"Jon is such a wonderful coach. I say coach instead of trainer on purpose. He is so encouraging and enthusiastic when helping me with training my dog Odin. After talking me through how to teach something, he watches to see what I'm struggling with, then is able to see what might be the problem and leads me to the solution. He never makes me, or Odin feel like we're doing something wrong. He just communicates so well with dogs, he's able to understand where our breakdown in communication is and help us bridge the gap. Odin recently earned his AKC Performer Tricks title and Jon was a big part of helping us achieve that goal. I recommend him to my friends all the time. He is truly amazing!"
"I have used him exclusively as my dog trainer. I find his skills in this field to be exceptional, both professionally for my films, and personally. Jon is a person with outstanding character and also one with the capability of numerous talents as he extends himself graciously into the field of writing and directing."
"I'm NOT looking for dogs to hit their marks and do tricks, I need these dogs to exhibit honest emotion while interacting with the actors instead of the trainers." That was what I asked of Jon before starting my recent film, Think Like a Dog. He delivered a training style more natural and organic than I'd ever seen. His understanding of animal behavior, and how to coax them to engage directly with the actors was phenomenal. His work ethic is second to none. He spent every waking moment with the dogs building trust and comfort. Simply put, Jon is the best I've ever worked with."
On Jon serving as both 2nd Unit Director & Head Animal Trainer: "Our film was very demanding as we had elaborate scenes...at times he was running back and forth between two sets...delegated and communicated with the crew so well that we never missed a shot." She particularly valued how "Jon operated in the solution... always focusing on how we could increase production value without increasing the budget." On directing the actors with the animals, "He seemed to anticipate the actor's needs so well that the performances were right on." "As a line producer, I have the opportunity to work with many directors, and Jon was a definite natural... animals & children is the genre Jon seems to have mastered."
Jon "delivered outstanding performances as a dog trainer and coordinator" and "made a tremendous contribution to the picture as a second unit director".
“He understood the constraints of our budget and schedule but managed to never compromise the results.”
"I've worked with animals on only one show previously on set but prepared extensively for this show - and in that preparation interviewed numerous trainers from all over the world. I had spent some time studying training myself, so while my own experience is nowhere remotely comparable to a trainer like Jon's, I knew just enough to appreciate just how incredible what Jon was doing was."