As a former employee, volunteer, and customer, I'd like to take my time to discuss my experience with HSD
**Ryder's Health:**
When I first brought Ryder “home,” I was still living on HSD's property, and the experience was much harder than it should have been. Ryder would cry no matter what I did all night long. When I brought this up to the other trainers, the advice I got was to just “say no and squirt him with vinegar water.” Despite doing everything I could, nothing worked to ease his distress. I would take him out to potty multiple times a night, yet he would still wake up covered in pee and oftentimes his own diarrhea. After a couple of weeks of Ryder moving in with me, I moved back to my parents' house. Ryder was immediately taken to the vet and diagnosed with a severe case of giardia. He would cry, whine, and whimper and had fluid leaking from both his mouth and rectum. Even with medication, the problems continued. Ryder started to lose weight and had no food motivation. Unfortunately, it soon became clear that his health issues were not just related to his GI tract. When Ryder was 5 months old, I noticed what I thought was a huge hot spot ranging from his chin to his stomach. It had seemingly developed overnight. His vet said it was the worst case of atopic dermatitis she had ever seen, and she had never seen it in a puppy so young before. We were forced to shave him from his chin to his stomach, and he was put on strong medications and topical sprays. It took months and months for the hair to finally grow back, and it took us even longer to work through the trauma he had experienced. Now, at 20 months old, Ryder has been diagnosed with numerous health issues. He has genetic atopic dermatitis, a spinal injury, hip problems, arthritis (not diagnosed yet, but the vet is fairly certain), horrible allergies, possible IBD (waiting to get testing), possible hip dysplasia if he doesn’t have arthritis, anxiety, genetic fear, and more. There is also a video on my instagram and Facebook of Ryder extremely young, about 7 weeks old, where he was being held in a twisted way by his neck, and this gave him permanent damage to his spine. The vet was able to see the inflammation from the injury even without me telling her anything was wrong. He has been sick, in pain, and injured since I brought him home.
Ryder's behavioral issues:
From the beginning, Ryder and I didn't bond, and despite my efforts, we never developed the necessary bond for service work. He was fearful, nervous, and drivey, as if he had no thoughts, only drive. Ryder would become so fearful in public that he couldn't focus on me and couldn't settle. There seemed to be no off switch with Ryder, even from a young age. I have videos of him before I knew he was mine, where he tried to bite me while all the other puppies were just trying to lick me or get pets. He deviated completely from the golden retriever standard from the start. He never liked people (he was scared of everyone and would submissive pee), and he would randomly become scared of things in public. Additionally, he displayed EXTREME anxiety and fear responses to items used at the breeder's, flattening to the floor anytime a squirt bottle (like a Clorox cleanup bottle, for example) was around him. He would be scared of random things constantly, as if stuck in a fear phase he never outgrew. Therefore, he was washed out early on because I always felt like I was trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.
Allegations:
There have been incorrect allegations circulating about me. I was NEVER fired from Disney. I quit Disney to work for Hope Service Dogs and lived on the property, and I can provide proof of this. I quit due to complications with my accommodations and poor management. The owner of HSD also offered me a job if I quit. Despite rumors suggesting otherwise, I never destroyed or damaged a single piece of property owned by Hope Service Dogs. It's worth mentioning that it's interesting my character is being attacked when, as a community, we are simply speaking the truth of what we witnessed.
I have a HSD dog that went through the 6mo puppy program, and I can honestly say I do not recommend Hope Service Dogs. He is currently 1.5 years old and I essentially trained him from scratch. When I collected him at the end of the 6mo program, he was unable to heel (could barely loose leash walk) had no handler engagement, and could not perform any of the tasks I had requested. He was not fully housebroken and was EXTREMELY distressed in a crate, which concerned me given he should have had 4 months of crate & potty training by that point... this cost $19,500 and fell far short of what the program promised.
I contacted the owner regarding my concerns with the lack of performance, as well as breeding and training practices, after new information had come to light regarding multiple dogs bred by them with genetic & chronic issues. Because of my critical message, I was subsequently ignored by owner, removed from the private puppy owner group, and lost the promised lifetime support. I messaged them with the intent to listen fully if they had explanations for any of my concerns, but the result has cemented my belief that they are well aware of these issues in their program and are choosing to avoid responsibility and ignore the faults.
I had high hopes for this program, but those are long gone. This organization is strongly overpriced for what you get, program descriptions are misleading, the puppies are taken out into situations they are nowhere near ready for and are overwhelmed and set up for failure, and there is an undercurrent of consistent health & behavioral issues among the dogs bred.
As someone who was once a supporter of this organization, it has taken me some time to sit down and write this review. Let me begin by fully retracting my previous review, which is still posted on the HSD website. I got my dog, Jojo, from HSD back in September of 2022 after he completed a 6-month board and train program. Jojo's training at HSD left much to be desired, he came home not knowing basic commands like drop it, leave it, place. I initially brushed it off as him adapting to a new environment however over time, it became evident that Jojo's training did not meet the promised standards.
Jojo's transition to our home was more challenging than expected. He displayed behavioral issues that were not addressed during his time at HSD. He suffered from pica, a condition where he exhibited a tendency to ingest non-food items, specifically feces and soil. He also was not potty trained when he came home, leading to frequent accidents indoors. We would let Jojo outside every hour, however he would still pee inside the house without showing any sign of having to go outside. Jojo exhibited an unusual fear of his service dog vest, making it difficult for him to comfortably wear the equipment necessary for his role. He would run and hide whenever a harsher tone was used with him (not yelling literally just changing to a more serious tone.) After consulting with a professional trainer and a behaviorist, it was clear that Jojo showed signs of emotional trauma. He appeared to have a fear of corrections and quick-moving hands, which suggested past negative experiences. He also would submissively ;ay on his back and roll over when meeting new people.
Jojo also came home sick, and I have medical notes from just two days after our return to Boston, documenting crusted wounds on his belly due to a skin infection. At the time, I didn't fully grasp the gravity of this issue. HSD asserts that none of their dogs suffer from allergies while in their care. This assertion appears false, as Jojo could not have developed a skin infection related to a new environment within a mere 48 hours. So either HSD was not truthful or they failed to notice his infected skin, both of which are deeply concerning.In the midst of all these concerns, there was also a notable lack of comprehensive medical records for Jojo. Upon contacting the previous veterinary clinic he attended while at HSD, I was surprised to learn that his visits there were primarily to obtain vaccination certificates, rather than receiving thorough medical care or addressing his health issues.
Additionally, there have been rumors circulating that Jojo's health issues began after he was a victim of targeted poisoning. I want to clarify that this is not true. Jojo had visited the vet 36 times prior to the poisoning incident ( a disgruntled neighbor had left poisoned meat out ) Nearly all of these visits were related to stomach issues, allergies, and tremors he was experiencing. Jojo has since been diagnosed with IBD, epilepsy, and severe allergies, with his vet stating that his case of IBD is one of the worst she's ever seen. HSD has claimed that they asked to speak to my vet and I denied. This is bogus as I was never asked anything of the sorts.
I want to emphasize that I'm not alone in my experiences, as I'm in contact with multiple handlers who have faced similar issues. Positive experiences with HSD should not invalidate the experiences of those who have had negative encounters. I urge anyone considering acquiring a dog from this organization to conduct thorough research before making a decision. You can get way better training for extremely less pretty much everywhere else. I also implore you to look at reviews from Dream Dogz and Heart and Soul dog training on google and yelp before making any decisions