Although my dog is fairly well behaved, I had a visitor coming to stay for 10 days and wanted to find a way to manage his idiosyncrasies such as his “jumping when greeting”, continuously barking for attention; and learn how to deal with his quirks on walks like just lying on the grass and refusing to move, or constantly cutting across me to get to something more interesting. Lots of little things.

I contacted four trainers. First one I contacted spoke to me on the phone but I soon figured out that their “Alpha Dog” approach was not for me. Second one did not reply to my loooong submission to their website – thanks for that. Third one replied to me on Facebook with a link to give him money to book a first appointment without any discussion. And the fourth one – Dog Gone Good – got on the phone with me for about 45 minutes and discussed the ins and outs of what I was looking for and what my options were.

We’d been to group training once before but there is a lot to be said for having training done at your home. Our dog was very receptive to Michele and we were quickly learning little things that I don’t think we would have ever thought of or understood. She helped us identify signals in his body language that showed he was being possessive of toys and explained the best way to deal with him when he was jumping on the furniture and pawing at us for attention (hint: you don’t keep saying “stop”).

We went from having him merely sit before receiving his favorite treat to me leaving the room for 90 seconds and coming back to find he hadn’t moved a muscle while he patiently waited for that treat.

We learned techniques for getting him to stay at the top of the stairs rather than run down when someone came in the front door. And when logistics caused issues with this exercise, Michele would modify the approach so as to make it more likely my dog would comply without compromising the desired outcome.

I adopted loose-leash walking and learned techniques for dealing with my dog’s sometimes-alternative approach to walks 🙂 It’s certainly got easier since then.

When we finished our course I told Michele that we’d love to work with her again in the future. Two paws up!

Graham and Slim from Warrenville, IL