Good CitiZEN Dog

Deborah is truly the dog whisperer. She understands how dogs behave and react and teaches you how to communicate effectively with your dog. Our puppy Archie was terribly afraid of the other dogs in our first class and now he plays with dogs big and small. Ten years ago we had Deborah train our Beagle and he was the best behaved dog we ever had, so this time when we got our new puppy we had to go back to Deborah. She is the best and we will never go anywhere else.

I received this training as a gift. I’ve been to 2 of 5 trainings and can hardly wait for this to end. I do enjoy Joe, who seems to be people and dog patient, unlike Deborah, who, at our first session, insulted my doodle who was a bit overwhelmed with all the other dogs and found her barking voice. Lol. She later told me my dog was the brain trust of the group and she suggested private lessons. 🤣🤣🤣 I had simultaneously signed up with Petsmart training where they took the time to explain why dogs bark and how to manage the different barking behaviors. Great experience there- and it costs less. Week two, the trainer was rude to an attendee with sibling dogs. Instead of criticizing, it seemed like she could have highlighted her expertise with sibling dogs. That was not the case. This trainer may understand dog behavior, but, I think the trainer is lacking in people skills. Good thing this is a gift, I would be screaming for my money back. I hope Joe has a successful career. I would spend my money to work with him. I would not recommend Good Citizen Dog Training to any friend of mine.

We hired Deborah for an individual session and also the 6 week kindergarten puppy class. It was the best decision we could make for training our puppy. We learned so much! In fact, just yesterday, we applied the extremely important recall with our puppy when she got out the front door. We live on a busy street and we did exactly as Deborah taught us in this emergency situation and our puppy came running back to us immediately. We also have our puppy almost completely potty trained thanks to Deborah’s knowledge. When we got our puppy, I was stressed and worried about trying to train her, but Deborah was so great about reassuring me. I feel we can enjoy our puppy as she grows and know that Deborah is always there if we need anything!! She’s a godsend!

On the Monday before the class I emailed about requirements, as I never heard anything & wasn’t sure what to bring paperwork wise or if the dogs needed anything special. Her response was she was sending out an email later in the week. She sent it out the evening before the class & requested paperwork be signed. Doesn’t give you a lot of time to get situated or read over things.The morning of the class I arrived paperwork in hand & she didn’t even ask for it or read it. On the first day of class I saw her belittle an older woman for having the wrong type of harness. Multiple times saying the same thing “that’s the wrong harness”. She grabbed the puppy by the scruff & twisted which made the puppy cry out & whine of course, this wasn’t a quick motion, she over did it to prove some point. She was rudely & aggressively in the woman’s face. We get it. Maybe she should have put that in the email/paperwork & given people time to prepare? At the end of the first class, she asked for questions & I raised my hand to ask how the “zen” technique could be used in a real life situation? Seems like a reasonable question, It was not. Her response was astonishment that I would bother asking & a scoff saying “I don’t even know how to answer that as it’s so obvious.” Shut up and sit down basically. At the end her assistant, Joe, pulled me aside & said “I wanted to answer your question.” He gave an example as to how the Zen can be used. That was it, so simple & given in kindness. The second class I had my partner with me & had warned him of the general attitude. We both heard her tell a woman who brought her vets papers to show her the dog was up to date on everything “ I don’t care if your dog is vaccinated that’s why I charge so much.” She also got in the woman’s face about the harness on her puppy again. This was a much older woman probably living on a fixed income. Give her a break! He also couldn’t believe how she talked to Joe who was teaching the class that day. She came out half way through & with a mouth full of food told him he was doing such & such wrong & to change it. Loudly In front of everyone. The third day of class, I got there & saw one of the other attendees outside the training area with her dog on a leash & they were talking about how her dog had Giardia.The woman suggested maybe she just stay outside the area & participate that way. Deborah said just wipe its butt & she’ll be fine. While my dog was vaccinated for everything, I also had an 8 week old puppy at home who wasn’t fully yet & immediately felt uncomfortable. She did not let anyone in the class know of this & proceeded as normal. She should have let people choose to participate that day or kept the sick dog outside. That is dangerous & disgusting behavior to be so callous with others loved pets. The dog eventually relieved itself in the middle of the class & while she did have everyone leash up immediately this could have been avoided completely with proper precautions. Joe was standing next to me so I told him I did not feel comfortable & that I was going to leave. He understood, said thanks for letting me know, and gave me some training to work on for the reminder of the time left. Also during this class a woman was recording everything, without permission from anyone in the class. When Deborah noticed her only response: “you should have asked because people are stealing my training secrets”. Clearly again she didn’t read the papers she had us sign where it stated we agreed to be filmed or not. The woman continued to film. When I arrived home that day I emailed her telling her I didn’t feel comfortable & that’s why I left early, stating I have a puppy at home etc & that I’d like her to consider a refund for the remaining classes. Her response was my home address & “is this where I send the check?” No acknowledgement. The place where I buy my dog food said they would be taking her off the recommendation list of trainers as this was now the fourth time they had been told she’s runs her business this way. Take your business elsewhere. Joe was amazing!