Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

When I first put the lead on my four-month old Morkie puppy (who coincidentally is also named Izzy), she squealed like I was skinning her alive. She dug in her back legs and refused to walk. She threw herself down on the ground "like a sack of potatoes" and howled nonstop for what seemed like forever but was probably only three-to-five minutes. I just kept moving, giving her the verbal commands and short, abrupt corrections on the command-collar. Within ten minutes (no exaggeration) she was walking on the lead staying right with me with minimal correction. In Izzy's very first 45-minute training session, she was walking on the lead, coming to me when I called her, sitting on command and laying DOWN; all with just my words and hand signals. As instructed in the DVD, after she laid down three times in a row (the last thing we tackeled in our first 45 minutes) with zero correction from me, we called it a day for her first day. I could not be more amazed or happier! Is Izzy a smart dog? Yes. But she is also one of those very small, super-cute, extraordinarily STUBBORN dogs that Don refers to in the first sections of the DVD that you'll watch. This system is not for the faint of heart. If you think it's cruel to correct your dog (WITHOUT hurting them), or if you think your dog is going to hate you if you discipline him/her ,or even still, if you believe that the way only way to train your dog is by asking it nicely -- over and over again -- to do what you want it to do, this system is NOT for you. The smart-command collar is humane and gets the dog's attention, without hurting the dog. My Izzy is probably going to have a little bit of a sore throat tomorrow from all of her screeching that she did when she was initially introduced to the lead and again with the DOWN command, but in my humble opinion, that's far better than having her get hit by car or running away and being stolen. I will continue on with training daily and occasionally update this post for anyone to follow along with Izzy's progress and make their own informed decision. If you want a well-trained, well-behaved dog, buy this system. *** Izzy's ONE-month update *** So today, Izzy decided she was going to test me. We live in North Dakota, and this winter has been especially cold. That being said, today my Jeep wouldn't start. Izzy and I went outside and were in the driveway hooking up the cables to my Jeep when my neighbor pulled up to help me. Now, to be fair, everything is white here, and Izzy has never seen the front yard not covered in snow and ice, so I can see how she would think that the front yard extends into the street, which then extends into the people's yard across from us and so on...and ENTIRELY because I hadn't given her verbal and visual commands of where our yard stopped. So while my neighbor and I hooked the cables up to our respective vehicle's batteries, Izzy just kind of explored right around us. Then that damn dog across the street decided to call Izzy over for a visit by starting to bark at her. Izzy looked at me. She looked over at the dog across the street, and she then looked back at me, as if to say, "I'll see ya later," and took off towards the neighbor's yard like someone had just lit a firecracker under her butt. Two facts are paramount to this little update: 1.). Izzy had her three-foot lead on 2.). Izzy and I have worked daily on the DOWN command with both the word and hand signals. So once I realized that I had NOT told her to stay, and it dawned on me that she was already halfway across the road, I was instantly ticked off at both of us. MY first instinct was to start yelling at her to come back...and then I caught myself. What my free-spirited, highly-willed, little five-month-old puppy didn't realize was that HER first instinct (now) was to lay DOWN -- no matter what was going on and right where she was -- when I said the command "DOWN" to her. My neighbor started yelling at her to come back. Izzy kept on truckin'. I swear you could see the smile on her face because she really thought she was getting away with something fantastic. I calmly (Don teaches you in the videos not to scream at your dog) but assertively said, "DOWN!" in Izzy's direction in a tone that she knows means I'm all business. And I swear on mother's grave that that little puppy laid down so quickly that she skidded across the ice in the road on her belly for a good foot or so. She stayed right there, just like she's been trained to do, as I walked up to her and picked up the end of the three-foot lead. I gave her a couple of corrections on the Command Collar telling her she was a "bad dog." She looked at me sheepishly. I took a step forward and said, "OKAY." She got up, and I walked her back to our yard (not holding my end of the lead), told her to stay WITH the practiced hand signal and walked back over to start my now-charged Jeep. I gave her the command ONCE (as Don teaches you to do) and left her to decide if she wanted to make a run for it again. Don teaches you in the videos that the CORRECTIONS you give your dog become stronger each time you correct your dog. You don't have to scream at your dog, and you should never have to repeat your command. It didn't matter if that dog across the street was grilling Mighty Bone steaks. Izzy now had her boundary. She knew where her allowed space was, and she was not leaving her yard. She looked over at the barking dog a couple of times, but she did not leave her yard. My flabbergasted neighbor looked at me and said, "How did you get her to do that?" So I told him about these videos, thanked him for the help, and Izzy and I went back inside the warm house to play catch for a little bit. If you want a well-behaved, well-trained, HAPPY and SAFE dog...buy this system. *** Izzy's three-month update*** Izzy now knows the following commands: DOWN SIT COME (I use the words "Come Here") GET OFF (for use with people, furniture, etc) NO HEEL STAY DROP IT BACK UP TURN AROUND OTHER WAY (To get her to turn around counter clockwise) ROLL OVER and WHAT? (She knows that I want to play when I say "What?") Izzy is small dog -- at seven months old, she weighs 6.5 lbs -- so we did the majority of her leash training indoors, due to harsh temperatures outside. Now that it's starting to become spring here in North Dakota, she walks outside with me sans leash. One point that Don makes in the video that is crucial is this: When you're training your dog, you really need the others in the household to reinforce the training and use the same commands. My (now) ex did not agree with Izzy's training. So he'd let her nip at his hands, pull herself along by his pant leg and let her run around outside without her lead, but he could never understand why she wouldn't respond to him when he gave her a command like "Come!" He refused to correct her. He refused to work with her in her trainng. He refused to use the same commands as I did. He just refused on any and all levels. It ultimately caused Izzy confusion and many more corrections than she ever would have needed And in "the pack mentality," Izzy truly believed that my ex was below her in the pack or at the very least her equal in the pack. And without a doubt, she knew that I was the "Alpha." She'd nip at his hands -- he'd say that it was how puppies played with each other in their natural environment -- but she wouldn't even consider nipping at me, and we play catch throughout the day. He'd be chasing her around outside, trying to get her to come back inside (a great game of "keep away" in Izzy's mind), and I'd walk to the door, say "Come Here," and she trot right back into the house. So ensure the folks in your home are on board, or tell them not to give any commands at all. Period. It's easier on everyone, especially your dog. During the retrieval portion of the DVDs, Don instructs you on how to train your dog to place the ball on a tennis racket, rather than dropping it at your feet as if to say, "You pick it up." I started by training Izzy to place the ball in my hand and now she places the ball on the racket each and every time. And just as Dons says on the DVD, people who see it are usually pretty impressed by it. People are thieves where we live, so I'd never consider leaving Izzy outside anywhere by herself. She'd be stolen. But I have full faith, that if I ever had to tell her to lay down and stay somewhere, she'd do it. And having that trust --that bond-- with your dog is a pretty amazing thing. This is fantastic system. ***Izzy's Two Years Old Now*** So wow...Izzy is two years, one month old -- and she has a little brother, Little Man, who is right at a year-and-a-half. I've got to say -- in case there is anyone reading this who thinks that dog #2 is going to be just like dog #1 when it comes to training -- that my two dogs could not be any more opposite if they tried. From Day 1, LIttle Man walked into my house thinking he was running the show. He's obstinate. He struts around like he's 10 feet tall. He barked at everything and everyone. Izzy and I weren't quite sure what to think about Little Man during those initial days. During the first few days of bonding, Izzy was flat-out pissed at me and at Little Man. She didn't want him in her yard. She definitey didn't want him in her house, and she didn't want him anywhere near for her food dish. Those few days (7-10, I guess) were tough on my little Izzy-butt, and on me. Housebreaking Little Man wasn't difficult at all. When I opened the door and Izzy went outside, he went, too. It was the rest of it (Don't chew on my furniture, shoes or carpet. Don't mark your territory. This is my damn house. And stop barking at me!) that proved to be a mountain, especially considering that Little Man is smaller than Izzy. By the time Little Man came to live with us, Izzy was no longer wearing the command collar. There was just no need. She wore it 24/7 for about the first 9 months of her life, and honestly, I rarely used it after the first couple of months. So after Little Man had been living with us for about two weeks, he was introduced to the command collar. I put the lead on him and started to walk. As soon as I took a step forward while saying "Okay," Izzy started walking right along with me and, lo and behold, so did Little Man. No screeching. No squealing. Little Man just walked along, right beside Izzy and me. So then we immediately went into the "Down" mode. I said, "Down," and Izzy laid down and looked at me, tail just a wagging. Little Man looked at Izzy and laid right down beside her and looked up at me as if to say, "Yep, I've got this. What's next?" I know you're probably sitting there thinking to yourself, "Are you kidding me?" I assure you I'm not. We did this for 30 minutes. Walking around the house, Little Man on the lead, following Izzy's every move, and Izzy following every command I gave. I said, "Sit," and Izzy would plop her butt down and Little Man would mimic her. In all honesty, it took me about 30 seconds to realize that I wasn't going to be training Little Man at all. Izzy was going to do it for me. My biggest complaint with Little Man was his barking. If he heard a noise, it was a full-on assault of barking. If he wanted something, he'd bark. That had to stop. So Little Man kept the command collar on for a few weeks. If he barked, he was told "Stop It." If he still barked, he was immediately corrected via the command collar. It took about a day to get Little Man to stop barking. It was so easy, it was almost silly. As I said before, Little Man is obstinate. So now -- instead of barking -- if he wants to play or wants your attention for some reason, he doesn't bark, he kind of gives this little inquisitive noise -- kind of like when a dog tilts their head to the side and looks at you like they're trying to figure you out and makes that noise? Yeah! That noise. It's as cute as a get-out, and I can live with that. Little Man growls if he hears something, and that's okay, too. He's a dog. He growls when he thinks something wrong. But the barking for no reason and every reason? That's a thing of the past. Little Man and Izzy both know that if something -- a rabbit, a kitty, another dog or a person -- is in THEIR YARD then it's game on, and they're allowed to bark their fool heads off. And they do. And to me, that's okay, because they're "protecting" their territory. When we go for a walk in town, they walk right along beside me on a tandom collar, with the 15' lead just trailing behind them. I swear on my mother's grave that I have never had to pick up the lead while we've been walking. They stay right beside me. If I stop, they stop. When I say, "Okay," we all go. When we go to the park, there is no lead or tandom collar and they walk and run beside me, and then run 30 feet in front of me and then turn around and run back to me. If they "find" something, I keep walking. I don't have to "remind" them to "Come here." They always keep their eyes on me. Once I get about 20 feet ahead of them, I hear eight little puppy paws running up from behind me to catch up. Little Man is our "scout" when we go for long walks at the park. He'll go about 50 feet ahead and look around, stop, and then turn around and run back to where Izzy and I are walking. He stops about 5-10 feet in front of us, turns around and then trot ahead to scout some more. If a car, jogger, bicyclists, etc., come into our path, I step off the trail and stop and the dogs immediately come to where I am and sit and wait for me to say, "Okay." So I guess you could say that this system trained both of my dogs for me, but I can only take credit for actually training Izzy. Little Man ... well, he was trained by Izzy, and she did one hell of a good job with him. I can't say enough great things about how easy this system is. It's humane. And best of all, once you bond with your dog(s) and they trust you, all they want to do is make you happy.