Thinkdog with Lewis Nicholls

Thinkdog with Lewis Nicholls Lewis is a dog trainer that practices modern, evidence based methods when working with animals. The dogs featured in his videos are dogs that he has trained.

Lewis practices a progressive, reward based modern approach when training dogs. He aims at spreading as much up to date information as possible to help owners and dogs alike. None of them belong to him personally.

22/10/2025

Loose lead walking is an easy thing to teach in theory but pretty hard to get right practically.

There’s nothing much in it for the dog and it’s very boring for them - they naturally walk faster and they smell the world (not see it so to speak) so there are so many interesting things for them to investigate on walks.

There are many ways to teach a dog to walk next to us, including certain harnesses and certain collars to help with the pulling. They’re all personal choices that people can decide on their own.

My preferred way, especially with young dogs, is to focus on how they feel about getting in to a position and engaging with me as I walk.

To do this (again especially with young dogs) requires that I make it fun from their perspective and don’t ask for too much too soon. Hence the flicking food away and asking/allowing the dog to move and run around a lot initially.

I’m trying to pair something they naturally don’t want to do (walking next to me), with something most young dogs love to do (moving around a lot).

As dogs naturally mature I can expect a dog that is calmer walking next to me, and a dog that, if I am consistent with the training, learns the expectations I have for them when on leash.

Darcy is 16 months old and an absolute gem of a dog. You couldn’t really ask for much more from a pet dog that also has a lot of oomph if you want to work her. Her breeder did everything right, and her owner has been working hard to make sure Darcy is developing in to a dog that fits into society safely and happily. And it’s paying off for everyone.

But training is a process and a journey. It doesn’t matter how friendly or nice our dogs are, training never stops if we want the dog we’ve always envisioned of having.

And sometimes the easiest things in theory, can be pretty hard to get right practically.

This is our new place - it’s pretty messy right now, but that’s because we have tradies here most days and the fence in the background is part of our new fully secured dog training paddock that should be all sorted within a month that will be used for training dogs that come here to stay and also for people to come and train their dogs with us at our facility. It’s a mess but very exciting for us..

www.thinkdog.nz

25/09/2025

Play is one of the best ways to make sure your dog wants to interact with you as they get older.

It allows them to practice biological needs like biting, grabbing, killing, chasing while allowing you to have a very good level of control of when they do it and what they do it on.

It also serves as a very powerful reinforcer and unlike food it usually becomes more valuable the more they play, not less.

If you want a well trained dog that is not only doing what you ask them to do but is choosing to do that, then teaching them how to play with you is the way to go.

If you would like to purchase one or two of these ball on ropes, please let me know.

If your dog isn’t super motivated for play, then check out our newest video on our website on how we teach and encourage dogs to play and interact with us.

www.thinkdog.nz

THE STOIC DOGStoicism is an ancient philosophy that focuses a lot on being able to show indifference or control our reac...
24/09/2025

THE STOIC DOG

Stoicism is an ancient philosophy that focuses a lot on being able to show indifference or control our reactions and responses regardless of what is happening to us or around us.

It's something that is very much worth striving towards.

But it's hard. It's really, really hard.

It's not something I can claim to be in lots of situations. I had my day ruined the other week by a lady breathing too loudly next to me at the post office. Hannah literally had to tell me to shut up complaining about it a few hours after.

That was a very silly reactive moment for me. But at the time I simply couldn't rationalise how I was feeling and how the energy it took to complain served me zero benefits.

Who hasn't reacted and said things they regretted in the heat of the moment because our feelings got the better of our reasoning.

I don't know anyone that epitomises stoicism 100%.

Even the stoics themselves like Seneca couldn't always live up to the philosophy.

Yet so many of us expect this from our dogs otherwise we consider them poorly trained.

Dog training isn't about suppressing our dog's behaviour. If they respond in a way we don't like and subsequently want to change that, that doesn't mean the dog is a 'reactive' one.

It just suggests that they haven't yet been able to figure out how to feel a certain way and then behave in a way that we have taught them. This is basically what training is for some dogs.

Dogs that have big feelings tend to be the ones that get labelled reactive. But usually they are trying to express a biological drive to do something.

A working farm dog that has been designed to notice change and respond to that change isn’t an untrained dog if they’re placed in a city and they attempt to chase cars. They are simply behaving how they should behave. That’s not a ‘naughty’ dog, that’s a dog being placed in an unsuitable environment.

A dog that shows indifference in lots of situations, in my experience, is not necessarily a really well behaved dog, it’s simply a dog that has come predisposed to be pretty chill and not overly concerned with things happening around them. They were born that way.

It’s a big reason why the breed you choose to adopt is very important.

If you want a ‘stoic’ dog I don’t know of any breed that fits this idea. There are some breeds you may be able to achieve a very high level of desensitization with, meaning dogs that we can expose to things and they become less concerned with everything over time and so show a lack of behaviour in situations. But that’s not the norm and to achieve this with most dogs is VERY VERY hard.

I don’t care too much if the dog I am working with reacts. That’s okay. I react in ways I regret a fair amount too. I’ll let the dogs off as much as I let myself off the hook.

But I will work extra hard to train them so they can cope better in situations they react in. Not because it will make me or the owner feel less embarrassed. But because it will be beneficial for the dog if they feel less concerned or are able to feel a certain way but still respond to cues that are more beneficial for the dog in the situation.

Jocko Willink is a popular podcast host, ex navy seal and runs multiple companies. He's spent years doing hard things and has trained himself mentally and physically his whole life. He is someone I would call Stoic.

It takes a lot to be stoic. If you don't expect it of yourself, then you might want to consider how much you can expect of your dog.

17/09/2025

She greets me a lot differently now days compared to when she first came to stay.

She wasn’t meant to stay. But alas, she has.

Our favourite regret has been with us just over 5 years.

It wasn’t training so much that changes this, it was developing a trusting relationship.

Compromises from me, and compromises from her.

6 years ago today, this disaster was born. She’s been with us for 5 and half of those years. If she could talk and descr...
11/09/2025

6 years ago today, this disaster was born.

She’s been with us for 5 and half of those years.

If she could talk and describe how she faces life it would go something like this I’d imagine..

Don’t get upset about what you can’t do, enjoy the things you can do.

No working ears or eyes hasn’t held her back thus far, and I don’t see that changing in the near future.

Happy birthday baby dog.

Thanks to Nature's Ki - Pet Wellbeing for fuelling her adventures.

10/09/2025

We’ve decided to add 2 dairy sheep to our gang.

Ricotta and Yoghurta.

We have an issue though.

They hate us.

So we need to teach them to either enjoy us or at least tolerate us enough so eventually we can milk them.

We got them Friday.

The training started then.

We went out put food in a bucket and then left.

They waited for us to leave and then they investigated what was in the bucket.

I can now hand feed them.

And all I have done is fed them.

The most important thing is that that is literally ALL I have done.

I haven’t touched them (except to catch them with the previous owner), I haven’t stared at them, I haven’t tickled their chin, I haven’t patted their head, I haven’t tried to coax them towards me, I haven’t put my hand out for them to sniff.

All I have done is feed them.

Predictably is SUPER important for all animals. Especially nervous and flighty animals. Sheep are very flighty unless you hand raise them. They are predisposed to see everything and anything as a potential threat. So when they’re a year old and never been handled, you can expect them to be timid around people.

When we work with these animals we have to make sure we do what they need us to do, not what we want to do.

At no point will I try to touch them. The goal is to have them approach and eat in my presence at this point. If I touch them now I’ll ruin their trust and training will go back.

Having a goal and setting criteria and NOT sticking to it is where we often go wrong.

We need to have a plan and stick to it no matter how well things seem to be going. We only deviate if things aren’t working.

For help with your training visit our website:

www.thinkdog.nz

31/08/2025

Adira turns 6 in just under two weeks.

But she’s always going to be the baby of the house.

www.thinkdog.nz

28/08/2025

It’s been a dream of ours to have a property that is perfect for the training and housing of dogs.

This is Bailey and he’s here for us to work on a few challenges his owner is facing with him.

He’s only 9 months and he’s a very motivated and persistent dog. He LOVES to posses things. Which is not very surprisingly since we designed retrievers to intrinsically enjoy holding things in the mouths.

We can’t work against this. We have to work with them otherwise we’ll likely get into some form of conflict.

On the nice days we start early and allow the dog to move and scratch and genetic itches they have. For Bailey, he’s getting to find and possess an object. Alongside this, he’s learning to wait and look to me before he can do this.

Training is a huge part of what we do but making sure the dog’s lifestyle is suitable for them is just as important. If we have dogs stuck in doors all day and then expect them to behave how we want them to, that’s a big ask of them.

That’s why we are creating this place. Dogs can come from all over the country, behave as they were designed to and learn a load of ‘life-skills’ along the way.

And I just love gun dogs!

If you’d like your dog come and stay at some point, please let us know.

We’re almost full up for the rest of the year.. visit www.thinkdog.nz for more info.

Today I found out if you put a puller in boiling water the punctures become less! The weird shape is due to the bucket I...
28/08/2025

Today I found out if you put a puller in boiling water the punctures become less!

The weird shape is due to the bucket I used.

Interesting. I wonder if this helps their longevity.

26/08/2025

Adira hates her nails being clipped so we made a compromise and she does it herself now.

Our emergency kennels basking in the sun today. When we moved to this property we knew we had a lot of work in front of ...
24/08/2025

Our emergency kennels basking in the sun today.

When we moved to this property we knew we had a lot of work in front of us.

With any luck our northland property will be sold within the week and then we can start making this place a 20 acre dog park.

We will be getting custom kennels built for our training paddock but these ones will be in reserve just incase.

Just one of the many projects we’ve been working on lately.

There are many more to come.

24/08/2025

Sundays are beach days.

Adira’s favourite days.

No working eyes and only ornamental ear flaps, but plenty of smells and play.

Thanks to Nature's Ki - Pet Wellbeing for fuelling these adventures.

www.thinkdog.nz

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Lewis’ story

Lewis practices progressive, modern, reward based methods. He chooses not to use choke or slip leads, prong collars or electric collars. He believes they are unnecessary for pet dog training and thinks they can lead to unwanted and some times dangerous side effects. He aims at spreading as much up to date information as possible to help owners and dogs live in harmony and to help develop a relationship that is based on trust. The dogs featured on this page are just dogs that he has trained and/or worked with. None of them belong to him personally.