Testimonials
I am not sure who lacked more confidence at our first class with Danielle— Lula or myself. It was amazing to see a difference in Lula in just our first lesson. We finished our puppy lessons and continue to work at home strengthening what we have learned. We are looking forward to the next part of our training. I am so happy to have found Milligan Valley!
– Lisa Cruise
I trained my Old English Sheep Dog over 15 years ago where Whitney was an understudy…I wanted to train our Portadoodle puppy with similar recall, manners, boundaries for a happy family/puppy life—Whitney and Danielle provided me one on one training for two sessions, indicating the online tutorials which are free for intentional training that I’d find helpful in my training and disciplines to understand and hold fast to as I taught them to “Stella”—They could have easily continued the sessions and charged the business fee for their services however it was all about training of self and puppy for the most successful family/puppy relationship desires not about the money/profit…as we prepared for our family vacation it was the perfect time to do a 3 week “board n train” with the Milligan Valley—the day I picked her up I immediately saw the progress Stella had made by repeated, intentional and accountability training instilled in Stella by Whitney and Danielle—to this day I go through habits and expectations in daily training with Stella, just like that of myself, an intentional balanced discipline in daily living Stella is a delightful full of life puppy as she nears her 1st birthday in just 4 days…
I highly recommend Milligan Valley for your Puppy / Dog trining, excellence in listening to want you want from your in your family/puppy relationship!
-Mark
“It is not often that I come across a reputable business that yields such great results..
I believe in the ole saying you get what you pay for and as a client past and present of Milligan Valley Dog Training Academy this statement holds true..I Got The Best!!
I am a retired state trooper, a registered vet tech and am currently a Humane Agent(investigates animal cruelty crimes and go after the ones who hurt them..) simply put I am now Animal Police Officer..
I want to address 2 issues about Milligan Valley as a client and as a humane agent..
I am pack leader of 7 beautiful Golden Retrievers, 3 which are rescues.. I wanted more than the pet store training..usually yielding no results…
I first met Whitney when I brought my newest pup to her ..this dog did not know down..stay…sit etc like my other goldens learned…by the end of the training course Cider was a rock star..going down with a hand command..always healing even off leash walking and by my side never taking her eyes off me regardless of the many distractions going on..AND remained in a sit/stay position for over 4 minutes…
The training techniques were spot on and my dog learned what I wanted…my dog trusted me to lead it as our bond grew stronger!!
THIS is the part when I REALLY appreciated Milligan Valley..My first 2 rescues were pups so the transition at the time with the pack was easy..no threats due to being so young..thinking this was the same I treated my 3 rd rescue, 5 years old when we got her, the same and just allowed her to move in with the others…Fights happened aggression issues..behavior changes..I was devastated..
I called Whitney and she suggested to me that this newest member had to learn to Co exist first before being part of the pack…I had not realized this and when I started to start over with her and make her co exist first before being a member the behaviors changed..no more aggressive actions and she literally realized she had to take her place in the pack not take over..We have harmony and no issues since!!!
Milligan Valley does not let you go after their services…they are always willing to take calls and answer any questions you may be having and if you want will assist you with any training issues…
NOW as an agent I witnessed extreme aggressive issues after rescuing dogs and have seen far too many surrenders from people that claim the dog is uncontrollable or untrainable…
If only these people knew about balanced dog training less and less dogs would be surrendered or returned back to shelters…
Remember it takes a dog a good couple of months to de escalate from a shelter but too many people give up OR don’t know how to approach the training needed to assist these animals..you are not seeing the true dog when it is behind gates…
I have experienced balance dog training and can honestly say that if this type of training was incorporated with shelters from reputable training and trainers like Milligan Valley there would be positive results..better human/dog bonding and Minimal if not no euthanasia or surrenders..
Dogs are worth the time and need proper training and guidance…but not so much as humans do!!!
Milligan Valley will always be my go to training academy
– Maria Lemmon
A brief synopsis of my experience with Milligan Valley: I had a poorly behaved dog, that we excused her misbehavior on her breed. At the initial interview, Whitney was professional and clearly knew what she was talking about, but more importantly she was empathetic and sincere. She is nonjudgmental and it was evident that her concern was with me and my relationship with my dog. The idea of leaving my dog for three weeks was breaking my heart, but the fact that I wasn’t able to “break” her bad habits was worse. By the end of that meeting I felt like a friend not a potential client. The cost was comparable to other trainers, but a lot lower than an emergency vet bill if my dog was hit or ate something she shouldn’t have. The ROI however, is amazing! We walk with confidence. She’s happier, and experiencing new things and places because I can take her anywhere, knowing she listens. Just like Whitney said, “her world got a lot bigger”, and I love it! She’s still the same dog, just the best version of herself. Likewise, Whitney is still accessible. The reason I felt like a friend instead of a client after the interview is because we are friends now. That’s the difference. She didn’t swoop in do her thing and then gone (unless I pay more) like many “trainers”. Milligan Valley sincerely cares about you as much as your dog, and it doesn’t stop at the end of the three weeks. A lot of companies talk about building relationships, this one actually does.
–Ric Leon
My husband and I have a 10 month old black Labrador Retriever puppy, Smokey, so right from the beginning we knew we needed to have him trained correctly. I researched other dog training facilities and came across Milligan Valley’s Facebook page and watched a few of Whitney and Danielle weekly Q/A videos. I knew within 5 minutes of watching their video that they were the best training facility for us. Wow, was I right!! The knowledge that both Whitney and Danielle have with dog training is absolutely amazing. They are truly the best dog trainers and are so passionate about it, which is how it should be!
Our training was broken out into two sessions. Both were three weeks long, but we started right when our dog was 4 months old to learn the basic commands and then picked back up when he was 6 months old to learn e-collar training. When you go to each training session, they work with your dog right in front of you and you can literally see how fast your dog comprehends what they’re teaching. After we left each session we could see Smokey’s progress and how fast he learned each command. Even after our sessions, we worked with him at home every night outside and inside. The training did not stop even after our first session!! If you work hard, put in the effort and time, you will see your dog’s behavior change. We’ve gotten so many compliments on how great Smokey is for being so young. Truly, any dog can be trained with hard work and effort! I am so proud to say that my 10 month old puppy is off leash trained! Thank you so much, Whitney and Danielle!!!
-Sam and Steph Dowell
