Call of the Wild Dog Training

Jennifer called me back this morning and we had a very nice conversation. She apologized for the staff’s rudeness and went out of her way to make sure my needs with buddy and his training are accommodated. Therefore I am upgrading my rating auto four stars.

We are very happy with the basic obedience class we took with our 6 month old doberman. We knew having him in the city would require effective training. COTW surpassed our expectations. Thank you so much for the excellent and effective framework to train our puppy as well as training us on how to train him. We absolutely love the owner/​instructor. She is bright, talented, engaged, and an excellent educator.

We’re having a really good experience at Call of the Wild with our puppy. We’ve had dogs before and did a lot of training with them. But, we’ve learned so much more at Call of the Wild than any of the previous classes we’ve taken, helping us to be better trainers. And, our puppy is doing amazingly well. What I really like about the class is that it’s very carefully scaffolded. You lay a foundation in the early classes and it builds carefully over time. Shawn has a great way in class. Nice balance between addressing everyone’s individual questions and providing activities and approaches to take the puppies to the next level. I feel like she was quick to get my dog, his quirks and strengths, and thus gives us really targeted and useful strategies for dealing with challenges and helping him grow. If you do your homework with your dog, this class builds really well. We’re in our second class now and plan to continue up through the series.

This business offers the best dog training services I have experienced.
We just completed the «Basic Obedience» class with our 2-​year-​old border-​collie-​mix rescue who had spent all of his life in various pounds and shelters, had had zero training, and was bordering on feral.
After 8 weeks of Basic Obedience, people at the dog park are so impressed by his obedience (especially recall) that they ask me where we trained him.
We are now doing the next 8 week «Super Basic» obedience class, and plan on completing all the obedience classes offered at Call of the Wild.
Our dog absolute adores going to class. We have a much better relationship with him since he has been in school.
We tried many other dog training services with our former dog, and wish we had known about Call of the Wild. While other trainers were clearly gifted with dogs, they did not have a systematic approach for teaching dog owners how to train and interact with their dogs. Jennifer is clearly a genius with dogs, but she is also an extremely good teacher of dog owners. Call of the Wild uses a basic set of training methods, which each class builds on, and the focus is really showing *you* how to be consistent and effective with your training.
We haven’t tried the boarding services yet, but plan to do so next time we’re out of town. The employees are all super responsible dog lovers. We’d trust them with our baby dog in a heartbeat.

Jennifer and COTW did a first class job helping train Beasley (Chocolate Lab) and and us.
Our friends are constantly blown away by how well behaved (and balanced) the dog is: She can be walked off leech, recalls, stops at street corners, joins me at the office, etc…
We did the Intensive Training Experience, took a puppy class, and sent Beasley to doggy day care periodically.
This place isn’t for everyone:
— If you are a sensitive soul or think/​treat your dog like a fashion accessory, go elsewhere.
— If you (or your dog) is looking for coddling, go elsewhere.
If, on the other hand, you have a medium to large sized dog that you want properly raised and trained, then COTW is the way to go.

I have a rescue dog with a bunch of issues and this place is a life saver! We took basic and super-​basic classes here from Jennifer and learned so much that I feel like a dog training expert now. Jennifer is very practical and strict and we saw fast results with our dog.

Avoid COTW. Would NOT recommend this school for anything other than the most basic of dog training. Would suggest owners do classes with their animals — rather than have the animal trained by COTW staff. Even at that — make sure you get your dog’s assessment and their training plan IN WRITING. They have you sign a contract — which YOU have to honor to the letter. But, if THEY need to change anything, they will do so. If your dog has socialization issues — with people or other dogs — COTW WILL NOT address those issues. Owner Jennifer Boznos’s primary interest is in covering her own behind — not the best interest of the dogs nor their owners. Call of the Wild charged me $ 1800.00 to train my dog — «Show» behaviors (kicking his hind legs out on command) — but did NOTHING to address clearly observed behavioral issues. I disputed the charge through American Express — which staff liberally & automatically charged without authorization. A staffer borrowed several hundred dollars — saying Jennifer Boznos didn’t pay her enough — and I never saw any of that money back. A dog bit my dog while in a play group and Boznos lied — saying that dog would not be allowed back (staff told me the offending dog never left). Neither COTW nor that dog’s owner took any responsibility. I now train at See Spot Run — less expensive and MUCH more effective /​practical training.

Call of the Wild is the best. My dog went there for Intensive Training as a puppy and has been going, at least once a week for the last three years, for daycare. Jennifer and the staff are exceptional. I know when I drop off my dog for daycare he is going to be well cared for. He is always happy to get there and really tired when I pick him up. I couldn’t be happier with Call of the Wild.

This review is based on our experience in Agility classes with trainer Stacy…
All I have to say is SO HAPPY with the experience. After we got a mixed breed Jack Russell and Border Collie puppy, we looked up the breed and figured out they’re supposed to be great at Agility. Not knowing what this means and being up on latest training and whatnot, I was a little nervous to become real «dog people.» So we looked it up, bucked up, and started a class the next day! Very reasonably priced, totally worth it through first 4 weeks and planning on continuing on. It gets you and your dog to work as a team, gains control of your dog, and you both have fun! There are very different breeds and sizes of dogs in agility too. So no matter what, yours CAN do it! Stacy is amazing, I feel like she is really encouraging, very knowledgable, and a wonderful trainer. At the same time, she’s not afraid to give constructive criticism so that you’ll become better! It’s really a very real, supportive, friendly environment. Our puppy is SOOOOO excited to go there and run through tunnels and do jumps. She’s hooked so we probably are too!
Thank you to Stacy for making this such a pleasant experience thusfar. We don’t know how far we’ll take it but we know it’s going to keep playing some part in our family from now on.
Final word: Try Agility!

I paid for a consultation from the owner of call of the wild and was immensely dissatisfied. My normally docile dog was having difficulty adjusting when we first moved here and I was looking for suggestions on how to acclimate him. Instead I got a half hour sales pitch on the group classes and a short lesson on getting my dogs attention. During the lesson I was horrified when the teacher held a treat a centimeter away from my nose and asked me «how I liked it when someone pushed a teat into my face?» I told her I did not like it and she continued to hold the treat in front of my face even as I backed away. This little «lesson» came at no additional cost and was given to me because she felt I was holding the treats in front of my dogs face for too long. In reality, I’m fortunate enough to have a dog that likes to inspect his food before gobbling it up which comes in handy when small fingers or unsafe foods are involved.
I will never, ever go to this place again. If you prefer the dogs get the training and spending your money on worth while endeavors then I suggest finding a different place to train or board your furry friend.

I have taken six dogs to COTW for private and group lessons: they were all a different levels of training/​re-​training, some were my personal dogs, and a few were my client’s dogs. You will get what you put into the training. If you have heady questions and need a detailed theoretical response, you will get one from Jennifer or Sean. They both speak the languages of human and dog. The system works and I recommend it for puppies as young as 8 weeks. I have seen group training clients become offended at the abrupt answers offered by a trainer. It is dog training, not therapy!

We took a great puppy class here. Recently we did a fantastic training day at the owner’s farm (class is called Front Camp), where we worked on short and long range recall. Great fun and terrific training for me and my dog.
There are some negative comments, and I think it is true that Call of the Wild is not for everyone. If you are serious about training your dog to high level of obedience and can take criticism and direction, this is a great option. However, if you are very insecure, need to be coddled, or in denial about your dog’s training needs, you might not be a good fit. And I tried to put that in a non-​judgmental way.
In response to another review, «front» actually is very good choice for a recall word, as «come» is too commonly used a word and can get confused with «come on», etc. Just like using «free» as a release word instead of «OK». Clarity, consistency, and of course love are the keys to training your pooch.

So nice to see a dog training facility that «gets» dogs. None of that «alpha» chain yanking bull. Happy trainers and happy dogs. If you want a quality relationship with your dog that is healthy and sustainable for BOTH of you, this is the place to go in the city. We have two high energy crazy dogs, one of which had some aggression issues. Other forms of training (the Alpha/​dominance/​force methods) only made it worse. After COTW we have perhaps our finest dog ever. That place probably saved our dogs life. Someone mentioned they were confused by the commands used? Not sure but having watching trainers at Sea World etc., there are all kinds of strange sounding commands that make sense after you know what’s going on.

Love love LOVE agility training with Stacey Hawk. I wish the prices were a little lower, but the classes are small so there’s a lot of individualized attention and it is worth the price (it’s just a little tough on my wallet!).
Everything is about positive reinforcement, but don’t let that make you think they aren’t tough! It’s a great balance between encouragement and structure.

i was extremely disappointed in COTW. I told them that heeling was the most important skill my dog needed to learn. For $ 1,800, I got nothing. My rotator cuff is shot. «Let’s go» (the command for heel) means nothing to my dog. Colossal waste of lots of money.
They use all of these ridiculous commands that make no sense. Front for come, let’s go for heel, walk away for leave it. When I am in the park, people know that my dog has trained at COTW because I use the front command. Then I get grief for spending $ 1,800 on training that so obviously didn’t work!
The trainer John (I think his name was John) was patronizing and inflexible. I told him that my dog has occasional leash aggression. His solution was to avoid other dogs which is hard in the city. I live in a dog-​friendly high-​rise! It is impossible to avoid other dogs. Not feasible, not realistic, not a solution. I told him that I couldn’t trust my dog around my family. Again, his solution was to stay away from my family. Impossible. I am very close to them and my dog is my parent’s grand-​dog! He was a huge jerk.
On a positive side, they took good care of my dog while she was there. She had poddy breaks several times a day. She played for at least 30 minutes twice a day with other dogs. When I picked her up at night, I got a full report on what she learned, what she «did», who trained her, who took her out et al. That was positive. The woman who runs the front desk was delightful. I can’t remember her name, but she was terrific.
This place didn’t work for me or for training my dog. I wouldn’t recommend it.

Jennifer is amazing. We were struggling with our Border Collie and needed help from a trainer who was knowledgeable about the breed (they are super smart, very active, a little possessive, and maybe just a little crazy…) After some online research, I found COTW and learned that Jennifer owns 5 or 6 Borders. I figured that anyone who can own multiple Border Collies must know a thing or two about how to keep them (and the owner) sane! So we did some personal training sessions and have seen a world of change in our dog.
Highly recommended!

Love COTW and the staff. After much research and reading through reviews, I decided to bring my minature schnauzer puppy here for training despite the costs. Yes, they are more expensive than other places, but I think you get what you pay for.
I signed up for the SuperPuppy Class… and did feel flustered when I couldn’t control him during class since I was by myself (*my husband was traveling M-​TH for work at the time). One suggestion that the staff gave me was to put him in daycare the day of class so he would be more «tired» and more willing to comply with commands during the evening class. Well it definitely worked!
I did however find that because my dog was so «social,» he wasn’t getting as much out of the class as I had hoped. So then I put him in the Intensive Training program where he went all-​day for 5 days a week for 4 weeks. It was definitely expensive $ 1800, but I figured it was worth the upfront costs if my puppy would learn and retain the training. After two weeks, we noticed a complete change in his behavior for the better. My father-​in-​law said that he was a completely different dog and so well-​behaved. Awww… makes you feel great to hear things like that which seem to justify the costs.
So after the intensive training, we have put our puppy in daycare/​training once a week to keep up the training and give him some social time. He leaves there exhausted and so well-​behaved that the $ 70/​day for daycare+training is worth it. If it wasn’t so expensive, I probably would try to increase the number of daycare days, but given the economy, we are going to keep to 1 day a week for now.
Oh, we also put him in one of the Agility courses which he seemed to love. I think it gave him something «fun» to do.
Jennifer, the owner, is very upfront and strict with her training program… but that’s why she’s so good. She’s not there to be your best friend and give you praises when she thinks what you are doing is wrong. Everything she does or says is for the dog. I would say don’t get emotional about her feedback. The dogs all obey her so if you want/​need help with training your dog, then come here. If not, then look elsewhere. Teri and Sandra are the ones who now work with our puppy on a weekly basis and they seem to be doing a great job too… giving us detailed notes from the training sessions.
BTW — they just got new carpets so it’s not dirty in there at all. I also think they do a great job in taking out the dogs for regular potty breaks. (*Note: I did research on other daycare facilities and found that most of them never took the dogs outside and would just spray/​scrub down the floors every day. Now that’s gross and dirty!)

I didn’t have a good experience here. The teacher/​owner, Jennifer, was very critical of me during the class, and she was disapproving of my efforts to work with my dog. For me, her feedback was not constructive. I felt flustered and ineffectual during the classes. I saw other dogs and owners benefit from the class, so the methods must work for some. I think this would be a good class for someone who had prior experience with dog training.
I have since taken a class at a different place that worked really well for me and my dog. I think this highlights the importance of a good fit between trainer and trainee. This trainer’s delivery and methods made my experience pleasant and conducive to learning.

WARNING! DO NOT TAKE YOUR DOG HERE!
This place is dirty and the people who work there, especially the owner, are rude. They used to make the dogs sit in crates for all but 2 hours of the day. Now, the dogs play more, but only inside, never oustide! The floor of the play areas are always dirty, and I’ve seen dried excrement in the cracks of the rubber mats they use. They are very snobby and rude about mixed-​breed dogs. Unless of course your dog is a «puggle» or a «labradoodle» or something they approve of. There is a reason this place doesn’t have webcams. Around back one time I saw someone hit a dog with a clipboard.
I’m so sorry I ever took my dog there. Take yours somewhere where they will have fun, be clean and safe, and be loved by the staff.

We’ve had a great experience with Call of the Wild School for Dogs so far. We took our (at the time) 3 month old Wheaten Terrier (shown in my avatar) to the SuperPuppy class and this class has been great in getting our dog Darby trained. Our class was pretty small — there were only 6 dogs total in our class, so we got a lot of one on one attention. We saw a HUGE improvement in how Darby behaved in the 8 weeks of class. We enjoyed the classes so much that we’ve signed on for SuperBasic in order to continue our dog’s training and we are thinking of doing Agility training as well at COTW.
We’ve also taken advantage of the other services offered at COTW, such as Doggie Daycare and Additional Training where different COTW instructors work one on one with Darby on specific skills. Doggie Daycare has been great — seriously a tired puppy is the best kind of puppy! LOL. I do wish that COTW would offer transportation to pick up/​drop off for daycare — it is a bit inconvenient to have to drive and drop off, etc.