Stronghaus Dog Training Center

We sent our eleven month old dog to Chris because we were having trouble with training him. He's stubborn &has been since we adopted him &had an extremely hard time training him ourselves. He's not a bad dog, he just doesn't know commands. So, I'm sure this training facility works for people because of the reviews, but I'm not rating this facility so poorly because of the success of the training (which by the way after one week of training my dog didn't retain anything without the collar that was hurting him), I'm rating this facility so poorly because my dog came home with four cuts that he didn't have when we dropped him off - & according to Chris, our dog had no interaction with other dogs there, so these wounds aren't from another dog. We went a week into his two week training to see how he was doing, and our dog was nothing like the dog we dropped off, and not in a good way. He was terrified, shaking, and stiff, which is extremely different from the energetic puppy we dropped off. Chris explained to us that he's been very stubborn with training so he has to continually correct him (pulling the collar tighter on his neck). He also pointed out his neck and said "I don't know if he came with this rash, but if he didn't, it's from us having to continuously use the collar because he's so stubborn." Our dog didn't come in with anything, and this isn't a rash this is a cut with some dried blood on his fur. He also has a cut on his nose, and two red marks on both of his hips, which I'm assuming is from him laying in his cage for so long, creating almost like pressure injuries. He had poop all down his tail, which we cleaned before we had the chance to take a picture of, but I'm not sure if the poop on his tail is from him pooping in his cage and it not being cleaned, or because my dog was so stressed that he had diarrhea. My boyfriend and I got extremely upset while watching Chris pull the collar tighter on him, and I explained to him that I didn't want my dog to be scared of me and I also didn't want to hurt him to have to train him. Chris said he trains dogs the way dogs train dogs, and dogs train each other by hurting them, and that I shouldn't really care about my dogs feelings as long as he knows that I am in control. I personally don't feel like there is any reason why my dog should have an open wound on his neck because he needs to be taught how to walk without pulling a leash.It was also clear that our dog wasn't understanding the commands he was being given, he was only following because he was terrified of the collar. We took him home after only one week because we decided we would rather have a dog who is more difficult to train and is stubborn at home, rather than come home and have our dog be even more scared and with an even deeper wound on his neck. Like I said, there are many five star reviews so clearly this works for some people but if your dog is very difficult and stubborn, this might not be the best option for you and your pet. An update on his wounds - we took him to the vet to just get them checked out and our vet shaved around them, this is what they look like. She said that the ones on his neck are from the collar being used too tightly and inappropriately, the one on his nose is most likely from him pushing against the crate, and the ones on his legs are pressure injuries, probably from being in a crate for an extended period of time without a blanket. Check my FB review for the very pompous comment Chris left, which compares our dog to a dog that attacked his assistant (again we sent him to learn commands) & also conveniently leaves out important parts of our conversations that we had with him to paint our dog into an aggressive, scary dog. Chris very quickly commented back using the word abuse. A term I NEVER used in my FB review & didn’t accuse him of, but he put that word out there, clearly knowing that these pictures don’t look too good for him. So, just be careful sending your dog here. They might come home with open wounds & an order for oral and topical antibiotics like our dog did.

Chris didn't waste a minute with us. He came for an hour, and quickly taught us how to work with my 8 year old small terrier mix's (Roo) fear/aggression toward my daughter's 2 year old Belgian Shepherd (Archie). Chris was kind, firm, and his expertise was evident every step of the way. After he left, we used his teaching with our dogs; just a couple of hours later, everything seemed different. The dogs were calmer because Roo had learned not to react in the old fearful, aggressive way. By evening, we could sit and watch TV together while our dogs rested a few feet apart (on either side of us). We've taken full breaths (of relief) all day since Chris worked with our pups. As long as we continue to show them we're their masters and that they have a pack with us and with each other, I believe we can turn this (otherwise anxiety-making) situation around. This has been such an eye-opening experience, and I look forward to the acclimation process continuing as a positive one. Chris, thank you!