Midwest Dog Center

We cannot say enough great things about Midwest Dog Center! We brought our very stubborn Husky here for a week of training, and the difference at pickup was truly incredible. Before training, she had gone from living on five wooded acres with another dog to living in a dog-friendly apartment in Wichita. Over the past year, she had become increasingly reactive toward other dogs—barking and pulling toward them—and she pulled constantly at the end of her lead on every walk. She knew basic commands like sit and down, but she was definitely selective about listening. After just one week, she was a completely different dog. Her trainer taught us how to continue using these new skills at home. She now consistently sits and downs on command, has learned a release command, and walks beautifully right beside me without pulling. Most importantly, her reactivity toward other dogs is resolved. She no longer barks or pulls when she sees another dog and often doesn’t even pay attention to them. She was even happily playing with other dogs off leash at the training center. We took her to Wet Nose Wednesday at the ballpark this week, and she was an absolute angel! It has given us so much more freedom to enjoy our girl at dog-friendly patios and other places. The staff and trainer were wonderful throughout the entire experience. They never tried to push for the second week of training when they realized we were satisfied with these skills. We also really appreciated that they told us she is always welcome back for boarding and that we can call anytime if any behaviors start to slip. 10/10 recommend Midwest Dog Center! We only wish we had done it sooner!

Even though I gave this place 2 stars, there were some positives to this place. The people there and super nice and seemed very helpful. The facility is very clean and I'm sure offer other great services. Maybe my husband and I got our hopes up too much for our pup but I would not recommend this facility for training. For some dogs it may work but for ours it didn't, and if your dog is anything like mine go somewhere else. I have a pretty stubborn German Shepherd puppy and he's exactly the same as when we took him in. When we picked him up, he still jumped on us and went crazy until the trainer started shocking the absolute crap out of him to get him off. He yelled "off" at least a hundred times before my dog got tired of being shocked by the e collar. Mind you, no where on the website or description of the training (I went back to look right before writing this) does it say they use an e collar, it's actually a reason why I chose this place over others. I don't mind the e collars but I felt it was excessive. It was nice to have my dog away for two weeks while my family and I finished packing up boxes but I really feel the training they did there could've been done at home in probably less time. I just want to point out the trainer Hank is a super awesome guy, he was NOT mean or anything in the slightest. The trainers themselves were awesome, just felt like a waste of money. Some dogs can probably function without the e collar, Hank made it very clear that my dog needs it at all times except when sleeping and I thought the whole point of using the collar was to train them so that you don't have to use the collar. Our dog does not listen at all without it so now we have to rely on a $200-$300 device to correct my dog's behavior for who knows how long. This place is probably great for dogs who aren't as stubborn, but if your dog is anything like mine, I'd recommend going somewhere else. The reviews for this place are great which is why I decided to do it but DONT if your dog is a stubborn butthead! Another thing to note, my dog isn't a picky eater in the slightest but he does free eat most meals. He gets two different types of dry food and some frozen food twice a day. I made Ziploc bags specifically for each meal (vitamins, salmon oil, fresh breath sticks) for breakfast vs dinner. I had 8 Ziploc bags come back home to me as well as two whole things of frozen food, which indicates to me personally that they didn't clean out his bowls for every meal. Thankfully didn't make him sick but it is worrisome that I sent enough food for every meal while he was gone and I got so much of it back. (Not trying to be negative just giving an honest opinion of this place) GREAT PLACE JUST NOT FOR DOGS LIKE MINE!

We recently contacted MDC for some specific training needs on the advice of another trainer for our Sadie, a 2 1/2 yo GSD/PYR mix. We enrolled her in the 2 week in-house training program. Hank produced beyond amazing results. He also patiently trained the humans which is just as important. Sadie was well cared for during her stay and enjoyed playing with her new friends. We returned for their grooming services which were excellent. Highly recommend Hank and the staff at MDC!

Long but this could help! Some background is important, I know we are not the only ones that have found ourselves in this situation, and our experience may help someone else decide whether this investment is the way to go for them. To keep it simple, we were brought a baby that fit right into my hands—only a few days old. We bottle-fed him while he grew and grew. We picked up the basics pretty fast: sit, roll over, and don't eat until we say "go." But ol' buddy just kept getting bigger and bigger. His tail has a personality of its own... and the slobber! I weigh 115 pounds, and he's already up to 135. He's a big ol' Corso. Once he hit a certain point I wasnt comfortable walking him alone outside of my privacy fence. He HAS to be ran out daily and all the fetch and hide and seek wasnt enough. It didnt feel right and the less we got to do each day, the more wrestless he is. Nobody but me could go around him because he wants to jump all over everyone. He drug my 7 yr old around by his hood once... another time he pulled his shirt off by his sleeve. I taught him "between" so he comes and sits and that turned into him going between my 7 year olds legs and picking him up and flipping him off. Walks turned me into a flag. He busted out a window wanting in and the back door. Our new neighbor kids couldnt go outside without hearing him bark nonstop and his bark is scary. I reviewed all the bootcamps around and went into a few for a visual to help. When I went in here I was greeted by pets being picked up by their owner after a day at daycare and being dropped off for an afternoon! I couldnt stop smiling bc there wasnt one dog that didnt look excited about being there! After reviewing and questioning i booked for him to go while I went out of state for almost 2 weeks. I called to check up on him bc like I said its a love hate thing and I know I have no business having this breed, Ive only had Boston terriers and a pug! But it happend and im trying to make it work and I missed him. Hank got on and got me caught up on where they were and asked me questions to help them to keep succeeding. I never ever felt rushed or like I was annoying anyone with questions. And When I got back to my Gigantor, He was a brand new boy! No jumping! Ive only been home 3 days and ive walked morning, as soon as it cools off and then again for a night walk. Ive passed other humans and animals! We also got to go in for a one on one and when we pulled into their parking lot he started squeeling with excitement in the backseat! If I even expected that, I would have recorded it. Then as soon as he seen Hank, (his trainor) he got even more excited and ran to him ready to work! Thats how you know its a good place!!! Not just bc my boy acts like hes been doing this well the entire time but a dog like him does NOT react happily to someone that didnt treat him right. Heck I think Bant would love to live there too. I was so worried my heart was going to be broken because I couldnt do what he NEEDED, to help him be more confident. Keep in mind Ive been going threw some health things during important stages. But I tried and sometimes it just takes that village. So if your in a situation that you need help with like how mine was beyond too much for me, this is the perfect one! I cant stop talking about it. He finally got to meet all the neighbors!! It was so relieving I was about in tears 😆 And now we have a forever dog sitter during vacations or emergencies! And Im so happy with everything, Im working on getting my grandma help with her Catahoula. If its trustworthy and good enough for grandmas, its perfect for you!