Dog Academy Of NC

I can't say it enough how amazing this place is! We are first time dog owners and getting our doggo from here was the best decision ever. It's only been a little over a month. Our pup was practically trained for us. We never have any problem and he does so well. Touching his paws when cleaning him upon entering the house, it makes me especially happy that his crate is his safe space and sleeps there all through the night without having to lock it.

We did exactly as they told us and he only chews on his toys, loves car rides and doesn't mind other animals, children and social/crowded places. I would definitely recommend getting your puppy here!

We got our dog Nas from them back in February. They did a excellent job training him and raising him up. He is super smart and well trained. I would recommend them to everyone.

Michael did such a great job training my dog Teddy. Teddy had some major anxiety issues being a pandemic pup. Whenever I would leave the house he would tear something up. Michael worked with me to get control of Teddy again and helped me realize that I also needed a lot of work. He worked with me individually each day to teach me new lessons on how to better manage my dog. I would 100% recommend working with Michael if you're looking for an amazing trainer. You will not regret the money you spend.

Dog Lovers Beware: I sent a $500 deposit to secure a puppy from Sandra, the owner of this business. I asked her if she had done the genetic panel screening for the litter, and replied she had but was waiting for results. She failed to produce them. She then claimed she had done the test but to the parents, but instead sent me a pending status report.

After a month she failed to produce any. I live in Florida so I asked her if the puppy would fit in a Sherpa so I could fly him home and she said yes, but that wasn't true. The airlines require the dog/puppy be able to stand and turn and that wasn't the case. These are long legged dogs. She then claimed that she was not aware of the airline regulations but instead insisted he could travel crammed in the Sherpa, that another dog did before. Unethical and illegal.

The airlines would not have allowed it nor would I had done it to the puppy. She then proposed that I pay for a dog nanny at $450 but at $2000 for the puppy, incurring for another unexpected cost was not reasonable to me. So I asked her to incur the cost because she gave me faulty information in which I based my travel plans on. She refused and begrudgingly agreed to pay for half the cost.

When I disagreed, she gave me back the deposit and told me the puppy was no longer mine. She did give me a date on when the puppy was ready to go home and I kindly ask her if I could pick him up a week later. I never imagined that it was going to be another reason to get more money and create a crisis. In sum, I was excited to have the puppy. I was emotionally invested, I even gave him a name.

I feel she took the deposit, kept it for a month and then failed to make the process work for me. I believe she was not honest with me with the genetic testing, with the Sherpa, and she failed to assume responsibility for the way she handled the whole process. She failed me as her client and even worst she failed to care and protect for the well being of the puppy. There are many breeders more caring, professional, accommodating and reliable out there to settle for this.

Bought a puppy that I was told was trained and crate trained etc. He was not. Called to bring him back for return. Owner of this business only would refund half of my money saying he would have to retrain the dog. These are dishonest people who don't care about their customers. They charge way too much and aren't honest. I lost a ton of money

A little over a month ago, I adopted a 9 month german shepherd who had a lot of trauma with a family with 7 kids and no rules. She was wild and used biting as communication. Michael and his wife Sandra have helped me in ways that are immeasurable. They took her for 3 weeks, in which Micheal and his team trained her in a boarding program. They helped me understand how to handle a powerful dog in her circumstance and how to handle my own feelings in the process. There are not enough stars for this company. Simply put, Micheal is the best and he saved my relationship with my adopted dog and made it possible for us to flourish.

Michael is truly the dog whisperer. His techniques are simple, straight forward and focus on developing strong communication with your dog. We have learned that consistency and calmness with our pup are key! We adopted our 5 month old Weimaraner puppy from Michael and Sandra in November. They had been working with her for few weeks on her training before we picked her up.

On the day we picked her up, Michael spent almost 1.5 hours with us going over the best ways to communicate with our new pup, how to structure a training lesson, etc. We walked away thinking we knew it all! Fast forward a week, and our dog was whining, barking, and driving us nuts. We returned to Michael with our list of questions and he patently walked us through how we could structure walks, lessons, and playtime with our pup.

The big lynchpin was our actions were contributing to our pup's poor behavior and Michael helped us see this without making us feel judged or like we were doing things wrong. When got home, we put the techniques into play, and it was like we had a new dog! Over the weeks, we started to see some behaviors we weren't excited in our pup including excessive whining while in her crate.

We texted Michael and Sandra for advice. Michael came out to our home to observe how we were interacting with the dog and quickly offered us coaching on how to best communicate to the dog. Truth be told, this was the same coaching he gave us on day 1 but it became more clear to us after more time with our pup - his methods work, but consistency is key! Michael and Sandra are amazing - professional, responsive, knowledgeable.

They know what they are doing when it comes to training dogs and helping to establish lines of communication with dogs. We are very happy to have found them and would highly recommend adopting a dog from them and/or working with them on training.

I just spent two weeks with my new puppy at the dog academy. During that time she confidently learned how to walk on a leash and to heel, come and sit - these were the most important skills for me. She also learned some pillow work. I loved that while my puppy was boarded, I was still able to come each day and learn along with her. Mike is an excellent trainer.

Great with dogs and people : I particularly liked that it felt like a whole family was helping train my dog and me. Mike, Sandra and their three - very well behaved young children - are amazing. It was a warm, inviting atmosphere, and along with my puppy, I gained confidence and competence as a responsible owner.

We are new dog owners and Mike is AMAZING. Our puppy is so well behaved, does what he has been taught and Mike also ensures the owners being taught about the importance of teaching and reading a dogs behavior. We learned so much and felt super comfortable taking our puppy home. Wonderful Service, wonderful people. We couldn't imagine another dog trainer with so much experience, knowledge and reasonable priced. We can 100% recommend! THANK YOU MIKE AND SANDRA!

We got our Puppy, Stitch, when she was 8 weeks old from friends of ours who were breeders. She was a very active puppy but she was also a biter, was aggressive, and had myriad other behavioral issues. It got so bad for me that I told my husband that we would probably have to give her back. Insert Michael Ward and the Dog Academy of North Carolina. Michael was recommended to us by our dentist and he has been a God send since the moment we contacted them.

He and his wife, Sandra, were professional and extremely informative throughout this whole process. We decided to have her boarded for the 2 week training and it was the best decision EVER! My husband and I were able to visit often and were shown how to properly train once she comes home. Michael always answered our questions was very patient with us and Stitch. Stitch has returned home and the difference in her behavior is astronomical.

She is like a brand new puppy. We are continuing to use the techniques that Michael taught us and are looking forward to our puppy's continued improvement. I would recommend Michael to anyone that needs services for their dog. A million thank you's to Michael, Sandra, and the Dog Academy of North Carolina for helping our family and our puppy!

To put it blatantly, Mike and Sandra are effing great. We adopted a dog from Durham aps and took her over to Mike for a consultation. His recommendation was to do boarding because of our dogs breed and also that we had another female in the house. He also said that we could visit our dog after 3 days so that he could gain a bond but after we could come every day and even bring out other dog for a lesson as well.

He was absolutely perfect. Yes he uses pinch collars but he does so in the way they are intended. It is clear he has been trained and educated on training dogs. Our dog was a pretty difficult case and after 3 weeks we are stopped on our walk all the time asking how we got her to just be a civilized dog! The first thing I said is Mike at the Dog Academy will guide you down the road of building a better bond between you and your dog.

Him and his family are amazing and they all participate in the training of your dog. We grave a friend for life and can't recommend him enough. Go for a consultation and you'll see!

I highly recommend this training center. They are exceptionally skilled at training dogs and have an understanding of how to communicate effectively with them. We purchased a new puppy from them, and the dog was house-trained, crate-trained, and walked well with a leash. The owners provided a thorough course for me to follow their program and issue commands. Their "correction, " strategy works well to provide commands. It's a great place to work with, and you will be happy that you did.

My family purchased a pre-trained puppy from the Dog Academy of NC. He seemed too good to be true from the advertisement but he is EXACTLY what they said. Sandra was extremely helpful and very responsive to my seemingly never-ending questions. I would have no reservations about getting another pup from them in the future!

We contacted the Dog Academy when we purchased a Briard Service Dog for our son and the company shut down. We were suppose to get him at a year old fully trained and they handed us a large 35 pound 3 month untrained puppy. I had him an hour, and he chewed up a seat belt in my car. He also went the bathroom in my car and chewed all over my son. It was my worst nightmare.

I handed Michael a big mess. We had never had a dog and I personally felt lost and helpless in handling our dog. I am not a dog person at all. Michael Ward was our saving grace. He not only trained our dog but also put in countless hours working with me to teach me how to manage and care for him. We have had him home now for almost a month. We are currently looking into the next step in training for our dog for being a full time service dog for our son Charles.

Other trainers and many people are shocked how well behaved our dog is currently. The crazy part is our dog already fulfills many of the beginning requirements for the basic skills. He is crate trained with no bathroom issues. He can come, sit, stay, walk by my side in public with no issues. He doesn't bark, chase anything or jump up on anyone. He is quite in the crate and house most of the time.

We still struggle with puppy chewing and hyper activity due to age but that's about it. Thanks to Michael our dog brings joy to our family and most importantly is already a well behaved friend for our son and family. If you need help with your dog or are a first time dog owner in the triangle area I would really consider using Dog Academy.

Dog Academy of N.C. was just what my "bully" English Bulldog needed. She was getting more than I could control (she thought she was the alpha). Michael & Sandra are both very competent, very nice and easy to work with. They have an excellent facility for dog training. S. Trivette

Michael has had my dog Tyler for two weeks now. He has made great strides in getting Tyler to not only behave much calmer but he has given me the ability to walk him on a leash without stress, get him to not bolt out front doors, and today I receive him back and will have a new rules set in place for my home. When you have a dog that clearly does not listen to you, is extremely stressful to even take for a walk, and you have finally reached your wits end. Michael is definitely the "dog whisperer" of North Carolina.

I may not agree with all of his method training, but he has gotten my dog to completely and utterly behave in a manner that will make a better relationship for me and Tyler. I highly recommend Michael and if you are looking to adopt a dog or puppy Michael and his wife go to the high kill shelters and scoop up a bunch. They make sure they are healthy, get their shots, and depending on their age get neutered/spayed.

He also gives them some basic obedience such as housebreaking, sit, and the ability to walk off of the leash. You will definitely be getting a well socialized, well behaved puppy or adult dog when you adopt through the dog Academy of North Carolina.

Just came across this Yelp page as I was referring a friend to Mike. Total transparency - this style of dog training is not for all owners or for all dogs. I have a staffy named Erwin who I adopted in Durham. At around 8 weeks Erwin began showing signs of aggression. He would growl if you came near him while he was eating, he would play extremely aggressively with other dogs and was completely unresponsive to any food motivated training.

I took Erwin to see Mike where I observed results of the rigorous training Mike had used for his personal dogs. I was impressed. Erwin stayed with Mike for three weeks and I'll admit there were several times when I almost pulled him out of there. Mike uses pinch collars, which on short haired dogs, can sometimes cause wounds on the neck. As I saw progress with Erwin, I decided to stay the course.

After three weeks, Erwin came back a completely different dog. He had mastered basic commands like sit, down, stay, come and a command to send him to a dog bed on the floor. Additionally Erwin learned to walk both on and off leash. Today Erwin is 5 years old and has never once seen another trainer. Erwin has never been aggressive toward another dog or human, is capable of going on long walks with no leash, has perfect recall and is the greatest family dog since Lassie. In summary, Mike's methods are crude but they work.

I do NOT recommend Dog Academy of NC. Our dog was poorly treated by Michael. She lost weight and came home with significant wounds on her neck and legs. She also had a large wound in her belly that was a staph infection. In an attempt to hide how poorly she was treated, they decided to shave my dog WITHOUT my approval. My dog was neglected and mistreated.

Now that I've done my research, I came across this article on WRAL that I strongly believe to be true: http://www.wral.com/5onyourside/story/3782247/ If you have any questions about my experience, please email me at joneja4@gmail.com

Michael Ward is an amazing dog trainer! I can honestly say I was skeptical about sending my dog to any trainer. I throughly searched several reviews from local trainers and The Dog Academy of NC had the best reviews and Michael was accredited so I gave him a chance. Absolutely the best decision I could have made when it come to my dog, Blue. He's 10 months old and we've had him since he was 6 weeks.

The transformation Blue made in the short 3 weeks is actually impressive. It's like a whole new pet! He's a lot more calm and well behaved. Michael actually taught me a few things about myself. He showed me how to calm down, and communicate to Blue without aggression or yelling. I learned that dogs react off of energy, so in turn I constantly check myself to make sure I'm being a better person to communicate with my dog more effectively. If you're thinking about taking your dog to obedience school, I recommend The Dog Academy of NC.

STAY AWAY! This guys dares call himself a "trainer" My dog was with him for a week for the boarding/training program. This was the most horrible experience ever! Went I went to see her after 5 days that I wasnt allowed to see her (because he needed to bond with her) She had WOUNDS on her neck! from him over using the pinch collar! she also had infected sores all over her body!

When I ask him what happen he said dont worry about it shes fine. FINE! was far from what she was! she wasnt just physically ill she was also petrified even of me! It cost me $400 in vet bills just to fix the wounds he had caused her. Please if you love your dog stay away from this HELL HOLE!

I read all the reviews before deciding to give Michael Ward my business. I know a few people have had bad experiences, and that is too bad. I have had an incredible experience working with Michael, and would like to share it with you. He was very professional and helpful from the moment I contacted him. While doing a consultation with me and my dog I immediately got a sense of the type of training my dog would recieve.

From that moment on I knew he was going to be an excellent trainer for my dog. A little background. I adopted Brutus, a 7-8 month old American Mastiff mix, knowing that he had extreme socialization issues from a puppyhood of abuse and neglect. Wanting to get him on the right path I knew he needed a lot of work and also a firm hand in his training (he was already 96 lbs when I adopted him). Michael uses a mixture of correction and praise in his training.

This means using a pronged metal training collar to correct your dog when he/she doesn't listen. If this isn't your cup of tea, then so be it. There are many methods to train dogs, and different dogs will respond to these methods in different ways. Coddling my dog was only going to reinforce his issues, so I decided that a balanced correction/praise method was the right one for my situation.

For Brutus, a dog that will snap at you if he is afraid (like if you are a stranger and you stick your hand out to pet him) I felt this type of method was absolutely neccesary. I like to think of it as a "tough love" method. I enrolled Brutus in three weeks of dayschool training with Michael, dropping him off before work and picking him up at the end of the day.

Each day when I picked him up Michael would spend time with me explaining the work he had done with Brutus during the day, and having me do a fifteen minute session to critique my handling skills. This was extremely helpful in learning how to provide my dog with the correct levels of praise and correction. The first week was really hard, especially correcting him when he wasn't listening.

The "tough love" early on meant that as time progressed I had to correct Brutus less and less, which meant getting to praise him more and more! I definitely had second thoughts during that first week, but having gone through the whole process I now see that it was by far the most important time in his training. He had to know who was in charge, and that listening was not optional.

After three weeks Brutus is a completely different dog. He no longer is afraid of everyone and everything, and is better trained in obedience than the dogs I had growing up. He still has a lot of work left to do, and I bring him to Michael twice a week for doggy day-care so that he continues to get socialized with other dogs and learns how to play.

This type of training isn't for everyone, but it certainly was the perfect training for me and Brutus. I was never going to be able to love him out of his issues, but I can now control him enough that he feels safe when I have him on the leash, so that we can go out into the world and make progress. If you have a dog with serious issues, don't hesitate to get a consultation with Michael, and see if he is the right kind of trainer for you.

We had our dog trained here and take him here 3 or 4 days a week for doggie day care. Talking to Michael it's clear that he knows a lot about training dogs. He has a very spiritual philosophy about dogs that really reinforces with me how much he loves dogs. I recommend this place to anyone considering training and boarding their pup.

Michael Ward lost my dog. Leaving Baxter in his care was the most heartbreaking decision I've ever made. Your dog is in danger with him. edit: Perhaps more caution should be taken to make sure this never happens again, given that Michael lost ANOTHER dog this week.

In considering this business for training my Mr. Ovie Alexander, I called for an appointment and setup a consultation. I withdrew from giving this person my business when I read this article: http://www.wral.com/5onyourside/story/3782247/ I'm sorry. He may have done some good things for two people's dogs, but ANY situation like this stinks of something much larger.

I'm not a client of Michael Ward, but I've witnessed the incredible results of his compassion and hard work as a dog trainer. My boyfriend's sister in Morrisville brought her then 6-year-old Shar-pei to Sandra and Michael. Back in California, I'd heard stories about Pumba's aggression issues and how he'd attacked friends and family members in the past.

When Pumba began his stint at Doggy Day Care, my boyfriend and I were amazed to see photos and videos of Pumba listening to commands and playing with other dogs just days and weeks after his enrollment! Almost two years later, Pumba has made a complete 180-degree change. He is extremely obedient, responds to commands, and his aggression issues are almost non-existent.

My boyfriend's sister no longer needs to put up her dog fence around the house, and you can clearly see how much happier both dog and owner are today. Pumba is a true success story, and I believe Michael and Sandra were instrumental in his transformation. They've really proven that with the right amounts of hard work and patience, you really can teach an old dog new tricks.

My boyfriend and I visited his sister last week, and I met Michael and Sandra when we dropped off her dogs before our trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains. They are a very friendly couple who were so excited to see us and the dogs. Their yard is huge, with plenty of space for dogs to roam and play. In addition to dog-training and kennel services, the Academy rescues dogs and works to find them new homes.