Joey’s Story: The Dog Everyone Wanted Gone, Until Two Weeks With Brooke

Donna’s family had made up their minds about Joey. Donna had not, so Joey went to train with Brooke.

Joey · Trained by Brooke · Two weeks away · Nightly video updates

Where Joey started

By the time Joey came to us, the people around him had stopped hoping. Donna wrote, “my entire family wanted me to get rid of Joey.” The family said he had potty issues and “tore up everything in the house.” They also said that coming from a puppy mill meant he would never be a good dog.

The choices Donna was given were hard ones: sell him, give him away or put him down. Donna wrote, “I was crying because everyone hated Joey.”

The training journey

Joey spent two weeks with Brooke, one of our trainers at Off Leash K9 Training Columbus. Every evening Brooke sent Donna messages and a video of Joey’s training, so Donna could watch the work while he was away.

Donna’s review does not go through the training lesson by lesson, and we will not fill that in. It does describe how Brooke handled him: she “loved him was direct and patient with him.”

What actually changed

• The dog who came home was not the dog who left. Donna wrote that it was like Joey was “a completely different dog.”
• Donna got to keep him. The review was written with Joey still at Donna’s side, and it is signed from both of them: “Donna and Joey.”
• He loves his trainer. Ask Joey if he wants to go see Brooke, Donna says, and “his little hips get to going with excitement.”

★★★★★

“it was like Joey was a completely different dog…..my entire family wanted me to get rid of Joey, they said he had potty issues, tore up everything in the house, I was crying because everyone hated Joey […] I got him back and he had been transformed into this young adorable puppy. Brook would send me messages and a video of Joeys training every evening. […] All I have to say to Joey is “do you want to go see Brooke” and his little hips get to going with excitement”

Donna Hogg, Google review, July 2025

Read the review this story was written from, on Google

What it changed for Donna

Donna’s story begins in tears, with a family saying to give up a beloved dog. It ends with a long, happy review, and with Joey still in Brooke’s care from time to time. In Donna’s words, Brooke is “the only person that I can trust to love him like her own.”

Why Joey’s story matters to us

Some families reach us after being told a dog can’t be helped. Where a dog came from does not settle how that dog turns out. If the people around you have started talking about rehoming your dog, call us before that decision gets made.

Joey worked with Brooke Brown. To see how a dog can live and train with one of our trainers, read about our board and train programs, including the 2 Week Board and Train. Every program and price is on our pricing page.