First I want to start by saying that I wish I did not have to resort to filing a report in order to try to get my issues resolved. I was hoping to come to some sort of compromise with the owner of this business and avoid having to post negative reviews and take legal action. I first contacted Christina through Bark and she seemed like a legit trainer. She has 5 stars on Bark (only 3 reviews though) and her Facebook Business page has positive feedback on her posts. Although oddly enough there is no option to leave a review on her FB business page. I reached out and set up a time to call her and inquire about her services. I was interested in the "board and train" option where she boards the dog and supposedly trains them while they are there. Our 8 month old Doberman (Scarlet) spent 4 weeks at Christina's house and returned back to us not knowing any more commands/skills than she did when we sent her to training. I had already trained her to sit, lay, stay, wait, and to place. I told Christina Scarlet already knew those things and I was more interested in getting Scarlet to learn recall off leash, responsiveness to doorbells, coming when called, and socializing with other dogs. Christina said none of that would be an issue and in fact ALL of that is advertised on her website. I also inquired about a refund policy or if there is some sort of guarantee in case I wasn't happy with the results.
Dobermans are a special breed and you have to know what you're doing. Christina said she had experience with Dobermans so I took her word for it. In hindsight, I should have known better because most of her FB posts are smaller dogs, and NO Dobermans until she posted pictures of our Scarlet. In terms of a guarantee she said there was no guarantee because so much is dependent on owner follow up. That is completely understandable, but she did tell me if we weren't happy with her services we could "figure something out". She said she offered follow up sessions if needed to help reinforce training. Well here we are now, 16 days after Scarlet returned back home and we have been in constant contact with Christina to try to address the same issues we were having pre training. We have done everything she has said in terms of follow up but our dog is the exact same as she was before the 4 weeks of training, and there have been no follow up visits offered by Christina. She even accused me of "not following through with the methods I explained to you". I guess that was her way of feeling good about blowing off my questions and complaints. Now we cannot even contact Christina anymore because she blocked my cell phone when I sent a message asking for a partial refund. I was willing to compromise and wasn't asking for a full refund. I realize it takes time to board someone's dog and that deserves compensation, obviously. But I am not willing to pay for the supposed training, because that is joke and never happened. I think she just doesn't have the experience required to train a Doberman. The only good thing I can say is at least Scarlet got to socialize with other dogs and went on a couple "field trips". We did get some pics and videos while Scarlet was at Christina's house, but they weren't of her doing any type of skills she didn't already have. They were mostly her walking around parks and sitting on random things to learn "place", which as I said Scarlet already knew. I feel completely ripped off and wish I would have spent the $1890 on a real trainer.
Also, on a side note, Scarlet does not seem to have been well taken care of while she was there. She came back with filthy ears and she was shedding like crazy, which wasn't the case before she left. Maybe it was stress, I don't know but just something to note. I contacted Bark customer service twice to get their advice on what to do and they suggested I leave a negative review so this doesn't happen to anyone else. They also opened an investigation. This business also has FTC, AG, and BBB complaints filed against it as well in the state of Washington.
Best Paw 4ward Training Reviews
First I want to start by saying that I wish I did not have to resort to filing a report in order to try to get my issues resolved. I was hoping to come to some sort of compromise with the owner of this business and avoid having to post negative reviews and take legal action. I first contacted Christina through Bark and she seemed like a legit trainer. She has 5 stars on Bark (only 3 reviews though) and her Facebook Business page has positive feedback on her posts. Although oddly enough there is no option to leave a review on her FB business page. I reached out and set up a time to call her and inquire about her services. I was interested in the "board and train" option where she boards the dog and supposedly trains them while they are there. Our 8 month old Doberman (Scarlet) spent 4 weeks at Christina's house and returned back to us not knowing any more commands/skills than she did when we sent her to training. I had already trained her to sit, lay, stay, wait, and to place. I told Christina Scarlet already knew those things and I was more interested in getting Scarlet to learn recall off leash, responsiveness to doorbells, coming when called, and socializing with other dogs. Christina said none of that would be an issue and in fact ALL of that is advertised on her website. I also inquired about a refund policy or if there is some sort of guarantee in case I wasn't happy with the results.
Dobermans are a special breed and you have to know what you're doing. Christina said she had experience with Dobermans so I took her word for it. In hindsight, I should have known better because most of her FB posts are smaller dogs, and NO Dobermans until she posted pictures of our Scarlet. In terms of a guarantee she said there was no guarantee because so much is dependent on owner follow up. That is completely understandable, but she did tell me if we weren't happy with her services we could "figure something out". She said she offered follow up sessions if needed to help reinforce training. Well here we are now, 16 days after Scarlet returned back home and we have been in constant contact with Christina to try to address the same issues we were having pre training. We have done everything she has said in terms of follow up but our dog is the exact same as she was before the 4 weeks of training, and there have been no follow up visits offered by Christina. She even accused me of "not following through with the methods I explained to you". I guess that was her way of feeling good about blowing off my questions and complaints. Now we cannot even contact Christina anymore because she blocked my cell phone when I sent a message asking for a partial refund. I was willing to compromise and wasn't asking for a full refund. I realize it takes time to board someone's dog and that deserves compensation, obviously. But I am not willing to pay for the supposed training, because that is joke and never happened. I think she just doesn't have the experience required to train a Doberman. The only good thing I can say is at least Scarlet got to socialize with other dogs and went on a couple "field trips". We did get some pics and videos while Scarlet was at Christina's house, but they weren't of her doing any type of skills she didn't already have. They were mostly her walking around parks and sitting on random things to learn "place", which as I said Scarlet already knew. I feel completely ripped off and wish I would have spent the $1890 on a real trainer.
Also, on a side note, Scarlet does not seem to have been well taken care of while she was there. She came back with filthy ears and she was shedding like crazy, which wasn't the case before she left. Maybe it was stress, I don't know but just something to note. I contacted Bark customer service twice to get their advice on what to do and they suggested I leave a negative review so this doesn't happen to anyone else. They also opened an investigation. This business also has FTC, AG, and BBB complaints filed against it as well in the state of Washington.