I had never heard of him, so I Googled the name.

I have owned dogs, cats, horses, snakes, birds, and assorted rodents---and never found ANY training method that produced concrete, long lasting results in days, not to mention minutes.

That glitzy, over the top web site/video/training aid/testimonial list is simply spam, pure and simple.

I rescued a GSD/Rott mix that was so aggressive and uncontrolled, the local police were getting a court order to have the dog siezed and euthanized as a public menace. That dog is now so well behaved a local shelter/bording facility with whom I boarded the dog for 4 days while I worked on the floors in out house told me thay have never had a better behaved unneutered dog of this type.

All that training took months to accomplish---and I did not need 'special' collars or leads.

Thanks for your input. I thought it sounded too good to be true. I won't buy it.

I saw that infomercial last weekend and poked around his site looking for some real information. Turning training into an infomercial is very worrying to me. His site 'fact page' is pretty vague, but it seems to be along the line of leadership based training using physical correct via the 'special collar'.

I'm not going to make a judgment on his training style with so little information. Reading through his 'dog myths' page there are more than a few points I strongly disagree with. That's fine. I know more than a few trainers who I respect and do great work, but whose training philosophy I would not employ with my dog.

However, I don't like hearing promises of quick fixes when it comes to animals and training. "Changes in minutes!" it says. If any real world trainer said that to me, I'd walk out of their class immediately.

No matter which school of training a person subscribes to there is no substitute for time, consistency and hard work.

Well here's a small update on this.

I looked at his site again and read the testimonials and googled one of the names of the people who raved about it. I found this gal and she wrote me back saying this product totally worked for her dog. She was very happy with it.

I think I might order it and I'll post back and let you know how it worked. If I don't have any luck with it, I can always return it within 30 days.

Stay tuned and I'll let you know how it goes.

*update*

I received Don Sullivan's Secrets to Training the Perfect Dog.

I'm not easily impressed but I have to say this *is* all it's cracked up to be.

So far we've taught him to do the following: (after not much time at all)

1. sit/stay... until we release him by saying "OK!!" and clapping our hands.

2. Lay Down and stay until he's released

3. Retrieve a toy AND bring it back to us. Nutty dog would ordinarily go after the toy and then run thru the house with a smile on his face as if to say "catch me if you can!!" Now he brings it to us and drops it.

4. Walk along side us while on a leash without tugging like crazy.

The next thing I want to train him on is not to go nuts and jump up all over people when they come to the front door. That's gonna be a big test.

I'm shocked that this works so well. Just thought I'd share with you.

*Disclaimer* I am not affiliated with this company at all, just a regular consumer who saw the infomercial on tv.

I have one question... how much does it cost?

I ask because nothing you've taught your dog so far is especially difficult or unusual. The things you mention are things I teach all my dogs, and expect them to obey as part of being a well-mannered family member.

There is no regulation on animal training or trainers. Anyone can claim to be a top notch pet trainer.

And anyone with common sense and a pet can get the same results. Repetition, consistency, praise. That's it.

I've seen part of his infomercial and was curious as well. So what is his method?

I'm curious because I work with shelter dogs - we don't have days and days to train them - I can't volunteer 7 days a week as much as I would love to. I was wondering if this method truly helps train in shorter amounts of time, I would be interested in learning more about what he does that's different from the norm.

Sher

Well I like to think I have common sense.

I ask because nothing you've taught your dog so far is especially difficult or unusual...

You don't know my dog.

No sense telling you how much I paid for it as you'd probably make me feel even worse.

Thank you for your reply.

My intention was not to make you feel stupid, but to warn you that since there is no regulation in the pet training industry, it's the perfect opportunity to run a scam... all it take is a little knowledge of dogs, and not much of that, even.

A good salesman can talk circles around the average individual, and if you're not a little bit skeptical and familiar with the product beforehand, you could get ripped off quite easily.

But, hey... if you like the product, and think you got a good deal... that's all that matters.

"You don't know my dog." - I'm a 30 year veteran breeder... a dog is a dog is a dog. They all respond to the same basic things, with a little adjustment here or there.

I'd also like to mention at this point, that the pet feed industry has little to no regulation, either... just for your information. Choose carefully based on research of canine nutritional needs. It's the same thing with everything in the pet industry... very little regulation, and plenty of people looking to make a buck at your expense.

I dont subscribe to anything to anything with the words perfect or secret in them....

Ya... those words are sort of a dead give-away...

Just bear in mind, that with little to no regulation, it's easy to be sneaky and make a boatload of cash at the expense of the uninformed consumer. Take what you hear and read with a huge grain of salt and a lot of common sense... you'll get by just fine.

Shaun, I am so glad that you found something that works for you and your dog. Regardless of what some say, every dog is different and some dogs just do not respond to the normal training methods. Keep up the good work.
Linda

Thanks Linda. Yep every dog is different.

I'm glad I bought this system and I'm very proud of my dog for learning these commands (as simple and common as some feel they are) - in minutes. I've had the dog almost 3 yrs, been to training, worked with him consistently to no avail.

So I can only say positive things about this system.

It's a shame there are so many skeptics who won't give anything new a chance. People get caught up in thinking they know it all. Sad.

shaun,
Just wanted to agree with you on the Don Sullivan training program. My DH and I ordered it also and have been very pleased with it so far. We have a lab pup and think his training methods are great for her. She is young but responds well. We were skeptical when we ordered it but I think there is a wealth of information on the 2 DVDs. It may be a little "slick" but he demonstrates every kind of problem you could ever have with your dog and has a method for each one. I think it is great too!

I'll be the first to admit that I don't know it all... but I do know one thing... a sucker is born every minute, and somewhere is a person with a HUGE bank account, living the good life at your expense, to prove it!

I have wonderfully trained, well-behaved dogs that respond to any command I give... and I didn't spend a dime on training. I've been working with dogs my entire life, and I'm not believing for a minute that your dog is un-trainable... behavior can be modified quite easily.

But... if spending cash on a training system gives you the ability to train your dog... more power to you.

I'm a skeptic because I've been there, lived it, researched it all... and there's a lot out there to be skeptical about! Don't kid yourself for a minute... the world of pets is not a very honest one.

And now you're calling me a sucker? That's not nice JodiK.

I'm thrilled that your dogs are so well trained. And good for you for being able to do that. Really, I mean that.

But the reality is, all I did was come here to share my own personal experience. I originally posted asking if anyone had heard of or used this particular product and no one had. People answered with their opinions of what they thought it *might* be.

After I did more research on this, I thought it was only the nice thing to do, come here and give an update on my own personal findings. Hands on. Not assumptions.

I didnt come here to be called names and have you jump on me because you are the knower of all, been there, lived it and researched it all. Just because you don't agree with what I've posted doesnt give you the right to be so rude.

And the strangest part is that you don't even know about the product I bought and had such good results from.

I'm still not sure why you feel the need to bash a product that you have never even tried. It's not taking anything away from you or your family. It's just one person giving a testimonial on a product they used and like.

Is that not allowed here on your forum JodiK?

Perhaps Shaun doesn't have 30 years experience. Perhaps Shaun has a dog with a different personality than any s/he has worked with before. Perhaps Shaun had an inexperienced trainer in the classes s/he took with this dog. There are many, many reasons that Shaun may have had difficulty training this dog. S/he found a method that works and that is the important point.

Would you be calling shaun a sucker for spending money on a class? How would s/he have known ahead of time if the trainer in a class is good? Perhaps by asking friends of their experience, just as s/he tried to do with this DVD.

Congratulations, Shaun, having a well trained dog is worth the money you spent.

Thank you Prairie_Love. Well said.
Mrs. Shaun

In comment to this training method I would advise people to fully differentiate between opinion and supportable fact. As many state; the dog world and its experts are totally unregulated therefore we deal much more with opinion that truthfully researched and supportable facts.
This training method can and obviously does work but it only works if you follow the proper protocol.
As far as a quick fix or miracle, or other such buzz words that attract attention and sell products they should not be used to judge the product itself. Lets face it, they have to sell their product before it can help anyone.
The astonishing facts of the minimal amount of time most humans spend in meaningful interaction with their dogs (interaction that provides the opportunity for the dog to learn) By correlating this to an 80 percentile application it is actually less thank 5 minutes a day.
In order to properly understand the "quick" method of training you need to first identify the two processes that occur to result in what an average person would identify as a trained dog.

1.Teaching- all dogs can learn you average obedience commands such as sit, stay, heel, down, ect. As well as begin extinquishment of many improper behaviors such as pulling on the leash, jumping up, digging, ect in a focused process of 5 minutes or less.

2.Conditioning- this is the consistent repetition of a learned behavior (resulting from the teaching) that eventually creates an immediate or almost subconscious reaction to a command or situation (Conditioned Response)

Now recognizing these two steps as individual elements of achieving the status of a trained dog allow you to see how "Quick, Instant, Secret, " or other such words are, although misleading, still truthful.

So can you teach a dog in a matter of a couple minutes? Absolutely

Will the results be a "Trained" dog? No, it will result in a dog that understand what you are asking but still needs to be conditioned through consistent repetition to achieve what would be recognized as "Trained".

When choosing a training program you need to choose one that fits you and your beliefs. The program needs to be followed exactly down to the simplest element. It is usually the simplest elements that are the very essence of why the program works. Dogs are simple and their mind does not work like ours and this misunderstanding is what complicates the training process from the human perspective.