Dog's Best Friend

I first found Dog's Best Friend in 1991 after being told by a vet that I needed to put my dog down. Kiara was an "second hand" dog, back then we didn't call it adoption. She was healthy but she was fearful and turning aggressive. I left the vet in tears. I found Chas in the phone book. This was also before the "internet" was invented. At that time, Chas came to the home for training. Chas showed all of my family, what we needed to start doing and what we needed to stop doing to help Kiara. Chas taught us how to train our dog. We learned so much and Kiara responded great. Needless to say, we changed vets. Kiara lived the rest of her life happy, relaxed and trained. Fast forward, Chas has helped me train every dog that I have had since Kiara. The dog I got after Kiara, Chloe, started training very early with Chas and my family. Chloe loved Chas and responded great to his training. She was trained off-leash and with hand signals. Years later, I started training with my son's puppy, Maggie. Chas taught my 9 year old son and "reminded" me what was needed to get a trained pet. Maggie was also trained off leash. I now have my German shepherd named Victor and he is my "old man". He's almost 13 and is blind and deaf now. He was my stubborn boy from day one. I trained Victor on two separate occasions, at age 6 months and at age 2. At 2, he started to get aggressive towards other dogs on walks. I contacted Chas to start training again after Victor pulled me down on a walk in the neighborhood. I told Chas it was part my fault as I was wearing flip flops instead of "good" shoes. Chas, being exactly who he is, said Lisa, your dog is either trained or untrained. The shoes shouldn't matter. Victor finished training and I did not have to worry about my shoes. Victor was trained on leash and did eventually get to be trained off-leash. He was one hard headed dog. Now he's old and mellow. If you want a cute baby to carry in your purse or a big dog that doesn't listen to you, Chas is not your guy. If you want someone that teaches you to teach your dog, then go with Chas. Training is very repetitive, that's obvious. It takes lots of homework. Chas doesn't train your dog so your dog only listens to him. He teaches you all you need to know to have a wonderful, obedient pet to be a part of your family. I will forever recommend Chas to friends, etc that are serious about wanting to train their dog. Every session with Chas was absolutely worth the investment into my dogs. Thank you Chas for helping me to have pets that I could enjoy.

It has taken me years to have the courage to speak up, and I am shaking while writing this. This trainer was highly recommended to me by a coworker and after reading all the reviews, I thought this was a great place to go. My biggest mistake.. going to classes without my husband. I was talked to, and touched inappropriately. My husband had me stop going immediately after coming home shaking. I tried to take my dog to another trainer, but would get panic attacks at the thought of what could happen again. I still get nightmares to this day and wish that I would have said something sooner. I hope that other married women have not had to experience what I had. Please women, DO NOT attend the classes alone.

My boxer started showing signs of aggression a couple of years ago, so I sought advice from a dog trainer I knew and trusted. Over the next couple of months his aggression escalated to the point that the trainer gave up on my dog. After extensive research on dog trainers and a reference from my VET, I decided on Dog’s Best Friend. My dog had aggression towards other dogs and people, but most of his aggression was geared towards me. He was untrustworthy; our once untainted relationship was completely broken over years of misguided dog training... After the first couple of lessons with Dog's Best Friend, I could already see a difference in my dog's behavior. It's been 5 months, 10 private lessons and 6 group and my dog hasn’t shown any signs of aggression towards me or other people in the last couple of months. He’s a happier, friendlier dog and I feel like I can start trusting him again. Something I never would have thought possible six months ago. I can’t thank Dog’s Best Friend enough for everything they’ve done for me and my dog. I would recommend them to anyone, whether you have an aggressive dog or just a puppy that needs obedience training. I wouldn't trust any other dog trainer except Chas and his kids.

I would like to say that after taking several of my dogs to Dogs Best Friend for training over the years I would never go anywhere else. I understand he will be retireing soon but his adult children will be taking over for him. I will be taking the time to get to know them as adults and trainers with Chas's guidance while continuing my training with my current two dogs. His methods work and although I may not always want to hear what I am doing wrong once I actually listen and watch the dogs with them and see how great they listen with little e to no correction compared to me who has to use like all correction all the time I know his methods work. I have never had a bad training experience with him and group classes are great for getting your shy dogs more comfortable around other dogs and people while learning it is not all about play time, and it helps over friendly dogs like one of mine who thinks all dogs want to play with him that they really are not all that friendly and how to properly react around people and dogs. Class time is not play time we do not play and goof around it is about teaching our dogs and ourselves to have patience, obedience, and respect. Chas always answers all of my questions to the best of his ability when I ask him if I have questions outside of class I can always leave a message and when he has time he always calls back. During class we all ask questions and when he feels its a really good question that we could all benefit from he shares it with all of us without making us feel stupid. He encourages positive renforcement with the dogs when you are training them and only a short sharp correction with a no when they stray. Never does he ever bad harsh corrections I would never go there if he did! Right now they are training my service dog and showing me what is expected of me as the owner of one and they have been great through the whole process I can not wait to see the end results of how great she turns out and well me too. If you need a dog trainer Dogs Best Friend Is the place to go I personally feel you will not regret it!