Kathy Santo Dog Training 21 Harrison Avenue, Waldwick, NJ 07463

"The BEST of the BEST. Kathy and I met over 10 years ago when she had the Ramsey location. My Old English Bulldog, Hank, was in desperate need of training (of ALL kinds) The word stubborn was an understatement and I was starting to be fearful that this dog was going to be the biggest problem child I ever had. He chewed holes in the walls of my condo, shredded countless pairs of Haviana sandals and at least 5 of his own beds. Between the 1:1's, play care, and group training, Hank became the poster child in our family. He was incredibly obedient, loving, playful and I never had to worry about him destroying household items again. Fast forward 2020, I got my 2nd baby, Eleanor Taylor, the pig. Hank needed a friend and pigs are lower maintenance and make great companions to dogs (not to mention very adaptable). 6 months in I realized we needed help; Eleanor needed more than what we were doing. I reached out to Kathy to learn she was now in Waldwick and welcomed the idea of training a pig! The school is much bigger than Ramsey and always exhibits cleanliness and organization. Kathy and her team are really a breath of fresh air and for the last 2.5 years, we have been going to Saturday class with Eleanor. She trains alongside some of the best dogs and kindest owners I have ever met and let me say; she leaves class EXHAUSTED and goes home to nap right away (WINNING!) It feels so family oriented when you're there and I couldn't imagine training with anyone else; she's literally top dog in the business :)"

"Hi my name is Casey Ritzzo. I just want to give KSDT a huge thanks for the amazing job they are doing with my two newly adopted rescue puppy mill dachshunds. They are a little over a year old and when I got them they were very scared and ferrel but are turning into such well behaved and lovable princes. It's actual quite magical! Thank you again to the entire KSDT staff for the tremendous love and support you have shown these pups! I highly recommend KSDT to anyone who needs training for their fur babies."

"It’s that time of the year when we find ourselves thankful for our blessings. For me, I’d like to openly share how thankful I am to the KSDT facility. I’ve had dogs for over 50 yrs ranging from Working Class to Hounds, from competitive level to companion. Each had their own challenges in training and unfortunately most trainers resorted to harsh measures due to lack of knowledge of tge breed. Then I met Kathy Santo!! There is no one more tuned in and experienced and with a natural feel for animals. Be it Behavioral, Obedience, Competition, this school can handle every need and aspect of training! Her staff are well qualified and knowledgeable as well. They do it with love and respect no matter what the Breed or no matter the area of need.That’s most important to me. They give their personal undivided attention and they do it with love! So, anyone reading this that has a new puppy coming for Christmas, adopting, rescuing please do yourself and your dog (young or old) a huge favor! Check this school out! You won’t be sorry! Happy Holidays everyone… Leigh Creamer"

"In the spirit of Christmas, I wanted to gift Kathy another review. Tonight I sat with my current trainer (part of an amazing, highly respected organization that actually uses cognitive and behavioral science, along with only CERTIFIED TRAINERS in their methods) we chatted about this facility, Kathy herself, and the horrific lasting effects that they imprinted on not only my mental health, but more importantly, my dogs. We sent our two labs there for what had to be two years almost daily. Full days of playcare, and hour long one on one training sessions.. typically both five days a week. I started to realize that Blue (who had been in training here for a very long time and had some known resource guarding issues) would act differently when he came home. He could barely make it out of the car without peeing for over a minute, and the smell would be so strong as if he’d been completely dehydrated and holding it for hours and hours. once inside he’d immediately run to the fridge and press the buttons to get the water dispenser to turn on because he was so thirsty. I raised these concerns with Kathy’s team. They said blue was drinking and peeing as normal and they weren’t aware of any issues at the facility. Weeks later we hear from a former employee of Kathy’s who had just resigned. This employee tells me that they were too afraid to say anything while working at the facility, but I was right to be concerned because while we were sending blue for playcare, he was being kept in a crate all day long with no water because he was “too aggressive” for playcare and “too aggressive” to have water in his crate. Now keep in mind that Kathy’s team had trained blue for over a year at this point. They know he is not dog aggressive. He is a resource guarder, which we are the first to admit, but he has never attacked or bit another dog. Do you think we would have gotten a second dog if his aggression was so bad? But also, at no point did Kathy or anyone else tell us that blue would not be able to attend playcare. She let us continue paying her thousands of dollars monthly, only to have our dog sit in a crate for 9 hours a day. The only reason we sent them there was so that they could socialize during the day while we worked and not be bored at home on the couch. If blue was too high of a risk to attend playcare in their eyes, we would have happily accepted that and understood and kept him home. But again, it was never communicated to us. Furthermore, when I talked to Kathy about this directly, she said the employee was lying because he was angry and that blue goes to playcare all the time. “Okay,” I said, if that’s the case, “send me video footage of blue in playcare.” Her response? “We don’t have cameras in the facility.” Which.. anyone with a brain would find a little crazy.. how could you not have cameras in a facility with so many dogs? months later a trainer very close to us and blue reached out to me to apologize for what Kathy made the staff do with blue. And apologized for all of the lies that Kathy told, but also for not telling us about them sooner. So please also realize, not only could we no longer trust Kathy, but also not the “trainers” that will hide the truth on her behalf to put their job over the wellbeing of your dog. So here we are Kathy. Years later and this is still one of the most traumatic memories of my life. I will never forgive myself for failing Blue by trusting him in your hands. It brings me to tears thinking about how much damage was inflicted to his behavioral issues by crating him all day rather than him being home and cared for with me. And if posting a review like this every so often protects one more dog and family from a situation like this, I’m happy to do it for the rest of my life. You will never convince me that you care about dogs. And I strongly believe you do not deserve the unwavering love and forgiveness that they give. Merry Christmas."

"I can't tell you enough how wonderful this establishment is. The people are caring and very well trained. I initially went there to look for boarding and Doggie Daycare. I am now a believer and would shout from the rooftops to encourage my friends with puppies and dogs to experience Kathy's training. I used an at-home trainer, and my dog learned how to sit, lie down, and give paw. After a few weeks, he was back to pulling on the leash and basically stop responding to commands. After 1 day of play care with fast track, my dog responded to all commands. At 1st, I thought Kathy's program was a bit of overkill, but she is the best trainer we have had, and we are on dog number 8. Love this place, I would leave my son there if they could train him as well! We love their special events as well."