Laughing Dogs Academy

Review: So start this all of Id like to say that for 9 years I have been walking my dogs through the park next to the [redacted]) and never once have we had an issue with the laughing dogs class. In fact we have walked our little dog through and met other owners at one time or another and never once had a problem.Monday August 24th this would all change. I was walking my dog as I always have and always will when I was threatened that my dog was in danger. the laughing dogs owner/trainer ran up telling me that there dogs could hurt my dog.. Now the thing to understand at this pt their class is being held in a parking lot next to the park I was attending. there is a 60'Long by 8' high fence seperating me from her class.. She then had the audacity to tell me my dog was out of control. At the time my dog was sitting down right next to me. After tI realized there was no reasoning with her, I Apologized for incovieniencing her and decided to leave.. While I was walking away she announced to the class that I was a bad dog owner and that I should have a dog. I will not just be openly insulted and not defend myself. I told her to say those things to my face.... I went home tried to forget about the whole thingTHis is where it gets much worse.. the next day AUG 25th while I am out of town for business my fiance walks our dog down the same park since its right by our house hoping to not run into the same people. However when she enters the park there they are in the parking lot. SO she walks our dog as far away as possible. Again She is now verbally assaulted by the owner of laughing dogs. She walks our first dog back and walks the second one through the park on a leash as they requested.. At this time one of the assistants at laughing dogs comes up and follows my fiance through the park. After being called rude and being verbally assaulted and harrased the assistant assaults my dog by kicking her. Never once did we ask to be harrassed or followed. I dont believe this appropriate.Desired Settlement: I want these people to be removed from this area. I believe I am not the only one who has seen this abuse or felt it. In no way is this the way of conducting business, or treating people. I dont understand why my rights to use a public park are being infringed on by this business. I refuse to be forced to walk my dog elsewhere to just avoid these people its a public property and there for I have the right to use it.

Business

Response:

this is not a client of mine. Thank you for your assistance with this.

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because: Your telling me she takes no responsibility as an owner for her actions as an organization. She as a business has a certain standard to uphold while conducting business out in public. I find this to be insulting and completely unacceptable.

Business

Response:

On monday 24th of August I noticed two off leash pit bulls in the park who had been cited by the Davis PD on Saturday when we called in as we noted them being aggressive to chihuahuas in the E street plaza in Davis. Here is that call logged on the Davis PD website call log page. " 17:20 CITY CODE VIOLATION 1508220083Occurred on E St, Davis. TRANSIENTS OS W/DOGS THAT ARE BEHAVING AGGRESSIVE BY APPROACHING PASSERBYS AND BARKING. MALE AND FEMALE W/PIT BULL, BLK LAB/PIT BULL, AND SMALL CHIHUAHUA MIXES NOT ON LEASHES. . Disposition: Cited. "[redacted]We called the Davis PD again on Monday when we noted the same people in the parking lot of the [redacted]h who had some hazardous bloody materials in the parking lot with transient camp items. The people and their dogs walked into the park where they let their dogs off leash to run around. The owners leaned against the fence watching them. The police stated it could be awhile for them to respond as they were on shift change. While teaching class a member of the class pointed out that there was an off leash chihuahua in the grass with its owner. this person is not a client of mine nor have I done any client work for this person. I walked to the fence and let the owner know that there were two reactive dogs who were in the area at the other end of the park and advised him may want to be careful and to leash his dog. He was a little taken aback by what I was saying and I thought perhaps he was embarrassed by not having his dog on a leash in an area that is not an off leash park. He stated that his dog was fine off leash. I let him know that while he trusted his dog, that other people do not know if his dog would run up their leashed dogs and having dogs who can be reactive to other dogs this is a fear for them. A bigger dog lunging at a little dog that can get hurt happens often. He said to mind my business to which I said I was by letting him know about the dogs, my class and that there is a leash law to help keep all dogs and owners safe. I returned to speaking with the class. While the class could hear the discussion they did not say anything to this owner nor was there some exchange about him not being a good dog owner. A few minutes later he walked away with his dog following him off leash along the sidewalk. I saw him gesture and thought he gave a little wave and called out "thank you so much" he gestured again and I could not clearly see he was actually giving a me the middle finger. I personally do not care if he has his dog off leash at the park and if these two dogs were not in the park or if I was not teaching a class where owners would worry about his dog coming up to them I would not have said anything to the owner. I only spoke to this owner because of the dogs in the park we just call the Davis PD about AND that a owner in the class felt worried his dog would come up to them. There was not any apology for any inconvenience and I did not have any exchange with this person about anything other than the things stated here. At the end of class we pointed out to another neighbor that there was these two off leash dogs in the park and they responded with how we are use to which was by thanking us for the heads up and explaining their corgi had been attacked several times by off leash dogs and went a different route. This was what I was expecting from the owner of the chihuahua, a thanks for the heads up exchange. There was never a kicking of ANY dog at anytime. The statements here are false and offered to try to cause harm for what I believe was feeling insulted for being asked to leash his dog. The two owners have gone on a little mission of slander which included the statements posted to our Laughing Dogs Business page on [redacted] and asking friends to do the same as well as make these same outlandish claims with poor ratings on sites such as [redacted]. Unfortunately the written statement about "feeling like getting a fire arm" was flagged on facebook and resulted in the Davis PD now being involved as well as animal control with the statements of them having an off leash dog in an undesignated area. As I have stated I personally do not care if people have their dogs off leash at this park. No one is worried about a chihuahua hurting them or their dog, people are more concerned about the dog going up to their dog who is working on being non reactive. Here is that post."This trainer harasses locals walking their dogs in the public park [lots of negative vibes] and the open parking lot where they train isn't very safe.""Also, their hostility towards my dogs convinced me that Davis is no longer a safe place to walk my dogs. I'm considering purchasing a firearm to protect myself and my dogs from this trainer and group. They went out of their way to make my dog walks a horrible experience and I felt threatened. This trainer better think twice before sending one of her members to kick my dog next time. I've been walking that route for 9 years and I am well within my rights to walk in a public park with my dogs in peace."[redacted]We usually do an exercise where we walk on the sidewalk onto K street that passes by the area where this owner was seated with his dog The area is fenced along two sides but open in the back where we would pass right by them where there is no fencing. We did not do this exercise that day for safety reasons.I understand that this owner just wants to walk his dog and be in the park the way he wants to be and there are leash laws for the protection of all dog owners and people around dogs. This complaint is akin to if I were a mechanic who happened to notice a car on the road and pointed out that the car had a gas leak and that it is dangerous to drive with a gas leak and that person took offense saying it was fine and his car and mind your own business and the mechanic said you might not see the problem with driving like this but it also puts others at risk and they wrote the Revdex.com saying they were a bad mechanic and were harassing is the same this that is happening here. It makes no sense to me to even have this being listed in a file under our business. These people are not training clients of ours. We have never been hired to assist them in an professional manner in any way. We have not provided them with any services for free or otherwise. We simply advised them that there were reactive dogs in the park and in training class and requested they put their dog on a leash which is a law and offered to give them a leash. "This trainer harasses locals walking their dogs in the public park [lots of negative vibes] and the open parking lot where they train isn't very safe."I am passing on two letters from witnesses one from a male student who advised me that there was an off leash dog in the park near the end of the fence and the other from a female student who was at the fence line who could hear the entire exchange.Thank you for your time with this matter please let me know if you would like any other information. [redacted]

Review: . I was walking my dogs along a route that I've been taking for nine years. On Wednesday August 25, 2015, [redacted] interrupted her own dog class to confront me. She asked if I owned a dog leash. I was taken back by that question because strangers don't usually stop dog walkers to ask such questions. I had carried my chihuahua to the public park and let her down to enjoy the grass. My chihuahua was a rescue dog that had been abandoned, so she always stays close to me. Ms.[redacted] then repeatedly asked about a leash and informed me of the leash law that isn't enforced in Davis. The class and I were separated by a fence, so there was no way for the leashed training dogs to come over to me. I walked away after feeling verbally attacked by Ms.[redacted] and the snide comments made by the people attending her dog training class. I had previously planned on walking both dogs on the same route to be fair to my dogs. So I walked my papillon on a leash to avoid the confrontation. As I approached the public park on K street by the Korean Church parking lot, I heard more hurtful comments by her class. I wasn't going to let these bullies effect me, so I went on my way into the public park. I had my dog on a leash this time but they still called me names. The worst part of it all was when I was further down in the public park, someone from Ms.[redacted]'s class came over to me to be confrontational. She called me rude and kicked my dog with her bare foot. [redacted] and her class went out of their way to make walking my dogs a horrible experience. I feel that I was completely in my rights to enjoy the public park that Ms.[redacted] apparently claimed for herself. I'm filing this complaint today in hopes that with enough complaints, no other local dog walkers will come across this kind of harassment while walking their dogs.Desired Settlement: If [redacted] continues to harass local dog walkers who pass by her class, I hope that her class will be relocated or discontinued. I would also like for you to look into her credentials as a dog trainer. Is Ms.[redacted] a certified dog trainer? I cannot find anything about that on her websites. Is Ms.[redacted] profiting off of the Korean Church while negatively effecting the congregation's reputation? I want to be able to walk my dogs at the public park but now I am afraid of being attacked.

Business

Response:

Hi there Revdex.com,I am professional dog trainer for the past 25 years here in Davis and do keep up on my continuing education as a progressional dog trainer. One area we are trained in is to educate the general public, offer support where we can and report breaches in off leash and animal welfare laws. We are also encouraged by animal services and the local PD to help encourage and educate the general public of leash laws to better support a safe environment for all. As an avid volunteer in the Davis community of animal welfare one of the most time consuming is in leash laws education and lost pets.As a courtesy we always notify people with off leash dogs we are entering a park so they have time to leash their dogs to keep them safe. We also always have extra leashes with us to provide transients with dogs leashes as well as emergency leashes for owners. On Monday August 24th at approximately 6:30pm I noticed a small off leash brown and white chihuahua at the South end of Cedar Park Davis Ca. I introduced myself and advised the man with the dog that there were two large reactive pit mixes who were off leash and that he might want to be careful with his dog and have it on a leash. I also let him know that we were teaching a class with several reactive dogs and small dogs running up to them off leash was a cause of reactivity. The man left the park a few minutes later with the dog, the dog was not on a leash and I noticed the person did not have a leash with him. On Tuesday the same brown and white Chihuahua was off leash in the park but with a female. I approached her and stated I saw the dog with a man the day before and noticed he did not have a leash and offered her a leash asking if she need one. She let me know her dog was "bonded to her and did not need a leash" I let her know there are leash laws to keep both her dogs and other dogs safe. I let her know that off leash little dogs get scared and run and we have entire [redacted] group ([redacted]) full of missing pets that I started 5 years ago and help missing pets find their owners and owners find their missing pets and would hate for her dog to run because it got scared. She left the area a few minutes later and returned with a black and white Papillon on an extension leash who she brought to the fence and allowed her dog to bark persistently at dogs who are in a rescue foster group we offer to 3R rescue in Winters. An assistant did go into the park and stated that we just want to keep her dogs as well as other peoples dogs safe and that having her dog now barking at the dogs in class was simply rude while the instructor was just trying to keep her and other dogs safe she replied with calling us "[redacted]". Her dog was not kicked barefoot or otherwise, the assistant did step between the two dogs when the owner asked if her dog could say "hi" and the assistant stated that she could not because her dog was in training right now. This park is not an off leash park. The owners were advised vs police called as a courtesy to them. A free leash was offered to them as a courtesy to keep their dog safe. They will be advised if seen again by the Davis PD. I would advise this person filing the complaint to keep her dog on a leash unless in a identified off leash area, that their leash must be 8 feet or less.Thank you for your time with this matter. Please let me know if you would like witness statements from others they are easy to obtain.

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because: This dog trainer did not need to stop me on my walk through the park. I've been walking that same route for years before this trainer even began her classes there. (Before the Korean Church was renovated) She is power tripping and needs to be stopped. She is claiming the K street public park as her own. After my encounter with this trainer, I feel as though I'm going to be threatened if I walk near that park again. That public park is the closest one to my house and I want to feel safe while walking my dogs there. Her assistant did not need to approach me to further exacerbate the situation. She did kick my dog with her bare foot. Why else would I have noticed that she was not wearing any shoes? Why was it necessary for her assistant to bring her dog near mine if she didn't want my dog interacting with hers? This dog trainer needs to stop harassing local dog walkers and keep her opinions to herself. The way she asked if I has a leash was as if she was asking if I was too poor to buy one. Her attitude towards people and dogs is unacceptable. Her class is all about how to not allow a dog to be a dog. She teaches people how to choke dogs and not to trust them. I do not agree with her methods but I did her the courtesy of keeping my opinions to myself. On my second walk through the park with my papillon, this trainer did not need to approach me again. She did not need to call me rude or snidely suggest that I need to take her class. I will NEVER take this trainer's class with how horribly she treated me and my dogs. After my encounter with this trainer, I feel uneasy every time I see a dog walker. I no longer feel safe in my own community. I feel as though this trainer is jealous of the fact that I can verbally control my chihuahua. The fact that she harassed me on my route again, while I was walking with my leashed papillon, only further proves this theory. This trainer has it out for me and my dogs. Please help the local Davis dog walkers by shutting this trainer down. She is covering up the fact that her assistant kicked my dog. By doing so, she is condoning dog abuse.