Complaint Review: NY Clever K9 Inc.

 In September of 2014 we contacted Christina Shusterich of NY Clever K9 Inc. to help us with our now 14-month-old dog Ella that we adopted from North Shore Animal League. After paying Christina almost $1,500.00 (one evaluation at $299 and 7 one-hour sessions at $170 per session) Christina told us our only option left was to euthanize Ella. She told us that keeping Ella would be selfish because she’s suffering, giving her away would end up in her being abused and ultimately killed, and giving her to a shelter would be worse than killing her because no one would adopt her and she would either be killed or condemned to a life in a shelter.

Two days after Christina told us to euthanize Ella we met with another trainer who evaluated Ella. He told us that he has successfully rehabilitated cases much more severe than Ella and euthanizing her is unconscionable. Since meeting with the new trainer Ella has made amazing progress and is on her way to being a well-behaved and balanced dog. When we contacted Christina to request a refund not only did she deny us the refund, but she went on to make a number of false statements about our conduct throughout our time working with her, which even if they were all true, would not begin to justify Christina telling us to euthanize Ella.

During the course of our 7 sessions with Christina Shusterich of NY Clever K9 Inc., she began pharmacological therapy for Ella with Fluoxetine, the generic form of Prozac. She repeatedly, both verbally and in e-mails, gave us instructions on what medications to use and not use, dosage instructions, told us what to tell our veterinarian about the use of medications, and even told us to change veterinarians when our veterinarian would not follow Christina’s dosage instructions. After doing some research we found out that it is both illegal and unethical for a trainer who does not have a veterinary license to recommend medication. The furthest a trainer can go is to say: “Many of my clients have had success in improvements in their dog's behavior with medications x, y, z that their vet has prescribed”.

Christina said how she is often people’s last hope before they either give away or euthanize their dogs. She also told us on more than one occasion how incredibly patient and dedicated we were with Ella to the point where other people would have already given up on her. Before you label anything as your last hope to save your dogs life, please consider all your options. There are many honest, ethical, and knowledgeable trainers, as well as different training methodology out there, so don’t give up hope if one does not work. Anyone can create a website and claim to be an expert, so please do your research on people before you hire anyone and put your dogs life in their hands.

Per The Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT),

“Many persons employed in the dog training field use the title "behaviorist" incorrectly. While there is no legal standard, it is generally accepted in the industry that a behaviorist is someone who has a doctorate level graduate degree. A Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist is a behaviorist who is certified through the The Animal Behavior Society.”

Per The Animal Behavior Society (ABS),

“The term "behaviorist" is not protected so many people abuse the term and mislead the public.  The term "Certified applied animal behaviorist" is protected and can only be used by ABS Board Certified Professionals.”

“There are only 2 Board Certified Behaviorists.  ABS certifies PhD Behaviorists and The American College of Veterinary Behaviorists certifies DVM Behaviorists. All other applied animal professionals should be using other terms such as dog trainer or counselor.”

You can go to The Association of Professional Dog Trainers’ (APDT) website to check if a trainer is a member. You can go to The Animal Behavior Society’s (ABS) website to see if someone is a Certified applied animal behaviorist. You can go to the ACABC Member Directory to check if someone is a CBC (Canine Behavior Counselor). However please keep in mind a CBC is not a Certified applied animal behaviorist.

Based on our experience, we do not recommend Christina Shusterich of NY Clever K9 Inc.