Lara’s 3-star review:
I'm not sure how to rate this dog school, I am not thrilled nor am I unwilling to go back. My reactive 20 lb dog finished reactive dog classes 3 weeks ago. My husband and I worked diligently with our dog. He was asked to audit a class a few weeks before we enrolled, and he bought and read the two books she suggested before our class, a clicker trainer and pre-taught our dog what he knew was coming.I observed what others are saying here, Alice is not a people person, she is a dog person. I am okay with that, that's what I'm looking for, someone to help me with my dog. The reactive classes started with promise, but completely fell flat by the end. Every class we were doing the same thing, bringing our dogs in one by one and asking them to stand on various objects and feed them treats while they ignore something triggering in the room (custom tailored to each dog, ie a large dog in the room safely brought in by Rita, or a couple hugging an gesturing in the corner of the room with raised voices, someone using a walker with large wheels) We noticed some improvement with our dog in learning to "watch" us instead of what triggers him, but overall the main issue we have with him aggressive fear barking at people has zero improvement. Our dog becomes frenzied and the rescue Alice wants us to use, throwing piles of treats on the ground to distract him) has stopped working, and I believe reinforced that if he has a mental meltdown he will be thrown piles of treats. In our 6 week class there was no discussion of what the steps are beyond the bribe/reward. How do we transition to a well behaved dog with out fear of running out of bribes? It wasn't cheap or outrageously priced, but I am slightly hesitant to throw more money at something that isn't working that well. She mentioned a vet, and Alice thinks our dog needs medication for OCD. Maybe on meds, he will respond better to this class. I am on the fence. She is helpful with referrals, email answers and answering your questions. Will update after another round of classes, as my husband wants to try again with Dogsmart.