Man’s Best Friend

I can’t thank enough Shannon, Ora, and their wonderful staff. My beautiful German Shepherd, Coda, built like a race car and super-​intense, challenged every other trainer I took him to and I didn’t know what to do with him anymore. My vet recommended Man’s Best Friend and I was really nervous when I left him there for an entire month. It was the best decision I’ve ever made. I went to pick him up and finally saw the fantastic dog he was meant to be all along :) We make a wonderful team now and knowing that we can trust each other is allowing me to start training again for Search and Rescue. The best part of the training was training me as well! I’m also glad to have found a boarding place where I can trust he’s going to have a great time and is safe. Please keep being awesome!

After a few visits to the vet and some attempted crating, two friends highly recommended I take my husky mix to Man’s Best Friend for training. I didn’t know what else to do at the time, so I did, hoping they could help. Over time my dog has learned that he can escape and will do so given any opportunity, to the point where he has to be constantly supervised. He tears through window screens, scratches door frames and window sills, jumps out second story windows, and destroys any crate I try to put him in. I explained in detail exactly what the problem was, took him out to Battle Ground to sign the boarding/​training agreement.
After more than 20 days at MBF, they advised he was doing great and I was hopeful. I went to pick him up, had a walk-​through where I learned the ‘down’ and ‘here’ commands and how to use the electronic collar that is the key part of training. He came when called (with the e-​collar), which he would never do before. They also advised he slept in a crate every night with no issues and did not try to escape once.
The first night he was home with me, I crated him (in a wire crate) at night and left for half an hour. When I got back, he had destroyed the crate and was just about to get free. I had asked MBF what kind of crate they used and they said plastic, so I returned the wire crate and got a plastic one. The second night I crated him, went out for about two hours and came home to find he had pulled the door off the hinges of the plastic crate and was just about to escape.
First thing the next day, I called MBF and left a message letting them know my dog was still destroying crates and attempting to escape. I did not receive a call back.
So I have a dog who will come when called with his e-​collar on, but nothing else has changed. I sleep on the couch every night trying to police my dog, blocking off all but two exit points (front door and living room window). He wakes me up nightly between 3 – 5 a.m., scratching at the blinds on the window that’s accessible and I have to buzz him with the e-​collar to get him to back down. When I need to leave my house, I drop him off at a friend’s so she can monitor him while I’m gone, since the e-​collar only works when I’m in close proximity to my dog. I considered maybe he’s not getting enough exercise, but even with 3 – 4 walks and a 1 – 2 hour trip to the off-​leash dog park daily, he exhibits the same behavior.
MBF couldn’t help with his behavioral issues, and I feel they’re overconfident that their e-​collar training model is a universal fix that will work for every dog. I’ll even give the benefit of the doubt and say that for boarding they’re probably great; for training their method might work for most dogs with specific behavioral problems. However, not receiving a call back (post-​training, when I asked for help or suggestions) left me with the impression they’re either «too busy», didn’t care, or had no suggestions to offer while they claim to give free after-​care/​follow up. They certainly cash my checks on time though for the non-​refundable $ 1100 plus.
As far as my dog not escaping during his stay at MBF, it’s like when you take your car to a mechanic and the weird noise your car was making mysteriously goes away, until you drive away from the mechanic and it starts making the noise again. Regarding not being able to help with his specific issue, it’s like if the transmission went out on my car, I took the car to a mechanic and he or she gave it back with a new clutch instead of working on the transmission. Would you pay for the work? Probably not. Dogs aren’t cars, but when it comes to training, Man’s Best Friend seems to view them that way.
After another couple visits to my local vet, he heard the story, was skeptical about the training my dog received, said he had never heard of MBF, and referred me to a Board Certified Veterinary Behaviorist (far more costly than MBF and currently I’m still paying for their training). If it weren’t for the boarding aspect of MBF, I’d expect a refund as I would with any other product or service that didn’t do what it was supposed to.
The one positive if you’re going to deal with MBF’s training is Ora. She’s a great person and will do everything she can to help. However, if your dog has similar behavior issues to what I’ve described, I’d suggest reading up on e-​collar training (there’s a ton of info out there) as Man’s Best Friend uses them as their primary tool and gives you two basic commands that can only be used in conjunction with the collar. Then it seems you’re on your own.

My dog is 8 and has been dog aggressive for 7 years. When it started I didn’t know how to handle it, I took him to training. Didn’t work. In fact, I took him to 5 different trainers, none of them were able to help me get my dog to behave. I had given up on ever having a well-​behaved dog.
Then I moved to Battle Ground and had to board my dog while going out of town and found Man’s Best Friend. Their facility is impressive and the dogs are well cared for. After the second time I boarded my dog I met the owner, Shannon, I was so impressed with her that when I got a second dog, I decided to go to her for help with the first and his aggression.
I had a couple private lessons with Shannon and after just the first my dog stopped pulling at his leash on walks. After the second, he stopped barking at our second dog and lay calmly while we walked the other dog nearby. I just picked him up from a two week training and he will now come when called off leash and is much calmer. I finally have hopes that the dog I wanted is possible. I know it is still a work in progress — I have bad habits to change (my own not the dog’s), but working with Shannon has given me a whole new perspective on what I can expect from him.
I can’t thank Shannon enough for all her hard work. How wonderful it would be if there were more dog trainers like her out there, it would have been great for me to get the help I needed years ago.