New England K-9 School for Dogs

If you're looking for a positive reinforcement trainer, this isn't the place to go. The ONLY reason he has good reviews is because he gives a free class if you give him five stars on Google. The second I took my puppy out of the car a choke collar was thrown on and I was told to yank the leash in order to get my dog to follow me. I was told "she can be taught to do anything" yet before she even did anything I was forced to put a choke collar on her. Not only was it traumatizing for her, but it was for me. The methods may work for if you want your dog to be your slave and terrified of you but absolutely not positive based methods and NOT good for a rescue dog. He pressured me into continuing with him and said " I had to do this to protect my dog or the dog would run into the street and itd be my fault". I lost over $500 and went home crying and practically having a panic attack because I felt completely stupid for listening to someone else over my own instincts. I'm not against prong collars or alternative training methods, but it shouldn't be the FIRST and ONLY thing used on a dog that is considered to be "so smart it can learn anything".... if thats the case why do you need to force it on the dog? They should be able to pick it up without any force. He yanked the leash up about 2 feet. Anyone who knows anything about corrections know it should be a wrist movement, nothing else. I was told I was doing the right thing for my dog and I needed to do this to protect her, total b.s. and I completely feel like I was manipulated into spending this money. I will never again let a stranger tell me what is right for MY dog. This is extremely harsh and manipulative tactics. Maybe this could slide in the 80s but not today. Never again. Reposting this because apparently it was removed from over a year ago.

I apologize for not updating my review 3 yrs ago. We saw this dog trainer Sal twice. He had us leave a review in order to get a lower price before our 2nd appointment. After we paid him the $500 fee, which had to be in cash, he started the training. We had our choke collar, which he had us get for our 12 pound gentle puppy. We were not being harsh enough in his estimation and he showed us how to do it "right". He yanked on the chain so hard, yelling at the dog, that he spun our dog airborne. The dog was so shaken, he reminded shaking for the rest of the appointment. We clearly felt that we did not need such aggressive harsh treatment of our dog, as he was teaching us to do to show the dog who is the boss. He wanted us to walk the dog, yanking on that choke collar hard. We never went back and feel we wasted $500. If you have an aggressive dog, maybe he is for you, but not for sweet gentle dogs. Our dog has learned obedience through love and kindness.