The Canine Training Center

Amazing Abilities The Canine Training Center (CTC), headed by Andrew Wildesen, is truly an amazing service! From beginning to end, Andrew's years of experience and dedication to 'painting the picture' for your dog is simply amazing! CTC, wisely, does not focus on just the dog... they focus on the entire family as participants in the successful training of the dog! So many times before we thought it was the dog's fault when misbehaving. Then we learned that it isn't just the dog that needs to be trained... it is the owner(s) as well! That is where CTC taught us to 'paint the picture' for the dog... be consistent and timely when training and boy did that make the world of difference! Upon entry into the In Kennel Training, our dog (Socks) was a bundle of excitement anytime anybody came to the door. She wanted to run up the landing and sniff, sniff, sniff, jump!! Some thought it cute, but my wife and I did not. With our new baby on the way, we new we had to get Socks under control! After the In Kennel Training, it was night and day! Socks was perfectly in line with our commands and is happier now that we (K9 & Humans) are on the same page, painting the same picture! Funny enough, it wasn't just the problems with people at the door that were resolved due to the training, Socks now heels, sits, and downs perfectly! I HIGHLY recommend The Canine Training Center!

We enjoyed training and learned a lot in the process. Andrew and his company are very engaged, professional, positive and passionate about dogs. The dog fence installation was quick and extremely affordable.

Excellent. Have problems with dog, go here.

A++++! Andrew and his staff are AMAZING! 1st class all the way. Knowledgable and friendly. They go ABOVE AND BEYOND by far! They did an amazing job with our spirited 1 1/2 year old German Shepherd. Would recommend to anyone and everyone.

Bernie was at board-and-train for 3 weeks (22 days total) while we were on vacation (their typical program is 2 weeks but we wanted to coincide with our vacation rather than have him there 2 weeks and then go on vacation afterward). It's only a day back, but he responded well to the training and is behaving according to what he has learned so far - did well with our other dogs and didn't even chase one of the cats - he held the "sit-stay" until released. He was reportedly a star pupil. The CTC's training materials and videos, along with the 1-hour pick-up session orientation, were excellent adjuncts to the actual board-and-train - which we refer to as sending Bernie to "doggie boot camp." This was very expensive but thus far very worth it.

John was very attentive and hands on training the dog and myself on the techniques I just mentioned. He was excellent with dog and presented all the teachings in an easy to practice format.

My canine companion was treated well in all ways. The trainer was very professional and as good at interacting with overprotective dog owners as with training the dogs. Andrew is an extremely passionate and caring trainer. He has a very good staff. It is my opinion that for this flavor of board and train Andrew is among the very best. You can be sure your dog will be trained and never mistreated.

Andrew and his team (John and Amber) are awesome. I cannot say enough wonderful things about them. First and most important - they all obviously love dogs. They even loved my dog, who is lovable, but had some very specific issues. He's an 18 month old, 70 lb., bulldog mix. He's strong and was a puller on the leash. He was also becoming a little territorial and would get rough with us and the other dogs when he got excited. We did the Board and Train program and the training was life-changing! He is so much easier to control! He learned all the basic commands - sit, down, heel, come, etc., but more importantly, he is just generally more responsive to us. He jumped over our fence a couple times prior to training and hasn't done that since. Now, when he gets close to the fence, we just call him and he comes running back to us. When we say "no," he's immediately responsive. We continue to use the e-collar for walking and we're continuing to work on "heel" and loose leash walking. He pulls a little, but responds when we correct him. Prior to the training, we were rarely able to walk him with the other dogs because of the pulling. Now we can walk him with one of the others and enjoy the walk! He still pulls a little, but when we correct him, he responds. We're so glad we did the training and will definitely train our dogs with Andrew in the future!

excellent trainer, very knowledgable.

I was very happy with the service. My dog came back very well trained. Five or six months later and he is still fairly well behaved. The staff seems pretty nice. Before you go, they take you over for a session where they talk about their philosophy, what they do, dog psychology and stuff. When you pick them up, they spent about an hour with you and going over with all the commands, what they’ve done and how to maintain the training. They also give you access of the website where they have a lot of videos that show you the techniques they’ve used to train the dogs. The price seems to be the going rate. It’s a lot of money but I don’t regret spending the money at all. My dog was just out of control and hard to control. He’s been fine since he came back. If I’d spend that kind of money on dog trainers, I would definitely go back to them.

The class was $200.00, but we were highly encouraged to purchase a training bed/platform which cost another $75.00 or so. I did not always understand what the trainer was talking about. He kept saying "mark, reward" and to this day, I don't know what it means to "mark" with a dog. I didn't mind purchasing this training bed platform at first, but once we were in the class, some students would ask, "Should we make our dog get back on the platform?" and often the answer was, "No, you don't have to" and then I wondered why it was necessary to buy the platform thing if it wasn't used more often in the class. The instructor was enthusiastic, and a nice person. The training location was hard to find...it was dark, at night, and I feel like some sort of light should have been on at the end of the driveway. I almost gave up and went home on the first night because it was impossible to see where the building was located due to the darkness. It would have been nice if there was an electric lantern at the end of the driveway. It seemed that all of the training was entirely based on just bribing your dog with treats. That is something you could explain to people in a very short time. Each session was related to different ways on how to bribe your dog with treats. I could not buy into the idea that that is the best way to train a dog. I had to miss a class due to a work obligation, and then I felt after that I had no idea what we were supposed to do. I decided to just buy a book on dog training and use that instead. I can't decide if I would use this provider again or not so I just said No. If there was a "maybe" I might have checked that box.

Training is going fantastic! We have been to 2 of the 6 courses and learning something new every minute. The instructor is extremely knowledgeable and our husky is picking up everything extremely fast. John (instructor) does new commands with our dog first and then watches us repeat to ensure we understand thoroughly. His hours and meeting location are extremely flexible. We have only done the private lessons but have heard fantastic reviews about the group lessons and board/train options as well.

My dog,Dillon, really enjoyed John and he learned quite a bit. Still being a puppy, Dillon has a ways to go but he understands and obeys basic commands.

I called and had to leave a voice message as Nobody could answer my questions concerning the training they offered - the only person that I was able to talk to was a phone operator - I left a voice mail asking for help in training my newly adopted dog. I did not hear back from them until three weeks later. I decided after one week to seek out another trainer for my dog.

We highly recommend this company. The owner is very knowledgeable, professional and patient. He is great with your dog and his customer service is outstanding. He will answer as many questions as you have and stand behind his product. This company is very responsive and their follow through is impeccable. We can't say enough good things about the wonderful experience we've had in working with this company.

They were very helpful, even though they were not able to help with what I needed help with. The gentleman called me back and was very helpful, even gave me links of places to try that would better suit what I was looking for.

I got major, major run around trying to get information about their services and that kind of left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I didn't feel the staff was very friendly. The person who was actually going to do the training seemed very young and inexperienced. It was a lot of money; for two weeks to send my dog off to training it was going to be a couple thousand dollars and they were only going to provide a half an hour a day of training. So that is a whole lot of money and they had no guarantees about what they were doing, how effective it was going to be. It just didn't seem like it was going to be worth the money. The person who was actually doing the training, we played phone tag back and forth probably six times. So they would call me back but then I wouldn't be home so I asked for a cell phone number or some reachable number so I would actually be able to reach somebody but they were not able to do that and they were actually a little bit hussy about it.

Fantastic. They were great, the dog came out looking like a new and improved dog.

I have two dogs and they just finished a level 1 class with them. They have been fantastic and we really like them. We are going back for level 2. I found them on Angie's List and they had a great website. I emailed them to get information and they were responsive using emails to communicate. They got to me right away and my dogs were able to take the class.

We did quite a few things with them. In the past I used them for animal training and to put in an invisible fence. They were fine. When I told them what happened they came out right away. It was easy to arrange an appointment. I was very pleased and the work they did turned out well; it was repaired.

Andrew was very responsive to both phone calls and emails, they were very quick to provide information on their product and when they could perform the installation. On the day Sam arrived at my home for the install, he was very polite and walked off the area to fence with me once more. He took care in our yard and did a wonderful job. The training lessons with Andrew began shortly after, his respect for my wishes in training in a purely positive manner were greatly appreciated. He worked wonderfully with me and my puppy and in no time had my puppy staying happily in the yard without any trouble at all. The in home lessons were to help get my puppy off to a positive start and they really paid off too, he was well behaved when he started more formal training in Puppy kindergarten. It's been several months now and the training has held. The white flags marking the fence line are long gone but our now 11 month old doesn't go near the line. He learned the gateway command and knows that the word free means he can cross. We highly recommend Sam and Andrew for fence installation and training!

The whole experience with The Canine Training Center ("CTC") was remarkable. Andrew Wildesen and his staff at CTC are extremely knowledgeable, patient, and caring canine training professionals. Importantly, they kept us informed and involved in Brody's training every step of the way, and their follow-up since Brody completed the two week program has been the icing on the cake. We did a lot of research before selecting CTC, and we definitely made the right choice. The quality of our relationship with Brody is vastly improved precisely because CTC help us and Brody learn to understand each other better, so now we can spend more time just having fun. Our friends and neighbors are truly amazed with fact that Brody is not only well behaved, but also happy to be pleasing us with his good behavior. Andrew made sure we were comfortable "taking over" by arranging personal sessions (as is done for all Board & Train clients) for us to see what he was doing with Brody, and to learn how to continue his progress at home. During our first such train the owner session we were so pleased and impressed with how much Brody trusted Andrew, how patient Andrew was with Brody (and us), and how eager Brody was to "get it right" for Andrew. The training at CTC is about building trust and confidence, not forcing animals into submission. It is done with a loose leash and a calm voice so the dog enjoys the experience of learning. The cost of the Board & Training program was extremely reasonable, especially in light of the value received. We unconditionally recommend CTC to owners of dogs of all ages, and we will be using CTC for even more advanced training for Brody and ourselves in the future.

Provided Angie as a one-on-one trainer for me as a new puppy owner. INVALUABLE. Then I purchased follow-up new dog owner group classes and have been very pleased with the structure of the training. Receiving valuable information in a repeated, yet varied manner has been extremely helpful. Four paws up for this organization.

Andrew and the entire team at The Canine Training Center are the best trainers we have ever been with! From day one they teach you how to think like your dog so that you understand their behavior and how the training methods work. They were very patient and caring to our dog ? and to us! We used CTC for group classes, board and train, and the Dog Fence (electric fence system). Our dog had a very high prey drive so taking her on walks was a huge challenge. She had escaped the house and yard on multiple occasions and generally was being a dominant personality. Andrew and the CTC team totally turned her around! Group classes: We went to both levels of the group classes. Level 1 uses only positive rewards. The trainers really helped us understand how to get Tessa to trust us (she?s a rescue) and be comfortable. They even had a few fun commands beyond simple obedience like training Tessa to close a door, turn on a light switch, or find our keys! Level 2 is when they introduce corrections ? but not punishment ? and more difficult commands. Again, Andrew remains very patient. The corrections are never meant to hurt or scare your dog, just make them think. Board and Train: While we had been in the group classes, it was apparent that Tessa needed more work than we could do on our own given our schedules. We were seriously considering if she could remain with us. But Andrew was great! He assured us Tessa?s behavior was completely manageable. He understood our hesitance with using the e-collar (aka a ?shock? collar). He explained his philosophy behind using the e-collar and ensured we only used a professionally rated device (not the kinds you get at the big box pet stores). We decided to enroll Tessa in the 2 week board and train while we went away for Christmas. This was the best decision we could have made! When we brought her home she had the same personality but her behavior was a complete 180. They provided great support in showing us how to maintain her progress at home. Dog Fence: We got an electric fence because our fence was short enough that Tessa could jump it. We had it installed before she went to board and train so she was trained on how to recognize the ?invisible? line while there. All we had to do was transfer that knowledge to our yard. Andrew came over and worked with us to ensure that Tessa believed the electric fence was a line she can?t cross. It?s so great to be able to let her off leash! We honestly can?t express enough praise for CTC! It has been a wonderful experience and we will certainly use them whenever we need more training!

I found CTC through a general web search. I rescued a dalmatian in June (our 3rd dalmatian and our 2nd rescue) who was attacked by a large dog during the rescue process. She was fearful and as a result, attacked a neighbor's dog, so I needed specific help with dog-dog aggression. I had trained our previous dogs, but this was new territory for me. I spoke with another trainer who was very negative and pessimistic about my dog and her future. My email inquiry to CTC was answered within a day or two and my initial telephone conversation with E went very well. She was compassionate and understanding (she owns a dog who has dog-dog and dog-human aggression issues) and willing to work with us. She knew first-hand the challenges we were facing. From beginning to end, working with E was fantastic. She was flexible in scheduling sessions and was always available if I needed to talk to her between sessions. She's a great person to work with, and our relationship was truly a partnership for dog obedience. I held up my end by making sure I did our training homework exercises, and she held up her end by being specific and flexible in finding the technique that would work best for my dog. We always met at a neutral location to minimize my dog's potential aggressive behavior. E would demonstrate what to do, have me do it, and then provide feedback for ways in which I could improve. E was encouraging while being realistic and the improvements we've seen in our dog have been nothing short of amazing. My dog may never be able to socialize with other dogs, but she's not acting half as aggressively as she was before. I could not be happier with the results. I will definitely contact this group in the future if I have another challenging dog.