Great Lakes Dog Training Company

This review requires you to at least put one star but that is too!! I would highly suggest not contacting this company for dog training as they are money hungry and will scam you. I paid thousands of dollars for a year package that included shuttle service to and from my home that would include daycare and training. At one point I contacted the owners about concerns that my dog appeared to be fearful of one of the workers and I observed that worker drag my dog out of my house through my camera. When I brought it to the attention of the owners, I was told maybe my dog needed a break from daycare because she was going to much. I was also told that the owners would work with my dog to help with her fear. I listened to the owners and kept my dog home for a few days and then slowly worked her back to going. Anytime I picked up my dog instead of having her driven home by the shuttle I never seen any of the "trainers" working with any of the dogs, I could hear the dogs barking in the back, and at one point I heard someone in the back yelling at the dogs to shut up. When I have asked when the last my dog was let out to go to the bathroom when picking her up, I was told that I should make sure to let her go because it had been several hours since she was let out of a crate. My dog had to be taken to the vet because of having a very bad bladder infection and she was put on antibiotics for 2 weeks plus had to have more testing on her kidneys and bladder to make sure they weren't damaged because of continued bladder problems. My dog will act like she has never drank water before when she gets home from daycare and when I asked the company, I was told by multiple people she spilled it. I have had constant excuses about daycare being canceled or the shuttle being canceled without notice making it another missed day but I paid for it. Since my dog has started with this company less than a year ago, the company has relocated 4 times and is now supposedly out of a house. I have asked for a refund several times and been refused each time. I have recently done some research and learned the owners Jacob and Liz Pape no longer reside in Michigan but they live in Texas. The person who is residing in the home where the dog training is supposedly occurring is actually the guy who I notified the owners about that my dog appeared to be fearful of. I have attempted to reach out to the owners to settle without legal action but all I got was blocked. If you want to keep your dogs safe and you don't want to be scammed out of thousands of dollars, DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT SEND YOUR DOG TO THIS COMPANY!! The company is neglectful towards animals and need to face the consequences of their actions.

This is my second time taking my Aussie to them for a Board & Train and I recommend. When I dropped him back off this second time around, he was visibly happy to see one of his previous trainers that he remembered and that right there is a good sign and shows that my dog feels safe and happy in their care. I genuinely feel like my dog is in good hands when he is staying with GLDT. He struggles with reactivity, and being trained through GLDT has helped immensely with that.

The training experience was good, we got daily updates and seemed like our dog really enjoyed learning. At pick up, they misplaced his collar and his giant dog bed. I was told they would mail the items to me with the training collar I paid for but didn’t receive from board and train. Weeks go by, I reach out and they said they must have lost them…I was offered to be refunded for the items and agreed upon the collar refund and refund of training collar since I was never sent one and no worries on dog bed. Was told I would be sent reimbursement, didnt receive. Continued reaching out with promises that were never fulfilled and no reimbursement. Now I have to pretty much start training all over since the collar training is what they use, and one was never sent to me after like 8x of “I will get it in the mail this week” Don’t leave items with your dog that you do not want lost, expect to purchase your own collar even after spending thousands on board and train- not sure they will ever make it right.