Winner of Sarpy County Nebraska People's Choice Award: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, & 2022 Johanna started training dogs in retail dog training but she quickly discovered that with pure positive training, dogs have no respect for people, they don't listen to you unless you have a treat in your hand, and even then sometimes they won't because it is optional. Frustrated and looking for answers, she went off on her own studying and reading and trying to find a better way to train. All of this changed, when she adopted Jasper, an 11 month old Mini Aussie. He was such a perfect dog except for one thing: He thought he had to be possessive of her and he was terrified of people he didn’t know approaching him. When he got into possessive mode, no treat in the world was good enough. Not even steak. So, she found a few other trainers/mentors which helped her find the answers she was looking for. Larry Krohn is her dog training hero. The missing link was communication. Communication in a form your dog understands. Utilizing “yes” and “no”. Even in nature there is yes and no - it makes sense! At Follow Me K9 we treat every dog as an individual. When people say there is only one way to train a dog, they put themselves in a small box and they find there are dogs they can't help. Ask how many dogs are behaviorally euthanized every year. Treats are wonderful, but there are other ways to train dogs. It's similar to people - some people learn by hearing, some by watching, some by doing. Some people are bad at taking tests. Dogs are very much the same. Some dogs will not take treats if they are scared, nervous, or in high prey drive. Every dog is an individual. Our motto is teaching with gentle guidance using mutual communication. Teach, guide, communicate. Dogs are pack animals. They need strong leadership. Every good leader tells their followers, yes - do this, and no- don't do this. If a dog doesn't get the leadership they crave, they lash out, act up, and are very insecure which causes anxiety and stress. Johanna is thrilled to be able to teach her clients how to communicate with their dogs so that they can have the best relationship possible.
