Sonny the Shetland Sheepdog

At last we acquired our very sweet Sheltie, delighting our daughter - and us - no end. He was gorgeous and people were always asking about him whenever we went out. But it wasn't long before he was devouring our trainers, visitors' trainers, socks, cushions, barking at everyone and everything that went past our basement flat windows, went into a frenzy when the doorbell sounded and was wearing me out trying to walk him as he pulled me along. i found that my love for him was fading and wondered if we'd made the right decision.

That's when we contacted Sally Barnes - she helped turn everything around almost immediately! From the moment she rang the dreaded doorbell, the dog barked and barked, wouldn't let her cross the threshold easily until, 10 minutes later, he finally submitted, backed off and sat lovingly at her feet. Gone were the toilet training pads - she just took him outside and said 'tinkle, tinkle' and he obliged! He even ignored my lunch which Sally placed confidently on the floor perilously close to him.

Sally taught us to be in charge - for us to be top doggie - us looking after him, not the other way round. We needed to be consistent in our treatment of him - instigating rules that, like all good parents, we needed to stick to - like never allowing him on the bed or sofa, never feeding him from the table, not allowing him to go first through the door. and loads more. And guess what? I've loved him to bits ever since! I can take him anywhere. And Sally did all this with an amazing capacity to communicate with the dog - and us - all of which was great fun!

Sue Wells
proud dog owner