DOGSmart Training & Smart DAYcare - Vancouver

The trainer really seems to enjoy her job. They offer reward based training and coach you on your dog's body language. All ethical and fairly priced. The trainer discriminated against my puppy in our first class, telling me that because of her breed she would need extra attention. Her tail was down while she ate another treat and I was told she was fearful of me. It broke my heart to hear that. My dog is attached to me like glue and the most loving and gentle pup. She plays with everyone nicely. Her breed has nothing to do with who she is. The owner was at the door when we all had a break. My dog does get nervous and needs TIME to assess if a situation is safe before proceeding. She grew up on the streets. This is natural and to be expected. Instead, the owner completley interrupted the trainer and told me not to make eye contact with my dog and call her to me standing sideways in the doorway. She kept demonstrating. My dog wasn't going through the door because a complete stranger is BLOCKING it and she's crowded now by 4 people. If they had just given her space and not rushed me out, she'd have come happily. They also snapped at me not to use my training command, "let's go" which works like magic on our walks. She wasn't walking because I wasn't allowed to tell her to. I cried leaving this place, thinking these experts are right and that I have a puppy who is terrified of me and will need to be approached cautiously for life just because of who she is and where she came from. We're completing our training because we've already paid for it, but I am dreading something that we should be eager and excited about because of the way we've been summarized and written off in 20 minutes. Keep an open mind here. They mean well, but can be dismissive and wrong.

I took a class with Alice. Every lesson that she taught somehow related to a dog that she knew that died because of a freak accident. This alarmist, shock value approach doesn’t work for everyone, especially given how extremely weird the times are right now. My experience was that Alice was very patronizing and frequently guilt tripped the owners. Every person in the class was constantly criticized for doing things wrong with their dogs, without providing much constructive feedback. She immediately judges and criticizes your practices without knowing the full context of the issue, ignoring nuance. In my view, dog training should be just as focussed on developing a respectful relationship with the owner just as much as their dog, and this point was entirely missed with Alice. While some of the techniques were useful, and the assistant teacher was very friendly, it’s hard to recommend this class with how poorly and unfairly Alice treated people. She sets you up for failure, which is ironic given the subject being taught. We’ve been to other classes where you get criticized, but receive constructive feedback right away, with a more positive and encouraging environment.

When I first got a dog, I thought dog classes had the most basic information about taking care of a dog that I'd already known from having dogs growing up. I ended up signing up for "Puppy SmartStart" only for the purpose of taking further classes such as Agility. Unfortunately, this class was postponed by a few months due to COVID - but Alice was kind enough to set-up six personal consultations at no charge (which would have been much pricier had I signed up for these consultations elsewhere). This was extremely selfless of Alice, who runs the business herself and goes to show how much she cares for her business and the treatment of dogs overall. During these consultations, there was so much that I learned that it was very exhausting and stressful, but in the best sense possible because I was learning so much. Seeing all the negative reviews kind of baffles me - I told Alice right from the start that I didn't mind if she was blunt with me because I'd rather she get the message across in the best way possible. Even though I expressed this, at no point did I ever feel like she was condescending, and she provided me with all the information I feel like I'd needed and so much more than I could expect in every session. After this class, we did take Tracy's "Beginner Life Skills" class for the puppies that missed training due to COVID, and I also felt like she was great and informative as well. I would recommend DogSmart to anybody looking for training for their dog, whether they've had plenty of dogs before or not. Being in the classroom environment with your dog will help it get climatized to focus on you rather than other dogs, and you will probably end up learning more essential information than your dog will (even though by the end of each of these one-hour courses, the dogs end up visibly mentally exhausted as well).

If you are looking for someone that agrees with everything you do and say, do not come here. If you are looking for a trainer to sugar coat their advice, DO NOT COME HERE. If you are not ready to be told that everything you've done is blatantly wrong, DO NOT COME HERE. After all, we are here for our dogs and here to learn. Once that was in our heads, we threw our egos out the door and it turned out to be a fantastic experience. Alice was a great trainer. She told us things we didn't want to hear and she called us out when we were stuck in our ways. By the end of the course, my dog, my partner and I gained a wealth of knowledge and skills that we continue to use EVERY SINGLE DAY. In fact, whenever I encounter new dogs, I often think back to what I learned with Alice and apply it. It really works. It takes a long time and consistency to see results with your dog but it's worth every penny. Best money i've spent. It's been a year since we took our course. I think after taking the "shy and fearful dog" course, our shy dog saw us in a different light. It's helped us gain alot of trust back from him. Alice's training helped me get in my dog's head and think more about his perspective and why he acts a certain way. Alice.... thank you so so much. Murphie has come such a long way and we've been able to build a much stronger bond.

We took the Puppy SmartStart class with Tracey and loved it! We learned so much. It was wonderful to see how much Tracey loves her job and all the puppies. She is incredibly helpful and knowledgeable. We're excited to continue the training at home and feel like we've been set up for an awesome relationship with our lab. We also appreciated that the class is based on positive dog training rather than reactive training. Could not recommend enough!

John and I had Tracey as an instructor. The best program was called Walk this Way. We have a very distractible puppy and Tracey was so helpful in guiding us. We had a breakthrough in our last lesson. Thank you Tracey!! As we told Tracey, this was a 4-week session which really needs to be 6-weeks. Nevertheless, we found it so valuable.

We went in for an assessment to see which class was the best fit for us. The “trainer” rude, distracted and did not assess my dog. She was talking to other clients and not even looking at us when completing the assessment. She did nothing to see where my dog was at in terms of Behavior as we sat down and spoke about previous training. Such a waste of time. She was horrible. Response to owner: I have our conversation saved confirming the date and time. This was your error and don't worry about sending me away because I would never waste my time coming back. As I told you, my dog has had training with different trainers, and successfully completed the training skills we were working on and the others trainers feedback is very different then yours. I was not flustered at all and its ridiculous that you refuse to take any accountability. I agreed with you because I was very unimpressed with your professionalism was happy to end our interaction. I was deliberating posting my review however your response has confirmed my original thoughts. Also when I was walking in the parking lot, i did so as you instructed me as it was to do an " assessment" of his leash handling. Your back was to us talking to others....how could you have done the assessment if you are not going to watch? Our dogs were not close together at that point and when the " assessment" period was over, you seemed more interested in helping the next person and moving us along. Not to mention the other dog was still in the car so I don't believe you were concerned for anyone's safety at that point, You need to reflect back and take some accountability.

I took my dog to the "anxious and fearful" class with Alice and I'm so glad I did! It was a good opportunity to learn about dog anxiety, what to look for and how to respond. The set up is unique compared to standard obedience classes so I had a chance to work with my dog around strange dogs in a controlled way that reduced my stress as well! Alice gave good, practical instruction and explained her methods well. She was always available and invited contact between sessions with videos and pictures of our 'homework' she even spent extra time with me reviewing loose leash walking which has been a struggle for my dog that pulls hard on the leash. I looked at other behaviourists but none were as qualified and the rates at dogsmart are more affordable. I picked this class because of the philosophy of training they endorse. I think some of the critical reviews online should have done their research into positive reinforcement and force free training which does involve a lot of reward and generally that is food for most dogs. Alice teaches you how to use a treat as a reward... not a bribe. I also dont think its realistic to go to a behaviour modification course and not expect to be corrected by the trainer. Alice isn't there to be your best friend or sugar coat things and tell you everything is perfect... why would u need her class then? It's been a few weeks since finishing the class and the results for my dog are undeniable! I'm so pleased my dog is walking calmly on the leash and just seems calmer in general. I plan to keep using Alice as my dogs trainer... seeing results gives me hope I'll be able to help my rescue dog overcome her many fears. 5 stars. Read the website and pick a class!!