Auburn Leach K9 Academy

In regards to Mrs [redacted] ' allegations below, we were delayed by one day returning her dog because it had snowed and she lives across the mountain from our facilityOur vehicle was not equipped to handle potentially slippery roadsWe returned her dog the next day When we got there, there were a lot of workers on the property, and we did to do a class with her and the dog together She appeared to be happy with the training, but was busy with the workers on the property, and we agreed that another follwas needed I believe we even have video taped footage of her working with her dog the day we returned him We are checking our files We bounced back and forth with phone calls in the first week, and when we finally did reach her, she unexpectedly told us not to come back She offered no explanation Once someone tells us not to come back, we respect their wishesAs far as her statement that "a female answered the phone and said they just couldn’t deal with me as they were busy with the holidays," I can't imagine anyone in the answering service who answers my phone would have said something like that They simply take messages and pass them on to me However, if someone did say that to her, I would like to know who it was that Mrs [redacted] spoke to We have tried to contact Mrs [redacted] since receiving this complaint, but have been unable to get a hold of her, but she has not returned our callsMy assistant, ***, left a message for her and has not heard back I feel terrible that Mrs [redacted] is unhappy, and wish I would have known this or months ago so we could have resolved it When we returned [redacted] , he was very well trained, Mrs [redacted] seemed happy with him the day he came home; however, since she asked us not to come back, we were unable to help reinforce his training with her, and without being able to teach her how to continue reinforcing the training and handle the dog properly, the dog is not going to respond as well as he could We would like to offer Mrs [redacted] an apology and refund half the money she paid We'd be glad to do the follwith her and the dog that we originally wanted to do if she will allow us to Please let me know if this will be acceptable to Mrs [redacted] Thank you, Auburn Leach

Auburn Leach has a great capacity to understand dogs and what makes them "tick." He can evaluate a dog's behavior and then tailor a program to meet that individual canine's needsJust as important, he provides training for owners so they know how to interact in a move positive and consistent manner with their dogThe result is a well behaved canine family member and happy humansI highly recommend Auburn Leach K( Academy and it servicesMy dog thinks that Auburn is the greatest

In response to MrAuburn Leach of his KAcademy business looking for a good home for a year old canine mix, I visited the facilities where MrLeach conducts his dog training business to meet *** where he has lived for the last monthsI was very impressed with not only the training *** had received, but saw the attention MrLeach gave his personal dogs as well as those he was currently working withI saw not only the kennel / boarding area of the facility, but also the very clean training area and found it to be was very adaquate in the care of all of the dogs presently thereAs we make the arrangements for the placement of *** in his new home, I'm am overwhelmed with MrLeach's interested in making sure that we both have made the right decision for ***'s welfare to maintain, not only the well deserved care and love he has had in his current living arrangements, by personally witnessing and reviewing the records of ***'s history on file, but his future welfare as wellWe have agreed that not only will ***'s previous training will continue with myself and a daily basis,but should he not adapt to his new enviroment (which I don't foresee that being a problem, as my last canine companion was with me for long years), that he would go back to MrLeach and no one elseI thank Auburn publicly for trusting in me to care for *** for the rest of his life and allowing me to continue to work with him with the excellent training he has already received from his previous care
...and Yes, I have read the negative reviews from of MrLeach's previous customers, and I'm sure they both have over-reacted to the situations that occuredAnyone reading those negative comments should visit the KAcademy and see for themselves how the canines in the facility are truely being taken care of and the clean enviroment in which the training and boarding is being conducted
The Auburn Leach KAcademy is receiving a rating of stars from me

I am so thankful that we chose Auburn Leach to train our German Shepherd puppy. As she grew, we realized that it would take a professional to train a 7 month old 50+ lb. puppy. Auburn has trained her for our special circumstances and continues to work with us.

In regards to Mrs. [redacted]' allegations below, we were delayed by one day returning her dog because it had snowed and she lives across the mountain from our facility. Our vehicle was not equipped to handle potentially slippery roads. We returned her dog the next day.  When we got there, there...

were a lot of workers on the property, and we did to do a class with her and the dog together.  She appeared to be happy with the training, but was busy with the workers on the property, and we agreed that another follow-up was needed.  I believe we even have video taped footage of her working with her dog the day we returned him.  We are checking our files. 
  
We bounced back and forth with phone calls in the first week, and when we finally did reach her, she unexpectedly told us not to come back.  She offered no explanation.  Once someone tells us not to come back, we respect their wishes. As far as her statement that "a female answered the phone and said they just couldn’t deal with me as they were busy with the holidays," I can't imagine anyone in the answering service who answers my phone would have said something like that.  They simply take messages and pass them on to me.  However, if someone did say that to her, I would like to know who it was that Mrs. [redacted] spoke to. 
  
We have tried to contact Mrs. [redacted] since receiving this complaint, but have been unable to get a hold of her, but she has not returned our calls. My assistant, [redacted], left a message for her and has not heard back. 
  
I feel terrible that Mrs. [redacted] is unhappy, and wish I would have known this 9 or 10 months ago so we could have resolved it.  When we returned [redacted], he was very well trained, Mrs. [redacted] seemed happy with him the day he came home; however, since she asked us not to come back, we were unable to help reinforce his training with her, and without being able to teach her how to continue reinforcing the training and handle the dog properly, the dog is not going to respond as well as he could. 
  
We would like to offer Mrs. [redacted] an apology and refund half the money she paid.  We'd be glad to do the follow-up with her and the dog that we originally wanted to do if she will allow us to. 
  
Please let me know if this will be acceptable to Mrs. [redacted]. 
  
Thank you, 
  
Auburn Leach

Auburn Leach did a great job training Sabrina. She is well behaved, no longer pulls when walkng on a leash and follows commands. While Sabrina was at the facility for training, Auburn respond to calls for updates in a timely manner. Since completion of training, Auburn has provided follow up phone calls and visits. I recommend Auburn to others.

Auburn Leach K9 stated they have given the consumer a partial refund.

I accept Mr. Leach's offer of half the fee I paid him, $1,400.00 (half of which is $700).
I filed the complaint less than a year after the transaction, after many many times of trying to reach him (times shortly after he had my dog). He took six weeks to answer the complaint I filed with the Revdex.com of Western Virginia. He has called me, and assured me I was not the only person to have problems with his business, and that I would have a check from him by 31 October 2014. 
 
Regards,
[redacted]

Ive had a great experience with Auburn. My 8 month old boxer/lab had no manners. Wouldn't sit, stay, would run right out the front door when I opened it. Now he will sit, stay and love that I know he will not run out of the door as soon as I open it. I live right on busy road. He goes right in his kennel when told to do so. Great job auburn

Review: My dog was in need of training. Due to my health I need a service dog and wanted to have my own trained. I read good things here about Auburn. He seems to be a nice man who was fallen on hard times. My dog was sent for board and train. I was told by his assistant [redacted] that Auburn would have to me a fully trained service dog within six weeks. My dog would go to Auburn for two weeks, home for two and then back for 2 weeks with him for the amount of 3000.00.

She was picked up and I did not bother him for 2 weeks. Then I called and texted for two days before I got an answer that his assistant was sick and in the hospital and he needed to keep my dog for at least another week. I agreed. Almost two more weeks before I heard anything after checking daily and I finally said I was coming to get my dog and he agreed.

I travelled and was given my dog who seemed physically ok but was very skiddish of auburn and any movement. She was fitted with a choke chain and I was told to correct her I needed to jerk the collar and firmly say no. I was not thrilled but she seemed to listen for the first couple of days. Then it was like she had not been trained at all even though I followed every step he told me too. I was happy the first couple of days but when she stopped listening even with multiple daily sessions I got concerned.

I called Auburn at end of 2 week for her to go back. Showed him how she wasn't listening. He grabbed her by leash and jerked her hard and yelled NO. She was visibly shaken and scared again I could tell. I then told him she wasn't coming like he supposedly had trained her to the first month. He let go of her off leash and she took off. It took him and his asst trainer 45 minutes to catch her while I watched. She only gave up cause she was tired.

Back she went for 3 more weeks again due to his overscheduling. And my dog is no more trained then she was after the first month. She knows down sit heel (not well) and does not do those very well. She is not close to being a service animal even though he bought her a generic vest and said to keep working with her and in maybe 6-9 MONTHS she would be ready. I was promised one in 6 weeks fully trained!! So I am out 3000 and time and no closer to the promised product I entrusted him with. What I have left is a nervous and hand shy dog whose spirit is broken because of these careless practices.Desired Settlement: I want a full refund of my 3000, written apology to myself and Mr Leach to stop using choke chains on dogs. My dog has suffered an injury to her thyroid due to this so called training method. I suggest he get updated training methods because those from where he supposedly went to school don't work. I also revoke any media permission and ask all pictures and video be forwarded to me at once.

Review: I needed a dog trainer for my Shar Pei dog and asked [redacted] in [redacted] if they knew of one. They do not recommend trainers, but did give me this company name. I contacted Mr [redacted] and he said he could train my dog to walk (not pull me), socialize with other dogs, sit, stay, and in general be a good pet. He said he would come and pick up the dog, he expected full payment then, and he would return the dog. He would continue to stay in touch and if need be would work more with the dog, and would come to the house and work with both the dog and myself.

I called every few days to see how [redacted] was doing. He assured me he was learning very quickly and they really liked the dog. I mention this because on the day he was to return the dog, he didn’t come and I had to call him and was told he was busy and it would not be that day. He had someone call me the next day and said it would be the following day. This was very unsettling for me. When he did bring [redacted] back, I had workman in the house and it was hard for me to pay attention to both Mr [redacted] and the work going on in my house. He left and said he would call me the next day. Finally after 3 days I called him, a female answered the phone and said they just couldn’t deal with me as they were busy with the holidays. I told her the dog didn’t appear to be the least bit trained and I would like to get my money back. I never spoke to the company owner again. He NEVER called_NEVER tried to get in touch with me again.

I am sure you wonder why it has taken me 10 months to file a claim. My son was going to help me with the claim but went off to [redacted] before he could get to it. I have called the numbers I have for this business but so far my calls have not been returned. The answering service said they had given him my messages twice.Desired Settlement: The only resolution I think is fair is to return the fee in full. Their website says they guarantee satisfaction. I expected my dog to be a well-behaved, gentle dog following what Mr. [redacted] told me to do in the 20 minutes he was at my home when he returned the dog. My dog came back shy of people, aggressive towards other dogs and when walked pulled extremely hard. I have no idea what they trained him to do while he was at their “boot camp”; but he did not learn any skills, especially not to pull me and get along with other dogs. He did come back leery of people. It is hard to resolve problems when people will not communicate with you; nor will they perform as they promise and are paid in good faith that they will.

I have now found someone to work with me and my dog.

Business

Response:

In regards to Mrs. [redacted]' allegations below, we were delayed by one day returning her dog because it had snowed and she lives across the mountain from our facility. Our vehicle was not equipped to handle potentially slippery roads. We returned her dog the next day. When we got there, there were a lot of workers on the property, and we did to do a class with her and the dog together. She appeared to be happy with the training, but was busy with the workers on the property, and we agreed that another follow-up was needed. I believe we even have video taped footage of her working with her dog the day we returned him. We are checking our files.

We bounced back and forth with phone calls in the first week, and when we finally did reach her, she unexpectedly told us not to come back. She offered no explanation. Once someone tells us not to come back, we respect their wishes. As far as her statement that "a female answered the phone and said they just couldn’t deal with me as they were busy with the holidays," I can't imagine anyone in the answering service who answers my phone would have said something like that. They simply take messages and pass them on to me. However, if someone did say that to her, I would like to know who it was that Mrs. [redacted] spoke to.

We have tried to contact Mrs. [redacted] since receiving this complaint, but have been unable to get a hold of her, but she has not returned our calls. My assistant, [redacted], left a message for her and has not heard back.

I feel terrible that Mrs. [redacted] is unhappy, and wish I would have known this 9 or 10 months ago so we could have resolved it. When we returned [redacted], he was very well trained, Mrs. [redacted] seemed happy with him the day he came home; however, since she asked us not to come back, we were unable to help reinforce his training with her, and without being able to teach her how to continue reinforcing the training and handle the dog properly, the dog is not going to respond as well as he could.

We would like to offer Mrs. [redacted] an apology and refund half the money she paid. We'd be glad to do the follow-up with her and the dog that we originally wanted to do if she will allow us to.

Please let me know if this will be acceptable to Mrs. [redacted].

Thank you,

Auburn Leach

Consumer

Response:

I accept Mr. Leach's offer of half the fee I paid him, $1,400.00 (half of which is $700).

I filed the complaint less than a year after the transaction, after many many times of trying to reach him (times shortly after he had my dog). He took six weeks to answer the complaint I filed with the Revdex.com of Western Virginia. He has called me, and assured me I was not the only person to have problems with his business, and that I would have a check from him by 31 October 2014.

Regards,

Ive had a great experience with Auburn. My 8 month old boxer/lab had no manners. Wouldn't sit, stay, would run right out the front door when I opened it. Now he will sit, stay and love that I know he will not run out of the door as soon as I open it. I live right on busy road. He goes right in his kennel when told to do so. Great job auburn

Auburn Leach did a great job training Sabrina. She is well behaved, no longer pulls when walkng on a leash and follows commands. While Sabrina was at the facility for training, Auburn respond to calls for updates in a timely manner. Since completion of training, Auburn has provided follow up phone calls and visits. I recommend Auburn to others.

Two years ago I sent my English bulldog to Auburn Leach's K9 Academy. He was extremely aggressive at times and was never formally trained. Auburn has been an amazing asset to Garth and myself. Garth's aggressive tendencies run deal, and after 2 years Auburn continues to come to my home and help with the various issues that arise. An important component to Garth's continuous progress is the initial obedience training he received. My dog feels comfortable with very few people. To see the way he interacts with Auburn and his team is truly amazing. I will be forever grateful for the help, support, patience, and professionalism Auburn Leach's K9 Academy provides to my temperamental pup and I.

am completely disappointed and distraught. I adopted Lucy from the shelter 7wks ago had separation anxiety, I found out after she broke out of her crate within 2min of me leaving to test out how she'd do by herself. I've had 4 dogs in my life, and I didn't even know separation anxiety existed. It's worse than you can imagine. I emailed a few board and train places in distress (when really, I should have called the Humane Society where I adopted her from and talked to one of their behaviorist), and then [redacted] from K9 called me right after another stressful moment. She said that [redacted] would turn this shelter dog into a confident dog and that confidence would break her from her separation anxiety. I verbalized that my fear was that this transition would make things worse for the poor shelter dog, and that after a couple of weeks, I would get back a really well trained dog that still had separation anxiety when I left. [redacted] said his 20 years of training would fix her right up. I was wishful thinking.

He doesn't answer his phone and his voicemail box is full every time you call. He called me back, though, so I just got used to that. After 2 weeks, he decided to keep her for another week because she was a tough case and her abuse was worse than he had thought. Then she would be dropped off the following week. But I never got a phone call that week. And then the week later, I called and [redacted] said the following week. In total, I got her back 5 weeks later. She was almost as skinny as she was when I got her from the shelter. She no longer sat on command. She didn't "down" when he told her too. She was skittish and nervous and didn't enter the kennel when he told her to. It was obvious he loved her, though. He is a dog lover...but certainly not a trainer. The lack of ethics in taking a dog that is so fearful of never being fed again and being abandoned, and using force to try to get past separation anxiety is simply beyond my comprehension. My fear was that I would get back a really well trained dog that still had separation anxiety didn't come true...she wasn't even well trained. She was housetrained, which I am thankful to him for. She still counter surfed, she didnt come when called (I'm not sure she even knew the name I gave her when I adopted her, which he would have used for the 5 weeks), she didn't go down when I told her, she tugged like crazy on her lease (the harness I used on her after I took off her choke collar he used on her worked so much better), and worst of all...she still suffered from separation anxiety. Because it's nothing you can train out of a dog. And he should know that. I have since learned that the only way to cure a dog of separation anxiety is months of desensitization and counter conditioning. 1 minute at a time.

I paid $1450 to get back a dog that was housetrained. She didn't even whine when he left... And really, I'm not upset that he couldn't fix her. She wasn't fixable without months of counter conditioning. I'm upset that he took $1450 from me, and I didn't even get a dog that was well trained. She was leash aggressive and even growled at a toddler.

5 days after she came home, I called him upset that she was still in panic mode re: me leaving. Spinning in circles, trying to get out my front door, panting, ears back, barking, howling. PANIC. I wasn't able to leave her. He said, don't take her back to the shelter, I'll call you back tonight. He never called me. He still hasn't. [redacted] won't return my calls. And of course, I don't have a copy of my contract. They kept my only signed copy.

This not a reputable company. It is not his company's fault that Lucy will have to go back to the Humane Society where she will be euthanized bc she is not adoptable and they dont have any behavior fosters that can dedicate 24/7 with her. It is not. But is it this company's fault that I am $1450 in the hole and literally will have nothing to show for it.

I am so thankful that we chose Auburn Leach to train our German Shepherd puppy. As she grew, we realized that it would take a professional to train a 7 month old 50+ lb. puppy. Auburn has trained her for our special circumstances and continues to work with us.

Review: Auburn Leach is a sweet and effective trainer. The problem that I have with Auburn and his company is purely based on the fact that communication and the professionalism is horrible. I have an amazing Saint Bernard whom I adopted a year ago, and has been showing behavioral issues. Because of his large size, I opted to try Auburn's two week boarding training service. The price was hefty, and more than what other trainers ask for, but I took a chance. It was explained to me that training goes beyond the two week boarding, and does not end until the problems are fixed, which justified the price. My problems began when appointments were scheduled after the return of my dog from boarding, and having three no-shows. One appointment, the trainer arrives 45 minutes late. I called multiple times, to no answer. Auburn asks that appointments be scheduled with his assistant, and also gives his personal number for emergencies. In my opinion, that means there are two people that can either and we phone calls, or two people to alert a client of last minute cancelations/tardiness. I, as a client, should not have to call multiple times in order to receive an explanation. In the end, I feel as though I have overpaid for dog training. Auburn no longer returns phone calls, or checks in. Had a he training been completed, I would have been satisfied. The three training sessions I had were productive, but insufficient. My advice to Auburn would beto either replace his aassistant, or practice better communication. I understand last minute cancelations due to emergencies, I do not understand paying someone and that person dissapearing with my money, and no results.Desired Settlement: Partial refund due to partial service.

Business

Response:

Auburn Leach K9 stated they have given the consumer a partial refund.

We wholeheartedly recommend Auburn Leach as a dog trainer. He has done a great job working with my dog Leo, who has significant aggression issues. As first time dog owners, my girlfriend and I were not prepared to properly handle our dog, an adopted middle-aged chow-shepard mix from the local animal shelter. With Auburn’s guidance, we have made a lot of progress in a short period of time. After taking Leo for a two week resident boot camp, Auburn continues to visit our house weekly to work with myself, my girlfriend and our dog. We are very satisfied with Auburn’s care and commitment for our situation and his continued efforts to help us train Leo.