FirstBark
On DAY ONE, during the very first attempt to remove the e-collar, my dog lunged at me and bit me in the shoulder. This had NEVER happened before in his life. I brought my dog here for help with skittishness, resource guarding toward people, and aggression toward other dogs. Befo…Read full reviewClose full review
On DAY ONE, during the very first attempt to remove the e-collar, my dog lunged at me and bit me in the shoulder. This had NEVER happened before in his life. I brought my dog here for help with skittishness, resource guarding toward people, and aggression toward other dogs. Before this training, my dog had NEVER shown aggression toward humans. I was very clear from the beginning that obedience was not my primary concern. My goal was specifically to help reverse his anxiety, skittishness, and resource guarding behaviors. For readers’ knowledge, I am a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner with graduate-level education in behavior and psychology, although primarily in humans rather than animals. I was told the results would be “100% effective.” What concerns me most is that when I communicated the escalating behavioral concerns afterward, I was repeatedly reassured that this was “normal.” The dog attacks on me and my family continued after each session resulting in sever injury to myself and brother. Thank God I don't have children. To my recollection, there was no warning or disclaimer in the contract discussing the possibility that behavioral deterioration or increased aggression could occur during the training process.. At one point the one attack was so sever I was concerned he may keep coming. At no point did I feel there was appropriate concern for the worsening mental state of my dog or for the safety implications surrounding his behavioral decline. Calling after ever session I was repeatedly told this was, "Normal," even by the owner himself. Eventually after session four I pulled him out despite staff and owner trying to convince me to keep going forward with the program. Sadly, after the worsening progression of his behavioral issues, I eventually had to make the heartbreaking decision to euthanize my dog. In my opinion, this appears to be a one-size-fits-all training model heavily centered around a single methodology. To my knowledge, I could not find evidence that the staff held nationally recognized professional certifications specifically in canine behavior, behavioral psychology, fear/aggression rehabilitation, or veterinary behavioral science beyond training within the company’s own internal system. Based on what I personally observed, many of the methods appeared heavily reliant on positive punishment. After one of the sessions, my dog returned home with visible lacerations on his snout and appeared emotionally defeated and shut down. I trusted this program because I loved my dog and wanted help before things escalated further. Instead, I feel like I watched his anxiety, fear, and behavioral deterioration worsen over time while being reassured the process was “normal.” If your dog struggles with fear, anxiety, skittishness, resource guarding, or aggression, I strongly encourage you to seek evaluation from a board-certified veterinary behaviorist or a credentialed canine behavioral specialist before enrolling in programs like this. RIP Roamer. I am so sorry I failed you here. Response to Sit Means Sit: The fact this company had to go through an email correspondence that took place over 8 weeks including 17 emails, 50 text and an hour phone call and cherry pick sentences I wrote should tell you all you need to know about the maturity of the people running the company. I could easily do the same but I'll be the better person. we can go back and fourth all we want: Just ask for the trainers national certification credentials related to training a dog. We can say all we want but if there is no documents or education to back up what one is saying then there really isn't any argument. Just ask for their credentials outside of the internal training program. Just look at my dog Roamer before the program and after and tell me what you see?