ZenDog — Local services in Broussard

We decided to take our 1 yr old boxer to Zen for additional training leash walking. I was told to bring him in for evaluation and meet and greet and the cost was $155, but the lady on phone said if we did additional training they would apply to training. I agreed and set up the evaluation and meet and greet. The trainer informed me that she would advise me to take him weekly for training and would like to do private lesson at out home. I agreed but mentioned the following week we had a need to board for 3 nights to go for out town graduation. I asked would be be OK to start the following week since I would be spending $500 for the evaluation and the boarding within one week. The trainer said they could take him but he would need to be separated until he was better adjusted to being with other dogs. I completely understood. They placed me on with the trainer and I asked her if any of the evaluation cost could be used toward future training and she told me NO it was just for the day of evaluation. So I was misinformed by the staff and felt like they did not believe me and did not apologize for misinforming me. They informed me they would send email and set up the boarding and the registration. They did not email me and when I called 3 days before the boarding they said they had been busy and would still get to it. I then asked the lady on phone a question bc I had looked on website and saw the registration was the same cost I had been quoted of $55 and it said it was membership of $55 a month not a registration cost. The lady on phone placed me on hold and when she returned told me they had reasons for why they do the membership they way they do and they have a small business with select clients and they had decided that I was not a good fit for there services. I was completely shocked and taken off guard so just told the lady I understood and hung up. I think that as a customer I should be able to understand what the costs are. I do not think it is unreasonable to ask questions. I am a RN and work full time and my husband is MD so we are able to pay for the services but that is not the point. I was misinformed about the evaluation and it appears when I questioned the charges they decided to black ball me. While I realize there are always 2 sides to every story, this is my side of the story. With short notice I took my pup to Paws for another evaluation costing $25 and was told he my pup did well. I booked the boarding with them on short notice and my pup did very well with other dogs. I was able to see and check on him with a web cam while out of town. The last thing, I want to say is I emailed asking to speak to management or owner with no response. I decided that this business that cannot even speak to customers to resolve a problem needs to be reported. I wonder how many other clients they have done this to. You may be good at training however I am very said and disappointed about how this business is run . I will inform everyone one I know what happened and ever recommend due to poor business ethics...

ZenDog did not meet our needs. I can see how this would be a great place for a new puppy with no learned commands; however, our standard poodle puppy was already able to sit, down, shake, and walk on a leash. We voiced our issues as leash walking with other dogs present and how he interacted with/somewhat picked on our other older smaller dogs in the home. These needs were not at all met in trainings. We were also really looking for training where we could be present to learn with him, but after calling a few places, we determined in-home classes were too expensive (and would not allow for the presence of other dogs) and in-facility trainings weren’t allowing owners to be present due to COVID at the time. So, at the time, the 4 week (2 days per week) program for $600 seemed most logical for us. We were misled to believe there would be an in-home training pre and post the 4 week sessions. We found out at the time of his pre-training appointment (after calling when no one showed up to our house) that it was supposed to be in the facility (not in home) so we had to quickly load up and drive across town for a pre-training interview (no training or tips provided, just talking with trainer about our concerns). At the end of the 4-week training we received a video of him completing the learned tasks (at least half of which he was already doing prior to training) by himself with no other dogs present (again our major concern was in the presence of other dogs). We also received paper handouts of the different skills being taught.

In our honest opinion, this served as an overpriced doggy daycare with a brief training session each day. Lastly, no one ever reached out to us about our in-home follow up visit which we already paid for and were looking forward to as the most valuable part of the training. We reached out months later requesting our follow up visit, it took a few days for them to get back to us, and finally we were able to schedule it. To our own fault, a major scheduling conflict arose at the time of the visit and we were unable to cancel until the trainer was present at our home. We were (and still are) extremely apologetic as it was very unusual circumstances for us. I reached out to reschedule (as told to do so) and received a call from the manager being told we could only have the follow up visit if we paid again for it since we lost our credit for not canceling in advance (which we totally understand and are still sorry about).

As a result of all these miscommunications, we never once received an in-home visit, our dog still has all the same difficulties as he did before training, and we are out $600.

I would have rathered splurged and spent more $ for a different program that better fit our needs, had we known this is how it would’ve turned out. On a positive note, the 2 trainers we met were...

When I scheduled a class I was told it was full and directed to an earlier class, which turned out to be for younger puppies. I could have registered for a later class, but elected to stay with my year old standard poodle for the experience of being trained with other dogs as distractions. The first class consisted of the instructor reading to the 5 sets of pet parents while the dogs sat. A laminated sheet handout would have been helpful for clients to follow along. It seemed not very much for the cost. I could have done the same on the Internet. The subsequent classes covered introductions to sit, leash walk, sit on a pet bed, leave it, and a brief play session at the end, which my dog was able to enjoy only twice after they found she was nice with smaller dogs. Because she was older, all instructors spent more time with the younger dogs. One class I asked the instructor to try something with my dog, and she did. One very nice instructor, Whitney, did allow her to meet a nice cat twice after the class, and she was not aggressive with the kittie, which was good. The training is P+ Only and they do not allow pinch collars. Treat training is the order of the day. What happens if a dog wants to dash across a busy road to chase a squirrel, or if the dog is not food motivated? Twice work outside was cancelled for rain, so no outdoor leash group practice. A covered carport would be nice.

Homework is supposed to be sent to do each week vis email, but I guess they spelled my email wrong, because at the last of 5 classes they assured me they had sent it twice, but I checked spam and inbox and received nothing. My dogs name was also misspelled on her graduation certificate. C’est la vie.

Overall, for $175.00 it was not a bargain for us, but undoubtedly very good for first time dog owners needing basic training for their puppies. Those who can work the basics with their own dogs can save the $$. Positives: Exposure to distractions, introducing her to a nice cat, and she decided that jumping into the back seat was a prelude to an interesting trip. I had worked on that for months, but on her 3rd class it clicked. Very nice people. Negatives: She barked a lot in excitement in class and sometimes still does on “exciting trips” to the Lowe’s or TSC but it’s slowly extinguishing as such trips become...