Tops Kennel

"Exactly like a few recent reviews, we had a very brief “evaluation” with Selena. Not sure it lasted 5 minutes. Told to get a prong collar, muzzle, and come back when she can heel. Yelled at me the entire time and we didn’t even get 5 feet from my car. Went to a different trainer last night and the experience couldn’t be more opposite. They spent an hour with our dog and we have a plan in place for her. Their rehab vet practice next door is incredible. Went there for the last 7 months of my previous dog’s life and they did amazing things. But the training is atrocious, based on my experience (and a few others). And it seems like they’re perfectly fine with it based on the replies. If you are unable to help - fine. But you don’t need to treat people like garbage to convey that. Furthermore, I called to cancel boarding with them and explained it was due to this experience - rather than apologizing, I was told “oh that’s fine”. Be prepared for this treatment if your dog isn’t already well-behaved."

"I took my 3 y/o shepherd here for an ~hour long training eval. He has a tendency to be reactive, so I was nervous about how he’d do around other dogs. We met with Chris and she fixed that immediately. She was very patient with me and my pup. Very informative. I essentially left that day with a different dog. It was incredible to watch and be a part of, and I’d recommend tops to anyone."

"I drive an hour and a half out of my way from the city of Chicago to drop my dog here for boarding . My golden retriever is much much happier here . Every single employee here loves dogs. It’s not just a source of income. They genuinely love dogs and I can see how happy he is . The staff here are just amazing!!! My Golden needs a lot of love and attention/ pets( like all Goldens ) and they definitely supplied him with that . The staff even remembers me even though I hadn’t seen them in years after my old German shepherd boarded here . They take in all sorts of dogs from the GSDs to the attention seeking goldens . They even washed his toys prior to pick up- the attention to detail!! I would never board my dog anywhere else ."

"I had received Horrible Service during my dog’s Evaluation. I had my evaluation meeting set at 12:30pm, and i had arrived 5 minutes late due to being stuck by a train. The trainer, Selena, who i was supposed to meet up with, was 30 minutes late to even speak to me, let alone wanting to do the evaluation outside in the cold because she wanted to vape outside, until i mentioned doing it inside. She asked me what issues i had in an irritated tone, which was just some minor behavioral things, crate training and separation anxiety, to which is the reason i’m looking for training. my dog is a pitbull, very sweet pitbull. There were a bunch of dogs barking, and my dog being a Shelter dog, an absolute sweetheart, will bark due to other dogs barking, but will not bite nor has he bitten anyone. He has been great with kids, adults,and other dogs. I was then told due to his barking, he is not allowed to train at this facility because he is “aggressive” and could be a “possible threat” to others. My dog just gets stressed when he hears a bunch of dogs barking, due to being in a shelter. Selena even tried walking away from me during the conversation as I was backing up my dog and saying he wasn’t aggressive whatsoever while she telling others in the facility otherwise and to stay away from my dog, who was laying down in between my legs. my brother has brought in his aggressive pitbull who would bite other dogs and people, they allowed him to do group sessions but my dog couldn’t because he was barking. Completely unprofessional, Seems like they don’t want business. I wouldn’t recommend coming here, let alone, training with Selena. Waste of time."

"Not impressed at all! My dog, Wrigley, is an intact 9 month old American Bulldog/Mastiff mix. I have owned him since he was 3.5 months old. I have been able to teach Wrigley the "basic" commands of: sit, stay, come, leave-it, lay down, shake, bed-time (command he is given to go to his bed/crate), eat (command he is given when being released to eat his food). I scheduled an evaluation for Wrigley to be placed in the Intermediate Training Class, to help me get Wrigley ready for "Off leash" walking and training. The trainer spent 5 minutes with us. She walked Wrigley from the parking lot into the training classroom (About 150 feet). She didn't give a single command or allow me to show her what he knows. During this incredibly short "evaluation", she made the determination that Wrigley was an "aggressive Pittie", that was "going to be a problem". This determination came from Wrigley being interested in other dogs and Wrigley barking at dogs that were barking at him. The trainer told me that Wrigley could not be trained at Tops. Wrigley has been socialized from the first day I got him. Wrigley has been around kids, ages 5-15, unfamiliar dogs and adults. He also frequents dog parks in the area. He has never been aggressive. I will not recommend or revisit this place again."