Gardner Dog Training

Twice Terry has helped me over the last 15 years. Both times he came to my home and helped me work through some serious behavior issues my dogs were having. During our 1st training session a neighbor's Rottweiler tore through a screen and charged at us. Terry jumped between me and my dog and the charging Rot and stopped him right in his tracks before any harm came to anyone. He also showed me how to work through my then dog's aggression and my now current puppy's issues. We are starting classes at his facility soon.

Gardner Dog Training has been our go to dog training venue for nearly 20 years, during which time Karla and Terry helped us to train 3 german shepherd dogs, all of them adopted from rescues. My wife and I both went through training and our dogs have gone from basic obedience to winning titles under Karla's knowledgeable and excellent supervision. We also have relied on Karla and Terry for house visits to help us understand our dogs interactions with other dogs we were considering bringing home. Their advice and insight into the animals has proved right every time. They don't claim to be infallible, but they have a wealth of experience and a flexibility of approach that allows them to be very helpful for specific problems, situations and dog personalities. We have found their classes to be very interesting, informative, well-paced and, above all, practical and effective. We didn't just learn techniques; we learned how to understand our dogs feelings and motivations much better. What we've learned with Karla and Terry has made up much better dog owners than we ever could have been without their teaching. Even something as basic as the first class in home obedience helped us bond with our dogs and make our lives and their lives safer and more enjoyable. We are very grateful to Karla and Terry for the great job they do and have no hesitation in recommending Gardner Dog Training to anyone who is serious about taking responsible care of their best friend. As a teacher with over 30 years experience, I admire and respect the fine quality of teaching that goes on a Gardner Dog Training.

I cannot recommend this training service to anyone after what happened with my dog. Ellie (corgi/beagle/bulldog mix) has had a history of not being welcoming to other dogs and people right away, but has always warmed up eventually. I do blame myself for not socializing properly, but she gets better in time. We've always believed it to be out of fear, and actually wanted to take her to obedience training to help learn better skills and to meet other people. Before though, we wanted a house visit to know that she would be okay in the class. Terry came by and while things were going well, she generally warmed up. It seemed like it was going okay. Same as she always has. Bark a lot at first, she starts to get treats for good behavior and she eventually just relaxes. However, things started to take a turn for the worst, and never recovered from there. My dog already knows basic commands. Sit, down, off, bed, potty, etc... and has since learned a few more. She's intelligent most of the time, but like me, it takes her a minute to register sometimes because she gets distracted easily. Terry was trying to get her to sit and when she did not do it within a split second, I was told to yank on her leash, hard. Then I get yelled at for doing it wrong apparently. I was not doing it soon enough and not hard enough. She had been coughing lately and I even told him, but didn't seem to care. The next problem was when he grabbed her leash. He became very demanding and aggressive with Ellie, saying that it is how it should be taught. She began barking and even lunged at him attempting to bite, and he deemed her aggressive and a little vicious. Ellie is territorial, but has never attempted to hurt anyone on purpose. She's all bark but has never attempted to bite anyway, and he was told this. A stranger came into her house, grabbed her leash, yanked on it hurting her and yelled at her. She was terrified and I could see it on her. She peed on the carpet and has only ever done that out of fear, excitement, or are our fault for not letting her out in time, since being house broken. The worst part of the entire visit was when we were talking about dogs and where I got Ellie. I adopted her from the Lucas County Pit Crew as a puppy. She wasn't a pit bull, but was still given to them along with her siblings, and she was the last of the litter to go. Soon as I said she was from the Pit Crew, he went on a rant of how terrible they are and how they mean well, but have no idea what they are doing and are in way over their heads (she was hurt in a puppy class, but I should have known not to do that). He honestly said all pit bulls are dangerous and should be put down. It should be an extinct breed, never to go into a persons home. My girlfriend and I were so furious, but stayed quiet until he had left. It is unbelievable that someone in the industry so long could honestly believe that. We even told our vet (not naming) and they couldn't believe it. They always hear good things but never that, and they have pit bulls in all the time and they are so sweet. Now when I take Ellie to go get her nails trimmed, she freaks out when they grab her leash and refuses to leave our side, thinking she will get hurt again. She never use to do that. She would just sit and deal with it and then run to me when it was over. They had to tie her this time because she freaked so much. I felt terrible for them having to do that. It takes a longer time to warm up to people now, but she still does, and when she does she will curl up and sleep on their lap. She is a lot like me, a reason me, my girlfriend, and families love her. Our friends think she is sweet too, once she trusts them. This is why I cannot recommend anyone go to this trainer. Years of experience means nothing to me after what happened, and I feel terrible for that, because I know how many they have helped. After what happened with Ellie, I can't trust them.

Karla, I would like to thank you for nothing. Your out dated training and lack of knowledge into prey drive dogs has resulted in my parents being physically attacked by a once very nice dog. Your instructions to provide treats to an animals biting behaviors has resulted in an animal who thinks they must preform through biting for a reward. Not to mention the day you picked him up by his leash and shook him violently causing him fear to even get in the car because he thought he was coming to your place of business. I hope you can continue to ride on your old show dog reputation or your business will be belly up soon. Your husband seems very nice but you are rude and cause harm to the customers you serve. Shame on you for your ignorance. Wolfgang is the dog I'm speaking of. Funny how he would not preform in your presence but he has no fear of any other trainers, dogs are a great judge of character. Heather Sharp

If you have a dog with aggressive issues, this is not the place you want to call. Came to house, had us cage the dog and then told us without ever seeing the dog (caged in other room) that he was vicious, aggressive and the cats & small children of the neighborhood would end up getting killed. He suggested we put the dog down. I wish I was making this stuff up! After 20 minutes I shoved his fee in his hand and threw him out. Found another trainer who specializes in behavioral issues and after 1 class it was like we had a new dog. We were so happy we signed up for full obedience training. Since this time I have talked with other people who had the exact same bad experience with Garner Training. It wouldn't have been so bad if he was up front instead of giving us all sorts of reassurances on the phone until he got there since I had went into extreme detail about our issues.