Rocket Dog Academy

I just want to take a minute to brag a little bit! We have been training here for a little over a month with our puppy Gunner. We rescued him from the Seattle Humane Society and he was super scared and wasn't sure how to be a puppy. We enrolled him at Rocket Dog and met our Trainier Maria! She IS the best! After our first session with our puppy his confidence level was so much better! She takes things at a good pace for us and our sweet boy who sometimes gets distracted since he is a puppy. After every session, we see huge improvement and we enjoy to see that! He is learning to walk on a leash, he knows how to sit and lay down, he is picking up on stay very well and is learning how to be respectful! She makes every training lesson, fun and energetic. Our pup is a pitbull mix and she ends every lesson with a little bit of play time after working his brain! I 100% would recommend training with her. After going to a few training places I will now always come to Rocket Dog!

The reason for two stars instead of one are because the facility looked nice, and I’m hopeful that my experience was a one-off or due to someone having bad day. I arrived 10 minutes early and waited patiently for my first session. There was no staff to greet, but there was a large area to comfortably sit. I was checked in a few minutes after my appointment time by, I assume, our trainer. She did not introduce herself, and I still don’t know who it was. The check in was awkward and distant with no discussion. I was directed to join a session with another client that was running late and presumably wrapping up. There was no getting acquainted or orientation to the training. There was no effort to understand our current situation, prior training, concerns, or goals. After a few minutes of listening to information on leash work, I was criticized by the trainer for touching my puppy’s ear when she barked. I felt attacked and put on the spot. I reacted defensively and left the session immediately. There was no follow-up communication, but I later received a notice of cancellation and a partial refund. The whole things was just odd - my time and money were paid to a stranger who I went to for help, instead, make me feel uncomfortable and lesser. It could be that my expectation was unreasonable. For a first session, I expected some sort of introduction and orientation, a tip or two to work on at home, and a plan for future training. Instead, I left confused and feeling like this person obviously wasn’t interested in working with a new client and didn’t care at all about the client experience or basic social niceties. I work in a consultative client-facing profession. I know dealing with people is a lot harder than working with dogs. That being said, I believe that even on one’s worst work day, a professional should make some effort to help a new client feel welcome and comfortable. I definitely felt neither during this very unfortunate first and only encounter. In less than 20 minutes, I went from hopeful optimism of starting on a fun training journey with our puppy to feeling like I had inconvenienced the trainer by showing up.