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Mother Knows Best
Category: Pets Pet Services Pet Training Pet Training [Edit]
College Street United Church452 College St
Toronto, ON M6G 1A1
Neighbourhoods: Little Italy, Palmerston
(416) 421-6019
5 reviews for Mother Knows Best
5 reviews in English
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Review from Rosie S.
9/13/2009 1 photo
Malik graduated from the first level of obedience here two months after we first adopted her! Our adoption agency recommended we take her to some sort of obedience training as soon as possible. Make it part of her transition... I think they were right! It was a great bonding activity to do with a new addition to your family, and it lays out some simple ground rules right at the beginning that you can continue to build on forever.
At $135 per six-week course (one hour long, once a week), it is one of the most inexpensive obedience schools in the city, but still one of the best! Class sizes are small - there were 10-12 dogs in our group.
Our classes were held at College & Bathurst, at College United Church. It's a convenient location to get to from just about anywhere, and there are about six free parking spots in behind the church.
Dorothy Avery, the instructor and owner (presumably the mother in "Mother Knows Best"), is sooooo funny. We decided she would be the perfect character for a recurring SNL sketch. Dorothy's dog for demonstrations in class is a bright red stuffed thing she calls "Fido". It's hilarious. She is a great subject to do an impression of, and her one-liners are PRICELESS! All joking aside though, she is certainly a dog expert, and a no-nonsense trainer. Her own dogs do shows.
The Mother Knows Best website is fantastic - something sorely lacking in a LOT of dog obedience places in the GTA. I have no idea why!!! We found it very useful to read through the handouts available on the website before taking classes, and we have gone back and used them as reference points since finishing the classes. I think it's useful information whether you take a MKB course or not! Check out all the sections - there's a pretty cute photo gallery of Dorothy's clients as well.
We plan to continue on and take Dorothy's agility classes with Malik. She'd be awesome at the crazy obstacle courses, I think! She's too small to really do the frisbee stuff at 5 1/2 pounds!
The Martingale collar recommended by Dorothy changed our lives. Walks are a very enjoyable activity now, as opposed to being pulled along and Malik being choked by a collar or pinched by a harness because she's pulling so hard!
Dorothy's classroom helper/teaching assistant's name is Ola, and she's amazing too. Much younger and much more intimidating, all the dogs in the class were completely submissive to her - a la Cesar Millan -it's nuts! She DEFINITELY knows what she's doing, and is great at one-on-one tips if your dog is a little slower to catch onto something.
At the last class, if you and your puppy pal are successful (which no doubt you will be), you participate in a graduation ceremony. Your dog walks up and receives a handshake and a diploma. I added a pic of the certificate - obviously we brought it home and framed it. It's definitely one of the most adorable moments of my life so far, and the photos are priceless. If your pet is essentially your child, it's a moment filled with pride and joy. Our little girl's all grown up!!!Listed in: Malik's Toronto - A Dog's…
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Review from Kelly O.
8/12/2009
So we had our first class here last night. It was AMAZING. I took my pup to a puppy training class at a different place before (see previous reviews). I thought this would be a repeat of more of the same. I was SO wrong. The owner, Dorothy is a kooky lady who knows her stuff. She said that from the FIRST class with her, your dog will be 75% to 90% better at walking on lead without pulling. "Yeah right", I thought.
We bought the Martingale collar that she recommended, and gave the class a try. Most classes start the dogs off with "sit" commands. Not Dorothy. We began with heeling, and true to her word, our dog has a vast improvement after only 1 class.
Its cheaper than many other classes in town, located right downtown, and is already giving me results. This is serious business, and I cannot wait for the next class!Listed in: Spoil dat Canine!
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Review from lindsay s.
Toronto, ON
10/7/2009
Very standard puppy training class --
Your puppy (or rather, you will) learn how to get your dog to heal, sit, stay, come ... the very basic commands, that my puppy was already well on his way to knowing prior to attending puppy classes.
Dorothy 'Mother' talks way too much .. her stories long & often pointless - my dobie ended whining in frustration.
What puppy is going to hold a 'sit', on a slippery tiled floor, during her 25 minute story on why you shouldn't take your dog off it's leash if it doesn't know 'come'. Yeah lady, we know, the dog got hit by a car (25 minutes later!)
I ended up dreading the classes because of the over-drawn boring stories.
Nothing special, and I wasn't crazy about the venue, a church - the reason I mention this, is because of the lanolin flooring - my jumbo sized puppy (a dobie) couldn't sit without sliding down - there was no rubber matting, which made most of the exercises very difficult for him.
Very small space -
Fine for small breed dogs, NOT so suitable for larger ones.
Standard obedience class pricing. But again, nothing special.
Parking, good luck. There's the church parking lot in the back, but there's literally maybe 6 spots. There's a few spots of street parking avail.
I quickly realized "mother" aims her training towards small, easier breeds, as my large puppy wouldn't respond to even her, with that little overpriced, flimsy martingale collar they try and sell you during your first class. -
Review from Amanda L.
Toronto, ON
8/15/2010
Norman completed 1 1/2 years of training with Dorothy and Ola. He went through levels one and two of obedience and then spent a year doing agility. Loved the agility! We'll probably go back in the fall. Norman is now very well behaved and he really had fun at the agility. The church where the classes are held is close by. The downsides...the church gets really hot so dress appropriately, especially for agility when you'll both be running around; no treats allowed during obedience which works for some dogs but my dog seems to learn better with food; and Dorothy has one set approach and doesn't deviate from this....so if her tips don't work for your dog you end up feeling a little stuck. However, highly recommended as good basic training. Ola is one tough cookie too!
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Review from Raggedy A.
Toronto, ON
7/16/2009
Last night was week three of my six week long beginner obedience training course for Ophelia, dog in the city. Ophelia is what dog people call "sassy" and she has always been particularly disobedient with me (I am not a dominant person by any stretch of the imagination). At ten months old, she is probably the oldest dog in the class of about 16. Most of the dogs are young, small puppies. I have to admit that I was feeling a bit meh about the first two classes - Ophelia doesn't have any of the typical dog problems, she can walk on a leash, doesn't bark much, is housetrained, etc. Rather, her major problem is that she bites....me only. Last night she was acting up in class and the dog ladies (Dorothy, the instructor, and her two helpers Andrea and Olga - they are all awesome!) were really helpful in showing me how to deal with it. I am looking forward to seeing how well their tricks work after some practise. The six week course is $135 and you are encouraged to buy a $20 Martingale collar at the first class. Watching the cute little puppies learn is worth the cost of admission alone, but the "dog talk" approach used seems to be very effective. I plan to take the advanced course in the future.
