"Max"

The Mason Family - "Max" -Lab Mix

My 9 year-old son and I fell in love with a small, cute, 3-month-old pup that wasn’t supposed to exceed 50 pounds.  Max grew to be about 70 pounds and is extremely strong, fast, and determined.  We completed our Puppy Obedience Class and ended up with a well-behaved dog in the classroom, but awful elsewhere.
On the suggestion of my vet, we enrolled Max in the Canine Academy’s Off-Leash Program.  It was six weeks of peace in our home!!  Upon his return home, it took about three days before I was willing to let go of my death grip on the leash.  Our friend s were amazed, they couldn’t believe it was the same dog.  He was just as friendly as he had been before, but well mannered and well behaved.  My parents, in their seventies are now willing to have him visit them in Ohio, an invitation that was never extended before training.  Max now goes to my son’s football and baseball games.  He goes to church meetings with me, sitting at my feet with 50-60 people surrounding him.
Max is truly the “great dog” that Canine Academy said he would be

"Bella"

The Jefferes Family - "Bella" - Jack Russell Terrier

We got Bella when she was 7 months old.  The runt of the litter, she was the last pup left.  Often on her own, on a horse farm, she obviously had no discipline.  Needless to say she was a handful.  We tried a local obedience trainer but to no avail.  We then searched the internet and came across a link for Canine Academy.  We made the 5 1/2 hour drive from Ohio to Michigan to check things out.  The staff was awesome and we were immediately sold!!
Canine Academy did wonders for Bella’s obedience and disposition.  High strung and nervous when we got her, she is now a calm and confident dog.  We take her everywhere without worry.  We enjoy showing her off for people and get numerous comments on how she is so well behaved.  As a Jack Russell, many said she could “not be tamed.”  Well, they have been proven wrong thanks to Lisa and staff.
We would recommend the “Off-Leash Program” to anyone.  We plan on sending our second Jack Russell to Canine Academy for the Program this summer.  It has definitely been a worthwhile investment.

"Cooper"

The Martin Family - Copper - Boxer Mix

We received Copper from the Michigan Humane Society when she was about 6 months old.  We immediately fell in love with her intensity and her never-ending amount of energy.  We had had Copper for about 6 months when she began to display signs of dog-to-dog aggression, and with us being new pet owners, we knew we needed the help of a professional.  At the recommendation of our Veterinarian, we immediately signed Copper up for obedience classes at Canine Academy, and since she completed her training a little over a year ago, we are now able to  take her with us just about everywhere we go.  Copper has truly become a part of our family thanks to Canine Academy.

"Izzy"

The Bossardet Family - Izzy - Vizsla 
Our sweet little Izzy was a good dog. Really, she was. She could sit, stay and walk on a leash without pulling. She just couldn’t do any of it consistently. But her real problem areas were the couch, our two cats (aka our first babies), and coming when called.

Izzy was such a great cuddler that we started letting her get on the couch as soon as we got her at 8 weeks old. By the time she was 30 lbs heavier and able to launch herself like a rocket, it was too late. Izzy flew onto the couch at our house — or others’ — when it was empty or full of people.

As far as the cats were concerned, Izzy is a born pointer/retriever, so how could she NOT be fascinated by them? But she policed those poor cats so badly that they started living upstairs in our guestroom like second-class citizens.

Then there’s Chicago. When Izzy was 6 months old, we relocated there from Detroit. Once, she got off of her leash while leaving the dog park. I was horrified as she ran around happily ignoring my calls and darting between parked cars, just feet from the busy traffic. And when we had her off her leash in our parents’ backyard in MI, she saw a squirrel and took off. Luckily we found her about 6 houses down, unharmed.

Thinking about the next 10-15 years, we couldn’t imagine living the way we had been. To have our cats holed up in a spare room? To never allow her off the leash? To be terrified of her running away, getting hit by a car? That’s no way to live — not for us and not for Izzy.

Sending Izzy to the Canine Academy has been life changing for all of us. Not until you have a well-trained dog do you realize just how bad it was before. You begin to notice that many dog owners have to cross the street and hold on for dear life if they see another dog heading their way. You become all too aware that most dog owners do nothing but make excuses and apologize for their dog rather than engaging in pleasant conversation.

Here are some highlights of our life, post-training: 

  • Every time we take her out, at least 2 people stop us to rave about what a well-behaved dog she is, especially considering her age and breed.
  • She is one of the most well behaved patrons of various neighborhood bars/restaurants
  • At street fairs and festivals, she calmly heels and patiently inches her way through crowds without stress
  • She is sooooo fast and often outruns other dogs chasing after a ball. In the event that she grabs another dogs ball, we need only tell her to drop it and she lets go of it so that the other dog can pick it up
  • When the parks are full of sunbathers and readers some (very odd) people clearly do not want to be bothered by a very social dog stopping by to say hello. In those instances, we simply call out for Izzy to "leave it" and she will leave the person alone to meet and greet a friendlier park-goer.
  • We've been able to take her up north, where she walks off leash in the country, woods, and on the beaches of the Great Lakes

The real gift, however, is that her training allows Izzy to lead a more natural and energetic life. Even though we live in a city, she spends the majority of her time outside, off of the leash. SHE IS A VERY HAPPY, LOVING DOG.

Infinite thanks to Lisa and the caring staff at the Canine Academy!

"Chewy and Duma"

Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks!

Lisa and the staff at the Canine Academy certainly can!! 
We have 2 dogs. Chewy who is 7 and Duma who is 1. Both are Australian shepherd mixes. 

When our children gave us Duma I decided that I really wanted a well- behaved dog. I was determined that she would come when I called her, be nice around dogs and not use the furniture as her bed – all the things which our other dog Chewy was NOT doing! 

We decided to send them both away to be trained on and off leash. It was the best decision we made- for us and the dogs! 
Chewy is now much calmer and more confident in himself. He no longer feels the need to attack other dogs on our walks and he always comes when called. He really is a true professional!

Duma no longer pulls on her walks and even though she is full of energy she now follows commands very well and is the sweetest dog. The support system from the canine academy is truly amazing!!

We use their kennels every time we go out of town and the dogs love it because it is their second home. Chewy used to hate to go to a kennel but now when we take him he wags his tail and is so happy to be there! The kennel staff is very caring and professional. The dogs even get more training sessions when they are being boarded so it really is a win- win situation! 

We are also taking advantage of the yearlong group training sessions that are included in the training fee. We try and go at least twice a week to keep our dogs socialized with other dogs and to keep ourselves 'trained!' We all love our weekly outings and are hoping to participate in some of the specialized training sessions that are offered. Thank you again Canine Academy for helping us have 2 GREAT DOGS. Lisa and Staff- you are the best!! 

The Mehta family 
Birmingham, MI

"Rosie"

I can't believe what an amazing dog I have, and I owe it all to Lisa, the staff and the Canine Academy! 

My wife and I brought home Rosie, our adorable cockapoo, when she was just 7 weeks old. She was our first dog; neither of us had a dog growing up. We instantly fell in love. She was fun, loving and playful. 

Over time, Rosie started to develop a few bad habits, largely due to anxiety. She would bark at strange noises, had separation anxiety when we would leave the house, and would guard certain items, like shoes, paper and pens (and would growl if you tried to take them). She also would bark at the dinner table and beg for food, unless and until we fed her.

For nearly three and a 1/2 years, we lived around Rosie's bad habits and largely ignored them. But, earlier this year, we brought home our first "human" baby, and Rosie's habits couldn't be ignored any longer. She acted out several times, and her guarding got much worse. Her habits got so bad that we even considered giving her away, a thought that just broke our hearts. We tried a couple trainers, but they didn't work out.

Enter Lisa, the staff and the Canine Academy. We dropped off Rosie for her extended overnight stay in the off-leash program. Although we missed her a ton while she was gone, it was the best decision we could have made.  

We now have a truly amazing dog! She comes when called, stays until released, and drops or leaves items when told. We also go off-the-leash at the local park and she lays quietly on her "place" (her mat) while we eat dinner in peace. She was even recently certified as a "Canine Good Citizen" and, during the classes, she amazed the other dog owners with her obedience. The best part of her transformation is that she still has her loving, playful personality. That never left. But now, she obeys our commands, and she's more confident and proud when she makes the right decisions.

We are so happy that Rosie is part of our family and so grateful to Lisa, the staff and the Canine Academy. I highly recommend the Canine Academy to every dog owner! You will be amazed with the results. 
Birmingham, MI

"Remington"

We got Remi in July of 2012 as a puppy. He instantly became a member of the family and was as loveable as a Goldendoodle puppy can be. Therefore, he was also into everything and everywhere in the house. We had even enrolled Remi in a “Beginner Obedience” class. Housebreaking and training were starting to progress nicely. Then right before school started our oldest child broke his leg in several places. Unfortunately the proper training for Remi was taking a backseat. Thankfully for Lisa, she was willing to help us out. 

We enrolled Remi in the “off the leash” program. The Canine Academy took Remi immediately so we could take proper care of our son. After my son was healed, Remi came home. I never thought a 7-month-old puppy would ever behave that way. 

Remi is now 11 months old and behaves like a 4-year-old dog. It truly is a joy to have him as part of the family now. Since he has been home I rarely put a leash on him for our daily evening walks. He either stays right by my side or is just a few yards ahead of me sitting a waiting for me to catch up. We never have to worry about him running off. Before sending him to the Canine Academy we were considering an underground fence system for the yard. That is not even a thought now.

When we get another dog, we will definitely be sending them to Lisa no matter were we live in the country. Thanks for a wonderful addition to our family.

-Hugh & Lori
Lake Orion, MI
March 2012 

"Maggie"

WOW! Maggie is amazing. Thank you so much for your investment into her training. Just wanted to let you to know that she was thrilled to be home last night. We saw absolutely no anxiety (that we have seen so far) whatsoever. We have a very happy, content, and obedient doggie. 

We were able to apply four or five corrections before bedtime, one of which was "quiet" when she started to whine in her crate. After that, she slept all night without a peep. Another was when she pulled on her leash after a squirrel this morning.
She stayed in her place while I got dressed and ready for the day. She is also happy to "find" all her old toys and chew. As far as interest in breakfast, no problem! She is a lab! :)

We have our safety list and will be working through it this week.
I can't tell you what a difference you have made to us and to her already! To the staff, thanks for your encouragement and sweet but firm spirit. We know we have a lot to learn yet, but we can see that Maggie is fully prepared to help us out.

Dave and Sue Boes

"Rosy"

We are a German family with 3 boys and thought it would be a great opportunity for our boys to grow up with a dog, but had no experiences with dogs. Then we saw Rosy. She was a 3 ½ month old German Sheppard. Needless to say, we all fall in love, she was so cute. We did not realize that she was totally missing the social phase in her life. 

We got her on Christmas and she had the full attention from the family, but after the holiday; the kids returned to school, we had to return to work, and the everyday life was back. Rosy was chewing all our shoes and the kid's toys. She would nip at the kids and stole food from the table. And while outside, she was so timed and shy. Rosy was not able to go with us to our friends homes or if our friends were coming to our home, she made it really difficult for us. A girlfriend said to me, "Let's try a class," and I thought another class??!! I tried to attend puppy classes with her, but we found it very difficult to train her, as she was a nervous dog and would only want to run away.  

We eventually chose to enroll her in the Off Leash Program offered by Canine Academy. It was a great opportunity for us to get a wonderful dog when the training was complete. It felt like she was away for a long time, but it was well worth it. We are now able to take Rosy to our friend's homes and make family tours without any stress or worries. She knows what toys are hers, from the kids. She is able to run without a leash. She is still a bit timid, but she is great dog and I would not hesitate for a moment to bring her to Lisa and her team all over again. Thank you to the whole team for doing a great job with Rosy. Rosy is now the great family dog we expected and we are looking forward to having a lot of fun with her in the future." 
Sabiene

"Rex"

Rex.jpg

Rex was quite a handful from the day he came into our family at ten weeks. We had already done two types of training with him, and he had gotten better each time, but we still had a dog that had "issues". 
We welcomed our first child into the world in March, and although we were so elated to bring home our new addition, Rex didn't quite feel the same way. Rex showed signs of aggression towards our son and that's when we knew we had a tough decision to make. We were contemplating contacting the Welsh Terrier Rescue because we knew we couldn't live with Rex in his crate 90% of the time when the baby was out. We wanted an environment for our son that was safe, healthy, and non stressful. Rex was adding stress because he would bark at our son's crib, any of the baby toys, and try to lunge at him when he was up.  
After numerous hours of talking about what to do, we finally decided to give it one more shot since he had been our first baby for the past five years. Speaking to Lisa before choosing to enroll Rex in Canine Academy was already putting our stress level at ease. We knew that this was an investment that would bring us big returns based on our conversation with Lisa.  
After spending seven weeks at the facility, we were amazed at the dog we picked up to go home. Rex was no longer bouncing off the furniture, lunging at our baby, he would walk with the stroller, and more importantly just had a calm demeanor. We truly wish we could post a video of a before Rex and after Rex around the house. 
The staff was fantastic. Not only did she train our dog, but she also trained two owners who had some bad behaviors themselves. It truly is so amazing, as we now have a dog that can hang out with the family in the nursery and even show affection towards our son. It's amazing that we now have a dog that is off leash trained, especially when another training facility told us Rex would never be off leash trained. We also dreamed of having a dog that would be best buddies with our son, and now with Rex's new and improved attitude and safe behavior, we are hopeful that this dream could be a reality in the future. 
We can't thank Lisa and her team enough for changing our dog. We were heartbroken to think we would have to find another home for Rex. We are so grateful for all of their hard work, time, and guidance. If you truly are on the fence about to enroll your dog, feel free to contact my husband or myself. We can't say enough good things about Canine Academy and all that they have done for our family. 
Thanks Again - The Kirians

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