High Drive Dog Company

I'm deciding to post this review which I wrote after Boarding my dog with High-Drive over the early winter in 2023. I sat on it for a long time because a). I don't at all enjoy leaving negative reviews. and b). I was excited to leave Carly and high-drive behind me. But, stumbling upon this review again, I felt a certain sense of responsibility to share with others my experience. "To put my heartbreak into a google review feels like a cheap way to trade on the profound feeling of regret I now carry. Yet my experience of high drive dog company and its owner Carly in particular compels me to add my voice to the crowd already gathered here, in hopes that someone wiser than me might heed the warnings and not surrender one of their most precious things to the abuse of Carly. That Carly is very rude is well documented elsewhere. Personally, I didn’t hold it against her. “She’s a dog person.” I told myself. “Not a people person. And that’s okay.” So with politeness I swallowed her discourtesy. “You’re going to have to trust me.” She said, as she took my dog back into her facility which she does not permit people to see. But I didn’t trust her. The result of my error is this: I gave someone I didn’t trust one of my most precious things: my dog, and $4000 dollars, for him to return two months later with giardia and cryptosporidiosis, slightly less ear, and new a sadness that was witnessed independently by everyone I live with. It was when I offered him the spoon I used to scoop peanut butter, and he backed away in fear even as he was licking it, that I thought something might be seriously wrong. He never did that before, and still he fears and desires the peanut butter spoon with that same vigilant timidity. I don’t know what happened during that two months. Every time I asked Carly, called her office, emailed her assistant, the reply that came back was the same, “you and I don’t speak the same language,” she said. “So it doesn’t make sense for me to talk to you about how he’s doing here until I bring him over for the take-home session and educate you.” “Is there nothing you can say to a lay-person to describe what his day looks like?” “He’s doing fine. He’s having fun.” Yet even after the take home session where she zapped my dog for being happy to see me, zapped him for making his happy growl noise, and after she rambled on about drive and fear, her conservative parenting philosophy, and told disturbing non-sequitur stories about abused dogs that she promised were great examples for things that swelled into the same repeated conclusion: dogs don’t have memory, don’t feel, can’t think, and can only be zapped or rewarded. Still she could say with no more detail than “he had fun,” what his days during those two months looked like. Indeed both my partner and I had the distinct impression that she did not know him at all, commenting on things strangers comment on with apparent surprise, “he is quite muscular.” My regret is immense. I payed someone over $4000 to be cruel to my most precious thing, conceal him from me, allow him somewhere in the recesses of her hidden facility to contract both giardia and cryptosporidiosis, and give him an education of pain —which is both something that is proven to be ineffectual, but also something it is my responsibility to protect my dog from. In short, I think high drive dog company is a good dog training facility for dogs that are on the brink of euthanasia, and no other creature. In all other circumstances, if you value your relationship with your dog or care for their safety, I’d advise you to seek training elsewhere. "

You will quickly learn that Carly’s life passion is helping dogs (and their owners) to lead their best, most fulfilling lives. I have been through training classes with her multiple times and have learned so much valuable and literally life changing information. Carly has a wealth of knowledge about dog behavior and I believe a special gift in dealing with dogs. Carly’s straightforward approach and detailed explanations of, not only training technique, but also the reasons behind them leaves you with such a great understanding of your dog and your role in their lives. To say my dogs’ behavior has improved after training with Carly is an understatement. My dogs have become so much better behaved it’s true, but the most important part is that your dog is so much more balanced, stable and confident after going through training. Carly’s approach enables you to have a better, more enjoyable, and closer relationship with your dog and enables your dog to have a much fuller, happier, and more fulfilling life. I cannot recommend High Drive Dog Company enough!