Zen Dog Training

Elite '09

19

78

Melissa P.

Boston, MA

11/4/2009

Of all the places I've reviewed to rave about their commitment to, and love of dogs, Zen Dog Training has actually played the most important role in our lives. It's easy to forget an at-home private training session from almost a year ago, but when we took Lulu to the vet last week for her one year checkup, and she sat there calmly and quietly, all the people said Lulu is a poster dog for Zen dog. And then they reminisced about the time Lulu was in for an exam during her first few months and she suddenly lunged into the technician's face and tried to sink her razor sharp puppy teeth into the poor woman's jugular. That was the moment when our vet pulled us aside, gave us Gordon's card and suggested we get in touch for some training and discipline. Apparently, we had a dominant and aggressive puppy on our hands.

We got right down to business. We knew a training session was a must. Gordon sent Aspen over to spend some time with us, which really meant training us how to train Lulu. You can go on websites and read about training tips, or talk to other people to get advice, but there's nothing like having someone in your home, seeing how you interact with your dog. Aspen got a sense of all the things we struggled with and she had different ways for us to tackle each issue. I liked that there were reasons behind every action, why one response encourages bad behavior while another will correct it. Aspen took the time to explain their methods to us. Seeing our apartment setup also meant she could give us advice about the best "time out" area.

Using all of the Zen Dog techniques helped keep Lulu in line, which meant she started to see us as the authority figures. Sure, puppies calm down as they get older, and the puppy class we took with her over the next few months also helped tremendously, but I really don't know if we would have seen such positive changes if we hadn't had that one-on-one session so early on. And now, we have Zen Dog to thank for turning our killer puppy around. When she leans in toward my face these days, I know it's just for kisses.

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2

32

Marissa D.

Somerville, MA

11/6/2008

We adopted our shelter pup (a terrier-basenji-beagle-squirrel chaser) in August, and while we were told she was a year old, this girl was clearly still a puppy. Being of an 'immature' age, she not only brought lots of laughs and loves to the house, she also brought lots of trouble! This mischief maker was perfectly content to chew on, jump on, and scratch at just about anything she could find, so training was a MUST.

I found out about zendog through Dogma and Catma's website, and it sounded great. I had a wonderful chat with the owner, Gordon, and we decided on the 'Puppy Plus' package, which included a two hour home visit and 6 weeks of group classes at the Crate Escape in Belmont.

Our home visit was extremely informative, and we got lots of great tips from the trainer on how to do loose-leash walking, discourage mouthing, entertain her active little mind and keep her somewhat sane during the tumultuous puppy months. In addition to the visit, we got a DVD following the trainers on home visits... I hate to say that it hasn't been cracked open yet (our visit was in September) so I can't attest to its quality or helpfulness.

The group classes were a bit less useful, as the other dogs seemed like they'd been through training before and could probably lead the class, whereas our pupster spent the entire time trying to make friends. The trainer was extremely knowledgeable, though, and did make an effort to help us out individually as much as she could (which is hard when there are 8 other dogs and their owners needing attention too).

After the 6 weeks, we'd learned that cheese and chicken can work wonders with dogs (we're vegetarians so Maya isn't getting cooked chicken anytime soon), taught the pup to sit, lay down, stay off the couch (a fellow classmate suggested spraying her bum with a water bottle when she got up there... definitely not allowed in the positive reinforcement Zen Dog class, but probably the best lesson I learned!!!), come when called....sort of.... and discourage some of the negative jumping, mouthing, and attention-grabbing behaviors.

Maya still has a long way to go before she's 'trained' but Zen Dog did give us a good start and some tips to work with over time. I wish they hadn't placed us in the adult class, though, as Maya was never really in a home or structured foster care and therefore was far behind the others. This made learning a lot more difficult for her, and I felt like a parent with a struggling kindergarten kid trying to keep up with the first graders.

Overall, I'd give Zen Dog a thumbs up for their work, even if it didn't turn Maya into the well behaved girl we'd thought it would....then again, I guess she wouldn't be her crazy little self if she lost that charming puppy energy!

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1

6

Madhulika S.

Middlesex, MA

7/10/2009

I can tell you that these guys are great.  Gordon did the private session for us, at a time when I was completely overwhelmed.  All made sense slowly.  I continued with puppy classes conducted by Melissa Mccue, and I have to say she is just fantastic.  Unfazed, KIND to all the pups and human family, patient and really a generous person.  I asked her questions on other dog related things (as my vet's office was such a failure) and she was just so forthcoming.  Can't say enough and of course Sami who started with Gordon at 12 weeks, is a GIANT who graduated level 1 with Melissa at 20 weeks.  And we have learnt a lot.

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