Chicago Canine Academy

A special thanks goes out to Jim and his staff at CCA. I couldn’t be more pleased with the development and growth of my Cane Corso pup Mr. Hoss.
They treated Mr. Hoss as if he was part of their family during the time he was involved in their puppy boot camp. The whole staff was informative and took the time to work with my mother and I when we came in for training sessions with my pup.
The CCA staff wants you to take an active role in your dog’s obedience training. They make you understand that its a process that does not take place over night and want you to continue to come for training with your dog. Very proactive in the correction of possible negative behaviors!
Cheers CCA, and thank you for your courtesy.

We had our Old English Sheepdog pup in two series of classes last fall at urban pooch. I couldn’t be more pleased. The training blended socializing and more of an intro to training. The second session was more training based. It was very interesting to see how these young dogs respond to training. (and how owners need to be trained as well)
The trainer, Mary Pat always took time to answer questions and made sure it was understood.
The office was very professional and helpful and we were pleased with the training.
The reason we could not continue was, the days and times did not work our for us.
We had a very positive experience with Urban Pooch.

Everyone be careful with this place! I live right behind the building on the second floor and all u hear is a guy yelling n the puppies crying. I came out to the porch to see what was going on n I see the man whipping on the dogs. Those dogs don’t get trained they are scared. Who wouldn’t after all that beating. This happens every night !

WARNING: THIS PLACE IS NOT FOR EVERYONE. But please keep reading.
Jim Morgan is phenomenal, but calling him «rough around the edges» may be an understatement. He’s an ex-​marine, in-​your-​face, no-​bullshit, profanity-​laden type of person. This goes for both humans and dogs. He’s great at what he does, and if you spent the time with him one-​on-​one, you will find that he loves and cares for all of the dogs he comes across. And he just wants to prepare you with the skills to be able to lead your dog with confidence. A confident owner creates a feeling of safety and security for the dog.
I tried the positive reinforcement training prior going to CCA. I found that I could only get the correct behavior if there was a treat involved. No treat in sight? My dog wasn’t interested i performing a command. He was also easily distracted, especially by other dogs. He was not dog friendly, so that was a behavior that I couldn’t have. And with no treats in sight, he was fixated on the other dogs. So I brought him to CCA.
The training method at CCA is corrections based. Here, they function on the mentality that it’s not the dog’s behavior, it’s YOU. They train you to lead your dog. While there, your dog will wear a «choke collar» and you will be a leather leash. The leather leash makes it easier, in my opinion, to feel the strength of the correction. There is an expectation that when you walk through those doors, you will be able to deliver a proper correction to your dog. You’re not choking your dog, but you better be ready to get your dog to snap out of whatever behavior he/​she is doing wrong. Jim is tough and will call you out (yes, in front of people) if he feels like you are not leading your dog properly. And he will be tough on a stubborn dog (i.e. a dog that knows the command but refuses to do it), like my dog was. Tough because we all knew he was protesting and and being stubborn, but still, a part of your heart aches.
Personally, I like the corrections based training style. How does one know they’re doing something wrong if they’re not corrected? Jim also makes sure that the dogs know when they’ve done something right — a good pat on the back, a happy toned «good boy» or «yes!» and the occasional treat. My dog has come home from training COMPLETELY tuckered out, but better behaved, and has never been afraid of coming back. He has also stayed overnight here while I was out of town, and he didn’t seem to mind (though smelled thoroughly like stinky dog). Each time we came back, he excitedly runs back inside (possibly to see his love, Lynn). This was the right training for my dog, and he thrived with the skills we learned from CCA. Four stars because, for me, it was great! But I could understand that it may not be for everyone.
About the other trainers: Algis is basically a Polish (?) version of Jim, and personally, I found him to be more intimidating. Everyone loves Lynn; she’s tough but sweet. Poor Alex — nice guy — was always the guinea pig/​distraction that would try to throw off my dog during training. And I never worked with Ania, so I can’t say anything about her.
If your dog is stubborn, has behavior issues, only listens to commands when you have a treat, and/​or you just don’t know what the hell you’re doing, I’d recommend CCA. But if you’re looking for tender loving care and/​or you think that any correction in any form is psychologically traumatic for a dog, I’d say keep moving.

We recently (4 days ago) purchased our very first puppy and have absolutely no idea what we’re doing. I found the Canine Academy on Unilocal and after speaking with Jim I decided to stop by. It took him less than 5 minutes to completely blow me away! He answered all my questions and was even kind enough to clip his nails, gave us a leash, and a container of raw food to try out. My puppy is too young for the training but I WILL BE BACK in a month!

Jim Morgan and his team are the best thing that ever happened to me and doberman. I had tried every type of training with her, but she resisted every bit. She was constantly running away from me when I would call her. I would try and bribe her food, but she didn’t care. She barked and lunged at every dog, squirrel, bird and person she saw. Taking her anywhere was completely embarrassing and exhausting!!! Jim Morgan is one of the kindest men I have ever met. He loves dogs and truly loves what he does. He is a fabulous trainer, and I can now take my dog anywhere with me. It was easily the best money I have ever spent, because my life is so much easier with a well trained dog. I am constantly being complimented on how well behaved my dog is, and I have Jim and his team to thank for it.

I wish I would have read these reviews before I called the place. Luckily it took me all of 30 seconds to know this was not the place for my dog or me. I called and spoke to Jim and told him about my dog having seizures and the vet said I could still board him with a note from the vet. Jim told me on the phone «Dogs shouldn’t be put on that SHIT anyway» Really… okay.
I was just looking to board my dog for a night and wanted to check out the place because it is close to my house.
I walked in with my dog and looked around. Not impressed with the over all look of the place or the look on the dogs faces behind the desk. They look terrified. Jim took the leash from me. Acting like an alpha trainer I guess. I had my dogs pooh bag holder, a pouch for my kleenex and a collapsible bowl on the other end. When I take my dog to the park I might need a tissue or get my dog a drink of water.
He held it in his hand… I am not kicking he acted like he was going to whip me with the end of the leash. Mind you I have NEVER even met this person before. I don’t want training I was checking out the place for a night of boarding! I said to him… oh you don’t like that? He said NO! I took the leash from and walked out the door saying nothing. I would not want my dog to be alone with this person if he pretends to whip someone with a leash. I would be afraid what he would do to my dog. Swearing on the phone… NOT COOL! Acting like you are going to whip someone with a leash… NOT COOL!

I brought my 3 month old great dane puppy here and told them she was deaf and asked them if they could train a deaf dog and they said yeah they have dog it all the time, she was there just for basic obedience and potty training, in which they said they could do, let me tell you they could not do it but they sure could beat her and break her face, they broke her nose, cheek and blinded her all at 3 months and she will never get her vision back just because they anger problems and had to take it out on an innocent puppy, I called them every 2 days to see how she was doing and they said great yet they failed to tell me she was severely underweight, had a swollen face, one eye couldn’t even open anymore, was walking in circles, and they had her eating off the ground, went to go visit her after a month and i seen from 500ft away that something was wrong and that my dog couldn’t see me, I opened her mouth and then i found broken teeth in her mouth so i asked what happened to her face and they jut said after you dropped her off she started walking into walls, I took her to my vet since they failed to call me and take her to my vet. Took her to my vet and we had to do surgery and they said that walking into walls wouldn’t brake a dogs face thats not hard enough force a person had to swing something at her face at the angle of where its broken and the force would brake her face, My vet said that if i dont report them to the cops that they will because this is a case of animal abuse, They do not need to be training animals since all they do is beat them and hurt puppies. Help spare your dogs life and dont brine them there.

I had read negative reviews about this place for their training methods but my gf was looking for a simple haircut for her little miniature poodle and the place was close by so we figured why not. HORRIBLE IDEA. First of all the «groomer» didn’t cut her hair like she had asked she literally just shaved her. Second, she made my gf feel completely shitty for being a «bad owner and letting her dog bark». Then, she tried to push dog training on her because the 5 lb poodle allegedly bit her, which she’s never done to anyone before (Although the way she grabbed the dogs mouth shut when she made even the slightest noise tells me she probably deserved it). Sounds like grooming is just another opportunity to try to sell you dog training. if you’re not going to do at least a half decent job then don’t even offer it!

I don’t comprehend how ANYONE would be comfortable sending their pets to such an ABUSIVE environment. I took my pup there for training and the first thing Jim Morgan the «expert» did was give everyone a chokie and teach people how to slam on the chain and choke the dog when ever it didn’t listen. My pup was TERRIFIED AND SHAKING THROUGH OUT THE WHOLE THING AND PEED ON HIMSELF MULTIPLE TIMES. ESPECIALLY IN THE HANDS OF JIM MORGAN. I took my pup and left because there was NO WAY IN HELL that I was gonna let him get his hands on my dog.
ANIMAL CRUELTY ALL THE WAY AND IT IS UNACCEPTABLE! IT IS ACTUALLY SO REPULSIVE!
Anyone who sends their pets here are equally as bad and have NO respect for animals. I comprehend the fact that some dogs are really aggressive, but there is NO justification whatsoever for abusive tactics. He also teaches about being leader over your pet… More like a bully!
P.S.
To anyone who says that their dog is so good afterwards. Gee maybe its because by the time they are out they are scared crapless of getting hurt for not listening. Just a thought!
Your motive for sending your dog here may be sincere, but you are sincerely wrong.

I inherited a pit unexpectedly. I decided that if I’m going to have this breed in my house and neighborhood I wanted to be sure my family was safe as well as my neighbors or anyone else who came in contact with her. She is a sweet dog but the jumping and pulling during walks was insane not to mention her crazy behavior every time she came across another barking dog. Now granted, she is an extremely strong dog, she can handle a correction not all dogs can. I’ve been going every single day for 3 weeks after the initial week of training and we have made incredible progress. I understand it’s very difficult to see a correction with your dog. Your dog’s behavior will determine how strong and/​or how often a correction needs to be made. Jim will not correct a Bishon in the same way he would correct a pit, period but if you think kindly suggestion a correction to your dog is the way to do it then you are sadly mistaken. I love animals, esp dogs. I grew up with dogs from a very young age. I cried every Sunday night watching Lassie. Corrections are not easy to watch when you begin to train your dog but they become fewer and further between. I would bet a million dollars against the fact that Jim «broke a dog’s snout». Really? Virtually impossible. You want to train your dog, then do it the right way or your dog will train you. Dogs are a lot smarter than some of the stupid owner’s comments I’ve read hear. If you’ve had pit bull that has been thru a number of trainers, all of which have been unsuccessful in taming your dogs aggression what makes you think a stronger correction from an e-​collar should not be tried? You’re not going to get much in terms of results from a single session. Do children listen the first time you tell them something? If they get smacked hard enough they will. He’s a pit bull not a poodle, he can handle it even if you can’t. Is Jim a little loud? yes. Does he dominate and show your dog who’s boss right off the bat? yes. Does he beat them for the hell of it, hardly. I have a feeling the negative reviews are from people who are mush anyway. Never mind a trainer, your dog will walk all over you anyway.

Re: Be careful when you book a personal session with Jim. It doesn’t mean a one on one with your dog.
Sunday, we went for a one on one with Jim. He worked with us for about 10 mins and then brought us into a room with approximately 10 other people and their dogs. We waited and waited thinking he needed to finish a class. We watching as people picked up their pups from boot camp he taught and instructed the owners how to work with their dog. Then others would come in and he would stop everything to evaluate their dogs.
What was totally upsetting was that he yanked on our puppy’s neck and left her shaking and urinating on herself basically to show off to other clients, because how could you do that to a pup you aren’t even working with?!!
Not wanting to disturb him, I went up to a woman that worked there and told her what happened and she asked if I booked a private class and I said yes. She told me that there was nothing she could do and that I needed to talk to him. I mentioned that he’s in the class evaluating a dog and she finally told me she would get him.
I reiterated that we scheduled a private training and he says, «this is how I do it.» I then said, «you should have informed us that this was a group class because we were standing there waiting for you.» He then said, «your dogs aren’t ready for group class.» LOL There were over 10 dogs in that room.
My husband and I just left. This is beyond professional and I really don’t think you.

Jim at Chicago Canine is an awesome dog trainer. I had
left my dog for «board and train» with another trainer out in Elgin for two weeks, and my dog didn’t learn shit. In fact, he came back with severe separation anxiety. You’d think after paying the equivalent of a mortgage payment on dog training, my dog would at least sit or come on command. Nope. I was going to give up hope, and my husband started to talk about having to rehome the chihuahua mix stray we’d taken in because of issues with counter-​surfing, housebreaking, and stranger aggression.
Then, I took him to Jim at Chicago Canine. After our first class, I saw immediate results. My dog became more responsive and obedient. I had the first good night’s sleep in weeks because I got my dog to be quiet in his crate (instead of crying all night). I won’t have to rehome my dog, and it’s thanks to the training I got here. Jim’s methods are very assertive. and not treat based. Some people are put off by this, but Jim’s methods are effective, and he loves dogs. A well trained dog is a safe dog who gets to live a big life. Take your dog here, and get Results.

When I brought my German ShortHaired Pointer, Giuliana, to Jim, he made me realize something: my dog viewed me as a littermate, not a leader. I was my worst enemy in creating a «FULL LIFE» for my dog. My dog would do things when she wanted, not when I would tell her. She would pull on the leash, injuring my knee I had surgery on two years ago. She would jump on me almost knocking me down when I would come home. Sometimes we would crate her at home because she couldn’t control herself and my family and I couldn’t watch Tv or eat dinner without her jumping and whining. When meeting Jim, he had me «place» my dog onto a stool. Well, he had me try… I WAS SWEATING I WAS SO EMBARRASSED. I could not get her to follow my direction! Now, Giuliana has made such amazing improvement. I can sit and stay her in the family room while we eat dinner or spend family time together and she won’t move a pinch OR WHINE! Now, when on the leash, she does not even walk past me let alone jump on me ever. The second I stop walking, she promptly sits and makes eye contact (RESPECT!) waiting for ME to make the next move. Jim and his staff also TRAINED ME how to properly correct Ana so when she isn’t responding correctly, I can correct her with consistency creating a strong foundation of TRUST for my dog. The entire staff did a great job… But Now it is time for the real training, AT HOME WITHOUT CHICAGO CANINE! Anddddd the free group training that my dog can participate in for life! Very pleased with my results thus far! Thanks team!

Jim Morgan is an awesome trainer. We have used Chicago Canine to train 2 of our dogs, a yellow lab and a Newfoundland.
Carmen the Lab was chasing a squirrel into the street when I yelled down! She slid to a stop in the parkway as the squirrel ran into the street. Thanks Jim Morgan!
Jim’s approach is a firm hand but he really loves dogs, his shop usually has one or two neighborhood pit bulls he has trained but were. never picked up. Yep he keeps them.
Saw a lot of negative posts — never been my experience and we board our goofy Newfie with Chicago Canine regularly.

I went there for an evaluation with my dog. My dog isn’t really a behavior problem, he obeys maybe not like a champion show dog, but he sits, stays, and doesn’t even chew. He’s a large mastiff mix and gentle, good with kids and very cuddly. I just have issues with walking him outside.
I walk into this place, and the owner takes a choke chain, puts it on my dog and starts yanking him up onto this pedestal, and yanking him all over the place. My dog was scared shitless. For the rest of the evaluation it was just more yanking and scare tactics. He had one of his own dogs struggling through this obstacle course, slipping and sliding on the obstacles. The dog didn’t look happy to do this, he looked scared. His other dogs he brought in looked slightly unhealthy. He had me standing on this rickety wooden box at one point with my dog, and he had one of his dogs run by. He wanted me to yank the leash really hard if my dog reacted. He said yank him right off the box if you have to. Really? Yank my dog two feet to the floor? My large breed dog that’s still growing and I’m supposed to risk injury?
I’ve done my research on choke chains as well, and there are endless coinciding reports of larynx damage and other injuries from them. When I inquired about that he said those people can go fuck themselves. What professional even talks like that? I came home and called my vet and told him about what happened and he said that guy is a hazard, I know who he is and I wouldn’t suggest you going there. That mode of training could make your dog aggressive, and he has seen damage done by choke chains and suggested I continue to use my prong collar.

Hopefully this review won’t be «filtered» as many other true reviews have been.
I brought my PitBull dog to see them a few years ago. I had already been through a few trainers that were unsuccessful in helping me with my dog’s dog aggression. He is a great dog, and lives in harmony with two other dogs smaller than him, but outside of our unit he is very defensive and his aggression is fear based.
I went to a class and observed with plans of bringing my dog back for an initial training session. He said that they would be using an electronic collar with him, so I went and bought a $ 200 Dogtra collar (best there is). I was open to the E Collar because I have tried other methods unsuccessfully and I had read good things about CCAs and PitBulls.
Jim took the leash from me in our first class and walked with my dog around the rest of the class. My dog seemed to respect his demeanor and was a bit more calm around the other dogs, which I liked seeing. He did receive a few strong corrections from Jim when his dog aggression began to show (almost right away), to which I was not thrilled, but the other dogs in class seemed to be obedient, so you have to play these things by ear sometimes-​and it wasn’t overboard.
Then he paired me with this big Polish trainer with broken English. They do alot of work with stools and pedestals and stairs as part of their control method. He had me walk my dog up a standalone set of three or four stairs. I was on the right of my dog and this other trainer was on his left. I had the leash and the trainer had the E Collar remote.
So my dog is at the top of these stairs (about 4 feet high) and he could barely sit at the top of these stairs. When my dog reacted (keep in mind my dog is pretty severe) the trainer just zapped the crap out of my dog. While zapping, my dog was starting to fall off of the stairs to which the trainer just grabbed the leash from me and held him up by his pinch collar while STILL ZAPPING him! Not on level 20 of 100 as I have used successfully for small corrections, but 80 of 100! As I noticed on my remote later. I have used 20 on myself and it hurt, I can only imagine what 80 felt like.
My dog is now freaking out at the dogs in the room, as well as falling off of these stairs, being held up by his pinch, and being zapped at the same time. He didn’t respond vocally by screaming, as many other dogs may have, but he showed his pain by trying to retreat (falling off the stairs) — to which he was not being allowed to retreat.
The session seemed to take forever but was relatively quick in reality. With more knowledge on my side, my dog was being flooded — which is a bad thing for a dog who’s aggression is based in fear and defense. It was too much for his senses, and can work against him instead of bring about changes.
Should I have stopped the training session a bit early when I wasn’t happy with what I saw? ²⁰⁄₂₀ hindsight, YES.
Does anyone really know what is a proper reaction from your dog when in a new training environment? NO
Let’s just say that people in the training industry are very aware of this place’s methods. I won’t say anything more than that. Read around online, and definitely look though Unilocal’s «filtered» reviews.
The truth be told

just want to say since i wrote this review I have been contacted and told that someone else has heard horror stories of this place. I also heard a rescue boarded their dogs there and no longer do due to the dogs coming out scared timid and thin.

Why Unilocal felt the need to remove my review of this establishment — because it wasn’t based on a «consumer» experience, though in fact, it was.
To clarify — I was a consumer as I entered the establishment to pick up a dog who was in our rescue who had been in paid boarding at the facility. I witnessed first hand what this man did and my experience with Jim Morgan was unpleasant to say the least. While I agree with other reviewers that a stronger hand is needed for certain breeds, what he told me was just straight out animal cruelty. This man bragged about how he had put the electronic collar on the dog that he was boarding for our rescue and cranked it to the highest and «zapped» him every time the dog would bark. He then went on to say that he would go in and kick the shit out of our dog and that at one time our dog had pissed himself and now our dog respected him. He laughed about how he had broken our dog and that it took quite a few beatings for our dog to listen to him. Luckily I took our dog out of his «care» and he has since been adopted by a nice family. All he did to our dog was to terrorize him and to make him fearful of men. It took a while to have the dog placed, and a large part of that had to do with the issues he developed after being at CCA.
He also goes around advertising that you can play fetch with your dog wherever you want… um, hey @*!?* there’s leash laws for a reason. What kind of a trainer advertises and encourages people to have their dogs off leash? Sure his dog was obedient; didn’t bark or run away… what is it, 72 hours to brainwash a human and have them be an obedient hostage? From what I witnessed, Jim Morgan enjoyed the pain he was inflicting upon the dogs. I can’t believe he is still in business. He should not be allowed to work with any living creature. If you own a dog, you should absolutely not bring your dog to this man. There are plenty of effective trainers for those «powerful» dogs as other reviewers have mentioned.
Also, I am not from the school of thought for 100% positive training, we have used electronic collar training on one of our dogs. I don’t know about these other people’s experiences, however, based upon what I witnessed — first hand — I maintain this man should not be allowed to work with animals.

If you have a hard-​to-​train dog or a big dog, and you just can’t gain control of it, this is your place. I have a pit bull mix and she is rowdy and rambunctious and uncontrollable most of the time. When I first got her, however, she was scared of everything and I had to practically drag her outside to go to the b-​room.
I brought her to Jim, and he immediately started working his magic. He did yank her around quite a bit, but people, this is a dog we’re talking about, not a two-​year-​old child. You can’t sit there and say, «Now, listen up, blah blah blah.» You have to SHOW the dog who’s boss. It did startle me at first, all the physicality. But I sure as hell wasn’t getting anywhere on my own.
Honestly, what he showed me in 45 minutes was more valuable than 50 classes at Petco!
For instance, my dog was using her mouth (just like humans use their hands) to «play» with my roommate at the time. This, as you can imagine, really hurt! My dog considered my roommate to be her litter-​mate – on her level. Anyway, Jim gave me tips and tricks on how my roommate could exert dominance over the dog and show her that she’s the boss.
Unfortunately I don’t have access to a car anymore and this place is way outta the way. Or else I would bring my dog here again in a heartbeat.
Bottom line: If you need to show your dog who’s boss, and s/he’s just not getting it, bring ‘em here!