Paw and Hand K9

I can't say enough positive things about Paw and Hand K9! We brought our chocolate lab puppy Kimber in for the 6 week Super Puppy Program and Jesse was our trainer! He was absolutely nothing short of amazing! Jesse was incredibly patient, kind and knowledgable and really explains things very well (even though most of it was training me! Lol) Every session he made sure that you left feeling confident about your next session and was just a joy to work with and you can tell he loves his job and the pups he gets to work with. We have used Paw and Hand K9 in the past and I will never go anywhere else with my dogs. We are so excited to have such amazing people in our corner to help guide us as kimber grows into a great dog!! Thank you guys for always rocking it!! Excited for our follow up sessions as Kimber settles in at home!

We adopted our dog in September from SafeHaven...you could see that there was a sweet dog in there that wanted to please and be happy, but she had so much anxiety and stress and wildness from her first year of life, bouncing from shelter to animal control to foster homes...living on the street, and so on...she was just borderline unmanageable and I often thought to myself...oh man...what have I gotten myself into... The experience: The business to consumer experience was good. They have a very good team in place to train and care for your dog. The difference between good and exceptional comes down to the business to consumer communication...I know that running a business can be challenging at times and keeping enough staff is hard to do, but this would elevate the experience for the dog owner to the top - at least for me. The training experience was second to none. Our trainer, Jesse, was professional, kind, compassionate, and very knowledgable about his trade. The transformation of our dog from intake to graduation was beyond incredible. One thing that they don't tell you in the sales literature is the mental transformation that your dog will go through. The training gave her confidence and understanding of how to co-exist in a household, her anxiety has vanished and she is now very calm, noticeably much happier, and an absolute joy to be around at all times. I just can't say enough positive things about the outcome and would strongly recommend their services to anybody.

Through a series of unfortunate events, we had to wait until our puppy was fully vaccinated before we could bring her home so our Breeder recommended Paw & Hand to board and train during this time. Truly, this was the BEST time and money we could have spent even if it wasn't necessary and I wouldn't hesitate to use or recommend them again. Kevin, Merissa and the whole team were fantastic during this period by sending videos and pictures to keep us updated on her progress. When we were finally able to pick her up, the intent was to bring her back to Chicago on a plane but all of the airlines said she was too big to fit under the seat. So Poppy and I rented a car and drove over 2100 miles over three days!! She was remarkably calm for the entire trip. When we got home, she quickly fell into our routines and we were able to piggyback on the hard work done at Paw and Hand and teach her to stop and sit prior to crossing a street, even if we forget. Our doggy day care guy can't say enough about how well behaved she is and how quickly she adapted to being with a handful of other dogs. I didn't realize how well Poppy had been trained until I looked back at the pictures of when I picked her up and saw she was quietly picking my pocket for treats...well done Kevin!! A huge thanks to the entire group for helping to form such a wonderful addition to our family; our home is complete again. John, Maria and Marian

They used a plastic pinch collar for training, which I did not expect, and my 7 month-old small breed verifiably lost 2 lbs while there for 11 days. They cut her intake by more than a third without consulting me. Although they handfed their own kibble during training, the puppy dropped the weight in front of them. She also returned with a yeast growth that had not been tended even though medication and info were provided. I was told the yeast situation had been checked and the med was not needed. Had I known that drastic food deprivation and a pinch collar would be involved, I would not have chosen them.