San Mateo Dog Training Club

I didn’t realize how spoiled I was with the dog training school my pup and I attended before this one (in Seattle) where we were warmly welcomed and I felt like my dog was having a good time while learning. Definitely not the case here. I don’t plan on returning even though we haven’t finished the series; I don’t feel like it’s a good use of my time and might actually be negatively impacting the relationship between my dog and me. The instructor didn’t offer me anything helpful in two sessions, only told me what my dog should be able to do. It was not a fit for us; I didn’t receive any effective training techniques or encouragement. Edit: Bumping my review from 1 to 3 stars because the customer service was phenomenal when I wanted a refund.

Wish I had done my research to find other low score reviews. Definitely do not agree with the method how they train dogs, or dog owners. It was a lot of negativity we had during the brief 3 classes we stayed with them. 1st class, we were proposed to buy a new martingale dog collar, and during the 3rd class was asked to "upgrade" to a prone collar. We were told our dog was aggressive, disrespectful to other dogs, and if our dog had done this to the trainer's "german Shepard", he/she would be harsh on him (Yea, whose dog is aggressive?). Full story - my little boy barked back at another dog, reactive, and did not growl. What a great teaching of punishment and public shaming in the name of leadership, where we came in looking to fix the exact barking behavior. Customer service was very prompt and responsive though. I asked to switch to another class and was issued full refund.

PLEASE avoid this place at all costs for the sake of your dog. I was so excited to take an obedience class, but the second we got there the instructor starting telling us how bad harnesses are (i'm well aware you need to use a regular collar for competition and training, but for every day use/walks harnesses are exactly what you should be using and how prong collars are perfectly fine to use... they DO NOT use positive reinforcement or science based methods. She went on and on about how a prong collars won't hurt the dogs neck, the fact that you have to clarify SO much about how it won't cause pain is a pretty clear indicator IT DOES in fact cause discomfort. If you've ever seen a prong collar you'll know it LOOKS PAINFUL and it is. Please do your own research! If you're looking for good training, please please please find trainers that are CPDT certified! The only way to know if the trainer is legit. I made the mistake of not checking and just assuming they use positive reinforcement only, but they clearly don't. Don't bother with this place.