FirstBark
The husband and I fostered and adopted our dog Johnny -- a Black Lab/Great Dane mix -- from the KC Pet Project back in December. Now, we've never had such a big dog, and it was clear from the start that Johnny had a great temperament. But, he's big, eager, and was on track to acc…Read full reviewClose full review
The husband and I fostered and adopted our dog Johnny -- a Black Lab/Great Dane mix -- from the KC Pet Project back in December. Now, we've never had such a big dog, and it was clear from the start that Johnny had a great temperament. But, he's big, eager, and was on track to accidentally hurt us or someone else, and we definitely had some moments of "Are we sure about this?". After another frustrating morning, our dog walker told us that we really, really needed to invest in some dog training, so I pulled out the pamphlet our vet had given us and made the call. Ken was very reassuring on the phone and described the program as being all about leadership. We opted for private training, which, not gonna lie, is pricey -- $1,000. But, that comes with all the private lessons you need (we only needed four), a year's worth of follow-up (we can call any time with questions), and an initial package of materials including the training book, Gentle Leader head collar, leash, beanbags, etc. To be honest, it's not so much about training the dog as it is about training the people! Once we started consistently using the tools Ken taught us, Johnny became a happy, well-behaved dog who everyone loves. He is still excited to see people, but he doesn't jump (and on the rare occasion that he does, we have a method to quickly correct him). He knows where he belongs in the "pack" (aka us) and doesn't try to take charge. He walks nicely on a leash. We're able to take him to daycare, where he socializes well with other dogs, and doesn't go crazy when he sees other dogs on his walks. And we easily trained him out of "nuisance barking" at things like the mail delivery. Most importantly, Ken taught us a "magic word" that helps us bring Johnny back if he gets out, which, let me tell you, has come in handy. If you amortize the cost of the training over a ten-year life, that's $100 a year for a dog who is a pleasure to be around and everyone is happy to see. That seems cheap! Given where we started -- incredibly frustrated and stressed out -- and where we are now -- everybody's happy -- I can't recommend GentleDogTraining.com highly enough. Spend the money, put in the time, and get the results!