Leashes & Leads — Attraction in Rochester

Recently, we enrolled our 9-month old Golden Retriever, Lily, in Leashes and Lead’s Canine University, a dog training program. This service cost $2,000 for the enrollment. We were excited and had high hopes for the correction in some of Lily’s lingering “puppy behaviors”. After nearly a month of training, we saw little to no progress in any of the areas we were concerned about. In fact, while at training, Lily learned several bad habits. We are VERY dissatisfied with the complete lack of communication, professionalism, and results provided to us by this “training program”. We have listed our top concerns below: Communication from the trainers was inconsistent, and updates were few and far between. The initial training was scheduled for 20 days. When we contacted the trainer to schedule a pick-up, a conversation we had to initiate, the trainer asked us for the permission to keep Lily for an additional 10 days. The reason given was that Lily’s behaviors were just now presenting themselves for correction. What had been done during the first 20 days? When we arrived to pick up Lily, we noticed that her nails were so long that her digits were forced into an abnormal position. We when asked the trainer about it, she stated, “We were just so busy that we didn’t have time. When we did have time we forgot.” Immediately after noticing her nails, we also noticed that Lily was filthy; her coat was dusty and full of dirt. Her hair was matted and she had a very strong odor. We were asked what our Top 3 behavioral priorities were. These were changed without our knowledge or consent and re-ordered on the training summary that we received at the end of the training period. Of the top three behaviors that we listed, there was no improvement. We were stunned by the lack of communication from trainers. This including delayed responses to many of the questions that we asked. In several cases, it was 5 days before the trainers responded to us after we had asked a question or repeatedly requested an update. The training summary that we received at the end of the training period is full of explanations (excuses) about why certain behaviors weren’t trained or improved on. In most cases, this was attributed to Lily’s shyness. Not once were we informed about “shyness” when asking for updates or progress reports. Lily was not a vocal animal before her training and rarely barked. Now she barks at anything and everything. This is a behavior she learned during the training and now one we have to correct. According to the training summary, they reinforced all of her training behaviors with treats and rare or no positive affirmation. Lily now does not behave consistently unless awarded treats. This is disappointing and unhealthy for her long term health. During her visit, the trainers informed us that Lily had a significant case of diarrhea, a condition she only suffers from when given too many treats or has an inconsistent food schedule. Before attending the training, Lily never barked at our neighbor’s dog and consistently passively interacted with the animal. Now, every time they are outside at the same time she barks. When we arrived to complete with training with a one hour training session for the owners, Lily was excited and not exemplifying any corrected behavior. When asked, the trainer said “Well, we just forgot all of our training because she is excited.” When asked about our requested toy and/or fetch training, the trainer stated “We did not have time to cover the toy training.” This was a 30-day training and we are not seeing improvement in any of our priority behavioral areas. We requested training to correct Lily’s play biting. This has not improved. We requested training to correct Lily’s leash pulling. This has not improved. We requested training to correct Lily’s tendency to jump up on new arrivals. This has...

I wish I could say that I'm over the moon happy but I can't ignore the fact that the last 2 times I've boarded with them my dog has come home EXHAUSTED, lethargic and always some kind of "congestion" in her nose. When I picked her up, there was a notice on the counter about some kind of virus they had been made aware of. Over the Christmas holiday, It turned out to be full on Kennel Cough despite being vaccinated. This last time, her congestion seemed to subside within a week. In addition, this last time, she was dehydrated and had lost 6 pounds in 4 days. I should have known- just pulling into the parking lot to drop her off, she started to quiver and was scared. In all fairness, my dog has become very sensitive after losing her brother and "womb mate" in October- but her shyness is all the more reason I have to be more careful about where I board her. She needs special attention and I'm afraid, with the number of dogs they board, the level of noise from typical barking and kennel atmosphere, it's just too chaotic for her. That's not all Leashes and Leads fault-- but a large facility like this just isn't the best choice for her. I was quite shocked this last visit to hear that in November they increased their prices to $38/day. Add to that, a lack of flexibility and consideration around pickup. My husband and I missed our flight. I called early that morning letting them know we had missed our flight and wouldn't be able to get there until after 3pm. Out of our control but still, no consideration was made for an already stressful situation and day. Not only were we charged more than I thought but was also charged for an additional day without apology. I was aware of the pick-up policy (past noon, another day is charged-- noon? and you're charged a full extra day? That doesn't make sense to me but, I did know this was the deal), had just hoped they'd make a consideration given our travel situation. Unfortunately, I'm not going to be boarding with Leashes and Leads in the future. Not 100% their fault as I've described. Just very...

WAY too many people working and you never see the same person twice and nobody knows what's going on. There's nothing personable about this place. The gal checked us in (with confusion!) and then took my dog without even getting to know her a little or letting her sniff the "New person" and DRAGGED her by the leash to the back room. Pricing on board is double what you pay elsewhere and the hours of "checkout" are like a human hotel. That works for humans, but not the pet owners who work and have events during the day. Dog was boarded there 1 night, then to grooming. We were told we'd get a PHONE CALL when she was done at grooming. After 4 hours, I finally called to check and see what was going on, they said she was done. So I went to get her and then they tried to charge me another night's board for a late check out! First of all, I never got a call when she was done...Instead, they sent an email which I later discovered. I don't have my email attached to my phone, so I didn't know she was ready. They said they would call and a phone call is what I was expecting. Then the girl at the register asked me 3 times if I wanted to leave a tip for the grooming. NO - I do not! They never called like they said they would and then wanted to charge me for another night of boarding for late pick up. AND there was even a note on my file to say "only charge 1 night" since the dog was going to grooming. I pointed that out to the other lady who finished checking me out and she said "yeah, I see the note on there, but you are late to pick her up"...OMG!!!! I about went through the roof! YOU NEVER CALLED ME!!! This place is ridiculous and nobody seems to care about anything but their "Tasks and collecting money"...if you want warm and fuzzy caring people, this is NOT the place to bring your pet! I will never go back. They lost a potentially great customer. 1st impressions are everything and this was not a good one at all ! I've never seen such a circus. There is no customer service or loving atmosphere for your pet. It's very stressful environment. Never...