Acadia Canine Academy

"Working with Jim was wonderful. He helped my girlfriend and I have our dogs meet for the first time as my dog historically has not gotten along with other dogs. He was thoughtful and explained each thing he was doing as he was doing it. Everything he said felt extremely knowledgeable and helped train myself and my partner to be better dog owners as much as it helped train our dogs! I felt very safe and that our dogs were safe the whole time we were working with him. It felt like Jim genuinely cares about the work he does and it showed in the way he interacted with our dogs. I will be going back here to help with all my dog training needs."

"Wild child Tamed. I recently adopted a Rescue Husky puppy named Angie, who I immediately knew I was meant to take care of. I had Huskies in the past and felt I could really give Angie a wonderful forever home. Once she arrived and settled in I realized that Angie had a few behavioral issues, which were concerning because she would be around my 20 month old granddaughter. I had traveled to the Hudson Valley New York area to not only visit with my daughter and her family, but also to find a new home, as I would be relocating there from Boston. I knew that Angie required more expert training than I was able to provide and that's when I stumbled upon Acadia Canine Academy in Kingston, New York. Jim, right away, was able to assess that Angie had a high energy drive which he would help her with. He reassured me that she was not aggressive or nervous, but just needed additional training to work through her issues. He was great with Angie and provided me with a wealth of information regarding her motivation. I truly appreciated that he was a very calming force not only with Angie, but also to me over the separation anxiety I was experiencing while Angie was in training. He not only gave me progress reports but he also sent me videos of my dog during her training lessons. It was comforting to see her progress with each new session. JIm was really a miracle worker for Angie. She's back home now and doing great. Angie is still the wonderful high energy dog I adopted, but she is listening more and the behavioral issues are dissipating. Jim is the best trainer I have ever encountered and I can't sing his praises enough! Thank you again Jim! Donna Fitzgerald"

"Leaving Garrett with Jim for two weeks felt like leaving him with family. Garrett came home a different and well trained dog. The best part is that Jim is always a phone call away with advice or suggestions. Love the fact that if we have to go away overnight Garrett is in great hands with “Uncle” Jim"

"I met Jim who needed some welding on his dog gate. I quickly realized his wisdom and knowledge about the dogs was superior. We continued to talk and his passion for his dogs was evident. I would highly recommend Jim to anyone who needs his services."

"Working with Jim was absolutely great, I can't recommend Acadia Canine Academy any higher for dog board and train work. We brought our 1-year-old, Wolf, to ACA for training. We were hoping to work on a few things, among them: recall, anxiety in public, and reactivity towards other dogs. Wolf lost a leg at some point before we adopted him, so we assumed there was some serious trauma he had undergone that contributed to his anxiety. We were hopeful that Wolf could fare well with good training. Jim was very happy to take Wolf in for board and train, and was highly generous with his time over the phone to discuss any detail or concern. Dropping Wolf off, I felt reassured that it would go well, as ACA is clean, organized, and Jim's dogs are wonderfully well behaved. Picking Wolf up, I could tell Wolf had a wonderful time and made incredible progress on all of our points of improvement. It was also a great learning experience for myself. Jim gave highly perceptive observations on Wolf's behavior, and also suggested that his missing leg may have been due to an attack from another dog, which would explain his defensiveness. I hadn't thought of this, but it made a lot of sense. Furthermore, Jim showed deep interest and care in Wolf, and he gave some advice and discussed therapeutic relief for Wolf's remaining hind leg. Today Wolf is a more relaxed, more obedient, and better trained pup. We are looking forward to working with Jim and co. at ACA again. Attached is a photo of Wolf, and him doing a fantastic sit for us."