locked in a small crate( to small for him ) and she showed us “how she kept him for breaking out do his crate” which was an issue due to the separation anxiety. Her way of doing this included shoving him in the crate forcefully whenever her approached the front of it and slamming the door in his face and on his nose. In addition when we arrived he was excited and barking and our first interaction upon entering the house was for her to smack him in the face with the end of the leash that was attached to him. Needless to say we were concerned. Upon entering her home there were numerous dog crates lined against walls with, at least 15 of them, with dogs inside barking. When we did get our dog back he had scrapes cuts and his neck was bleeding from the collar she was using. When my husband asked what happened she stated the he pulled and she corrected him and that we only had to wash it with soap and water and he would be fine. When he did something she didn’t like during he time we were talking with her she closed fist punched him in the head with us standing there watching. At this point my husband grabbed our dog and walked out of the house and to the car, she actually had the audacity to demand her choke collar back before we left. We immediately took him to the vet to be checked out who stated that he saw signs of abuse ( of course, who makes a dog bleed while your “training”.) We then went to the local sheriffs/ animal control to report this who told us upon mentioning her name that they currently had a case open and were investigating other complaints of the same nature from other clients and that she was well known to them because of these complaints of abuse of dogs in her care. In addition when we went to see the vet he was also aware of her and stated that she had even used his letter head to write letters for and to clients without his permission. Our dog was always a nervous wreck but never shied away from us before going to her home. When we got in the car to go home I tried to let him as he was obviously nervous and he ducked away, this was something he had NEVER done before. He was weary of strangers but always loving and never afraid of us. This was heart breaking to see as we left him with her to improve his anxiety and we got him back more anxious and afraid than when he got there. The “training” did nothing for him, anxiety still there and worse than before, behaviors didn’t improve at all, the only thing she accomplished was to set back the work we had acoomplished with hi. By months, we did eventually find someone who was willing to work with him and he made leaps and bounds but I’m convinced that his week with her did permanent damage, in addition to the physical ( the hair on his neck never really grew back fully ) the steps backward he took, which previously he had been close to over coming, after his stay never really got back to the point he was st previous to staying with Elizabeth. Luckily he was a larger dog, and while it’s no excuse for her treatment of him, I’d hate to see how a smaller dog would come out of her “training” Do not leave your animal with this woman!!!!

Dog Obedience Group is an unlicensed and unprofessional doggy "daycare." My Shiba Inu, Paddington, spent some time at this daycare with the owner, Elizabeth. I did not have a choice in having Paddington stay with her, as I moved with my family to Alaska 2 months ago. We left Paddington with family, and when they went on vacation, they chose to leave Paddington with Elizabeth. My husband and I were planning on family driving our dog from NY to AK in September in order not to traumatize him by 2 long flights. Well, now we won't be able to. Paddington will be traumatized for the rest of his life because of Elizabeth's unprofessional daycare. While with Elizabeth, Paddington was brutally attacked by another dog. His entire abdominal wall needed to be repaired. He will have continual vet visits due to his attacks. Elizabeth tries to blame everyone but herself for this. After Paddington's attack, I had asked Elizabeth to separate Paddington from the other dogs. I did not want my dog, who was struggling to survive, to be vulnerable around these other dogs. She responded by letting me know he would not be separated. In fact, Paddington was left vulnerable on a leash surrounded by the other dogs. There are pictures to prove it. And she posted pictures of him laying on her bed with a handful of dogs surrounding him. I found out later that the dog that attacked Paddington was still there after the attack; still around my dog. And I was told by an animal shelter close to where I live, that this other dog that attacked Paddington must have been showing signs of wanting to attack. When a dog attacks another dog's belly it is with the intention to kill, and they said there are signs leading up to that. When I asked Elizabeth again to please separate Paddington, she responded by asking me if I've seen a psychiatrist lately. Completely unprofessional and inappropriate. Elizabeth is refusing to pay the remaining vet bills. And her insurance will not cover them, because there is an exclusion in her policy stating that because she was there when the event happened, she is liable personally. Elizabeth blames Paddington for the attack. She has not been the least bit sympathetic that our dog was nearly killed. And, as I've told her, Paddington has lived with up to 10 kids at a time due to the nature of my work as a previous House Parent at a boarding school and group home. Paddington has NEVER been aggressive to the kiddos we have cared for. Paddington has never been aggressive to our own toddler. And we've socialized Paddington with other dogs regularly. Because of the nature of our work, we lived in a community with our co-workers that also had dogs. Paddington played with other dogs all the time, and there has never been an issue. Elizabeth keeps all of these dogs together all the time. She gives the dogs raw meat expecting there not to be an issue about dogs fighting over meat. She won't separate them when asked to. She is physically aggressive with the dogs, as you can read in the other reviews. And, if anything were to happen to your dog, she will not find herself liable. On the contrary, she will only add insult to injury. Do not bring your dog here. *Update* After weeks of back and forth, Elizabeth finally agreed to pay for the vet bills. For that, we are thankful.

I have not even attempted to go to this training class just because of the negative reviews and how the owner replies to them. I think it’s so unprofessional how the owner handles criticism and it’s definetely not a place I would ever take my dog because of it. I understand it’s frustrating to receive negative reviews, but that’s no reason to call your clients liars. They were obviously upset about something if they take the time to write paragraphs about their negative experiences. I find this absolutely unprofessional and unacceptable from someone I would consider paying money to train my dog. They will not be getting business, and it’s not even because of what the negative comments said, it’s simply how the owner handled them. If the owner’s comments on yelp are any indication of her personality, I highly recommend everyone reading these reviews before considering sending your dog here. I was actually appalled by some of her nasty comments back to her ex clients, UNACCEPTABLE!!! Update: I’m guessing she saw my review regarding her rude comments to her ex clients and knew I was right because within a week, all of her incredibly rude and unprofessional comments were removed. Don’t send your dog here. I don’t even need to attend a class to know that the owner is manipulative and will do anything to benefit herself and her business. I wish I had taken screenshots because she openly admitted on Yelp to having said to one of her ex clients that their dog should be “humanely euthanized” due to him having some protective tendencies (Something that she should put 100% effort in trying to fix before making such an impulsive decsision to put the poor dog down). Besides reading about the dog that got attacked under her care, that was one of the most appalling comments to read and I remembered vividly what she said because of it. My best wishes to all of the traumatized owners and dogs who went here. I hope everyone considering taking their dog here reads this and recognizes how inappropriately she manages her “business”, if you can even call it that.

Our daughters small 19 pound dog was attacked by another dog in this woman’s care, and required surgery to save his life. All the dogs in her care are forced to intermingle, regardless of size, breed, temperament and training issues. Elizabeth paid for his medical care initially, but refuses to continue to pay for his recovery expenses. He was so severely injured, that the Veterinarian wasn’t sure he would survive, and described the condition of his abdomen as “hamburger”. After the incident, our daughter begged Elizabeth to separate her dog from the other dogs, and was told “Stop trying to control me, have you seen your psychiatrist lately”? Just days after his surgery, we went to pick the dog up from Elizabeth, and we witnessed her pushing him to the ground, and he winced. I bent down and pet his head to comfort him, and Elizabeth sternly stated “stop that! stop that! don’t coddle him”! Elizabeth does not respect the owners wishes. Once you leave your dog in her care, she is the “expert”, and you the owner have no input in your dogs care. She is beyond unprofessional. We have spent the last week nursing this dog, and she had the nerve to say we are not qualified to care for him, yet he nearly died while under her care! He has a long road to recovery ahead of him, and we will care for him, and love him. He will never again experience the abuse that he was exposed to in Elizabeth’s care. UPDATE: Elizabeth did reimburse us for Paddington’s surgical follow up.