I cannot say enough good things about Perfect Manners! We engaged them about four months ago to help us train our new pup, then six months old. Working with the company was easy - communication and scheduling was very smooth and responsive. Susan came to our home, discussed our situation with us, observed my process, then got me pointed in the right direction. She gently corrected my training mistakes (ha!) and we immediately started to see results. Our work with Susan addressed potty training, sit, down, and stay, jumping behavior, and loose leash walking. I've had dogs all my life, and I can honestly say we have never had a pup who behaved so well! Susan has been a joy to work with. I highly recommend Susan and Perfect Manners! read more

Sue came to our house and talked us through training our new puppy. It was a very valuable experience and we got so much out of it. Great strategies for reducing pulling on the leash and reinforcing listening behaviors and discouraging behaviors we want to avoid. We saw so much progress in such a short time and would definitely recommend her! read more

Perfect Manners Dog Training - Our dog playing with her toy - Pet Training Near Me - Naperville, Illinois

As a Naperville-based family owned pet sitting service, I have had many requests in the last few years from my clients for some good dog training. Because the former Dog Patch always utilized Perfect Manners, that was my natural go to. Sue, the owner of Perfect Manners , is wonderful. Gentle and caring, she explains in simple terms what we need to do to make our dogs well behaved and happy :-). My dog walking employees have reaped the benefits of Sue's expert training with our clients. Highly highly recommend! read more

Sue is simply incredible with both dogs & their owners! I had a one hour, in-home session (today) & I already see a difference in my puppy!! I truly feel like I have a full tool belt to continue the training & practicing separation thanks to Sue's guidance and patience. read more

Sue is great with dogs and people. She had great tips for me to stop my dog from pulling. We left our dog with her when traveling and I felt confident he was well cared for- and I got frequent photos too. read more

Sue came to our home to assess our one-and-a-half-year-old German Shepherd and instructed us on how to work with our dog. She believes that as long as we follow her directions, our Shepherd does not need to sign up for more classes. It's been a month since Sue visited us, and Rex has made significant progress. I sincerely appreciate Sue's expertise and professionalism. read more

Perfect Manners Dog Training - Pet Training Near Me - Naperville, Illinois

We hired Sue when we were fostering a wonderful new dog but he had some leash aggression. Her knowledge of HIS antics was paramount in helping us get him ready for adoption. He's now in a forever home and living his best life IN MASSIVE PART because of Sue and Perfect Manners. Thank you so much for helping us help him. read more

Sue came to our house to help us with our fearful puppy. Indi wouldn't even walk to the corner without freaking out - in about an hour, Sue had Indi walking in a heel position up and down the street! It was amazing. She gave us the tools we need to continue working with her so we can enjoy long walks together. I'd definitely recommend Perfect Manners to help with any situation you're having with your dog! read more

This is a long over due review for Sue and Perfect Manners Dog Training. we brought Wynni home in early January of 2022, While she is a sweetie, she was also a Australian Cattle Dog mix that inherited 100% of ACD energy. We went through a month of puppy training but it didn't seem to help us getting her to behave as she should be during our walks and around the family. After some research online, I decide to call Perfect Manner to help us out. Sue came to our home and worked with us for an hour and got us on track. Her method was direct and simple. Her instructions were clear and easy to follow and we saw some improvements right away. Since then, we've followed her method when training Wynni and things have progressed nicely. Wynni is now 2 and is doing great (she does get a little sassy but we love it when she does). We want to thank Sue and recommend anyone to reach out to Perfect Manner Dog Training if they need help with training their dog. read more

Perfect Manners Dog Training - Wynni - Pet Training Near Me - Naperville, Illinois

We were having difficulties with potty training and lack of compliance with our 8 month old plott hound mix (Bailey). After enrolling in the board and train with Kristen, we were astounded to see the behavior change upon picking up Bailey. Kristen did a wonderful job and educated us thoroughly on do's and dont's of dog training. We couldn't be more pleased and still no accidents in the house! Robert read more

Sue has been super helpful with training our new puppy Louie to ensure he got along with our older dog Sparky and respected his space. The transition of adding Louie to our family was seamless, painless and FAST thanks to Sue training Louie and Sparky as well as training us to ensure we maintain the training they learned. We have had dogs our whole life but the addition of Louie was by far the fastest and the best trained dog thus far. Thank you Sue for ALL your help! read more

Perfect Manners Dog Training - Pet Training Near Me - Naperville, Illinois

The trainer was friendly and knowledgeable. But I was under the impression first meeting was more of a consultation where they would get to know the dog and discuss what the owner was trying to accomplish and what the dog was already trained on.. the reason I called was for more 1-1 training instead of a group setting. The trainer arrived, didn't ask any questions and went right into puppy 101 stuff, not even asking what I was wanting to do. Then charged $165. If you use them, make sure you set the ground rules over the phone. Other then this they were good. read more

We called Perfect Manners to help train our two dachshunds when they were puppies (16 months and 4 months) and acting like crazy teenagers! The fact that it was during covid lockdown made things more challenging, but the trainer really helped us navigate socializing them. The sessions made a great difference as we learned how to get the dogs to follow the cues. Now that our cuties are older, we just did another session to move on to some higher levels of training. We are happy to say that our smart little dogs are progressing nicely! Thank you again to Perfect Manners! read more

Sue was great to work with! I was losing confidence in my almost 1 year old Bernadoodle and she restored my faith. He was unbelievably unruly when she first arrived to my house (honestly one of the worst I've seen him behaved) and by the time she left he was well mannered and mentally exhausted. She taught us some fundamental tactics to work on in the coming weeks and we already notice a difference after 1 day. He can now successfully heal during walks but we will be working on this continuously til the end of time. I'm so impressed with how my dog has managed to fool me and really show me how smart he really is. We purchased the package and have 3 training sessions remaining and I'm looking forward to my new well mannered dog read more

Sue brings so much knowledge and compassion to her training sessions. We saw fast results with our dog and felt much more confident after her help. read more

I thought our 2year old Golden was ruined with fear of everything and we'd never be able to take her on family walks with our son again. Turns out, she's just glitchy, lol. Sue worked with our Bailey girl for 10 days and really took the time to figure out Bailey's quirks and triggers and then tailored the training to her. it's only been 2 days at home with her but I can already see a difference!! I've been taking her on walks and she's not pulling or trying to bolt at every noise in the neighborhood. She does perk her ears at some things, especially squirrels and the odd loud noises, but then she moves on. Perfect Manners really laid the foundation for our dog and we'll continue to build on that. I can't thank Sue enough for all her work with Bailey! read more

Our experience was disappointing with our rescue dog who needed help with loose leash walking and being in his crate alone. The first person who came out put a prong collar on and "corrected" my dog from pulling to the point he was shaking from fear. I signed up for the package training because I felt desperate and did not know any better, but didn't feel right about it a couple days later, so I called and spoke with the manager who came out and also advised a prong collar. Of course my dog behaved while she was there, but I believe this was due to fear. She also did not have a sound plan for helping my dog stay in his crate alone. Needless to say we did not call them back for future sessions even though we would be out the money (and they never called either to inquire why we did not schedule our final sessions). Fortunately, I have since done more research on Fear Free training and have enrolled our dog in training classes elsewhere who use this model and I am happy to say our dog is thriving! We reward him with POSITIVE reinforcement and got ride of the prong collar for good! It just didn't make any sense to use a method that would force my already traumatized rescue dog to become more frightened. Please do your research before hiring them! read more

I had a great experience hiring perfect Manners Dog Training. I had Kristen Johnson and she was amazing....my dog responded to her imm & I too feel more confident with my 7 month old pup. I will gladly have her back!! read more

We were completely hesitant to bring in a dog trainer. We thought that was for other people, not us. But, we were at wit's end with our dog. He was a dog like no other and we really wanted to keep him. That is when a friend referred us to Perfect Manners. I had to wait a couple weeks for a weekend appointment, they book out quickly, but when my day came, Sandy arrived exactly on time. He spent an hour or so with us and our dog. We learned a lot and received a lot of homework so we could work with our dog better and he could live up to our expectations of him. A year later we called Sandy back to help us with some more advanced leash training. The weather was getting better and I really wanted to hit the pavement with my pooch. After one visit, a change of collar and some homework, we no longer have to avoid kids on bikes, other dogs on or off leash because we are quite adept and walking on and off leash. Sandy has been the a great influence on me, my husband and my dog. We are far more exercised than we were, our shoes do not get eaten and the dog plays well with others. I will share with you one little secret. Sandy at Perfect Manners is bi-lingual - that is, he speaks both Human and Dog. And he can translate for both species. Made all the difference in our world! read more

Sandy came to our rescue as I was reaching my wit's end with my puppy Michael Jackson. He was so excited to see and smell and frolic around, walking him was a chore as all he did was tug, tug, tug and wrap his leash around your legs and become easily distracted. After one session with Sandy, the Dog Whisperer, the puppy was on command, following lead directly, knew to untangle himself and was fully listening to me. The first session we had, he sat down and got a full history of Michael. He learned my biggest issues, observed him and his personality and was able to figure out the big problem preventing us from co-existing without headache. In my case, Michael was assuming he was the 'pack leader' and we were having an battle between us for the leader position. He gave me a few hints to assert my dominant position, and after putting them into place, in a short time, we were fine. In teaching my dog the "down" position, which he now does for me with no hesitation, Sandy got bit by Michael, as he wasn't really feeling it. But he managed the nip, which did not cause any damage to Sandy, the dog complied..and that to me, watching, was captivating. Watching Sandy work with my dog was like watching the dog transform right before my eyes..and I can't explain how happy it made me. Tears may or may not have formed. What I like most about Sandy, though, is that he gives you the skills to train your dog yourself and he gives you homework to do in between sessions. Now, while he offers a package of 4 one hour sessions for $395, and that includes him coming to your home...he told me that because my dog was catching on so quickly that it wasn't needed. So, as someone who is budget conscious, while paying $95 for a session might seem like a lot, know that he isn't out to rob you blind. After two sessions, Michael and I were well on the way to being a happy pair and even now, he's sitting across from me happily as I type. People should know in advance that he is anti-PetSmart or chain store training sessions, and believes that your dog should obey your commands not because you're holding a piece of chicken liver in your hand, but because they love you and want to please you. Truthfully, we're due for a brush up session or two...I will be exploring that in a few weeks, as I want Michael Jackson to learn some more advanced skills. read more

We had Kristen come to our house and work with our two dogs (Bernese Mountain Dog and Husky mix). Our dogs were very reactive during walks or when someone would come into the house. After just two sessions, our dogs walk much better and do not react to other people and/or dogs. I would highly recommend! read more

We just had our first training session with Sue and it was amazing! Our 10-year old rescue, Charlie, was a nightmare to walk - lunging at every dog, bike, and squirrel he saw. Within 15 minutes, he became the docile dog that I'd always wanted. Sue is patient, calm and a true dog whisperer. Highly recommend going with Perfect Manners for your dog training needs! read more

After our dog Rosie got back from spending a weekend at Sue's house for training, I told her than she must have done a brain transplant on her. Rosie is a rescue, and had a vibrant personality and no discipline when we got her. After time at Sue's, she is a wonderful, obedient companion with the same vibrant personality. read more

This is odd to me. I have seen nothing but good reviews here, but all were for Sandy, so who knows. Sandy was all booked, so I was sent a newer woman trainer. She was nice enough, but somewhat unnecessary in her actions, I guess. I had a very scared and resource guarding rescue dog who had been kept completely unsocialized and outside for much of her life. I was hoping for help on this and on the fact that my other dog and this rescue pulled hard on the leash when walked together. The trainer came in and fitted both dogs with prong collars. She took the rescue out first, without me, and walked her around in my parking lot, giving her collar corrections when the dog wanted to pull back to me. The dog was petrified of life in general at this point anyway, so this made her very anxious. Trainer came back inside, put the leash on my other dog and started to tell my dog to sit, and then corrected him repeatedly when he didn't. Except...ummm... my dog had been trained in a different language and had no idea what she was saying. I feel it's kinda unfair to correct anyone for not understanding your language. I did tell her he did not "speak English." I was told that if the rescue resource guarded me in the house, I was supposed to give her a correction on the prong collar and leash. I was to practice with the prong collars on the dogs for walks for a few weeks and then schedule another appointment. I was told I should plan on walking the dogs on prong collars indefinitely; they didn't necessarily need to be phased out. I decided to try it and give it a chance. The rescue dog became extremely leash aggressive to other dogs every time the prong collar was on because every time she went to jump toward another dog, she gave herself a correction. She would turn into a snarling ball of teeth and hackles every time another dog approached. Meanwhile, when I gave my rescue a correction for resource guarding me in the house, she would cringe and cower, flatten out on the ground, and go right back to attacking the other pet coming near me. The collar corrections just made her fight harder and get more scared aggressive. She'd snarl, cringe, flatten out, lunge, snarl, repeat. If I had tried to actually physically correct the dog into behaving, I would have had to inflict a lot of pain because this dog wouldn't stop for anything (note, the trainers did not suggest this route, nor did I do it; I'm just saying she has a high drive to fight or protect herself). I decided to try to manage problems on my own in other ways and resolved most things faster and using less aversive training. The pulling was solved by using sense-ation harnesses (if I'm gonna use a no-pull tool forever, might as well use a nice one). The rescue's leash aggression went down a lot after switching. The resource guarding was solved with a small squirt bottle. On the prong collar correction, she would fight and snarl and go nuts. A squirt from a spray bottle and she goes and lies down. Much easier on me. She stopped attacking in the house and can now have the cat climbing on her while she sleeps. Are the dogs perfect? No, but I'll settle for mostly good. Do I think this dog trainer is bad? No, but I don't think my dogs needed this strong of correction. Perhaps trying different options rather than a one-size fits all approach would have been better. I'm sure this training works if you really need to show your dog who's boss or if you have a very stubborn dog who will react well to leash corrections. (I'm not all about positive-only training, either, btw. I do use electronic collars on my dogs when they're off-leash in coyote areas, and I have given them the occasional smack, leash correction, stern look, or harsh words. I'm even ok with prong collars; for some dogs, they work super well.) I really believe that with dogs, as with any animal or person, the best method to get something accomplished is the one that requires the least amount of force, effort and bad feelings. read more

After rescuing my 1.5 year old boxer I came to the realization that I needed help "fixing" underlying issues. I called PMDT was able to make an appointment rather quickly and get started. I worked with Patti and had the best experience EVER. One on one training is the way to go. Patti was always available for questions and help, and I also had the privilege to work with Sandy also when I needed more help. I am amazed at the simplicity of training yet the effectiveness is incredible. I am blessed to find a trainer that understands-not just the dogs needs- but mine also. Patti always answered my calls and emails when I needed reassurance. Working with Patti and my rescue dog proved to be very beneficial in so many areas...some that I didn't even think of. I'm so. Happy I made this investment into my dogs life. Now he is on his way to being the best dog ever! read more

Sandy was GREAT! He absolutely changed our lives. After one lesson with our puppy, Mocha, she was a different dog. We did the four lesson plan. Everyone who comes to our house is amazed by Mocha and we have recommended Sandy to MANY friends. read more

I'm really not sure how I feel at this point, that's why I gave the 4 stars. We were looking for a trainer for our 7 1/2 month English Bulldog, found Perfect Manners here on Yelp and was intrigued by all the great reviews and results. Called made the appointment and Patti was scheduled to come out. Patti is very pleasant and professional but I'm not sure if I got my money's worth. We sat and I explained to her the behavior or dog is going thru. Puppy/Teenager, jumping on people, being defiant, not coming when called. She took Bam Bam for a walk, followed by me walking him, was taught to keep him close to me so he knows I'm in charge. Next step was inside, since he already sits was told to have him go down before feeding time and treats followed with Yes to make Yes a positive and No a negative. That was pretty much it. Not sure if I had other expectations or what to really expect, I feel that it wasn't any different than Youtube videos we've watched. I signed up for the General Obedience Training which is 3 more sessions for $375 total. We will do what was taught and we'll take it from there, trying to stay optimistic, I will update progress as we move forward. UPDATE: Had our second session with Patti, Bam Bam has improved so much. Now that I understand their approach, it all makes sense. Less is more and it works!! Highly recommend read more

I hardly ever write reviews even though I read everyone else's, but, I had to do one this time. So so so grateful to Sue and Kristen to come to our home and help us with our golden retriever rescue Willow. Willow was a breeder dog for a horrible puppy mill and spent her 2 years in a cage with no love and very little human interaction. As you can imagine, she was scared of everyone and everything in her environment. She did not even know how to navigate the two steps out the back door into the yard. We were carrying her in and out of the house for a week. We do have another dog, who is also a rescue, and he was very patient with her. Attempting to put a leash on her was quite terrifying to her and to us to be honest. Sue and Kristen taught us cues and what to say and do for positive reinforcements. While they were here, Willow, came out the back door by herself and started following us around the yard. We were also able to put the leash on her and walk her using Bandit as an example. The next day, we were so happy with her progress and she is continuing to thrive and we could not be happier with our experience with Sue and Kristen. I even recommended them to my friend who did call and schedule a session with them and was equally thrilled with the improvements in her dog. Thank you so much!!! read more

After adopting our 7 month Aussie mini mix, Naia, as a rescue, her aggression and energy was a challenge to manage. We hired Sue from Perfect Manners to do a private session and within minutes, Naia was responding to commands and learning to focus. Sue was able to calm Naia and help us understand how to train her with simple, effective commands. It was easy for us to continue the training and today we have a great, much better behaved puppy. The impact of the training was immediate and our confidence to carry on with the training was significantly increased with one session. read more

Great trainer, great trainer, great trainer! Sandy was referred to us by the Dog Patch pet store in Naperville and I'm glad we had the recommendation. Go to his website and watch the video...it gives you insight to his personality and philosophy and you'll probably be sold. The man is a "dog whisperer" and really knows what he is doing. He's an in-home trainer and if I remember correctly, he charges $100 per session and goes for four sessions. read more

We have really enjoyed working with Sandy as our dog trainer. We have a very energetic male German Shepherd puppy and we have had multiple private training sessions with Sandy at our home. Sandy is extremely knowledgeable and he has really helped us train our puppy with commands and on his manners. Our puppy has responded so well. We feel fortunate to have found Sandy! read more

Sandy is wonderful and very gentle with my dog Buddy. With his guidance, Buddy has changed from an insecure dog who barked at anything and everything into a calm little guy. It is a pleasue walking with Buddy now. He no longer pulls ,barks or lunges at others dogs. People on the riverwalk have even commented to me that I have "such a well-behaved dog." read more

Sue has been great with working with our two Shih Tzus. She listens to all of our problems and concerns and offers her expertise and also demostartes how the training should go. She has taught us so much on how to take control of them, and they both have become better listeners and are becoming well behaved pups. We highly recommend Perfect Manners! read more

I called for information and was shocked at how rude the person was on the phone. I am struggling with my dog and in looking for help had a negative experience. Would not recommend. Only putting a star because it is required to post this rating. read more

I cannot be more pleased with the experience we've had with Perfect Manners and our trainer, Patti. We brought home a 10month old rescue terrier and realized that while sweet and fine with us, he was exhibiting behaviors that we now know we're due to him feeling as if he had no 'leader'. He is a fearful boy and was barking and trying to 'protect' us from almost everything and everyone. After one session with Patti we gained the knowledge and the tools to make Theo's life easier and far less stressful. While we know due to his age and personality we will need to continue daily training and of course our walks so that Theo can do his 'jobs', we now have a much better handle on how to be the leaders he needs. I would highly recommend this business to anyone with questions or even larger issues with their dog. read more

Sue was excellent with our new puppy! I learned so many simple adjustments that I can make with her training. I highly recommend this service!! read more

What a great session with Patti today from perfect manners dog training. I have 2 yorkies and she knew how to handle their anxiety and mine immediately You can see how knowledgeable and experienced she is in first few moments she my dogs in perfect form. I can't wait to work with her going forward!! Thanks patti read more

Patti came to our home and with one visit, she changed our 1 year old rescue pup. Bodey is a good boy and has taken to the training well! He is turning out to be a wonderful companion, thanks to Patti! I highly recommend Perfect Manners Dog Training. Thank you so much! read more

Perfect Manners Dog Training - Pet Training Near Me - Naperville, Illinois

How about 10 stars? Sue was awesome. I was ready to give up on my Doxie. He was so out of control that I was in tears. He is the sweetest, loving dog I have ever had, but he had some really bad habits. I live in a condo on the first floor, his constant barking when people came/went. Also, I back up to a walking path and he was in an attack mode if someone walk their dog pass our windows. I was so worried that a neighbor would complain to the Assoc. and I would have to move or get rid of my dog but, I loved him so much and I am his second home, because of this behavior. Trust me, miracles do happen. In session 1 Sue was able to control my dog's aggressive behavior and barking. She taught me how to work with him in a positive way. I am so grateful for Sue. I am still working with my Dog to continue his training. He's a so calm and responsive now. Thank you Sue. read more

I just called to get my dog into some training and I couldn't even continue the phone call because of how rude the lady on the phone was !!! I simply told her how old and what kind of pup I have, she continued with asking what problems I am having with him and when I was explaining to her the packages I had seen on the website that best suits the problems I had she rudely talked over me and said aggressively "WHAT PROBLEMS ARE YOU HAVING WITH YOUR PET" ! This is very unprofessional and I suggest not to come here. If they talk to their new curious customers like this I can only imagine what they do to our pets. Mind you the conversation over the phone only lasted 2 minutes! Think twice about this place. read more