meet us
Welcome to our site and thanks for having a look around. Animal behaviour and training has been a life long passion of ours. We pride ourselves on finding effective solutions for our clients that prioritises the welfare and wellbeing of both the dogs and the families that we work with.
Lewis & Hannah live on a big lifestyle property (aka private Dog Park) in the Tararua District with their three resident dogs - Poodle the 7yr old Standard Poodle, Adira the 5yr old Deaf & Blind Collie x (pictured left) and Sunny the 9yr old rehomed Rough Collie, and typically a foster or two!
When not working with dogs, Lewis can be found pumping iron or restoring old axes in his workshop and Hannah can be found long distance running with Poodle or creating leather dog gear in her workshop.
hannah
MSc clinical animal behaviourist
I’ve been working professionally as a trainer since 2009, and i'm extremely lucky to have worked with thousands of dog/guardian teams in that time who have helped me grow as a trainer and provided an immense amount of joy.
These days, I especially enjoy working with adolescent and unruly dogs - the ones that feel like a lot. Often these dogs are both frustrated and frustrating, and my job is to help bring more clarity, calm, and structure into their world so they can start to settle and make better choices.
Alongside that, I have strong experience with separation anxiety and generalised fear, anxiety and aggression. I’m passionate about helping dogs that are struggling day to day to become more resilient and capable in everyday life.
One of my key areas of interest is husbandry and cooperative care. I work with teams to reduce stress around necessary handling procedures, including vet visits, grooming and daily care; to build skills that encourage them to participate more willingly in these necessary parts of life.
lewis (taz)
dog trainer
I started out using traditional methods, which focused on using ‘corrections’ and applying outdated ideas about dogs being part of a pack and having then to assert the position as the ‘pack leader’. As my interest grew, so did my interest in behaviourism, cognitivism and the science as a whole. I soon learned that what I was doing was not only unnecessary but also somewhat damaging to a lot of dogs.
Fast forward 10 years and I am now applying evidence based methods when resolving behavioural issues. I like to understand how the method works and I will opt to use the methods that are the least intrusive and minimally aversive to the dog that I am working with.
I have many key interests in dog training but have noticed a select few that seem to have more benefits than others for pet dogs. I am fascinated with how incredible the dog’s nose is and have a keen interest in scent work training. Not only do I think it is a fun thing to teach, I also believe it has so many applications to help with so many problems people face as well. Simple exercises that engage the dog’s nose has been shown to reduce overall stress levels in dogs and this leads me to another keen interest of mine. How stress can impact a dog's behaviour and how we can help them reduce their stress levels using a training programme that focuses heavily on positive reinforcement based methods.
