I somehow acquired a shar-pei puppy several years ago, and after reading up on the breed, I decided that some obedience training might be in order. I called around to various trainers in the area, and none of them were willing to put my pooch in a class with other dogs (they have aggressive tendencies, and are notoriously headstrong), or they wanted an insane amount of money for private lessons.
Then I found Doo the Dog. Dave was amazing with my pup - you could tell he was genuinely happy and excited when she behaved the way she should. Doo the Dog also insisted on private lessons for my shar-pei, but the price was reasonable, even comparable to the other trainers' group sessions.
Dave has a little toy dog who demonstrates the right way to do things, little miss perfect I called her, but it really helped to have a "good dog" around for my pup to see how she should be acting.
Doo the Dog does not believe in "treat training" - your dog should want to please you because of the praise he or she will receive. Not because there's a promise of food. I was a bit skeptical of this approach, but years later, my full grown shar-pei is still a well-behaved, pleasant dog to have around (no one objects if I bring her for a visit), and she is still happy when she is praised and petted for following a command.
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