Yolo Canine Academy & 29 Palms Pet Resort

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Location
34505 County Road 29 (just beyond Yolo County Airport)
Hours
(Opens at 7.30 a.m. daily. Closed Sundays.)
Phone
(530)661-0213
Website
[WWW]Yolo Canine Academy & [WWW]http://yolocanineacademy.com

Owned and operated by Renee Lancaster, Yolo Canine Academy & 29 Palms Pet Resort offers a full array of canine services including

Renee Lancaster has worked for both the Yolo County Sheriff and Roseville Police Department as an officer and has trained K-9 officers for various police and sheriff departments. She operates the Yolo County Schutzhund Club for [WWW]United Schutzhund Clubs of America and shows dogs as well. With her background in Schutzhund and police K-9, she is especially adept at handling problem behaviors, as evinced in the statement at the bottom of [WWW]this page. This training facility offers both covered and outdoor training areas.

Group training for basic obedience is a six-week course, typically offered Wednesday evenings and currently priced at $85. Training method is traditional praise-based, versus treat-based or clicker training; owners should bring a six-foot leather lead and choke chain collar [neck size + 2"] to the first class, along with Fido.

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2006-09-20 16:10:08   I've taken two of my past dogs to Renee for group training and can't say how happy I've been with her methods. With my first dog, I was worried about breaking his spirit, but my fears were unfounded and he came out *so* well behaved! A large black lab with a massive neck, strangers would always ask whether I was taking the dog for a walk or the other way around... after going through Renee's course, he heeled beautifully! My second dog, a Rott, loved to bark at passersby and chase cats... after training [it took two times, but repeats are free], she was able to hold a sit-stay while a cat walked around the room and a ball was thrown in front of her. A word of caution: Renee is terrible at returning calls, but don't give up! Also, you really need to follow the training techniques for success. A friend took her dog but wouldn't use anything but a gentle lead harness — today her dog has aggression problems, still isn't housetrained and can barely walk on a leash. —AlphaDog

2006-11-07 01:33:44   I worked for Renee Lancaster, and I would suggest to any other students who are looking for work, DO NOT GO TO HER. She refused to give me my last paycheck as I was leaving Davis to live in Santa Barbara, and to this day has refused to give it to me. Also, although I will admit that her training classes & methods are extremely advanced and well done, her boarding is absolutely unreliable. She is not honest with her customers and encourages her employees to be equally dishonest. Although I would HIGHLY discourage anyone from either working in the kennel/boarding unit or boarding their dogs there, Renee has an excellent dog obedience program, and that is worth checking out. —LizzEhrenpreis

2006-11-13 11:02:14   Wow. I'm suprised to see the negatives...My extremely neurotic rescue dog did just fine boarding at 29 Palms and came home perfectly OK. I would appreciate details on the "dishonesty", since I can't imagine what that would be. I boarded my Lab along with his best friend...they shared a run, got to play outside, got their own food on their schedules, were bathed and groomed and happy to see us without being crazy. My Lab was a rescue and has pretty severe anxiety. He was NOT barking when I went to pick him up, so things were seemed OK. In over 30 years in Davis, I would rate this as the very best boarding experience. —FreddieOakley

2006-12-20 09:01:02   I have an almost 10 year old female Staffordshire Terrier who has been in Renee's basic obedience through her advanced obedience classes and has earned her AKC Companion Dog certificate in her first three trials. When we drive to the kennel my dog is so excited. She goes happily with whomever takes her. When I pick her up she is equally happy. My dog is on several medications and has NEVER come home ill or lacking her medications. I've witnessed Renee with several employees and all I've ever witnessed is that she demands their best work efforts. I have referred many of my co-workers to Renee and NONE of them have ever expressed unhappiness with her. I have tried every kennel in the greater Davis area and Renee's kennel is the only one where I would leave my dog. I have total confidence in Renee's ability both as a trainer and as a boarder and will continue recommending her and her facility. —BarbaraMills

2006-12-20 16:08:30   Though I've been very happy with Renee as a trainer, I can certainly see how an employee might have problems working with her. Renee has a very strong personality and isn't the type who gives you the warm fuzzies — remember, she was a cop! And since I've had to chase her down by phone just to get into her classes, I can also see how it might seem that she's unavailable to clients. I can get past that for the sake of training my dog, but I definitely understand how a staffperson might be unhappy with their employer/employee relationship. As an aside, this also might not be the best training facility for those gentle souls who find correcting their pets a bit heartwrenching; if so, most other local options are treat- or clicker-based and may be better suited. —AlphaDog

2007-01-06 19:45:21   Actually, my main personal beef with Renee is that she refused to give me my last paycheck—she STOLE money from me, and I was not able to take her to the labor board because I moved away, and I'm unfamiliar with what legal proceedings I could have taken anyway. Furthermore, my only professional issue is with the way she cuts corners with her treatment of the dogs in the kennel. As I said, I think her training programs are extraordinary. It has absolutely nothing to do with what she demanded professionally—I didn't have an issue with that at all. —LizzEhrenpreis

2008-01-13 13:17:56   I also worked for Renee and I can vouch for all of the above complaints. She would never inform me about how to give meds, unless it was a simple pill. She also never gave me my last pay check. The pedigree poodle that we "cared for" at the kennel was obviously very nervous and malnourished, Renee would purposely ignore the owners calls and messeges and tell us just to deal with her when she came in. Renee would also mock her when she called to check on her dog. Renee mocked the majority of her customers behind their backs and would even hide from them informing me to lie and say she was in a meeting of some sort or that she was out of town. I remember one dog particularly that was very finicky, and would run from outside the kennel to inside the kennel over and over until it wore off the hair on his head..when the owner asked about it, Renee said she would rub Vaseline on the doggy door to fix the problem..which she never did and flat out told me..it would make the owner happy. The same dog would often try to escape from his kennel, when I told renee she made me go inside the kennel to "kick the dog" and she said, "If he does it again, you didn't kick him hard enough." He treatment of the dogs was horrific. However, If an owner complained it would be all my fault she "blamed it on the help." —Tali

2008-01-23 16:00:40   After a TERRIBLE experience at another kennel we decided to investigate different kennels in the Davis/Woodland area. One kennel that we were interested in was this one. When we arrived Renee was there and, although she was busy, she answered all our questions about the kennel and about our dogs daily routine if we were to leave her there. She wasn't super friendly but rather answered our questions as she worked outside in one of the dog yards. We explained our concerns about our dog (slightly older, a little neurotic) and she was very understanding and reassuring. We even talked to some people in the parking lot who boarded their dogs there and they said that they have always been happy with the kennel. After we left I called our vet to see if they had any feedback about the kennel and they said that they have had no complaints about them. So we booked our dog for 2 weeks there over christmas. When we picked up our dog she seemed happy. Renee remembered us from our visit a few months earlier and remembered our many concerns and trepidation about leaving our dog at ANY kennel. I felt like she was very good about making sure that we were satisfied with our dogs stay. And we absolutely were. We will be booking our dog at 29 Palms again in the future. If you are considering leaving your dog at a kennel I would definitely suggest checking out 29 Palms for yourself (as well as the other kennels in the area. You'll see why this one is the best.) Our dog didn't have any medications or special requirements so I can't say anything about that. I would definitely recommend this kennel to anyone. —recoveringPhD

2008-02-22 17:02:00   I am in Brazil for work and I happened to run into a friend's friend. I told her that I live near Sacramento and that we have a lot of dogs. The friend mentioned a dog farm in woodland and I was going... hmm..... could it be the same place I take my rot? After talking some more, we found out that apparently Renee is well known internationally as a breeder (Renee traveled to Brazil to deliver a puppy from a prize winning dog to her family). Small world. —atwong

2008-04-19 10:47:03   I have known Renee for many years, including getting my first Rott puppy from her....who was the best dog in the world. I have boarded my animals with her facility over the years and can only say, I have no fears or issues leaving my "kids" in her hands. Recently, I adopted one of her rescues, a pittbull who is a wonderful and well adjusted dog. This dog had been in Renee's care since taken away from his original owner at 6 months old and lived an additional 2 years at her facility.

I can only think that the negative comments made by one of her former employees is "sour grapes". I have witnessed Renee on numerous occasions correct an employees performance- which goes against the old saying of "praise in public, criticize in private". These "corrections" were to immediatly fix a situation for a dogs benefit. To think a dog boarding facility is going to employee and retain higly trained people is unrealistic. These facilities are a training ground for primarily vet students. I can only praise Reneee for training them properly before they move on into their career.

I have taken her obedience classes and am consistently amazed at how she manages to convert animals into good citizen dogs- regardless of their prior poor behaviors. —Pitlvr

2008-07-18 13:25:47   I love the accusations that both of the employees who have responded simply have "sour grapes". Again, as I said previously—if there are any sour grapes at all, it's because Renee is unreliable, untrustworthy, and a terrible employer. She didn't get either of our last paychecks to us, and it speaks volumes that she has duped you into defending her on the wiki. We worked behind the scenes—frankly, I think we would know what went down better than you would. I have an impeccable work history, and fantastic references, and I will ONCE AGAIN state: my beef with Renee Lancaster has absolutely nothing to do with my work ethic or reasonable expectations of one's employees.

Thanks. —LizzEhrenpreis

2009-01-15 08:51:06   1/15/2009

My daughter (who just turned 18 a few weeks ago) worked for Renee Lancaster at Yolo County Canine Academy & 29 palms pet resort for about one week over Christmas break 2008 as a kennel technician - as part of a high school work experience program. She had held that position at local Vet hospital for a couple of years prior to working for Renee. She has excellent references. After just a few days, it became obvious how abusive this woman is! She berates, micromanages, and verbally abuses her employees. She is mean to the animals. I suppose her training philosophy includes abuse unto submission for the animals as well as her employees!? I counseled my daughter to resign. So she handed in a letter of resignation. She advised Renee that she would complete the week that she was already scheduled for. Renee became hostile, and told her to just "get out". She was yelling at her as she walked to her car. And it has now been 2 weeks, and she has not received her paycheck. I called Renee this morning, and she called my daughter a loser, and hung up on me. Several more calls were made - all unsuccessful in any attempt to communicate. She yelled as I was talking, talked over me and incessantly interrupted any attempt at resolving this. I had to raise my voice to be heard over her irrationality. She told me that she did not have our address - even though it is on my daughter's resume', letter of resignation, AND a voice message left by my daughter over a week ago. In one conversation, Renee said the check had been mailed. This woman is truly a micromanaging, hostile and abusive person with absolutely NO people skills. My daughter also told me that she is abusive to the animals in her care. My daughter has always wanted to have her own kennel one day. She has worked around animals since she was a young girl. After this experience, she told me that the one thing she learned from it is what NOT to do. I implore you to look elsewhere for facilities for your animals. We loved this place: Don O'Brien's Boarding & Training Kennel is located on 5 rural acres in Wilton, CA., just 30 minutes from Sacramento and 15 minutes from Elk Grove. They have offered boarding for dogs & cats, as well as obedience and gun dog training since 1988. They were wonderful with all of our animals! It is worth the drive! I called the labor commissioner this morning and a suit will be filed against this woman. It is a hard lesson for an impressionable young adult to have to experience this so early in her career. But I can assure you, Renee will not get away with it! Read the other posts here. There are more disgruntled employees that have posted. Please hear us! It is NOT "sour grapes" as someone suggested! I can be reached at mschief@wavecable.com for more details. —Mschief

2009-01-22 16:15:40   Just a question: Would Renee permit an employee to sit with an elderly dog while she eats, or is she too tough on dogs to tolerate that kind of quirk? My older dog was rescued as a stray and for whatever reason, she refuses to eat unless I'm in the room with her. And believe me, I've tried to outwait her, but she simply won't eat until I'm busying myself in the kitchen and she can see where I am while she eats. I take her to Wag Hotel and they're great about accommodating her needs - they told me a surprising number of dogs are like this, and they WILL sit with her at mealtimes, and she eats fine there. And I love the place, but it's so pricey that I've been looking for another option. Years ago I took my dogs to A Home Away and while they didn't get sick as other people have commented on their page, the place is just a little too rundown for my tastes, and the old lady is truly difficult to deal with. —NotSure

2009-02-15 12:39:40   I know Renee very well. I have boarded my dogs with her for years and have taken many of her obedience classes as well. (They are amazing! How many trainers will let you repeat the class as many times as needed for free?) Renee is a very professional business owner who expects her employees to do their jobs well. I wouldn't expect her to be a motherly, hand-holding type of employer, because she can't afford to be. She has been given the responsibility of caring for people's precious dogs while they are gone. She has to have reliable employees who do their jobs. I've never worked for her so I will go no further in discussing her as an employer. However, let me tell you Renee is wonderful with the dogs- both boarded and rescued! Anyone who says she's abusive to dogs is crazy! For years Renee has rescued dogs from death row in animal shelters throughout Northern California. When a dog comes in that the SPCA won't take due to illness, an unpopular breed, perceived aggression, etc, Renee will get a call on euthanasia day. She always races out to pick the dog up and almost always arrives back with three or four "extra" dogs she couldn't pass up who were set to be euthanized. Since Renee raises Rottweilers and German Shepherds, she always gets a call when one is picked up, but they also call her about other dogs that for some reason tug at their heart. To see her with these dogs is amazing as she always treats them as if they are the most special dog on the planet. In January of 2008, Renee founded a non-profit (501c3) Rotts of Friends Animal Rescue to enable her to expand her rescue work. I know all this because I help her in finding adopters for these dogs who need a second chance. When someone adopts one of these rescues, she throws in a free obedience class. (Of course, as soon as she gets a dog she has it spayed or neutered and gets it up to date on its shots.) She also takes in some dogs who are virtually, due to illness, unadoptable. These dogs live out their lives with her. I just thought this information might be helpful to dog owners considering boarding their pets. Yes. Renee is often slow at responding to messages left on her phone, but between her boarding facility, her training classes (Yolo Canine Academy), working with police departments in the training of their K9s and handlers, and her dog rescue work (Rotts of Friends Animal Rescue), she's incredibly busy. I NEVER worry when leaving my dogs in her care. As to whether she would have an employee sit with a dog while it ate. I don't know but I'll ask her and get back to you! —Barbmac

2009-03-02 13:21:12   In response to the question put forth by "notsure". The answer is yes. Renee, who is a licensed Vet Tech, said, of course, she would accommodate needs of an older dog such as having an employee sit with the dog while it eats. You would just need to let them know when you bring the dog out to 29 Palms Pet Resort. —Barbmac

2009-05-11 22:24:51   wow! am truly interested in learning about all the conflicts as well as the "happy tails" going on in this forum. I currently work at Renee's kennel, 29 Palms Pet Resort, and I definately have overcome some conflicts, as well as some "happy tails" as I call it. I am a new employee and I definately, had i read everything I have read in the past couple days on various sites, everything I have read about Renee, I certainly would not have gone to work for her. I am someone who gets her feelings hurt VERY easily, as I currently have conflicts at my other job, from lack of respect in a employer/employee relationship with my bosses. I do not take it lightly and I do take it VERY personally. When I first started, I was told "Renee is a hardass." "Renee is very particular" and everything else that comes along with it. When i first started, she was pretty nice to me, so I decided to set aside what I had heard about her. I said to myself "Renee built this from the ground up, so I would expect that she would be pretty adamant about what goes on in her kennel. Let me tell you, as an employee, I cried today. Like I said, I am pretty pansy-like if thats what you want to call it, but I usually let it go when it's not that important.

This morning, I let a dog, which was rescued from Yolo County Animal Services, out into the front yard, as he has been living in a crate for months now, and only gets to go outside for a limited amount of time through out the day, and then I went and got his buddy to play with while I scooped the yard, and watched them. The first dog I let out, "plays rough." I, personally have a pit bull who plays rough, and never have I ever had a dog do this to me. He started nipping, so I told him no, knudged him with my knee and tried to get him to stop. (Keep in mind, while this is going on, Renee is outside on the phone, its about 7:15am). She sees this and says that he wants to play so I pick up some toys and throw them. What does the dog do? he comes back at me! He bit me between my legs on my thigh, my arms (which are now completely black and blue, and he bit my shoulder and broke skin. Let me tell you, being bit by a dog hurts like a mother! She SEES this. Literally, she sees this. She came over and kicked him, told him no, as I did, and walked away. That's it. Now, normally I will not kick or hit an animal, but in my case, today I did to defend myself. This is an example of a dog going kennel crazy. NOT GOOD!!! I think this dog lived n the shelter for a few months before going to Renee's, and he had the same kind of behavior there as well. That's why he was rescued. There is another dog that is housed in a crate in the front half, that has in the past bitten someone. Unknown if it was provoked or not, but in my case today, that was unprovoked.

Later on in the later shift this afternoon, we had the same situation happen. The SAME (kennel crazy dog) bit a co-worker of mine, and hurt her MORE!! What's worst, is he growled at her and showed teeth at her before he struck her. She was in pain. It (thankfully) was not lifde threatening and definately not provoked, as she was warned of what happened this morning, and he bit her too. I rushed her to the sink, as a dog bite, of any kind, is to be taken seriously, I cleaned her wounds and went to find a first aid kit... Well, guess what! There wasn't one. NO, we did not tell Renee right away what happened. We waited until the end of the evening shift, as we were training dogs with her (including the one that had just bitten us today) and he acted up and started biting my co-worker again, and Renee, waited to see if she could correct him, WHILE SHE WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF BEING ATTACKED!!! Then once she was about to just let go of the dog, Renee finally took the dog. Then she blamed it on the breed, a cattle dog mixture, and says they will be nippy dogs. Now, I have 2 years of experience working with dogs of all breeds, attitudes, personalities, etc. as i work for Yolo County Animal Services. I have never had this kind of a problem before. And the dogs at the shelter are pretty nuts!

That was just an incident today, and there have been many other micromanaging, manipulating, mind changing, un-people skilled, and unsympathetic events, too long to mention, but if there is anything else anyone would like to know as of current, I'd be happy to speak up.

Don't get me wrong. Renee is excellent at training. I have been training one of her rescues with her class, as well as here and there chances during work hours, and have already seen dramatic changes in the dogs behavior. I definately recommend taking her training classes. I take home what I learn from her, and teach my puppy and he catches up real quick. —animallover

2009-05-15 06:10:59   And just another example of her abusive nature toward young workers! My daughter finally got her paycheck after I let Renee know about my claim with the labor board. It was "short" but not worth pursuing any further. She called my daughter names, and even yelled at me with vulgarities, and hung up on me!! I encourage any "ex-employees" to not let her get away with her abuse. She needs to give you your paycheck. It is illegal for her to withhold your money. I have heard from 3 other young workers since my original post who have experienced similar abusive and nasty treatment - all of them did not receive their last paychecks. There is a lot more to tell, but this woman needs to be stopped! Not to mention her treatment of the animals . . . I wish an animal rights group could experience one day in the life at Yolo Canine Academy & 29 Palms Pet Resort . . . They would be appalled! - MsChief —Mschief

2009-05-17 02:06:59   - To animallover: Please keep in mind that this is only one dog at a rescue with many, many animals. I know EXACTLY which dog you are talking about, as I used to volunteer at the animal shelter with him before he was rescued. He is not kennel crazy, he just never learned that biting is an inappropriate way to play. He is smart and was able to learn commands while at the shelter, but he would still revert very quickly to biting more or less constantly. I would not take him out because it upset me so much to have him lunge at me all the time, so I left that to some braver people. It is my understanding that he was not put down because his biting is not aggressive, it is out of love, so there is some hope for him. I think it is very good that he is with Renee because she is very careful about who dogs meet. I saw him introduced to an 11 year old girl while at the shelter, and let me just say, that was a bad idea. —sweetMeliss

2009-05-27 To anyone considering boarding their dogs at 29 Palms Pet Resort: I heard about this wiki and had to respond. I have known Renee for over 10 years. I have been a client of hers at her boarding facility, obedience classes, and have adopted one of her rescue dogs. I have recommended her to many of my clients over the years. Infact we share many clients as I am in the dog world as well. I would ask you to talk to other professionals in the area, dog groomers, vets or even current clients. I wouldn't leave my dogs anywhere else! I have NEVER been unhappy with the care they have received. I am currently a volunteer for Renee's rescue "Rotts of Friends" and I am there several times a week. I have not witnessed anything that would change my mind! I think it's obvious that there are a couple of unhappy ex employees and one mother who is coming to the rescue of her daughter,not sure what she is teaching this child about growing up! This kind of mean spirited gossip is plainly wrong. As a business owner I couldn't spend time trying to defend myself on this wiki thing! I do not intend to read this again so NO response is required! Jeanwalker

2009-06-27 20:02:18   I was considering this place, until I read the negative comments. They seem to outweigh the good. I was taught a rougher handle on dogs, but would never actually kick one. I suggest that the owner improves her reputation if she wants any new business. —DaniD

2009-08-09 14:02:22   I went to Renee Lancaster on August 8, 2009, looking for a German Shepherd puppy. Renee answered all of our questions and gave extremely valuable advice and input as far as picking a good puppy. We were there for almost three hours while we tried to choose our new family member. Renee was very supportive and allowed us to take all the time we needed in order to make our decision. The facility was clean, organized and all of the dogs appeared extremely healthy and happy! I can 100% say that any future dog purchase would only be from Renee and I would recommend to family and friends to check out the Yolo Canine Academy & 29 Palms Pet Resort you will be extremely happy that you did. —johnlemas

2009-11-02 07:05:43   Hello. First, I have to preface by saying that I have never written a review of anything on Davis Wiki, Yelp or in any similar space. I feel compelled to warn future clients of Renee Lancaster, however, of her cruel, unprofessional, unethical, manipulative, dishonest and abusive business practices. I do not use any of these words loosely, and my experiences with Renee took place over 6 months ago, and I believe that I have had ample time to gain perspective and reflect fairly on my interactions with her. My husband and I first came into contact with Renee as a trainer for our 10-month-old German Shepherd who we'd recently adopted. He came from professional working lines (both mother and father were Czech Republic-imported police dogs, and all 11 siblings were sold to police/narcotics agencies for a lifetime of service). Our dog, however, did not appear to be cut out for a professional life by the breeders - apparently had little scent tracking desire or any other "working" desire, but was given to us for a very small fee to be our family companion. He was, however, trained in basic Shitzhund commands. We were very excited to have this dog, and wanted to make sure that we became equipped to handle such a genetically strong-tempered and well-trained boy. Upon our first meeting with Renee, we were immediatly deflated. We were immediately and incessantly challenged by her long list of criticisims of our dog, his "poor" and not up par to Schitzhund training, the fact that he didn't have a tatoo (which American-born dogs rarely do!), and the fact that he had a "serious AKC flaw" in his underbite, therefore rendering him ineligible for breeding. We never said we wanted to breed him. When I asked about the possibility of further Schitzhund training, she looked me up and down, and having evidently judged that I wasn't physically up to the "strenuous sporting challenge," said I wasn't up for it. (Dang!) She did give us some training, however peppered with continuous put-downs of us, our abilities and our dog...... We did pay in advance for 6 sessions however, so kept going back, even though it was a dread. The real mind-blower was still to come though. After just three training sessions, I needed to board my dog somewheere as my mother suddenly passed away in Southern California. Dropping off my dog turned out to be another traumatic experience, unfortunately. As my husband brought the dog into the facility on his leash and pronged-collar, Renee marched up, huffing and puffing, scolded (yes, yelled!) my husband telling him that our dog did not respect him (husband), was out of control, and violently grabbed the leash from my husband's hands, threw the clipboard like a frisbee accross the field, and marched the dog into his kennel without another word. When she was out of site, her assistant trembled, apologized profusely for Renee's tantrum, and did the paperwork with me . Wow.... nobody has ever yelled at me or my husband like that! And respect? Where was her respect? Kindness? Nowhere.... I thought I'd just witnessed a two-year-old's tantrum. With little alternative, however, I left my dog with Renee's boarding facilities for approximately one week. I often attempted to call to check on the status of my dog, and to keep Renee/her staff updated as to when I thought I'd return to retrieve him. Renee was never available, however, and did not return my multiple calls/messages. As I was heading back up to Yolo County I called Renee several times to let her know that I'd like to pick up my dog that day. I finally talked with her, and she and I agreed on a time-window to pick him up. However when I arrived, nobody. A car was in the lot, so I rang the bell, and after some time a worker finally rendered herself. She reluctantly called Renee on her cell (?), however Renee prohibited this worker to release the dog to me, stating that she "wasn't qualified," and that Renee wouldn't be available to do it herself for several hours. I just wanted my dog to hug. I'd just lost my mom. I'd made arrangements with Renee to get my dog.... where was the problem??? Insult on injury....When I arrived with my husband later that evening, Renee made no apologies, but instead lunged into a tirade, scolding us AGAIN, trying to diminish our confidence in our ability to "handle" this powerful dog, telling us that she had years of experience with this type of thing, with owners like us who "don't have a clue," stating that our ownership of our dog "wouldn't turn out well." Amazingly, she had an alternative for us.... she would generously take the dog "off our hands," and therefore allow him to live his true genetic and behavioral destiny with her as a working dog. She related to us that, while we paid for his boarding at her facility, she tested/trained him a bit, and "discovered" his potential. (Unethical.... we NEVER gave her permission to do this, and she NEVER attempted to contact us to gain our permission.) I'd had enough. I told her that I did not appreciate her criticism, or suggestion, nor her very poor timing. She dismissed me, told me that "once I got over being mad at her, and the emotions of my mother's passing," that I should seriously consider her "generous" offer. She began crying, telling me how sorry she felt for the dog having to live with humans like us. She had NO emotion for humans however, or idea/care of how much her behavior was hurtful to us. And talk about manipulative. I know that this type of dog, trained, can easily be sold for tens of thousands of dollars. Even though his breeder didn't see him as a working dog, Renee apparently disagreed, and was trying to position herself to make quite a bit of money herself, however with no offer to actually pay us. I told her that I'd never work with her again, and that I wanted a refund for the training sessions unused. She refunded two sessions, however disputed the third, and said that she'd figure it out with her books, and contact me or mail me my remaining money. Six months later, I have still not heard from Renee, nor do I think I will. $50 is a small price to pay for not having any more contact with this woman.
If you end up working with this woman, I certainly hope that your experiences are NOTHING like the above, however, in my opinion, anyone who is willing to behave in the above manner in a professional, client paying circumstance, is not somebody who I'd willingly work with again. My husband, our dog and I are happily living together these days. I continue to walk/train him, and he is the BEST family dog. He's loving, obedient, willing to please, and yes, while very strong-tempered, we ARE capable of handling him. I see no benefit or truth in Renee's suggestions.... she was dead wrong. She was mean. She was heartless. She was abusive, and I believe she was dishonest and willing to take advantage of a very vulnerable person's weak moment, for her own potential profit. —Ninnifer

2009-11-02 18:52:17   Based on the last comment it sounds like Ninnifer should make a report to the dept. of Consumer Affairs and the BBB. The Dept. of Consumer Affairs will help you get your refund back and the BBB can tag them on their site... Not too long ago, I made a call here to inquire about training fees for my parent's dogs and was glad I never received a return call. This place sounds like a nightmare from all the negative reviews. —jsbmeb

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