Many years ago, my husband and I paid for a package of lessons. We had the first two lessons and after that were unable to reach John to schedule the rest. Similar story to others on here. Be weary of paying. The first two lessons included showing the use of the prong collar and introducing his dog to ours. However, after that he suggested to pay for additional sessions. After that didn't hear back from again. read more

Our 5 year old dog, Nala, had a rough past before we adopted her (2 different homes, neglected, very anxious). We had already gone through 1 basic training class through Petco to socialize her, and then another private trainer who just sucked the money out of us with no result. We did not want to give up on our sweet girl, so I did my research and felt optimistic starting with John. Our first session showed how anxious she was and her lack of confidence. As we progressed, she loved being a part of the pack with his 2 sweet, large German shepherds who accompany John himself. Throughout our sessions, Nala learned better loose leash walking, more efficient sits, down, became more comfortable around other dogs, and developed confidence. We also learned which training collar works best in lieu of a harness, ALL without using treats. It's tried and true. Overall, we were able to have an ongoing dialogue about how to acclimate her to stressful situations and what not to do. She is a changed dog due to the consistent training methods we witnessed and learned. John is very understanding and wants the best for your furry friend, no matter their history. She will never be 100% in terms of her personality, but we got her dang near a 90% and you would never know her past. Give him a try! read more

John's Natural Dog Training - Pet Training Near Me

Shoud've read Yelp, he has a pattern of scamming people. Paid John $625 for 6 at home sessions. After 3 sessions, he ghosted on us. So, $200 per lesson yielded Sit and Stay. Dog already kinda knew sit. He says his lessons are free for life and has them in multiple locations and times. So far, we've only seen Sunday at 8am and 9am. Went to one 9am and it was cancelled without notification. We gave up on him. That wasted money goes to lesson learned. I think this dude has some useful knowledge, but we've gotten better access to a much better trainer for much less money. read more

We could not be happier with John and his skilled approach at animal handling! We have a 6-month mini goldendoodle that John has been working with for the past 3 months. Our dog has successfully learned to walk properly on a leash, sit, and down (take it with a grain of salt; at 6 months she still needs constant training/reminders, just as children need constant reinforcement as they grow). John does not use treat (food) reinforcement, which we love. My husband and I don't bribe our 3 kids with food, so why would we bribe our dog with treats?! John recommended a pronged training collar. I at first was hesitant (our pup was a tiny 6 lb pup) but after trying it on my arm, I realized that it does NOT hurt. It causes a startle effect that then causes compliance. Our sweet pup responded wonderfully to this training collar! Does she like it? Nope. Does it work? Heck yes!! We don't leave it on her all the time, just for training purposes. And it has resulted in such an obedient, compliant puppy. In addition to an all-natural training approach, John himself is such a nice guy! He truly cares about the pups he works with. Just today he spent 30 minutes on the phone with me, walking me through some puppy behaviors and advising how to best mitigate them. He does not charge for these extra 'sessions', and in fact encourages them. If you are looking for a skilled and knowledgeable trainer who genuinely will care about your dog and train them (and train you! Because let's be honest, training the humans is a huge part!) then you need to call John. Hands down, he's the best. Don't wait. read more

Do not use this man/company! We had the same experience as the other negative reviews - one free consultation, then one lame lesson and then hard to schedule after that. Never refunded $100 owed to us. Scam artist. I DO NOT RECOMMEND John!!! read more

Want to do a shout out to Kylie who is the Dog Trainer for this company! She is spot on and has helped us with our puppy every step of the way. She has supported me by phone, person and worked each step of her puppy stage. I highly recommend her. read more

My boyfriend and I hired John in Jan 2021. During our free consultation, we paid $625 for six personal one-on-one training sessions for our three year-old GS who had been re-homed twice, us being her third home. Initially, we planned to have one session every two weeks and see how she did before we paid for more. He also invited us to his free group sessions for life. We completed two private sessions as planned and had to basically drag two more private sessions out of him. I say this because he had excuses and cancelled and one time no call no showed. So we attended four group sessions at Kit Carson Park to get our dog socialized and gave up on our last two private sessions. We believe John has great techniques and knowledge. We believe John's very talented and personable. But he lacks the ability to follow through with his commitments. He does boarding for established clients only. We were so hopeful that he could board our dog when we leave town because our dog really likes his white GS but the relationship never got established and we haven't had a group invite or any communication with John since April, five months now. Obviously he's moved on so I feel compelled to share our experience as it seems to have ended. read more

Worked with Jessica last year, private session to work on leash aggression with my border collie mix. She was very professional and taught me a lot of things and help put my dog in situations where we could work on her problems by bringing her own dogs to the session. (which I really appreciated) We still have one session that is unused and lifetime classes that we may use in the future but I recommend this company to people who have problematic behaviors they want to work on and/or want to work on basic obedience. It was really hard to find a company that didn't go directly to a shock collar so I really appreciated that. My only complaint is that there wasn't a lot of positive reinforcement, mostly discipline, but hey... maybe my dog is an ass and needed to be put in line! LOL read more

John is great with dogs! We had a really great time in his beginning 6 week class. Our dog Hero who joined the class at almost 4 months old has finally graduated the class and he has mastered the COME, SIT, STAY, HEEL, and DOWN commands. It was a great place to socialize dogs while they are off leash at the beginning of class and in the middle of class. John answers any problem questions that you might have. The class is a little pricey, but if John is having a special on his website, I would take advantage of it. The class is originally priced at 140 for 6 weeks, but he had a new year special going and I got the class for 125. I like that the class was held outdoors and not inside. The only downside about that was when it rained class was postponed, but that's okay. Overall I enjoyed my experience with John's Natural Dog Training and I am considering putting our dog into the next level of training. read more

Dont waste your money. John's beginner and intermediate clases are only walking all the dogs in a circle over and over again with sit stay being the only thing learned. If your dog didn't fit in you were banished. I paid for the gold package which included in home training. John showed up spent 15 minutes with me and my dog again all he provided was sit and stay with no attention to the particular issues we were having with our dog. Sadly to say this was the second time I signed up for the gold program and got the same results He is a charlatan and a fake trainer. DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY! read more

I hired this company after a great recommendation from a colleague. I am a first time owner and decided to purchase an Alaskan Klee Kai puppy. The breed is cute as a button but can be very difficult in raising if you're not educated properly. I wasn't. I immediately did the in-home and class package which is WELL worth the money. I would have paid 5x what I did to receive the customer service and catered attention that I have over the past year. Not only did I receive amazing service during our in home sessions, I also received excellent and prompt customer service regarding emails and text messages with any questions that I had. I haven't worked with John himself but 3 of his staff members. I was very pleased with all of them. I can't say enough good things about this company, the methods they use, the way they cater training to each breed and each situation, and the way they educate the owner as much as the dog. I needed training as much as my puppy did. We continue to do all of the classes and I recommend this company to anyone and everyone with a dog. Beginning, intermediate, or advanced they've got classes for you! read more

I can't say enough wonderful things about John and his training style! My 14 year old labradoodle (Daisy) was trained by John when she was a puppy. She has honestly been the absolute best dog we've ever had. She didn't start out that way at all. In fact, she was a bit of a nightmare. We absolutely could not get her to obey our commands. Daisy's training with John allowed her to become a perfectly well behaved dog. So now that we have a puppy again (Elvis), the natural choice was to call John. Upon John's arrival to our home, he had Elvis obeying him inside of two minutes. In fact, I was able to walk the puppy immediately after John instructed both Elvis & me. It may sound simple; however, previously it had been impossible to walk him without jumping and jerking. I am confident that in no time we will have another wonderfully trained dog by John's Natural Dog Training! John's training style is so calm & kind. No harsh techniques are utilized. This is the only call you need to make. read more

I hope my review holds true! It's been many years since I worked with John's Natural Dog Training, but they helped my two dogs become happy and well-adjusted even though I suddenly developed a debilitating illness within a year of bringing them home. Denelle worked with me and helped me find ways to manage my young dogs despite my illness. Now, I am bringing home another puppy... I always think it's a good sign when I hope that I will find the same business and I remember them many years later. :) I took full advantage of the classes with my easier dog, and never quite followed up enough with the more challenging dog. I'm looking forward to (I hope) bringing Denelle back into my home and perhaps I will make even more progress with the dogs. I enjoyed working with John, as well. 8/14... Denelle was back and just as good as I remembered, patiently training both my puppy and my son. She even gently trimmed the hair from around our new pups fluffy eyes. :) Thank you! read more

In my neighborhood everybody who owns dogs knows John because he really and truly knows dogs! We recommend him to everyone. He is a miracle-worker, plain and simple. WORTH EVERY PENNY. We have nicknames for him, like "The REAL Dog Whisperer," and "The Dog Magic Man", and "John the Baptist" (and the guy who came up with that last nickname couldn't think of a Biblical miracle-worker named John, so he picked "the Baptist"; but hey, we knew what he meant). We've hired John for three dogs. The first time we met him (in the mid 1990's) he trained us! Even though I'd grown up with dogs and I'd read every book I could find on raising a puppy, I was still struggling with the basics of dealing with two children under 4 and a pup. In minutes John had our puppy's full attention and showed us how teach our dog by working with his natural behavior, rather than against it. As I said, I'd grown up with dogs, but he pointed out stuff I'd never noticed before: like when my dog "swallowed a thought". (You'll have to take a lesson with John to learn about that!) In that first session he taught our dog how not to bolt when the front door was opened, to stop chewing on the kids' toys, to stop chewing on kids' fingers, and he taught us everything we needed to do until he was 6-months-old and able to come to group classes. He gave us instructions for the kids, too, so that puppy and kids would grow up safely and happily. We followed his instructions faithfully and went to the group classes. Our puppy grew into the best-mannered dog in the neighborhood. Everybody loved that dog. So many people would tell me, "If you ever want to give him up, I'll take him in an instant!" We've hired John a couple of times since, for more dogs that came to live with us. Two of my neighbors and I even hired him for a semi-private class. Again, all were extremely successful outcomes... BUT... here's the thing: he trains the owner as well as the dog, and the ultimate success of your dog's training depends on whether or not you'll follow his guidelines. An example: my neighbor's dog was sweet but a bit of a problem, very aggressive on leash and in the car toward other dogs and men, and very destructive inside the house. And yet she was the star pupil in John's group class. She learned everything so quickly and was so well behaved, it was as if she had been transformed into an angel dog right there on the sidewalk. But after the class... her owner stopped doing what John recommended. She'd say "I don't have time to be the leader of the pack!" and, "It's just too much work, I'm fine the way she is." The dog's bad behavior returned, of course. Whenever the subject comes up my neighbor will tell me, "The dog-training didn't work!" and I'll say, "The dog training worked fine, your dog was the star pupil! It was the people-training that failed!" and she has to laugh and agree with me. (Because I always call her on her poop! That's just what friends do.) Our last dog passed away over a year ago and we're finally getting ready to let a new pup into our lives. And that's when we'll be calling John's Natural Dog Training again. P.S. I just read another review were they talk about the prong collar, as if John slaps those things on every dog, and as if prong collars are inhumane. Of the three dogs we had, John only recommended the prong collar for one of them, and that dog needed it because he would pull so hard on the leash that he was almost strangling himself. The prong looked gnarly but it was a gentle reminder to my dog not to pull, and when he would forget, the prongs distributed the heavy pressure evenly around his neck, rather than relentlessly choking him at the throat with a traditional collar. Not every dog needs a prong collar. Our dog only needed it for a couple of months before he learned for good not to pull. I hope that people will do some research on prong collars before they jump to false conclusions. read more

Wish I would have read all the reviews about people losing their money to this shady company. Now we're in the same position as the other people he stole from and he won't respond to messages about a proper refund. We paid $775 for 8 sessions and only used 2 before we decided that his values don't line up with ours. We refuse to use a spike choke collar and the trainer insisted. According to the contract you can cancel within the first 3 sessions and get your money back for any unused sessions. We've been waiting for the refund for months. DON'T TRUST THIS COMPANY. We're out close to $600 for NOTHING. Total fraud read more

John has been a great teacher. He taught ME how to properly train my dog and guide me through the process of turning my shelter dog into a great member of the family. Dog training is about training the human owner, not the dog. I did the private lessons and it's been worth the extra money to get the one on one training. John also boards my dog when I'm out of town and I've never had a problem. Highly recommend him and his services. read more

Love these people! Had great initial call with John, got back to me ASAP. We had referral from friends. He assessed our need (new puppy) and for scheduling he couldn't personally help us but he has Kylie - who is amazing. On time, really chill, and knows her stuff! Great practical tips, very realistic, not scary. We all are in awe...and have witnessed her training with her own dog. Our daughter who WAS afraid of dogs now sees that a well trained dog is attainable and nothing to be afraid of. We can hardly wait for our sessions and to experience all the new things our pup (and us) are learning and mastering together! Thanks Kylie!! read more

Same experience as Stinky B. We paid for 6 sessions, got one free consultation from John and 3 visits from his assistant. Then he disappeared, doesn't work on Fridays, can only meet at Tuesday at 3pm, inconvenient times, excuse excuse excuse. He does know and understand dogs but he does not follow through and will take your money. Avoid. read more

I have been working with Jessica now for about 6 months and my dog Mr. Bailey is a completely different dog. He was a rescue dog who was scared, nervous, frightened of everything and everybody, didn't like people or other dogs. He is now a happy, loving, playful little guy. She taught me so much, and I see that Mr. Bailey likes to be a good dog and lives to please me. I don't think some of the others reviews are fair regarding the collar, as it simulates what a momma would do to her pup to discipline. Besides that, I see Ceasar Milan use them all the time. I will continue to bring Mr. Bailey to classes and hopefully get all the certificates they offer. Love this place, Love Jessica! I also recommend Kamp Kanine for doggie day care. read more

My parents actually used John to train our two golden retrievers as I was growing up. When my husband and I got our first dog approximately a year and a half ago, we did training through PetSmart and it was positive reinforcement/treat based training. We had a good experience (no complaints) because our pup did learn a lot, but he did seem more nervous and did not thrive in the group environment with lots of other dogs. After noticing some behavioral issues over the past few months with our fur baby, I decided to get a consultation with John. Kylie came to our house on a Sunday to meet Ruger (our dog), my husband and I and assess what she felt we needed. She was extremely thorough, friendly and we felt very comfortable. So far so good and we are excited to start our 6 private training classes. Will update at the end of them! read more

Overall I am very displeased with my experience. I found out about John from Dirty Dogs and I was excited about the idea of natural dog training. I was very hesitant to get on board with the choke collars as I have always been about positive reinforcement with my dog. I did not get an appointment with John but instead his step daughter Jessica. I paid for private session and a lifetime membership to his classes. I never even used my last private session but I did not feel any connection with Jessica and neither did my dog. On top of that Jessica called my dog dangerous to my neighbor which led to many issues for me from the homeowners association at the request of my neighbor afterward. I was told my John to give up on my dogs behavioral aggression towards other dogs because she wasn't a puppy anymore and this was just who she was. Through finding a more positive trainer I have found that this was certainly not the case. I didn't have a terrible experience with Johns classes but after going through one six week class session I called back multiple times trying to bring my dog in for other classes since I paid for a LIFETIME. I've never gotten a call back since then and it's been years that I've tried to utilize this pricey service that I invested in. read more

John is not a complete trainer and struggled with my dog. He did not apply any direct methods to my dogs issues and only insisted on that I wasn't choking him hard enough. He uses a prong choker collar for all dogs, which I should have avoided from the beginning. His classes lacked structure and often consisted of his stories and walking in circles without any direct work for dogs in the class. We have had to look elsewhere and lost quite a bit of money to John. I was very unhappy with his service and quality of work. read more

Outstanding! My dog is amazing now! I grew up with dogs and and watched some of the dog training shows on tv. My ignorance on how to train a dog was the cause of my dogs menacing and wild ways. Now my dog is well trained and yet is as spirited as ever, follows commands and appears to enjoy showing off his skills. Great experience read more

John has made a world of difference to my dog! We met with many trainers to find someone who could help her with her anxiety, which was brought on by big trucks and eventually made her afraid to go outside at all. They suggested drugging her, freezing her food and hiding it around the house to wear her out mentally so she was too tired to be scared (uhh, what??), and other nonsense. John, on the other hand, made sense from the start. He has taught us how to get her to trust us more than her fear instincts. There is nothing complicated about his style of training, and it WORKS. I now have a more confident dog who walks beside me and lays at my feet. In less than 2 months, she's become excited to go places and is becoming that kind of dog who can go everywhere with me. For anyone with good animal sense, I highly recommend skipping the crazies and the gimmicky trainers and calling John. read more

I hired him to train my dog probably 10 years ago, but never wrote a review. I was disappointed because he did not spend more than 15 min with my puppy and then left. (I purchased a package for once a week training at my home). I thought he was over priced for the quality of time he spent with my dog. On one of the sessions I was surprised to see his wife show up to train instead of him. Over all, I was not impressed and decided not to continue with this company. read more

We hired John to teach our English cream golden retriever to go on walks. We were very happy with his work with Sugar. John, you will be happy to know that Sugar now looks forward to walking every morning -- she just waits for me to get home from walking Toby. Thank you, John. read more

This was an easy training for my dog. I liked there were "no treats" involved. Just commands and then praise for my dog. I took the 6 week class and when my dog saw John each week he ran to him. I think he might like John more than he likes me! I learned a lot and can now control my big dog. It's been several months and my dog is still as willing to follow my commands as he was during training. It was such a pleasant experience. Thank you again John (Cody misses you). read more

I started using John's Natural Dog Training a few weeks ago. I am amazed at the progress my pups have made. I have an 1 year old Weimaraner-Lab mix who was so fearful of other dogs, small children and people in general. She started to become aggressive with my other dogs over food, so our Ver recommended John. I am so thankful for his expertise and very effective no nonsense approach. I am also working on my little dogs with John and am so pleased with their confidence and improved behavior. We no longer burst into a dusty fur tornado when we approach other dogs on walks. I can't recommend him enough. read more

John's Natural Dog Training - Pet Training Near Me

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HORRIBLE! The first thing they did at class was put a pronged pinch collar on every dog. It was awful. There is NO reason to use that as an initial training tactic. Contrary to what his website says, they are all about NEGATIVE TRAINING, not positive reinforcement. My dog was sad, scared of doing something wrong, and punished just to "try to teach him the meaning of no". It was awful. I will never ever return to any classes here, or ever take a class taught by a trainer who has ever worked with him. read more

We recently adopted a rescue dog and wanted to have the most positive relationship possible with our new pet addition. Within the first week we called JNDT and signed up for the K/9 in home training program that also included group obedience class sessions. Jessica helped us with house breaking, crate training, dog obedience, with setting up our dog run, and even taught our dog how to use the dog door. She has been an amazing trainer and resource for us. She has helped Colin be the absolute best that he can be. We highly recommend JNDT. We have have learned so much from the website articles and Jessica. Her techniques work and provide a positive approach to dog training. We are confident and happy dog owners due to the training provided by Jessica. Linda O. & Sally R. read more

We are so pleased with the helpfulness we have received from Jessica and John at John's Natural Dog Training. We used Jessica with our first dog two years ago. We recently brought home a second puppy . Both John and Jessica came to our home to help with the transition. We were so impressed. They have continued to be extremely supportive through the entire puppy training process. We now have a 2 year old golden, and a 4 month old golden that are well behaved, can perform several commands (including sit, down, stay, and come) and are easy to have around. One more thing.......Our two year old golden had developed some minor aggression issues that we were completely freaked out about. Jessica came to my house (and this is after my training package had expired) She volunteered to take a walk with me and my dog Zeke. She spent a whole evening attempting to figure out Zeke's issues so that " I "could then be properly trained. We love John's natural dog training and would definitely recommend this team to anyone thinking of bringing a new puppy/dog into their home. read more

This was the best $500 I've ever spent! I was able to schedule our first private training session within 2 days of contacting them. John's Natural Dog Training uses a common-sense approach to dog training - no fear or intimidation and no shock collars! Our 10 week old puppy, Jett, was becoming a little terror with her teething, biting and jumping up on visitors. Jessica is our trainer and provided an amazing amount of information on dog behavior and dog psychology. Within 4 visits, Jett was better behaved and within 6 visits, she was obeying the commands of Heel, Sit, Down and Stay. I thought I knew a lot about dog behavior but Jessica spent as much time teaching (training) us how to react or not react to our puppy in order to discourage or praise her for her certain behaviors. I just can't say enough good things about John's Natural Dog Training - well worth the money! read more

John is a total flake. He stood us up more than 5 times in a couple months. Multiple no shows. He either said we never had an appointment or came up with an excuse. When we went to the classes, we found out he did the same thing to other clients. When he would get a new client, he would see them and disregard the old ones. We did not see any improvement in our dog either. Don't waste your money. We didn't even bother getting out last personal training session with him. read more

John is awesome and a total dog-whisperer! He's my go-to for training and boarding! Thanks John!

The Best Investment I Could Have Made in Logan! Being an obedience school drop out too many times to mention, I entered John's Program with quite a few reservations reservations. Bottom line, is this going to work? No clicker, no food. Let me just cut to the chase. I signed up because I had prior success with my other dog when John came out to the house and gave me several private (important) lessons to help me get started with my pup. He encouraged me to join the group classes and I went to the beginners and just kept going. I've been working with Jessica this time around with my new Sheltie pup. We started him at 6 months. Jessica is smart, answered all my questions, has patience with me and helped Logan go from the "unruly cute pet" to the perfect little gent! I highly recommend this Pet obedience training AND if you can get Jessica, you will be in good hands. read more

My wife and I have used John's Natural Dog Training for two Golden Retrievers and are very satisfied. Our most recent Golden worked with both Jessica and Denelle as a puppy on one-on-one obedience training and with Denelle on training for the invisible fence that encircles our property. I was particularly pleased that Denelle taught my dog to respond to sounds and flags and did not purposefully shock him so that he could find out what it feels like. I also participated in a free weekly class that my dog loved until we had to stop due to some hereditary health issues. There were regularly 15 to 20 dogs with their owners in attendance, and everyone really enjoyed the 45 minute sessions. Regarding cost, clearly one-on-one training is more expensive, and maybe too expensive for some. But they come right to your house, on time and with new lessons every week. I liked that they often brought other dogs as distractions, and my dog learned how to ignore them and also how to socialize with them afterwards. Denelle has also been a valuable sounding board for me to talk about my dog's health. She and Jessica are very knowledgeable about our canine friends, and while they don't substitute for vets, their opinions are certainly helpful. All in all, I would highly recommend John Natural Dog Training to anyone with a dog they are interested in training. read more

Hi again, I just saw that John provided feedback on my review.... All I will say is that he was very defensive during this phone call, didn't even offer a way to resolve any issues, and was only concerned about the "fairness" of my review. Instead of trying to discredit my review and make me out to be a liar, he should've asked how his company could have done things differently or whatever. John was completely uninterested in what I had to say and only wanted to tell me how wrong, unfair, and inaccurate my review was. It was very difficult to try to talk to him because he kept getting defensive and would speak over me. John did mention all of his clients and experience and I told him that I thought it was great that he could provide so many people with such awesome service but I wasn't one of them and I wasn't going to argue with him because it was my review of the service I received and I believed that my assessment of the group classes were accurate. *During the course of this conversation I told him that I thought I had posted this review a year ago but recently noticed that it never posted but still felt it was applicable so....I posted it now. All-in-all, I still stand by the one-star rating I intended to post a year ago. If you do give him a chance, I hope your experience is much better than mine. :) read more

Wow, after reading Jessica's response to my first review I have to write an update, because this kind of thing makes me mad. I did not drop the leash in the first incident. The truth is that John put his "special" collar on the dog when he took her from me, and she promptly slipped his collar and took off. He was made fully aware of her skittishness and "bolting" tendencies before our meeting. That was just the first incident. What about making me wait an hour when he was late meeting me to pick up the dog the second time i boarded her? She doesn't address that issue. Sometimes you just have to call it like it is, even if its uncomfortable. After Jessica's response, I am really happy that John decided to take his time and not get back with me promptly so I found someone else. There are other options. read more

John helped us with our scruffy terrier mix we adopted. Otter was a street dog and had lots of issues. John gave us great advice that got us through the first few months and turned him into a great dog. John was realistic about what it would take. We highly recommend John. read more

John's training technique is to use PRONGED PINCH COLLARS and NEGATIVE PUNISHMENT. His training style is OVERLY AGGRESSIVE in my opinion. His preference and tendency is to shape dogs behavior by forcing them into submission instead of using positive reinforcement techniques. John came to my home for a paid consultation to evaluate our newly rescued dog, Harley. I had the dog about 4 days before John visited us. I was out walking Harley on the street when John arrived late. He drove up to my house in a large black lifted truck with a camper shell and two large dogs in the back; a Rottweiler and a German Shepherd. The Shepherd, who sounded like an uncontrollable attack dog was going wild, barking loudly and aggressively at Harley as John pulled up to our house. This was Harley's first exposure to John and his dogs. My initial impression of John was that his persona is one of a tough guy with his big truck and big aggressive dogs and used terms like "lock and load," referring to the toughness of dogs. Harley was very shy to John and is very sweet around all people. In order to "test" Harley around other dogs, John instructed me to keep Harley inside my garage while John approached up the driveway with his Rottweiler followed by his Shepherd. Harley reacted aggressively, in what I later learned was merely a fear reaction of other dogs. John's suggested method of training was that we should put Harley on a PRONGED PINCH COLLAR and yank hard on him until the desired response was achieved. John told me that if he were training a dog that was aggressive like Harley, he would yank hard on the pronged collar until the dog was on the ground. He offered to sell me a pronged collar which I obviously did not buy. Upon a subsequent discussion with John, he suggested that one option is to return Harley to the shelter because he demonstrated overly aggressive behavior and it would be very difficult to train him not to be aggressive. I was left with a very uneasy feeling that John is OVERLY AGGRESSIVE and uses NEGATIVE PUNISHMENT as a first pass method of shaping behavior to force dogs into submission. Needless to say, there was no way I was going to take Harley to John's training sessions. Instead, my solution for Harley was just to expose him to other dogs in non-threatening environments until he learned that other dogs were not a threat. And the results were amazing within only a few weeks. Harley also recently completed 6 sessions of the Humane Society Head Start Program ($89) which I recommend. Within only a month, Harley was completely at peace and relaxed around other dogs and does not have any aggression issues. Whereas I am not an expert, I do not recommend John's aggressive training techniques. The consultation with John was $125, and he was with us for only about 30 minutes. I felt like he was in a hurry to leave. To John's credit, his dogs were very responsive to him and highly trained. I prefer the Humane Society positive reinforcement techniques and suggest giving that a try before yanking your dog around on a painful pronged pinch collar. read more