Great Pets by Brian KIlcommons

"Where do I begin? In the past, my dog Murphy was extremely difficult to walk. In fact, every outing turned into an MMA bout, and I would return home exhausted --both physically and mentally. Walking him was neither enjoyable nor relaxing. Murphy was a leash puller. And God forbid he saw another dog; it took everything I had to control his ninety-eight pounds of fury. I am now the proud owner of many pairs of “trendy jeans” that were unintentionally ripped after being dragged on the ground several times. Understandably, I was at my wit’s end. I love Murphy with all my heart and hated that we couldn’t enjoy more time together outside. I saw other dogs walking calmly and thought, “Why can’t that be us?” That’s when I reached out to Brian. Before our first session, we talked extensively on the phone about Murphy, myself, and my endeavor to change his behavior. He spent lots of time listening and assessing “our” problems before advising. Everything he said made sense, and his instructions were easy to understand. When I arrived for our first lesson, I felt at ease with Brian and fully prepared to work with Murphy. We practiced many techniques of redirection paired with positive reinforcement. Then while we were walking, a fox appeared. I anticipated the worst (which was wrong for me to do, but old habits are hard to break). Despite my initial reaction and much to my surprise, Murphy did not react and ignored the fox. It was as if Murphy was abducted by aliens and replaced with another dog!!! Well, I was amazed that after just one lesson —with the careful guidance of Brian—he is a changed dog. Murphy now walks quietly and calmly by my side. Now, I am able to go on hikes, to parks, and beaches with Murphy—something I used to dread. It’s great that I can take him to these places without having to leave him at home. My battles with him are over—no more exhausting walks. Our time together outside is now fun. Brian’s lessons were priceless. He is truly gifted at what he does and clever to recognize that “it takes two to tango.” I, too, needed to change my ways to make this work. I appreciate his frankness—he tells it like it is. He stresses consistency but, most of all, fun. He firmly believes in positive reinforcement and that loving words and praise are the best rewards. Best of all, Brian is a kind man with an excellent rapport with dogs. My dog Murphy can be aloof with strangers, but when he first met Brian, he was attracted to him as if they were old friends. To me, that’s important—dogs are an excellent barometer of people. The key to changing Murphy's behavior was gaining his trust through positive reinforcement. If I could give Brian ten stars, I would. He’s the best!"

"Four Paws Up! We left our 1 yo pup, Benji, with Brian for training and boarding during July 2021. Despite having worked with other trainers, we had a common list of city-dog issues – leash walking, sidewalk scavenging, recall -- and Brian addressed all of them. Benji came home happy and obedient, and strangers would hail him on Broadway as a ‘well-trained puppy’. When we returned two weeks later for a follow-up meeting w Brian, Benji was clearly overjoyed to see him again. Perhaps most importantly, Brian taught us and the pup to be better attuned to each other. Brian is the BEST…and we can’t thank him enough!!"

"Brian Kilcommins and Great Pets is the best gift we have ever given our dog. Not only does she love Brian and being up at their expansive and beautiful property, she has become the sweet, well trained dog we always wanted. Brian is ultra-responsive, keeping us updated on progress with daily videos and pictures and his care and knowledge regarding dogs is nothing short of extraordinary - he literally wrote the book on dog training! He is a pleasure to deal with and cares for our puppy as if she were his own. We cannot say enough amazing things about Brian and Great Pets and choosing them to help train and care for our dog has been the best thing for her, and for us."

"Brian trained our puppy as soon as he was old enough. We have children and needed to be sure our new puppy was trained. Not only did Brian train our puppy at his facility, but he also makes visits to us upon our request to help refresh our knowledge of commands. We get compliments all the time on how well our dog listens. Brian's only goal is to make sure your pet is trained and he does an excellent job at doing so. While other trainers may be extra pampering in their handling of the humans, Brian means business and makes sure the money you spend gets the desired results and therefore is very direct. I noticed some other reviews negatively speaking about Brian. If you want someone to make YOU feel good and possibly train your dog, great. But if you want someone to focus 100% on training your pet and imprint long lasting obedience, Brian is the guy. Personally I do not have a risk tolerance for an untrained dog around children or wasting time and money. We refuse to board our dog given our attachment to him. The only place we allow him to stay is with Brian at his facility. While it's a good 2 hours out of the way, it's a no brainer for us. Not only does our dog get the attention he needs (Brian only accepts a finite amount of dogs), but also extra training and gets to play with other dogs. I'm happy to give a live recommendation if anyone ever wants."

"I bring my dog everywhere and she is so well behaved and that is all thanks to Brian! She is still a puppy and it takes some effort on my part to reinforce the training that Brian has given her but she can handle any situation she is put it. I just recently took her to a food truck festival with thousands of people and she patiently waited at my feet in the line. When people asked if they could pet her she walked up and sat in front of them in her most polite greeting and allowed them to pet her. She is 7 months old and a dream! Thanks Brain for giving Red the tools she needs to be a great pet!"