Rocky Junior's Dog Training Service

It's very sad when dog owners fail their dogs, but it happens, as did with Mr. Fitchett. Let's start from the top: (1) When you said you intended to get a Cane Corso to be your son's service dog, I recommended against it because of the breed's known tendency for aggression. Despite my professional knowledge and warnings, you went ahead and got a Cane Corso puppy. (2) Your grant money paid for 20 lessons. For some time the training went well, then you admittedly slacked off from practicing with your dog, which has a devastating impact on results. (3) I recommended, several times, that you have your dog neutered around the age of five months, in order to prevent surges of testosterone that results in unwanted behaviors, including aggression, marking behavior, distraction and more. Aside from that, an intact service dog is just NOT an option. Again, you completely disregarded my professional advice. (4) I did cancel one lesson when my car broke down. You cancelled a number of lessons, mostly without adequate notice. (5) We completed 16 of our 20 lessons, and I fully intended to complete the block of training and help you beyond that. With a fully intact, mature Cane Corso there were built-in stumbling blocks to success, which I discussed with you ahead of time several times. (6) After the last lesson we completed, quite some time ago, Mr. Fitchett told me he had to go to Germany and didn't know when he'd be back. I had grown tired of having to contact you to reschedule the lessons you cancelled - that should be your responsibility. I explained this to Mr. Fitchett and asked him to contact me when he returned from Germany, so we could resume training. Neither Mr. nor Mrs. Fitchett contacted me after Mr. Fitchett told me he had to go to Germany. No phone calls, no text messages, no emails, nothing. I decided long ago that I cannot afford to take the time to contact clients who schedule a lesson, then cancel it. It is and should be the client's responsibility to reschedule the lesson. My business has a low profit margin, reliant on continuing sales, and I honestly don't have the time to reach out to people in situations like Mr. Fitchett. It's so easy for a client to pick up the phone, place a call or send a text, or send an email. When you don't it doesn't mean you can place the blame for your failure on me. In the case of the Fitchett's training, they were to receive 20 lessons for $1000, which calculates to $50 per one hour lesson. With travel time included, 1 1/2 hours, minimum, are attributed to each lesson. Mr. Fitchett is engaging in what psychiatrists and psychologists call "projection" - blaming another party for your own actions. (7) Regarding your Facebook review, your Facebook profile is anonymous and I had no idea who had posted the review. I do occasionally have to block people on Facebook, and if a person posts a negative review or makes an inappropriate post and I have no idea who they are, yes, they will be blocked. (8) If you folks had waited all this time, then contacted me to resume training instead of posting negative reviews, I would have resumed training with you. The fault here lies with you. Trainers cannot see a dog on an occasional basis, because of a client not being reliable and not sticking to a schedule, and actually bring about the desired results in the dog. You were fully aware that we were doing an "Owner Trained Service Dog" program, and that your learning and your dedication to your dog, through regular, effective practice sessions, was a vital part of this process. I did my best, but I can only remind and plead with clients to work with their dogs. The vast majority of clients rate me 5 stars because they get fantastic results - due to their dedication to learning and practicing with their dogs, something you people failed to do. I find it sad that anyone would blame someone else for their failures, but do wish you well.

You're very welcome, Andrea. It was a real joy working with you and AJ!

You're welcome, Shelby! Helping you and your family, including Scruffy, was a great experience and I'm glad you chose us. Scruffy's a good girl and I will miss her!

Thank you so much! I loved working with Mochi and you two.

It's obvious from the tone of your review that you are angry, Rose, and I am sorry for that. You describe your dog as a puppy, but in reality he is a young adult dog, far removed from his primary socialization period of 2 to 5 months of age. Dogs with fear-based reactivity most often display aggression and/or other phobias because of a lack of training and socialization during their primary socialization period, which was the case with your dog. Professional, science-based trainers like myself recognize that a progressive approach to training and counter-conditioning work must be taken, and that includes building confidence through obedience work, even if it involves "proofing" or strengthening the dog's basic behaviors. Much of your review just mystifies me. Treats for no reason, rewarding your dog whether he completed a behavior or not? This simply is NOT true. Riker often was rewarded for eye contact (focus), which is crucial to building confidence and recovering from fear-based behavior. Food is a powerful motivator and is essential in training and behavior modification. We only wean dogs away from food rewards when they are solid with behaviors. Little to no progress after five sessions? Again, not true. Riker had been highly reactive to door knocks and activity outside your apartment, and the exercises we did to resolve those issues were working. Not "correcting" your dog's barking at the park? What would you have me do, shock him with a shock collar, yell at him or . . . ? As I explained to you during our park lessons, we were there to observe Riker's behavior, reward him for not having reactions, and move him further away, into his comfort zone, when he did react. In modern, science-based training we do NOT "correct" aberrant behavior - instead, we work to improve the dog's confidence and behavior through marking and rewarding good behavior and reactions, and moving the dog to a safe distance when a bad reaction occurs. Scientific studies have proven, over and over, that corrections and punishment actually increase fear in dogs and lead to aggression. No trainer has a magic wand they can wave to solve problems; we have to be kind and patient, and recognize that every dog and pet parent is different, working at the pace that works in that particular dog. We also have to rely on clients to learn well from us and successfully and frequently repeat exercises. I know that if you had absorbed all you were taught and applied that to Riker, you would have never been writing a review like this. Your thoughts are very much atypicial. If you would like to complete your training, please get in touch.