Nicole Hubert - Malsam Dog Trainer review: Terrible Customer Service and Poor Skills 1

Nicole Hubert (Fromerly Malsam) performs dog training out of her home. She charged $600 per month for board and train services that she indicated would help a 6 month old intact fearful / avoidant male Belgian Malinois and indicated he would be provided with daily obedience training and exposure to stimuli that would help him overcome his difficulty with socialization and extremely high startle response to everyday situations and sounds. She indicated she would require 3 months to experience success and indicated prior to training that if she felt his training was not successfully progrssing, she would not "just take our money and keep training him". She also offered to provide e-collar training with the additional cost of $243 for a collar appropriate for the dog. Lastly, she indicated there would be frequent video and written updates on his progress provided. In total, there were three (3) video clips provided, and written updates were only provided after having to request a status. The e-collar that was provided was specified for Small/Mild dogs yet the dog itself is Large and High Drive. Said collar has been returned TWICE to the manufacturer for service. The dog received minimal off-property training sessions (only 3 reported but no proof that they actually took place) and there were periods of time that no training was provided while she attended various trials and competitions with her other dogs. While there, he was exposed to two (2) female dogs who were in heat while in the "training environment". He also returned an aggressive and reactive dog and he returned even more fearful and avoidant than prior to going to training. Nicole also indicated that his return would include his drop off with two follow up visits over the next two days afterwards to ascertain his reacclimation. This did not happen as she basically spent less than an hour at our home after attempting to change the drop off date at the last minute. She also stated that she would provide a written comprehensive reacclimation plan to employ upon his return to the home. She never provided this reacclimation plan, and failed to respond to follow up messages seeking guidance and direction on issues that soon arose after she hastily dropped him off. I would take this experience into consideration if ever considering Nicole Hubert (Malsam) for any dog training services.