Tony the Dog Trainer

Tony the Dog Trainer I help people and their dogs live better lives together.

My focus is on building strong relationships between pet dogs and their owners by offering private training, group classes and urban pack-walking in Hamilton, New Zealand.

09/12/2025

On these hot days we aim for shade breaks when we can. Fred, Willow. Beaudie and Tui are having a cool down and looking forward to the long drink when we finish.

05/12/2025

This is for everyone who got a working line Border Collie then complained, "He's so intense", "She nips at the kids", "He chases bikes/cars/scooters", "She stalks the cat", and so on. Yep. This is the dog we built. Now, the responsibility is on us to provide that dog with appropriate outlets to meet its internal needs. The good news is that there are lots of ways to do that, without requiring sheep. Play, and challenges which harness the herding mind are the key.

When I first met Alfie, a Cavoodle, he would spin and scream at the end of the leash when he saw another dog, and he wou...
04/12/2025

When I first met Alfie, a Cavoodle, he would spin and scream at the end of the leash when he saw another dog, and he would randomly growl at people. (I don't have a photo of him, so the picture is a representative Cavoodle!). His owners were embarrassed to take him out as he was like a time bomb that could go off whenever a dog came into view. We made some good progress over 5 sessions, and his last session with me was just under 2 months ago. Recently, I had some feedback from the owner that the gains we had made were not only real, but lasting.

"𝘈𝘭𝘧𝘪𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭. 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘨𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱. 𝘏𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰𝘨𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘞𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘋 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘨𝘴."

My goal is to improve the lives of dogs and their owners, and I'm on a mission to see lasting success for people.

When Murphy gets in the van, there's one place he likes to head for - and that's the driver's seat. So far, he's been pr...
03/12/2025

When Murphy gets in the van, there's one place he likes to head for - and that's the driver's seat. So far, he's been pretty good at moving over, but I'm going to make sure I know where the keys are at all times. Just in case.

The last puppy class for 2025 is up and running. Here are the latest students: Cosmo (Cavoodle). Benji (Labradoodle), Ro...
02/12/2025

The last puppy class for 2025 is up and running. Here are the latest students: Cosmo (Cavoodle). Benji (Labradoodle), Rolo (English Staffy), Tyson (Cavalier/Cavoodle), and Hunter (Cavalier/Cavoodle).

Sometimes you can be just too friendly and playful. I'm currently working with Clara, a Rottweiler who thinks everyone i...
27/11/2025

Sometimes you can be just too friendly and playful. I'm currently working with Clara, a Rottweiler who thinks everyone is her friend and just wants to have a good time. If she were a small, fluffy dog with big eyes, bounding up to people, no one would have a problem with this. Unfortunately, her size, exuberance and breed reputation mean that people sometimes feel intimidated by her, and other dog owners get scared for their dogs. I always find it interesting how over-excitement is often tolerated and not even seen as a problem in smaller dogs, but is socially disapproved of in larger dogs.
We've been working on some foundations for better recall and manners, and the next step is to raise the challenge with greater distractions.

I've been working with Bear and his owner recently. Bear is an adolescent male Rottweiler with lots of energy, a suspici...
26/11/2025

I've been working with Bear and his owner recently. Bear is an adolescent male Rottweiler with lots of energy, a suspicious reserve towards strangers, and a very intense reaction to other dogs. We started some work on loose leash walking, play with obedience, and managing appropriate behaviours around other dogs. It's early days yet, but it was nice to see Bear starting to tone down his reactions to other dogs in the park.

25/11/2025

I ran into Kelsey from Harpers Hounds recently so we walked together for a while. Kylo is the smaller black and white dog on my left, who when I first met him was extremely reactive to other dogs. He even managed to deck me once, by flipping out when he saw a dog and tying me up in a tangle with the leash. He had some help from another trainer but with no results. I've been working on his reactivity and he can now walk beside a pack of strange dogs.

Jumping is often seen as an annoying but relatively mild issue in dogs. However, sharp dog nails can be as effective as ...
20/11/2025

Jumping is often seen as an annoying but relatively mild issue in dogs. However, sharp dog nails can be as effective as a razor, and when over-excited dogs are leaping and pawing, these nails can do some damage. I have scars on my left arm from dogs in the SPCA shelter when I volunteered there. Recently, I added some fresh wounds to my right arm from another jumping dog. There is no malicious intent behind the jumping, but it's still problematic. The big dogs, in particular, can do some damage.
I work a lot with over-excited dogs, and jumping and pawing is one of the things I commonly address.

10/11/2025

Last dog-training group classes for 2025!
Puppies (8-16 weeks old): starts 20 November 2025 and runs for 4 Thursdays, 6-7 pm in a hall in Fairfield, Hamilton.
Teens and up (5 months and older): starts 23 November and runs for 4 Sundays, 5-6 pm in a hall in central Hamilton.
Set your pups up for success!
Limited spaces, so enrol now at www.tonythedogtrainer.co.nz

07/11/2025

This can go on for a LONG time... She never gets tired of it!

04/11/2025

The next available Puppy Class series for pups 8-16 weeks old starts 20 November 2025, and runs for 4 Thursday evenings, 6-7 pm in Fairfield, Hamilton. This is group class training with a professional trainer. Learn effective socialisation for your pup with people and dogs, basic obedience and lots of fun activities. The cost is $179. Set your puppy up for success by registering now at www.tonythedogtrainer.co.nz

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Hamilton

Telephone

+642102771111

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