High Drive Dog Company

Very pleased with the training both I and my frienchie received. Emphases on I. We need to be the alpha in order to have a happy, secure, and balanced four legged buddy. My frenchie is having knee surgery and just the foundation training will help with her rehab. She's calm, secure, and has leash manners. She's a pleasure to be around both at home and in public. Can't wait to move on to the advanced class once her knee heals!

Yes, Carly is knowledgeable and passionate about what she is teaching you and your dog. But, I don't like being talked to like I am an idiot. I do not allow myself to be talked down to, or to be bullied, in any other aspects of my life, therefore Carly's style of communication didn't work for me. I am not a shrinking violet or timid or overly sensitive. Don't need to be coddled, just respected. Didn't feel that from Carly.

LISTEN Carly knows what she is doing. She understands dogs behaviors and how they learn best. She brakes it down in a way that the humans can understand. AND IT WORKS! My husband and I questioned some of her tactics at first because they aren't all warm and gooshy hugs, but we stuck with it and our dog, Hebe, learned so fast and is 90% trained at 11 months of age. Hebe is a giant breed dog and it is important to me that she is well behaved so that she doesn't hurt anyone, including my 2 yo at home and Carly was able to help me work through all these things with 100% success. Carly is a confident, caring, down to earth individual that can be quite prickly when trying to get her points across because she doesn't feed into your doubt and sees right through your excuses as to why your dog is they way it is. At the end of the day, she WANTS to see you succeed and your dogs to live a happy and confident life among the humans and other dogs of this earth. I'm a strong believer that our dogs should be able to go with us everywhere like family, without fear of how they will behave and Carly teaches you how to get a dog to do just that. Carly may not be all unicorns and rainbows but she will help you and your dog live HAPPILY EVER AFTER!

Update: This dog now calmly works around other dogs and has a Social Responsibility title in GRC. Lots of great choices in the area for training. Carly is NOT one of them. I have taken group classes with 4 different companies in Colorado. This is the only company that I gave a 1 star review. There are better options with better teachers. As a teacher myself, I appreciate learning from a skilled educator/coach. Carly does not have that skill. She runs her class dictatorially. While High Drive might help owners train their dogs, it is a one size fits all system. Walk in, put a prong on every dog, hand everyone a spray bottle, make everyone sit on their leash. Immediately wanted to talk to to me about an ecollar. I had hoped to improve the clarity of my handling. And maybe I could have, but after having worked with a few trainers who harmed my communication and relationship with my dog and having spent 2 years successfully repairing the damage done (with some remote help, skyping a trainer from Maine) I am not going to risk the work I have put in to follow a dogmatic program. My dog still needs a lot of work. I know that. But I will look elsewhere for a trainer who listens and respects past experiences. When my dog was repeatedly wrapping the leash around his neck, I should be able to hold it in my hand rather than sit on it, to help him avoid getting tangled up. When I try to use conditioned relaxation to settle him, she should have at least listened, rather than assume I am petting and rewarding, choosing to tersely correct me about it. I have put a lot of work into the conditioned relaxation response and it works for us. And I got my dog calmer before she even started offering me a pet corrector, slapped a prong on my dog, and asked me about ecollar. I own and have used all 3 tools and I very intentionally have chosen not to use them and improved greatly without them. Carly was not respectful of past experience or prior knowledge. I realize she has limited time in a group class for one on one chats but I have limited time to give to someone with a one size fits all program for a dog whose responses to stimuli are a bit outside the norm. Her inflexibility as a teacher, and my unwillingness to put my dog through the ringer one more time because a trainer said so meant I did not make it through the first class with her. Maybe it is not fair to leave a review after one class, but the fact that I felt the need to walk out angry rather than finish speaks to the level of inflexibility in that class. Everything Carly said is true and accurate. I absolutely believe she can train dogs. But she sucks with people and with unusual circumstance. I also find it unnerving that she forces equipment on clients (the prong) with no questions asked and without any training on using it. If she had asked me, before just putting equipment on my dog, I would have told her I already owned one. And as such, I also know that there is technique and skill in using one. A responsible trainer would have handled that differently. An ethical trainer wouldn't have put new equipment on dogs, and then asked clients to pay for it after the fact. That was a very expensive 15 minutes, and not worth the 45 minute drive each way. Disappointing.

MUST READ!!!! Let’s start with the WHY. I adopted/rescued my dog in March, a 1 year old Frenchie, who clearly had no training in her life. She was very naughty, dragging things down from the table, getting into the dog food, eating chocolate, but most unfortunately she ran out of our gated front yard and ran right onto HWY66 into oncoming traffic. Luckily, I was able to pin her down in the middle of the highway and bring her back home. We NEEDED to fix this. I started Doobie in Carly’s foundation class, first picture. She was very terrified and low confidence. The foundations class consisted of several building blocks that ultimately created a more stable, balanced and confident dog. At first, you wonder why you do all of the small baby steps in the beginning, but it all comes together at the end. You learn basic commands, sit, down, get out, but the strategies Carly uses behind teaching a dog something new whether it be a command or behavior, are generalized and can be implemented in every scenario you may face. I wanted to take it a step further and signed Doobie up for the Advanced Class. We have one class left, and we will be doing another round of classes because of how much progress I have already witnessed. Doobie is not perfect, but she is on the road to being a stable, balance and confident dog. She listens when being recalled, her overall behavior is balanced, and I don’t have to worry about her wellbeing or that she might run onto the highway. Not only have these classes taught Doobie so much, but it has taught me too! (Second Picture) If you want a trainer to put makeup on a pig and coddle you and your dog, these classes are not for you. The first thing Carly said when we went to our first class was, “I can tell this dog is coddled”. And she was!! That was the truth and knowing that allowed me to take the necessary steps in order for Doobie to have her best life. If you’re afraid of direct communication and honesty, take your dog to Petco. And good luck to you! I am BEYOND grateful for Carly and her team for all of the work and support they have done for Doobie and myself. Carly takes a lot of pride in her work and she cares deeply for every dog because she knows that it isn’t chocolate or highways that are killing our dogs, it’s us, humans!!