Fort Wayne Obedience Training Club

As a certified dog trainer myself, I enjoy taking my puppies to group classes for socialization. It’s also a good learning opportunity! I was extremely disappointed with multiple aspects of the training. And it’s employees. Firstly JJ was wonderful, and seemed very Knowledgeable, and in my opinion should have been the only one running the puppy class. The other instructors, were quite rude and did not seem to know what they were doing. Trainers are supposed to help you and support you through training. They seemed more interested in telling clients all they are doing wrong, rather than supporting them and correcting them kindly. Also at least 2 puppies were given choke chain collars, due to pulling while walking. If you as a reputable trainer are to ever give someone an adversive tool you must teach them how to use them properly. The collars were being used by the owners without any proper instruction. I’d recommend going with a Herm sprenger prong, rather than the choke chain. I personally felt like this establishment is being run by people who are stuck in their ways, who aren’t willing to adjust to new standards in dog training. I do not recommend. The reason they get 2 stars is purely because of JJ. She is great!

My dog is beyond basic obedience training and I wanted to prep for dog sports (rally and agility) and learn in an environment that I could then practice on my equipment at home. Despite my requests to have a test out they persisted that I either have my dog titles already or I take their basic obedience class. Even then you have to be voted in to the dog sport classes. I’m sorry, but you should be able to tell the handlers experience from speaking to them as well as gauge their level of commitment and interest in the activity. Put a really really bad taste in my mouth for this “club” that they’re being so exclusive and unwilling to work with people. Very gate keeping behavior almost fraternity/sorority exclusivity toxicness. My search to learn about dog sports continues elsewhere unless they are willing to let me bring my dog in and prove to them that he’s beyond their basics and ready for more advanced and challenging training.

We have been off and on members for a few years now. We have 2 dogs that attend classes. We had one of our dogs get attacked while on a walk in our housing addition. I emailed and asked to have someone from the club call. They called and we discussed some options. We tried another class and each person in the class was given a heads up that my dog had been attacked and needed some extra space and time to understand not all dogs will attack them. Trainers at the club are understanding and caring. They are volunteers not paid trainers so they may not be able to answer every question but they will tell you who can answer your question if they don't know the answer. It's a great place to work with your dog and help them burn some energy.

I took the AKC Star puppy class with my six month old puppy. This is supposed to be a positive training experience for puppies. That's not how they teach it. We were encouraged to be the Alpha (dominate them) of our puppy and to do leash pops to get the behaviours. One large breed puppy was physically forced to do a sit and down while fighting it the whole time. It was very bad training and we didn't finish the class.