Trainer, instructor, columnist, and author, John Ross has been involved professionally with dogs since 1972. His nationally recognized training program is uniquely designed to teach owners how to train their dogs.
John co-authored with Barbara McKinney the fun-to-read, highly acclaimed dog training book, DOG TALK: Training Your Dog Through a Canine Point of View (1992).
The success of this book was followed by three other books: PUPPY PRESCHOOL: Raising Your Puppy Right—Right from the Start! (1996, St. Martin’s Press) and WHY DOES MY DOG DRINK OUT OF THE TOILET? Answers to all Kinds of Dog Dilemmas (1997, St. Martin’s Press) and ADOPTABLE DOG: Teaching Your Adopted Pet to Obey, Trust, and Love You (2003, W.W. Norton). These books have been published internationally, including German, Japanese and Hungarian editions.
Where it Started
John began his career with dogs in 1972 when he brought into his life an eight-week-old Irish Setter puppy that he named Jason. A short time after acquiring this little red fireball, John was hired by Dr. Donald Ginand at the Brookfield Connecticut Animal Medical Hospital as a veterinarian's assistant.
John's job description covered everything from managing the kennel, assisting with medical procedures, handling animals in the exam rooms and keeping the hospital spotlessly clean.
The five years that John spent working at the animal hospital was quite an education. However, the most important part of this education for John’s dog training career was the opportunity to handle hundreds of different dogs on a yearly basis.
An animal hospital is a stressful situation for many dogs. It was John’s primary job to handle canine (and feline) patients, to keep them calm and manageable. This experience taught John a tremendous amount about canine personalities and temperament.
Obedience Trials
In 1973 John became an active competitor in American Kennel Club obedience trials. Starting with Jason the Irish setter, he earned fourteen obedience titles in six years—one UD, six CDXs, and seven CDs—on nine different dogs of six different breeds.
After leaving the veterinary hospital in 1977and before starting the John Ross Dog Obedience School in 1978, John managed a boarding kennel for one year. At the kennel John worked with dogs that were boarded there for training. At the kennel John also offered both group and private dog obedience courses, teaching owners how to train their dogs.
In 1980 John and his A.K.C. obedience-titled Golden Retriever, Woody, moved west to live for three years in Huntington Beach, California. During this period John developed his private in-home training course and made the switch from competition obedience training to strictly concentrating on pet-oriented training. During this period John also turned Woody into a stellar beach Frisbee dog.
“Woody liked competing in obedience trials, but he loved catching Frisbees on the beach!”
Obedience Classes
Since the early 1980’s, John’s passion has been helping people develop a well behaved family member.
“Doggie activities, such as obedience trial and agility contests, are fun, but having a well-behaved canine family member is essential.”
John moved back east in 1983. In the next seventeen years, John taught group and private obedience classes throughout Fairfield County, Connecticut and Westchester County, New York. For eight of those years (1986-92) he hosted a live local radio show, called "Dog Talk," in Ridgefield and Norwalk.
Getting it on Paper
In 1990, John moved with his writing partner wife Barbara McKinney, and their three dogs to Nantucket Island off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
While living on Nantucket Island for ten years, John and Barbara wrote three of their four dog training books. During this period of “living strictly on island time,” John taught close to a thousand islanders and summer visitors how to train their dogs.
Along with teaching and writing, John has been a guest on many radio and television programs, including the NBC "Today Show," Fox TV’s "Pet Department," and the Animal Planet's "Petsburgh USA." He was even named the "resident dog expert" on the nationally syndicated radio "Judy Jarvis Show."
Another way that John communicates with the dog-owning public is through his question-and-answer newspaper column, "John Ross' Dog Talk." This weekly column began in 1994 in the Nantucket Beacon and continued to run through 2002 in Nantucket’s Inquirer & Mirror. In 1997, Pittsburgh’s Tribune-Review started running the “Dog Talk” column in its Sunday Focus magazine, now reaching 250,000 readers each week. The response to this column has been terrific. John receives letters and e-mails daily asking about all kinds of dog dilemmas.
More Publications and Productions
John and Barbara co-wrote the authoritative "Dogs" section for The New Book of Knowledge encyclopedia. Their work has also appeared in numerous magazines, including Dog World, Nantucket Journal, Family Dog Care, and Fetch!
In 1993, John released his training video, "Puppy Preschool," to help puppy owners learn how to handle their new pets. Kal Kan Corporation purchased the video and made it part of their popular Pedigree product line. For several years John appeared nationwide in the "Pedigree Puppy Preschool" television infomercial.
For eight years John trained his male Australian shepherd, Drifter, for various media appearances. Drifter appeared on the television programs USA Today, PM Magazine, and CBS News and did photo shoots for Newsweek and Town & Country magazines. Drifter also appeared in a motion picture, Memoirs of a Madman, released in 1993.
John trained his beautiful English Springer Spaniel, Crea, to be a world-class bird dog, a great family pet and a certified therapy dog.
Sadly, both Drifter and Crea have now passed on to doggie heaven.
Dogs in the Family
Since it all began in 1972, John has lived with and loved many dogs of many different breeds. Starting with Jason the Irish Setter, Jena the German Shorthair, Jossi the rescued Standard Poodle, Woody the Golden Retriever, Byron and Bentley the Labrador retrievers to Drifter the Australian Shepherd and Crea the Springer Spaniel, all of John’s dogs have had one thing in common. They have all been great family pets that have traveled the country meeting people and setting the example for what a beloved family dog should be.
John Ross and Barbara McKinney moved to South Florida in 2001. After moving to Florida, John And Barbara wrote their fourth book ADOPTABLE DOG. John offers his in-home obedience course to pet owners throughout Martin and Palm Beach counties.
Today, John is accompanied by his friendly and enthusiastic black “Nantucket Lab,” Sophie. Sophie is an awesome family pet, obedience class demo dog and arguably the world’s greatest beach dog.
John’s current projects include working on a new book, The Canine Triangle: Obedience – Exercise – Socialization: The Surefire Formula to a Great Family Dog and expanding the "Dog Talk" newspaper column nationwide.
John also offers popular talks and training demonstrations to groups and organizations interested in his approach, Training through a Canine Point of View.
John is also very happy to announce that starting in November 2008 he will be offering his pet oriented group training courses through the Humane Society of the Treasure Coast located in Palm City, Florida.
These obedience courses are both fun and informative. Quality obedience training is the first step in the canine triangle formula!
