Canine Behavioral Services Inc. - Hopkinton, Rhode Island

Ty Grimstad

This is not a fairy tale story, but one of hope.

Our gorgeous Ella Shigeko, a boxer-mix beauty, 8 ½ years has been profoundly changed in her temperament and her behavior since coming home 3 weeks ago, after spending 7 weeks with Brian Manning and his team in Rhode Island. My Partner, Abram and I took Ella to Brian’s facility from Manhattan at the end of July in hopes of helping her reactivity. Brian also told us when we took her to him, that no matter if he could not rehab her, she could always come to board there. Ella has been reactive since she was 5 months old, and we got her when she was 3 months. I cannot even begin to tell you how many trainers, the camps, the vets, dog psychiatrists, medications we have tried. We cannot recommend Brian and his team enough. We will NEVER take her anywhere else again.

She was there for 7 weeks going through a rehab program. When she came back, she was herself, only calmer. We now have a framework to work with her that Brian gave us and we are continuing to work at being better dog parents. According to the program she will go back in 2 weeks to assess how she/we are doing.

Many thanks to Brian, Thomas and Laura for their support with phone calls and the many emails to help us in understanding our family of dog and human.

Pending Part 2 after Ella goes for her assessment.

Sincerely,
Ty-Ranne, Abram, Ella Shigeko

PART 2 Update December 14, 2024

Hello Again Dog Owners,

This is an update to Part 1 about Ella Shigeko, our boxer mix beauty.

Ella is now more calm. Ella had her assessment with Brian and his team over a long weekend a few weeks ago. They all said she just seemed fine, and would be welcomed back anytime. Yeah!! What a relief for us.

Recently, I have been walking Ella on my own and truly get that I am the Pack Leader. There have been two positive experiences in the past week that are worth mentioning just how much Ella has grown from the work as we have also.

Last week, a neighbor’s daughter was home from college and wanted to visit. She used to come over all the time when Ella was young, but not in the past few years. We wanted to see how this would go with Ella and a greeting. Ella was leashed, our neighbor’s daughter was in a chair. Ella went right up to her and just gave her so many kisses and did a little horse dance and came back to give her more kisses. I then calmly pointed to her living room bed and Ella immediately went, and laid down. Amazing, a win-win situation. We would not have even tried this, if we did not have Brian’s training, and the months we are also working with her on a daily basis.

The second event was this past Friday. I was walking Ella on her morning walk, and we came upon a new dog, a one year old Rhodesian Ridgeback, Gertrude whom we had met a few days earlier in a very quick hello many feet away. Now, Ella and Gertrude just looked at one another, then both of them turned away. Then Ella chose to sit calmly and look at the view. Gertrude seemed to suddenly get calmer for a minute or two before leaving with her owner. I was so amazed!!!! This had never happened before, EVER. Did Ella just become a pack leader to that dog?.

In closing, the greatest gift we got this year was having Ella be with Brian and his team. We are hopeful to get a new dog later next year, and of course that boy will go right away to K9 Behavorial Services.

Many thanks again to Brian, Thomas and Laura for their support with phone calls and the many emails to help us in understanding our family of dog and human. Happy Holidays!!

Sincerely,
Ty-Ranne, Abram, Ella Shigeko

Diane Nero

We are grateful every day to Brian, Thomas, Laura and the team at CBS! Their Pack Cohesion Therapy program worked better than we ever could have hoped for!
We got Betty (our 4 yr old Rottweiler) a new friend Dozer (Black Lab puppy) after we lost our Bruschi (5 yr old Rottweiler) to cancer. Bruschi was the only dog Betty was not reactive to, and she was heartbroken when he passed (as we all were). She would cry in the middle of the night. She didn’t want to play or even swim in the pool. After a few months we brought home Dozer thinking if we introduced him slowly as a 3 month old puppy, she might warm up to him. After two months of trying to acclimate Betty to Dozer being in our lives, we knew we needed professional help. We signed them up for the Pack Cohesion Therapy program at CBS. I was wreck at the idea of sending her away, but it turned out to be the best thing we could have done for her. They are now the best of friends who love running around and playing together. It’s a night & day difference as I was genuinely concerned about Dozer’s safety.
We continue to use CBS for the SleepOver Service.We love having such a wonderful place to have them stay while we are away. Everything from the transportation service provided to the additional training they get while they’re there to seeing pictures of them enjoying their stay gives us peace of mind that they are in excellent hands!

Heavenleigh Walker

I am very thankful for CBS. They came into my life when I needed them most. I’ve had my Rottweiler karma since she was 8 weeks old. She is now 2 years and 4 months. When I got her I thought over socializing her and babying her was what I was supposed to do. I let everyone and anyone pet her when they asked, even if karma didn’t seem to care to be pet. I would treat her like she was my baby instead of a “power” breed. I hired her first trainer for obedience and we used a lot of negative reinforcement which eventually turned her reactive and insecure. I had a mess and it was a big one.

That’s when Brian and his team stepped in. I signed her up for a 45 day program at his facility. He was very honest about this not being an overnight fix. I even chose to extend the program because she had came into heat while there. They accommodated that situation as well. Brian and his team kept me updated weekly with pictures and videos. They answered all emails and kept me in the loop. Karma has only been home for a week, but just walking her in my apartment has been much easier. She no longer barks and lunges with the tools CBS has given me. I will be sending Karma back for her sleepover session in a couple weeks for a follow up.

Lastly, karma struggles heavy with the vet. I cannot find anyone who feels confident enough to take her on as a patient. The vet I did have she was labeled as a danger and needed to wear a muzzle. I haven’t been able to get her spayed because they were unsure how they would monitor her after she woke up. Brian once again stepped in and found me a vet to take her. Taking it a step further he offered to be the one to take her to her appointments to show her the vet is not a bad experience. This is not Brian’s problem, but he is dedicated to his craft that he made it his.

Karma will be with the facility as long as she lives. I plan to send her here whenever I need a break, have a trip planned, or karma just needs some socialization. I’m so glad I found this place. Thank you guys so much !

New England Carpet Cleaning

I will start by saying that I normally never take the time to write reviews, although I am one to read many reviews myself and use them as a guide when I would like an opinion and insight from someone else’s perspective. So, if I can put a pet parent’s mind at ease when they are trying to find an honest to goodness reliable and safe place to train and board their beloved fur babies, this is the place and to look no further. I can only give 5 stars on this review, but if I could I would give Brian all the stars in the sky!

We had the pleasure and luck of meeting Brian for the first time almost 14 years ago when we reached out to him for In-home Private Training Sessions for our then very young and feisty Boston Terrier Nikko. Brian arrived at our home along with one of his pack members the very handsome Ruger to show Nikko the ropes. They helped immensely with the areas we were having difficulty with and helped us become a better and well balanced now family of three. It was not just Nikko that needed the training, but us as well!

Fourteen years later, Nikko continues to see Brian on a regular basis to use his sleepover (boarding) services whenever we travel. Nikko stays with Brian at least once to twice a year (sometimes more. This gives Nikko the opportunity to get little refresher courses to keep him well balanced throughout the years and a bit of socialization as well. We would not trust our fur baby with anyone else other than Brian and his dedicated team.

Which brings me here today compelled to write my first Google review. We’ve always recommended Brian and his fantastic team when anyone would inquire about training or boarding services for their dogs…honest word of mouth. But, after our most recent sleepover experience I just had to take the time to express my gratitude for all Brian did for Nikko this past stay and write a review letting any and all pet owners know just how truly fantastic Canine Behavioral Services is and has always been. To look no further and have no doubts with whom they should select when looking for a trainer or boarding facility. Canine Behavioral Services Inc is it!

Nikko was recently diagnosed with diabetes shortly before having to go to Brian’s for one of his stays. Nikko would require much additional care and attention, glucose monitoring, insulin injections, as well as additional vet visits. We thought we would have to cancel our trip less than 12 hours before we had to depart. We reached out to Brian and explained the circumstances and he graciously and without hesitation agreed to go the extra mile for Nikko, as he has done many times over the course of 14 years and take care of him even with all the added care he would need.

As well as his regular SleepOver Boarding Services Brian also offer what is called Special Handling SleepOver Services for the pet that needs that extra TLC. If it wasn’t for Brian’s dedication and love for what he does we would have easily without even thinking twice have canceled our trip. There is absolutely no one else we would trust Nikko’s care to. It was very difficult to leave him at such a critical time, but the outmost trust we have in Brian made it less difficult to endure. As much as we always miss Nikko we know without a doubt Nikko is always well cared for and loved by Brian and his dedicated staff and in good hands. There are not enough words to describe the gratitude for all Brian has done for our Nikko and we are forever grateful and thankful!!!

If you are looking for a top of the line educated dog trainer who puts the needs of your pet first or a responsible and caring boarding establishment that will show your pet love like they are one of their own, please look no further and put your trust in Brain and his team.
?Nikko, Natalie & Joe

P.S. Look at the smile on Nikko while at Brian’s!

Jenna Branco

I personally feel long term updates are truly the most important. I ran out of characters, so attached are photos of my initial review for you to read.

UPDATE AUGUST 2024:
It has been about a year and a half since we boarded my dog in the CBS program and I wanted to provide an update.

Things were going well for the first few months after Brian brought my dog, Tilly, home from the board and train program in April 2023.

However, about 7 or 8 months after she was home we began to struggle. Tilly started showing signs of her old behaviors and some new challenges arose as well.

My husband and I fully acknowledged and understood that this was an "us" problem and not a "Tilly" problem. We realized that we were starting to slip up in our daily training and it was beginning to show.

Throughout the past year and a half, Brian has continued to help and support us through Tilly's journey. He has answered every single one of our countless emails, and helped us greatly in our extra followup sessions at the kennel.

As of July 2024, things were going from bad to worse and we didn't know what we were going to do. We decided we needed to schedule a kennel drop-in with Brian because we needed more help than the emails could provide.

We know Brian would always be willing to help us, but we felt embarrassed that it's been nearly a year and a half and we are still struggling. Our dog is tough, Brian even said that to us at her initial re-home session in 2023.

At our most recent drop in, he reassured us that we were on the right path, but there were some small aspects of the training that we were missing, and those were the most important. He gave us a new sense of confidence and we feel like we finally "get it". Things finally clicked

Brian has always been there to offer us advice unjudgementally. I could email him with the same question over and over, and he never loses patience or makes us feel bad about our slow progress. He continues to be there for us and give us the encouragement and support we need. We are finally beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and we can see her beginning to transform. Tilly is finally starting to make great (permanent!) progress and I can't wait to see what adventures our future holds.

If you have any hesitations about this program, DON'T. Brian and his team are the only trainers we've worked with that have actually made a difference (we worked with 3 before finding CBS, and one of those 3 actually made her problems WORSE) And they are the only people we will ever trust our dog with going forward, and we can't thank them enough.

Halie Marie

I don’t even know where to start! Brian and his team at CBS are incredible and go above and beyond. We adopted Bruno in December, he is a 130 pound Saint Bernard mix (cane corso, rottweiler and lab). He started showing signs of reactivity on and off leash to strangers and dogs, resource guarding the couch, pulling on lead and some. These behaviors continues to escalate, we did not know what to do. Our corrections weren’t working, after a few close calls I was scared to even bring him outside. After some research we signed Bruno up for board and train. CBS was able to accept bruno’s case in a more than timely manner. He then spent 6 weeks at CBS, we were updated with plenty of pictures! It was great to see our dog at work and playing with new friends. We weren’t even sure if he could play with other dogs at first! Brian did our rehome session two Sunday’s ago. His years of knowledge and experience was evident. He was able to help us understand what we needed to do as owners to make a more balanced relationship with Bruno. The book The Other End Of A Leash by Patricia McConnell was also very useful in helping us understand things from a dog’s perspective and how many of the things we do as humans can be rude or threatening to them. So since Bruno has been home he has yet to react to a person or dog, he does much better with loose leash walking, he has stopped trying to get on the couch or bed, he goes into his crate on his own and more. A excellent example of his current behavior was our recent vet visit the following Friday after his return. Bruno walked in past all the people right by my side the entire time. The vet had to touch his face to assess a lump, do a comprehensive assessment and draw blood. After all was done the vet told me bruno reminded him of some of the service dogs or police dogs that come in because his attention was on me the entire time, waiting for my command or direction, he did not show interest in what the vet had to do with him only caring about me and what my thoughts were. This was a huge confidence boost. We then had to walk out of the vets, there was a dog on the left and right of the hall leading to the exit. We swiftly walked by them with no incident. We as owners still have a lot of work to do but with the tools we were given I feel confident in doing so. Also Bruno now attends their daycare while we are at work. I whole heartedly trust CBS with Bruno. I couldn’t ask for a better experience.

Loo Loo

We started our dog here a year ago when he was a puppy. I'm so thankful we did. We have a well mannered dog now.
I know my dog is safe when I board him here and he gets a training refresher at the same time.
Brian and Thomas have been great working with our family and dog. Over the last year Thomas has gone out of his way to help us be better dog owners.
Laura, the manager, is always very helpful and accommodating.
It's been an investment worth every penny.

Danny Branco

If only more dog owners could be more like Brian. We've talked to a lot of so-called trainers with differing ideas of how to "correct" behavior, but no one seems to have as much understanding of how dogs think and act and what dogs truly need as Brian has. It took some time but the difference we've seen in our dog Tilly is night and day. I can't recommend Brian and CBS enough. As long as you're willing to put in the work yourself as a dog owner, CBS will always have your back to help you nurture your relationship with your dog forever.