Testimonials
Read what our customers are saying about us.

Pete Zimowsky and Julie Hall
Idaho Statesman Outdoor Sports Writer

You helped us immensely getting a hyper yellow lab turned around. The six-year-old AKC lab was given up to the Emmett shelter and then spent a year in foster care where she was penned up in a kennel. When we first go her, you couldn’t walk her with a leash without suffering shoulder injuries. She was constantly coming up to you with a stick and barking. She had no heeling experience.

After going through your private training, she received both her obedience and advanced obedience certificates. She heels, comes and stays put when commanded. She stays put and waits for the command to retrieve. No way would she do that before the training.

We continue to use your expertise every day in training; you don’t want an unruly dog in a canoe. Honey bee is now a courtesy hunter, hiker and family dog. And, also a veteran canoe dog.

 

Kathleen Moone

Louie is an eight-year-old Belgian Malinois Mix we adopted a year ago from a Humane Society foster family. He has a wonderful temperament with our small children and we fell in love with him quickly. However, although he is very smart he had not had any training and needed to learn some basic manners, especially on the leash. The wonderful thing about Jim’s method of training is that it is so quick, simple and effective. Within a few minutes, Louie was walking by my side on the leash instead of trying to pull me along behind him. I highly recommend the program, especially for people with mature dogs. Louie was in a class with a lot of young dogs and he learned these new skills even faster than they did. You CAN teach old dogs new tricks.

 

Don and Judy Roell

When we came to A Better Pet, Josie had nipped several people on the rear. We knew we needed to get this problem handled right away, before it escalated and she broke skin or injured someone. We told Jim that she had two personalities- Love So Deep, and Crocodile. It turns out she learned her behavior from me - I had a confrontation with a male worker at our home. Also, Jim told us she had fear based aggression. On our first visit, Josie was very aggressive towards every dog in the building and definitely wanted to bite all the male humans in the building. By the time we finished private lessons with Jim; Josie was licking unfamiliar men’s hands and sitting while strange dogs sniffed her. Judy and I came to believe that there wasn’t anything Josie wouldn’t do for us - SHE LOVED US THAT MUCH. Unfortunately Josie passed on from an auto-immune disease very shortly after she started the group classes. We feel very fortunate to have had Josie in our lives, and want to thank Jim for helping with her. We truly learned about her “Love So Deep” personality before she passed on. Josie Lynn we will never forget you.

 

Tim and Naomi Fulwood

Jim, we really enjoyed training with you and are looking forward to future classes. Your training style makes perfect sense in its logical approach to shaping Sadie's behavior. If it were not for the skills that you taught us, we would have probably given up by now. You have given us the necessary tools to modify Sadie's behavior even when she did not respond to the first level of reinforcement. We admire your ability to remain calm in every situation. Thank you for modeling that for us. Once again, thank you for sharing your expertise with us and encouraging us every step of the way.

 

Erin and Mitch Major

We would highly recommend A Better Pet Dog Training for any human or canine. My husband and I have a two year old Beagle named Buster. Before taking Buster to A Better Pet well, he wasn’t one. We enrolled Buster into a private lesson plan and could not be more thrilled with the results. A few months ago you couldn’t even open the front door without physically holding Buster, in fear that he may run right out. Now he follows commands. We completed our private lessons and were so excited about the results we continued on to the advanced off leash training. With a Beagle!!! After time and practice Buster now heals, sits, stays, and comes immediately when called. Buster does all of this and more without a leash, even in the midst of distraction. Our lives are so much better now that we no longer live in a dogocracy. Thank you A Better Pet! I think this might be some of the best money I ever spent.

 

Ryan Andrus and Carol Brummet

Our dog, Roxy, was a terror. Her original owners had to get rid of her after she bit one of the neighbors. We were not doing well with her either. In the first 8 months that we had her she bit or threatened several people (including young children), she would bolt at the sight of an open door, and our efforts to contain her in our yard were fruitless and included investing thousands of dollars in a 6ft fence. She was spending hours every day terrorizing the neighborhood after escaping the yard or bolting through an open door. She would prevent neighbors from getting out of their cars and attacked dogs, cats and deer. She was bound to get us into legal trouble and we actually contemplated having her put down. Her last chance was obedience training with Jim at A Better Pet Dog Training.

After completing the 2 month long basic obedience class she is a completely different animal. While she retains the urge to chase other animals, we have complete control and can actually call her back to us from any distance and with any degree of distraction. She politely waits for permission to go through open doors and no longer leaves the yard. She will sit unrestrained for any length of time as dogs, people, cats or anything else pass by. Her aggressive behavior toward strangers has stopped. In her last week of the training we took her backpacking. Incredibly, she walked with us unrestrained throughout the 2 day trip. If horses, hikers, other dogs, or wildlife approached we could simply call her back and she would sit calmly at our side while the distraction passed. This is a dog that once bolted at the sight of such distractions ignoring our commands and disappearing for hours.

 

Regina Wildeisen

My son and I took your class last summer for our two dogs and can still see the benefits daily. I wouldn't hesistate to recommend your class to anyone.

 

 

 

Seth & Allison Berglund with “Beckham"

Thank you for helping us become “Hands Free” Owners!