Pet Connection Dog Training

I’m sorry our conversation has moved to a public platform. I would have preferred to resolve this by phone, as I initially suggested. The tone of an email isn't always received the way it was intended; my goal was simply to provide clarity, and I am sorry if it came across as defensive.<br><br>In the interest of full transparency—and with your permission—I would like to share our entire email thread with names and contact info redacted so others can see the full context. Please let me know if you are comfortable with this. In the meantime…<br><br>A Sincere Apology<br>I regret including the following statement in a previous email, and I completely understand your reaction to it:<br>“It saddens me when students want to quit without even trying... It's too bad when kids are involved, too, as they risk learning to dismiss approaches or methods that differ from what they are familiar with.”<br><br>I sincerely apologize for those words. They were inappropriate. I love having children in my classes—they are often wonderfully open-minded and can be excellent handlers. Because clicker training is such a fast, engaging way to learn, I viewed this as a lost opportunity for your son. I was genuinely disappointed to lose him as a student.<br><br>Refund Policy<br>It is standard practice in the dog training industry to offer no refunds once a class session begins, as it is nearly impossible to fill a vacant spot at that stage.<br><br>When booking the class on 8/30, 9 days in advance of class start, the cancellation policy, waiver, and model release forms were presented in full prior to a request for additional information and payment. If a client is not in agreement with these policies, they can easily exit. Registration requires checking the box confirming you read and agreed to these terms, and a copy of the policy was also included in your confirmation email the same day, along with links to sample training videos.<br><br>The policy states:<br><br>“If you cancel 5 days or more prior to your appointment, you will be fully refunded. Cancellations less than 5 days in advance are not refundable unless a replacement student can be found.”<br><br>Because the class began on 9/8, the window for a guaranteed refund had passed. Furthermore, the class description explicitly states, "We will be using the clicker as a powerful tool for training new behaviors," and my positive reinforcement philosophy is detailed across my website and public materials.<br><br>Summary <br>8/30: You registered for the 9/8 class, agreed to the cancellation policy, and received additional information regarding my training methods.<br>9/8: You attended the orientation class.<br>9/9: 12 hours after orientation, you emailed your withdrawal, noting that the class was not a good fit. You specifically expressed the following concerns: there was too much “emphasis on clicker training,” it was “chaotic,” “treat tossing” was a turnoff, it wasn’t a sufficiently “calm environment”, my training style was too “animated” and methods not straight-forward.<br><br>Based on your emails and concerns, I believe you are looking for a “traditional training” approach.<br><br>While I understand the orientation class didn’t align with the specific training style you were hoping for, it is designed to establish foundational concepts before moving into structured weekly exercises. I was hoping you’d be open to giving it a try with your puppy—training is a continuous process, and marker training is an incredibly effective tool for building clear communication.<br><br>I thank you for your feedback. In response, I have updated my website's schedule page to display the refund policy clearly for each appointment category, in addition to the mandatory checkout agreements, and I will work on making sample training videos more accessible.<br><br>It truly is a small community, and I feel incredibly lucky to be a part of it. <br><br>I sincerely wish you, your family, and your pups the very best.<br>

Thank you, Carol! What a pleasure it has been to know you and Zippy the Giddy Puppy! You've done a terrific job with him and we are going to miss you both. ♥️