Camano Island Kennels

Not for the faint of heartSam, our Bollinger Shepherd did the 5-wk in-kennel training @ yr of age, intactKnow this ahead of time: Intact dogs are kept apart from the population during playtimeDo your due diligence: Get a referral from a previous in-kennel customer with 1st-hand knowledge & experienceThe folks @ CIK are friendly & demonstrate great salesmanshipBe prepared: You will have no contact with your dog for weeksAgree upon a frequency of contact with your trainer (email, text, phone) from the g& accept nothing lessWe requested call weekly from our trainerWe received a photo of Sam on his 1st day & got a call from our trainer after the 1st weekCIK is a busy placeWe spent the next weeks repeatedly emailing to a general inbox & leaving voicemails to the main office line to reach our trainerTake note: Your dog will have weeks with a trainerYou will have hours: @ the end of weeks 3, & I think Jason would agree: It’s the pet owner who needs the most training! Be aware: For weeks your dog will not have the accustomed meals/dayYour dog will be working for every bite of food, handfed for each properly executed commandThe food used will not be the bag of kibble you bringIt will be a sliceable Natural Balance productBe prepared: CIK blends positive reinforcement/food reward & corrections with a prong collarWe were encouraged to continue handfeeding Sam & using a prong collar after he came homeBe aware: Your considerable investment does not come with a 100% satisfaction guaranteeYou will pay 50% up front & 50% at time of pick upInquire about formal satisfaction terms & conditions before you investYour dog may not respond to their training technique or, in our case, be “too far behind when he was brought in” to fully benefit from the programWe mailed our concerns in a letter to CIKDianna offered us the chance to complete Sam’s training with folltrainer visits @ homeWe declinedOur request for a refund of any kind was denied
I sincerely wish I didn’t have to share what follows: End of week check-inGreeted by Jason, Dianna’s husband, with SamCaitlyn, our primary trainer, is absentJason walks on leash with Sam & gives Sam a down commandSam refusesJason repeatsSam refusesJason repeatsSam refusesJason shakes his head and assures us Sam is “being a ***.” He apologizes for “not realizing Caitlyn had trouble working Sam on his downs.” I remember quietly thinking, “That’s funnyWe didn’t bring Sam here to learn downsHe’s been doing that since Puppy class.” Jason next cues us by saying, “Watch, he’s going to try and bite me.” I freezeOn cue Sam makes an aggressive turn of his head toward Jason’s armJason enforces his correction stringing Sam up in the prong collar holding him with front paws off the ground, eye level with JasonTime stopsMy heart stopsWas it seconds? secondsI gasp and cover my mouth to stifle a screamJason locks eyes with me and firmly states, “This is not for the faint of heart.” Sam never did a down for Jason
My overall impression from CIK is if you’re “not a Spartan (Dianna’s words)” not only is a German Shepherd not for you, maybe CIK isn’t eitherWe brought Sam to CIK to address main issues: treating me as his #squeaky toy & barking/acting defensively toward visitors to our propertyI am not an animal behaviorist just a dog’s observant 2-legged momSam came home to us more aggressive and remained so even after his neutering days after coming home from CIK
There IS a happy endingSam graduated from Agility II gaining in 4-legged confidence & me in dog-handling with Julie G(excellent!) in ArlingtonBest yet, Sam gets vital socialization, the kind we always dreamed for him, @ Bona-fide Dog Ranch in SnohomishHe runs with the pack, learns from the pack & comes home more confident, well-adjusted, better behaved seemingly understanding how he fits in this world more & more each time!