Prodigy Pups Dog Training LLC

Becky at Prodigy Pups has been amazing. We sent her our young doodle who was just getting into her "teenage" years and we received back a responsive and well-trained family member. I can't begin to express how much we appreciate Becky's initial training and accessibility post-training. We weren't the best pup parents and needed a session to get back on track with our puppy- Becky was in our backyard working with our pup and us (most importantly) within a week of our request. She was patient, kind, and caring. This is who you want to train your dog (and you).

Getting a puppy about a week before the Covid Stay at home order was interesting to say the least. We couldn’t do puppy classes, but also didn’t want to miss the chance at starting training with our dog. After talking with a few other trainers in Minnesota, most of them said essentially “you have a golden doodle, you’ll be fine on your own”. I stumbled across Prodigy Pups and am thankful I did. The emails with Christa were great. She was responsive and super knowledgeable, as well as welcoming. She didn’t make me feel silly for looking for a board and train option for my golden doodle. Becky was the trainer we sent our pup to and she’s all kinds of awesome. She not only trained our pup, but also has kids and other dogs that helped socialize our dog during Covid stay at home. After a few months, our dog was pushing her boundaries a bit and we had gotten a little lax in our training with her. We had a follow up appointment with Becky and it was great. Our dog was still totally trained - we had just dropped the ball and she helped get us back in the right groove. We have been so happy with the results. It’s absolutely worth it to send your dog there and when I finally talk my fiancé into pup #2, they’ll be visiting Prodigy Pups as well. :)

My sweet little Blue heeler pup was a total handful when we brought her home at 8 weeks. She didn't know how to play appropriately, had no concept of listening to the commands she had definitely learned, stubbornly refused to be house trained, and had a tendency to get very riled up and a little aggressive when restrained in any way. We wanted to nip this in the bud and we're honestly super frustrated to the point of considering surrendering her back to the people we bought her from. Enter Prodigy Pups! A couple close friends recommended I reach out and I'm so happy I did. It took awhile to get her in for a 2 week board and train based on all the COVID puppies AND the great approach they take with board and trains where they are only working with one dog at a time in someone's personal home. We had a ton of communication upfront about appropriate format of training, expectations, what was included etc. Becky, our behaviorist, picked Jolene up at our personal home (and dropped her off at the end - talk about great service!). We were in constant communication throughout the 2 weeks with messages, videos and photos and answers to all my clueless dog parent questions. When Jo came home, she was a very well mannered and well adjusted little puppy. We even got compliments on her behavior from pet store employees and our vet! Since Jo was so little, this was all accomplished with basic treat training and exposure therapy to address problem behaviors. We are so thrilled with our results and couldn't dream of not having this little lady in our family now. Prodigy Pups and Becky were a blessing to her and our family and we are so grateful! Jo has even been back to Becky's house to spend a weekend of in home boarding when we got married. Would highly recommend Prodigy Pups - 20 out of 10!

I contacted Prodigy Pups for some guidance with my dogs who both have unique personalities, like all dogs do. I got a phone call back 2 days later and after a 15 minute discussion about my rescue dogs, one who is selectively dog reactive and another young dog who is afraid of new people, I was told that I would need to basket muzzle train my dog. I expressed concern that this may not be necessary and informed her that I had already worked with my dog on this. My desire was to have the trainer meet my dog before moving forward. I was told that the only way to move forward, was to muzzle train my dog, and without it there was no way to move forward. She proceeded to tell me that if my dog ever hurt anyone, "they could come after me for everything that I owned and my dog could be euthanized". My dog has never harmed anyone and even so, I don't think this scare tactic is a professional way to start a conversation about training someone's dog. I was then informed that her board and train program was $2650? for 2 weeks, and $3,000 for a 3 week board and train program that included the shock collar, shock collar training, and any follow up training sessions. We never discussed any training methods and I was never asked my opinion about 'shock collar training". She went on to tell me that when the dog was dropped off at her place, the muzzle would be left on until the dog quit trying to attack her! What?? She has never met my dog, and my dog does not try to attack people. She also told me that my "aggressive" dog may not ever be "normal". I would not label my dog "aggressive" and I don't know that there is a "normal" dog out there. I believe that dogs can be allowed to have boundaries, and their humans should know what those boundaries are and be able to safely and positively manage them. I was then asked to fill out a form online, to see what my needs could be. I inquired about my pet health insurance being able to be used, and was told that she was not a veterinary board certified behaviorist, so she did not know. FYI, not board certified... I was uncomfortable from the get go, as her many judgments and opinions where in place after a 15 minute conversation about my dog. Our conversation was cut short due to poor reception, and so I texted her my follow up clarification that my dog was NOT aggressive and that I did not have expectations that he would be "normal". I also asked about in home training, or private lessons. This happened on Monday, I did not get a response, so Tuesday I asked if she received my texts, finally on Wednesday I received a response that told me that she would not train my dog as she didn't believe we were a good match. Following her text, I texted back, including pictures of my dogs, and called several times, I even sent an email requesting to chat about what exactly we didn't agree on. I was still cautiously considering taking my dog there. I expressed that her message was causing me great anxiety and really would like to talk. I did not, and still have not received a response. In addition to this, I have been blocked from her Facebook page, where I also would leave a review. If you go to the Facebook page, there are only 13 reviews from the past 7 years. It makes me wonder if people who don't have good experiences are blocked as well. Ether way, reflecting on this experience, I am now looking elsewhere for positive reinforcement behavior modification training for my dogs. It was truly an awful experience and something I consider unprofessional. From the response time, to the quick judgement, to the scare tactics, the impersonal text message denying me service, and blocking me on Facebook. I would proceed with extreme caution.