What would we have done without Jonny? He is a lifesaver. A LIFESAVER. After falling in love with our friends' mini aussie, my partner and I decided to get the same breed. I read the top 5 puppy training books on Amazon cover to cover. I read the Complete Guide to Australian Shepherds too. I watched dozens if not hundreds of dog training videos. I bought everything our new puppy could want or need. I thought I was prepared.
Spoiler alert: I was not prepared. Our puppy nipped at every part of us--heels, hands, you name it. He jumped all over people in excitement. He pulled on the leash to say hey every time another human or dog walked by. He destroyed everything. We tried everything--and I do mean everything. Everything you can think of to curb nipping, jumping and destruction--short of hurting our dog, which we would NEVER do. We tried Zak George's suggestions, we tried the Monks of New Sketes suggestions, we tried McCann dog training's suggestions, we tried everything. But nothing worked to curb the problem behaviors. We even took classes with two "positive reinforcement only" trainers before Jonny, and while they were great for helping us teach our puppy commands like sit and come, nothing they suggested worked to get him to settle down and behave. Our puppy just didn't understand consequences for his actions; everything is a game to him, so disciplining him was impossible. Even reinforcing the behaviors we DID want with treats just did not help him learn what NOT to do.
Enter Jonny. We did his board and train program, which includes lessons with him in our home afterward. Holy moly, our dog is transformed. He doesn't nip us. He doesn't jump on people. He lies calmly on his mat. Especially with high energy working breeds like aussies, it's SO important to teach them how to calm down and relax. Jonny did exactly that. And we felt so good knowing that our pup was in Jonny's home with his family and his dogs instead of in a kennel like most board and train programs. We feel completely in control of our pup thanks to Jonny. Do NOT be put off by the e-collar; there is a ton of misinformation out there online about it. We were positive reinforcement only people at first and were very hesitant to use an e-collar, but we were 100% wrong. We found it to be the best, safest, most effective communication method with our dog. The collar doesn't hurt him, doesn't make him fearful or aggressive, none of that nonsense. Jonny actually trains dogs OUT of fearfulness and aggression with the e-collar. He still has his friendly, loving, boisterous personality--he's under control, now thanks to Jonny. I second the other reviewer who said, get lessons with Jonny now before he gets famous! read more