Oshawa dog owners say professional trainer ended lessons halfway through contract

Dog trainer stops work halfway through lessons An Oshawa couple said that a professional trainer they hired for their dog stopped his work halfway through their contract.

An Oshawa couple was hoping to get on-leash and off-leash training for their puppy Zeus, but instead the professional trainer they hired stopped his work after only half of the lessons were completed, costing the pair about $2,600.

Ben Martin and Diana Popovici hired someone online to help train their one-and-a-half year old German Sheppard and Doberman mix named Zeus.

“He is a very powerful dog and I need to be able to control him easily,” Popovici said.

The couple agreed to pay $3,000 for 45 lessons, with the majority of the money to be paid in advance.

At first, Martin and Popovici said they were pleased with the training that Zeus received, but after 21 lessons, the training stopped. They had already paid the trainer about $2,600.

The couple said that other dog owners had posted to social media saying they also paid the trainer for lessons they never received.

Martin and Popovici now want some of their money back.

“It’s about $1,000 he owes us for the lack in training and that’s all I want back,” Martin said.

Anthony Wendt, the owner of the company GTA Working Dogs, spoke with CTV News Toronto and said he stopped giving lessons because he had to leave town. He said he was willing to offer the remaining for Zeus.

“My contract states there that I don’t, you know, refund money. So, with that being said there is not much I can do other than meet up with them and train,” Wendt said over the phone.

CTV News Toronto asked about the other complaints made online and Wendt attributed them to the dog owners’ failure to “complete their homework.”

“In the past, I’ve had other fallings out with people where they don’t want to complete their homework, or they’re not keeping their end of the bargain up and I can’t really do much about it.”

Wendt said that he would issue a statement to CTV News Toronto, but did not do so. The GTA Working Dogs website is no longer operating and the couple said they still haven’t heard from the owner.

“There is definitely no interest in continuing the lessons” Martin said. “We haven’t seen him since June.”

With files from CTV News Toronto's Pat Foran