Cincinnati Canine Companion Center

I can’t speak for private lessons but I signed up my skittish Golden retriever for the 8 weeks beginner obedience classes. From the second we walked in I was not impressed. The check in process was chaotic and stressful. If you’re not familiar with a prong collar there is no explanation on how to use it they just man handle your dog to get it on. Red flag #1. Not a great start especially for a skittish dog. Left class 1 not loving it but thought maybe the first impression was off so figured I would give it a second chance. Check in was much smoother the second time however having a previous dog in an amazing training environment this was shocking. I went here as a recommendation from our vet. Now I’m questioning my vets judgement. As I walked in one of their older German shepherds just wanted to poke her head around the corner to watch the dogs coming in. She was super chill and was just curious. One of the employees yanked her back by her tail and yelled at her. Red flag #2. Then keep in mind this is the actual full 1st class because the first class was mostly the trainer talking about herself. So during class 2 they were wanting your dog (even new puppies) to know how to sit, stay and lay down. That is a lot for a puppy in one class with no treats just prong collar. Well obviously this one young puppy wasn’t listening and playing and bouncing around. One of the employees took the dog from her owner and said “the way this puppy is acting is ridiculous” and proceeded to forcefully shove the puppy to the ground while yelling lay down. My daughter in law (who also brought her golden with us) and I looked at each other and both walked out. We will not be going back. This is a very old school way of training. They’re instilling fear in these dogs instead of positive reinforcement. If you’re ok with that then you may like this place. But if your dog is a loving part of your family pay the extra money to go elsewhere where they will properly train your dog in a calm, patient and caring way. I honestly don’t care that I’m out the money because this was an awful experience.

I was very disappointed with my experience with Mary Jo’s approach to dog training. While I understand that prong collars can be a useful tool when used appropriately for leash communication, I do not believe they should be relied on for basic obedience training. Throughout my experience, I was uncomfortable with the amount of fear and intimidation I witnessed being used with dogs. Mary Jo would frequently make comments in class about people’s dogs when they were not performing exactly as she expected, which made an already stressful learning environment even more uncomfortable. I also witnessed employees handling dogs very roughly, including yelling at them and physically manhandling them. It was difficult to watch other owners use prong collars in ways that appeared excessive, while also seeing employees handle dogs in ways that I felt were unnecessarily harsh. As someone who was there to improve my dog’s basic obedience and socialization skills, it was very stressful to feel like my dog could potentially be treated harshly simply because she was still learning. Training should be a safe and supportive experience for both the dog and the owner, and unfortunately, that was not my experience here. Overall, I would not recommend Mary Jo for dog training. I went in hoping to build my dog’s confidence, improve basic skills, and work on socialization, but I ultimately did not feel comfortable continuing in an environment where I was concerned about my dog being frightened or handled in a way I did not agree with.

I advise people to avoid this place. See Connor Duke’s well-written review if you need details. I won’t go into it since others have already done a good job, but I’m guessing that the women in charge haven’t touched a book about canine behavior in decades. One woman was bragging about punching a dog in the throat, one kicked her own German Shepherd and forced it to be more social than it wanted to be (while acknowledging it had trauma from being attacked previously). They run the facility, they were not clients. There are bottles of what was it, lemon juice? all over the place to squirt in a naughty dog’s mouth. My fiancé had taken our dog to the first class and was quickly uncomfortable with the methods and the vibe. They ended up leaving. He also suggested there were too many dogs for the space. At the very least, if you’re considering using this business please request to sit in on trainings to observe before you give them any money or sign up for any classes.

This is about the six or seventh dog we've had go thru this training program and every time we've had great results. You have to have some discipline with dogs. If you've watched Mary Jo with her dogs, it's incredible how well this program works and how well her dogs listen to her. They are happy dogs. Dogs have to learn to obey without being given a treat every minute. I applaud the methods used at the school and would recommend it to anybody. This program is about training the handler while training the dog

I would give this place 0 stars if I could — honestly, they don’t even deserve that. My girlfriend (a veterinarian) has been taking our puppy here for a few weeks, and from day one she told me their training methods were outdated and downright questionable. Today I saw it for myself, and it was worse than I imagined. Within the first five minutes, someone walked out. Looking back, we should’ve followed. The main trainer spent the entire class screaming at dogs, acting like intimidation equals training. I watched a staff member hit a German Shepherd and yank repeatedly on multiple dogs’ prong collars. It was disturbing and completely unprofessional. The trainer then tried to tell my partner to forcefully shove our dog to the ground. When my partner refused, the trainer got defensive and lectured her about “letting the dog control her.” Meanwhile, when my partner asked our dog to lie down without using force, she did — calmly and immediately. The trainer’s ego was clearly more important to her than actual dog welfare.We walked out on the spot and will never return.If your dog has any trauma, this place will make it worse. If your dog doesn’t have trauma, this is exactly where they’ll get it. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME, MONEY, OR TRUST ON THIS PLACE!