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April 2024 by Kamryn R.
To anyone with a very reactive puppy or dog considering taking classes through Two Paws Up to solve this issue, I strongly suggest you go a different direction. We started taking classes in general for obedience in November of 2023, then moved on to trying three different reactivity-related classes through them, and unfortunately the only class that we had a decent experience with was the obedience related ones. For context, we have a very high energy, working line dog breed that struggled with on-leash reactivity to dogs, people, and anything moving. This is due to her high-prey drive and the frustration that being on the leash causes her. We, as first time dog owners, thought that an all-positive training approach was appealing and sounded like something that we liked and would work. We enrolled in three reactivity classes, two being very similar to each other and one being a drop off class. The first class, we honestly barely passed because it was a room with three other dogs only separated by barriers. After that class, Two Paws Up recommended that we move on to the next level of class. We joined that class and only made it a day because it was an open room with six dogs, while using completely unhelpful "management" techniques that I will get more into later. The last class we took was the drop off course, two times a week for four weeks. This was the class that ended up making her behave worse, and I honestly have no idea how they managed to do that. After each class, we were advised to move on to the next level, having to spend more and more money for little-to-no improvement. After taking those classes, we communicated to the owner, Stephanie, that the classes did not help her and rather made her reactivity worse. We communicated that our dog needed a more structured, balanced training program that communicated what we wanted from her. Then, she continued to insult the two of us as dog parents, accused us of moving into "punishment-based training", and telling us that we did not commit enough to the training program. This was not the case, but the email thread from the owner continued to be incredibly unprofessional and accusatory, despite my polite statement in the first emails that simply tried to communicate our problems with the program. For anyone who is looking into the reactivity programs, just know that every single class has the same commands and the same management methods that do not work, and the owner will advise you to "keep your windows closed to avoid triggers, don't go on walks in populated areas", and more instead of solving the issue that we paid them to fix. They use "find it", and throw food on the ground for the dog to be distracted, but does not offer anything to counteract the reason for the reactivity. They say "this way!" to the dog and go a different direction also as a distraction, rather than solving the dog's issue and lack of confidence with triggers. Every single command they use is food-based with no other more reliable method. If your dog is not food-motivated, I would bet that they would have an incredibly difficult time making any changes to your dog's behavior. It is truly unfortunate that I had to write this, waste thousands of dollars of my money, and end up with a dog whose reactivity got worse despite our commitment to the training. I do not write bad reviews because I don't think they are worth it, but I am only writing this in hopes that dog owners with high-energy breeds with the same issue do not make the same mistake that I did. Fact: When a reactive dog reaches the end of the leash on a regular collar and lunges at their trigger, their trachea has an increased risk of injury. Harnesses as well, were MADE to allow a dog to pull without injury, so harnesses are not effective in this type of training. We moved to a training facility that uses Operant Conditioning: Positive Reinforcement(cue, mark, reward), Negative Reinforcement (pressure), Positive Reinforcement(stop and eliminate behaviors), and Neg
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March 2024 by M Williams
Fabulous, patient trainers for our pup!!!
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March 2024 by Kay
Excellent training facility and very knowledgeable staff. I highly recommend!
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January 2024 by Patricia Litewski
All the staff of Two Paws Up are warm and caring to our fur loved ones. Their training programs are comprehensive, and they provide detailed instructions on how we can continue training at home. I highly recommend both their general classes and their two-week day training programs.
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November 2023 by Mark Sonken
The dog trainer who teaches the dog classes Julia is very nice & knowledgeable. She does a great job teaching the various lessons each week in a thorough manner.
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October 2023 by J Mount
if you want your dog trained correctly..Bring it here..great staff
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July 2023 by Ellen B.
Thank you Stephanie! You have taken the great business Brenda built and made it better. If you need day training you are covered. Agility, puppy classes, nosework and behavior classes. Mary is a fabulous trainer and of course Stephanie not only provides a good nosework foundation but for the advanced student as well. The new location is easy to get to from where I live and
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November 2022 by Doug Erickson
Huge facility with lots of space oriented toward training dogs in lots of things - obedience, agility, nose work to name a few.
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September 2022 by Linda. “Peachy Flamingo” Kutzora
Excellent place for inexperienced dogs and owners . Classes are small and Becca is excellent at training
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August 2022 by Jerry B.
It's nice to have a training center relatively close to home with instructors who know how to train without using an iron fist.
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April 2022 by Mike H
Mr phantom loves it here
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April 2022 by Nancy Bostick Esp
Instructors all teach with love, best method!
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August 2021 by Virginia Smith-Llana
Excellent place for your pup to learn. I have a high strung lovable pit bull mix and she has learned so much. Instructor, Tracy, is super nice.
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June 2021 by Elizabeth Schapals
Love this place!
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June 2021 by Roman Segal
It was hard to find my fist time as it is in a long line of garages
