When I first met john Ward in September 2007, my one and a half year old boxer dog Cosmo, had developed the habit of pulling me here, there and everywhere he wanted to go! At this point, Cosmo wore a choke chain which wasn’t working in terms of controlling him when out walking. John put a nice leather collar on him and thus began his obedience training.
An instant bond seemed to form between them. Cosmo listened, watched and was responsive to any requests John made of him. Cosmo had respect for John and I knew that I needed to get that from him or I would never be able to control him.
Cosmo and I then began our obedience training and attended only three out of six classes. I realised then the commitment that was needed from me in order to bring Cosmo on and so continued with the obedience training, completing a course of six. I was delighted with our progress, especially when Cosmo earned his first certificate in obedience training. He worked hard for me and every day we continued to practice the exercises we had learned in the classes and eventually incorporating them into his daily walks. The investment in obedience training paid off and he now walks along in his leather collar. Simple commands remind him not to pull ahead.
We are now working on Cosmo’s agility training once a week and so too is our other boxer Sasha (his buddy) along with another group of dogs. The dogs get an opportunity to socialize together and I feel that my dogs are much fitter and healthier and get the chance to have an interesting life. I’m also much fitter as a result of the agility training.
Overall, we have all benefited from meeting John and through our interactions with the other dog owners we’ve made some new friends and had a lot of enjoyment.
We wish John continued success. He is a gifted dog handler and agility trainer.
— Jo Mc Loughlin and Cosmo