The Puppy Playground

I have taken and completed two courses with Kalamazoo Dog Training Club, but after two evenings in the CGC/A course with Barb Osborne, I will NEVER go back and I will NEVER recommend this organization for family and friends. My wife and I have been taking our dog, Gordon, to classes here since he was 6 months old and the first two classes we took (Puppy with Nancy and beginner with Debbie) were phenomenal. Both instructors were patient and kind as we struggled to reign in Gordon’s energy and willfulness and they helped us appreciate his unique personality when we were ready to give up on him. Barb has been nothing but rude, nasty, and mean-spirited to us and to our dog. The straw that broke the camel’s back was tonight’s class. Gordon struggles with barrier frustration and approaching other dogs while on leash – hence the reason we took him to this class to begin with. He has no problems with other dogs and even goes to doggy day care every week, but while on leash, he barks and sometimes growls. This is something we have discussed with our vet and he recommended that we continue training as well as socializing Gordon on a regular basis at our day care and at dog parks. Per the class description on the KDTC website, the CGC/A class seemed like a perfect fit because he had passed the previous two courses and needs more help with this particular issue. When we arrived at class tonight, Gordon started having another such episode with the other dogs entering class. I was attempting to wrangle in my dog and trying to get him to sit when Barb stormed over and yelled that we couldn’t keep our dog under control. No instruction, no hints, just pure anger at us and our dog. I told her that is why we’re here – to learn and to get help with this issue. Instead of offering us advice and instruction, she continued to reprimand us and she even had the gall to tell us that we are OBVIOUSLY not practicing with him at home and she dismissed us when we tried to explain his issue with barrier frustration. She ended the conversation by insinuating that she would remove Gordon from the course. Well, no problem there – we are not returning! This whole experience is compounded by the fact that during the first class, another dog acted in a similar (and more aggressive) manner and Barb did not act this way – she did not yell, she did not have a nasty tone with that student, and she tried to offer suggestions. Yet she treated us like utter garbage when faced with the exact same issue. I have never before been treated so poorly and so rudely while I am seeking help and guidance for an issue I clearly struggle with. The previous class with Barb felt the same to us – pointed, rude remarks dressed up as instruction – but we shrugged it off as a personality clash. However, as I watched my wife try to make it through this class while I sat on the sidelines, I realized that no other student in the course received her “instruction” in such a nasty tone like we kept receiving. I will continue to work on training my dog with my wife, but we will be seeking expertise elsewhere because of this awful experience. I know that my dog is a lot to handle and we are struggling with that, but Barb seemed to go out of her way to be insulting and rude to me and my wife while other students received positive feedback, motivation, and actual instruction. I am saddened that this woman has ruined KDTC for my family because we had such positive experiences with other instructors.