Fetch & Sketch Dog Training

We've been taking our Boston to Fetch and Sketch for daycare for a year. Jillian provided updates, and you could tell that she cared about our pup. We enrolled him in the on-site training program, which lasted three weeks, and she took in our new puppy for the last week to help with the training as well. When the three weeks were up, we came to pick up our pups to find that our 1 year old had lost several pounds. I've included a picture from the day before training as well as two from the day after training to show how thin he got. We only received a single picture during his stay which was taken a few days in, and received updates only about training, not about his health, so we were not aware of his extreme weight loss until we picked him up. His face thinned out, his back bone and hip bones were protruding, and there was muscle loss. When we got him home, he wasn't walking well, couldn't hop up on the couch, and fell trying to go up the stairs because he was so weak. He was a very muted version of his former self for a few weeks post-training. He drank bowl after bowl of water, ate furiously, and slept. We took him in to the vet immediately and, after blood work to confirm the weight loss wasn't from an underlying medical condition (it wasn't), were told that he was drinking the way he was due to dehydration and that he was protein deficient but with patience, he would recover. I reached out to Jillian about the issue and asked what happened with him/why we weren't notified of the weight loss. We were told that he was fine while there, and he was eating everything that was given to him with access to water at all times. The issue of the weight loss was dismissed as a normal result of the training program despite the severity, and Jillian pivoted to the success of her training over the health state of my dog. My concern and the 1 star review is based 100% on my dog's health state at the end. I requested a refund as the health and safety of the dogs should be the first priority over the training. A refund was denied since she completed the training, so she upheld her side of the agreement. I'm really disappointed with how things were handled. There was no acknowledgement of the situation, no apology for the result or lack of communication on his health state while in training, and no real concern about the after-effects of the program. If I knew my dog would be in the state that he was in after the program, I would not have agreed to it. I hope this is a one-off situation as I had good experiences with Jillian in the past, and I want to see her succeed. However, I feel obligated to let others know about my situation. If you bring your dog in for training, please be sure to keep up with the state of your health along the way. Update: Jillian reached out only after reading the review hoping to iron things out. However, my dog's weight loss was still dismissed as being normal and Jillian pivoted to her program being a success. Again, the weight loss is my concern. I have many people in my network with animal backgrounds (training programs, volunteer organizations, vets, etc.), and after sending the pictures, not a single person felt that this was a normal situation. All were very concerned. She asked what I was thinking about with regards to my request for a refund. When I said I would still appreciate the refund, it was denied as it wasn't fair for her to be out money for work that she did. I offered to split the $3000 cost of training plus added vet bills, and that was also denied as not being fair. I'm confused as to why I was asked about my thoughts on the refund if there wasn't going to be any consideration regarding what that refund could be. She said she might consider covering the vet bills, but she needed to think and get back to me. After 2 months, I have not heard from her again. Despite being caring upfront, once an issue of my dog's medical state was concerned, it felt like Jillian closed the door - open only enough to try to preserve reputation.

I cannot say enough good things about Jillian or her training skills. She has been part of our family since our dogs were puppies. She is the kindest, gentlest, smartest and most caring dog sitter / dog trainer I have ever known. I see that someone is trying to besmirch her character, and all I can assume is that someone is trying to weasel out of his bill. I traveled as a consultant for 10 years and my dogs would knock each other over scrambling to get in the car to go and stay with her. I even took a video of it, and told Jillian that she’s never going to get a better review than that video. 😂 The very first time she dog sat for us, our puppy had a terrible reaction to her puppy shots. We were in France and felt totally helpless. (The family trip was planned a year ahead or we never would have left a puppy that young, but we couldn’t resist adopting her). Jillian calmly handled everything for us and gave us updates multiple times a day. I would trust her with my child!!!