Wag Mates Academy
“Excellent 2-week board and train with trainer Ryan K near Chicago via Wag Mates. First time leaving our 6-mo German Shepherd mix, wanted to avoid the typical boarding/day care facilities which can be great but overwhelming and unstructured with 10-30 other dogs. This setup was perfect for us. Ryan provided details and answered questions over the phone and via text ahead of time. He transported our dog to/from the house -- not a short drive! -- and took time to review our training goals and dog's medication requirements. He projected calm confidence, communicated clearly, and was passionate about animal welfare and training dogs and their humans. He sent useful videos everyday, not just cute pics but actual training tips we can refer back to. Upon drop-off, he spent about 100mins with our family showing us what to focus on, answering our many questions, providing practical and objective product recommendations (love my clicker!), even walking around the neighborhood since leash training was one of our main goals; he is dedicated to creating a smooth and successful transition back home. Even offered free follow-up lessons whenever we wanted, incredible! Our dog didn't have any major behavioral issues but her fundamentals improved and she's more comfortable in the crate; leash manners / excitement meeting other dogs requires more work but we now have better tools and knowledge and have made progress in the weeks since she returned. We will book with Ryan again.
Wag Mates is not a local company but more like a service that connects you with contractors, which I was hesitant to use but turned out to be well organized and useful. Anna, Pedro and Ryan S. did a great job coordinating; policies and communication were customer friendly. I've already recommended to a family member.”
