Good Citizen K9

We sent our Pitbull pup, Arya, to Damon and his staff. They sent pictures and updates twice a week so that we could see her progress, and were great at communicating with us through the whole process. Upon graduation, we were extremely shocked and grateful for the quality of training that Arya received. The amount of commands that she could demonstrate for not only Damon, but my wife and I as well, was amazing. The best part is that Damon educates you, the owner, about the best nutrition, exercise, and other needs of your dog. Damon and his staff have a tried and true, cruel-free, method of training. I want to Thank all at Good Citizen K9 for their time and effort.

We took our dog here last year to address behavioral issues. We could not have had a worse experience with this business. At her drop off, we said our biggest problem is separation anxiety, and we were repeatedly told that she didn’t have that and that she would improve with exercise and training. We were getting by for the first few months of being home but not seeing much improvement in her leash manners in our downtown living area or in her response to being alone even with following her daily schedule. Then, we were home for the holidays. Upon returning to work, she began injuring herself trying to get out of her crate daily. She still has the scars on her face to show for it. When I reached out for help, I was told to buy a $400 dog crate and a treadmill. After months of back and forth, we were doing 2-3 hours of exercise and training with her every single day with no change and being told that wasn't enough. The board and train program is supposed to come with lifetime touchups. We felt it was obvious that we needed help and had asked about it for months. When we called to schedule one, we were told, “She is perfect with me, so bringing her back won’t help because you are the problem.” The website talks about how this is positive reinforcement training only, and that may be true for your dog, but it won’t be true for you. We have now followed up with another trainer in a weekly program. The results are far better than she was even on the day we picked her up, so I know the problem was not us or our dog. Our interactions with this business made it impossible for us to have a good relationship with our dog because she became an endless to-do list that we had to complete instead of our best friend. Unless your dog is already near perfect, we would not recommend this business.

I took my dog for behavior modification almost a year ago. He was there for an entire month. When I picked him up I was told that he didn’t show aggressive behavior one single time in the entire month he was there and that they can’t modify behavior they don’t see. Since then, he has continued to show aggressive behavior toward strangers. When he went to the vet she suggested he go to training and when I told her he had already been she was shocked. She agreed that it was highly unlikely that he never once showed any aggression if they had truly been taking him out in public and trying to desensitize him to strangers and new people. They have a “lifetime touch up” that comes with the training. I took him once and was told to just get him out of any situation that makes him uncomfortable so he doesn’t bite anyone. The second time I reached out for another touch up they never responded. If you want a trainer to teach your dog to sit and stay this is the place for you. If you’re looking for true behavior modification I would look elsewhere.

We picked our boy Bazzle up today after being there 4 weeks. He’s a 4 year old mini Aussie and he has all the energy. He is a jumper and a counter surfer. I know a lot can happen in a week but let me tell you… today has been the least stressful day that he has been a part of our family. We still have a way to go with him but he is amazing. The trainers are wonderful. He has a crush on them actually. Lol. We received photos and videos from training the entire time he was there and I could tell he was well taken care of. Thank you so much, Damon, for helping our family!