New England Canine

It was with my upmost disappointment to express my concerns about New England Canine and their un-professional staff. My significant other and I originally chose to send our 7-month-old GSD to New England Canine because it was held in high regard for training. New England Canine also allegedly offered a “Boot Camp (Protection/6+ months old)”, which we were originally having trouble finding a training facility that offered protection training. During Turbo’s evaluation, the woman that was evaluating Turbo was kind, however lacked knowledge of New England Canine’s services that are listed on both the website and the intake form. During this process, this woman barley acknowledged Turbo and we felt it was more of an evaluation on us more than the dog. When we asked this woman about the “Boot Camp (Protection/6+ months old)”, which was $6,000 she stated that she did not know anything about this program, but would find a sheet which would go over the training criteria. At the end of this evaluation, we were told that she could not find the training sheet and did not know where or how to find it. I would like to emphasize that we were only going to be spending a minimum of $43 a day, however were willing and WANTED TO spend $6,000 on protection dog training. Training/daycare: The first day we dropped off Turbo we sent him with more food than needed for the day assuming we would be getting the remaining amount back when we picked him up, however we did not. When we picked Turbo up, we were told by the very un-professional staff that he “smelt” and was “sticky”, so they gave him a complimentary bath. Turbo is 7 months old now, and we brought him home when he was already 5 months, making this already a challenge. The night prior, we are conducting crate training so he may have urinated in his crate during the night. I was grateful that they gave him a complimentary bath, however this is not why we are sending Turbo to this facility. We were simply sending him to be trained. I have no issue picking him up after the daycare training and bathing/ grooming him on our own. We sent Turbo to New England Canine a total of 3 days for daycare/ training. What we did not expect to be Turbo’s last day at training, we were once again greeted by the unpleasant staff. Again, we were advised that he smelt bad and that he was sticky, and that staff would no longer be providing complimentary baths. I can assure you that I washed my dog prior to going to New England Canine on this exact morning and advised staff that he has dry skin and we are using a rub on his stomach to treat the spots. The only response that I received after I was questioned about his accidents was that they would make a note about this conversation in his file. We then asked the staff what type of training he has received in the past three times he has been there so we could help him progress with the training. Staff was very rude and stated “basic commands” when asked what type of basic commands because there are many, they were unable to tell us. There has been no communication with what time of training Turbo is and was receiving at no point in time. This raised a major concern for us as we are spending money each time that Turbo is being sent, yet we are unaware with what he is being taught for an entire day. Furthermore, my significant other and I wanted to see the facility in case we did decide to board Turbo during a vacation. We were advised that were not privileged to see the living quarters for the animals which is a major concern if we are debating in sending part of our family there to stay overnight. This leaves us to wonder what kind of conditions they are keeping the dogs in for them to not allow their cliental to see. Due to the blatant un-professionalism by staff and the lack of knowledge in training programs as well as transparency in training/ boarding we are forced to never send Turbo back to the facility.

With so many positive reviews, we were excited to send our dog to this daycare. We toured the facility about a year ago and met the owners. Unfortunately, we had a very unpleasant experience. Our dog came home sick several times recently with KENNEL COUGH and was often covered in FECES! This tells us how unsanitary the conditions must be. As a result, we have incurred additional expenses at the groomers and vet's office to get our dog back to a healthy, happy, and sanitary state. We voiced our concerns numerous times to management and simply received: "I'm sorry you feel that way" response. Never a SINCERE apology for returning our dog in such deplorable condition, never mind an offer to refund any money paid to offset our grooming expenses and vet visits. We feel greatly disappointed and would strongly caution dog owners to send their dogs here. What a shame that better cleaning and sanitation protocols are not practiced consistently here to ensure the safety and well being of our dogs!