My dog is a border collie/springer/other mix and a Katrina rescue puppy who my husband and I got when he was probably 6 weeks old. He started to become aggressive at about 1 year old. By the time he was 6 years old, he had been through a good puppy school and a well regarded dog trainer without improvement, had been ""asked to leave"" one kennel where dogs were not confined in crates during the day, had become foaming at the mouth teeth gnashing aggressive toward other dogs, lunged to chase joggers, bike riders, and motorcycles, and had to wear a shock collar on walks. He had also pulled me down on a walk and broken my nose. In spite of all this, he was a very intelligent, sweet and devoted dog most of the time, but we finally had decided that he might be untrainable and were considering sending him to go live on a farm instead of in our suburban neighborhood. As a last resort, in August 2011 I went on line and found Michael Ward. Michael took my dog and did intensive training with him for two weeks at his Dog Academy. The second week I spent an hour or two a day there so that Michael could teach me his methods. When I brought my dog home, Michael gave me a program to follow for three weeks to transfer the training from him to me. This dog is a tough case with a long history of behavior issues, so the results were modest in the beginning but we stuck with it. Today, for the first time in 5 years, I can walk my dog without fear. He does not lunge at joggers or bicycles. He does not react to most other dogs, and if he does start to react, I can control him quickly. He is no longer in danger of being sent to a farm. Michael is a gifted dog trainer. For any dog with serious issues, I would highly recommend Michael. For any dog without serious issues, I would equally recommend him, as I can only imagine what he could do with an easy dog given what he was able to do with our hard case. Thanks, Michael!
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