The Latest

That Neil knows his stuff is beyond doubt. It’s obvious right from his first meeting with your dog. But unlike many trainers, he also understands people. That and his generous back-up support make his training not just effective but excellent value for money.
-          Rob Ashton (and Molly), Brighton
 
 'We first met Neil when our very lively Springer Spaniel, Harvey; was a young puppy having been recommended by someone we knew who was finding him very helpful in training her Labrador puppy. He certainly helped to change all our lives for the better! 
Harvey immediately responded well to Neil's calm, assertive leadership which showed us just what Harvey was capable of.  We have since worked on a number of things - recall; pulling on the lead; travel sickness; discipline and nutrition and the improvement in Harvey is amazing.  Neil has always focused on coaching us to be cabable dog handlers so that we can fully enjoy Harvey's energy and exuberance and he can be a really happy dog. 
It is a fantastic thing to see someone who has truly found their vocation in life, and Neil certainly has.  We are very grateful to him for his coaching and encouragement and have already recommended him on to others we know.
 
Sue and Dave Wolff, Lewes, East Sussex.

'Hello my name is Frankie and I would like to say a huge thank you to Neil for helping my owners help me.  He was recommended to us and we had 3 visits training my owners how they can best look after me.  He was always patient with all of us and didn’t mind how often they contacted him for support and advice.  He taught my owners strategies to use and we practiced these in between visits.  I leave my food until instructed; I wait at the bottom of the steps before being invited in to the house.  I love my owners and I think they really enjoy my companionship....thank you Neil for EVERYTHING.   Lots of love and licks Frankie  from St Leonards'

'With Neil's advice and on going support and our work and patience, Hedley is now a much calmer and better behaved dog who is much happier as he knows his boundaries and what we expect.  Both my husband and I are so glad we met Neil and we can now look forward to years of owning a happy dog'

Julie & Terry , Cuckfield

'Neil was our third and final attempt to sort out our dogs issues, thank goodness his techniques work! Neil is extremely patient and also very positive and encouraging.  He sucessfully managed to train us to train our dog!  His follow up advice has also been invaluable and has kept us all going'

Nula & Martin from Brighton

'A big thank you to Neil, for helping me train my much loved Lucy and Josh when he became a demanding teenager, and now we look forward to Neil helping us train Sophie who joins our family soon.We were the ones who needed training, we could not have done any of this without Neil and his expert advice to re thing how we think and act in front of our dogs'

Rod & Angela from Staplecross

'We can not thank Neil enough as without him Basil's story would of been very different. 

Thank you Neil we couldn't of done it without you. ' 

Becky from Eastbourne

'Neil has a talent, a real talent that I have to say I have not seen before.  He is excellent with dogs but at the same time fantastic with us (the dog owner), he will tell you exactly where you are going wrong but will give you the advice on how to correct it - what more could you ask for'

Lesley Roberts,   Little Common

'Eastbourne’s answer to the dog whisperer!! '

Richard and Diane Hughes of Eastbourne 

"With Neil's help, advice, encouragement and, above all, patience, Callie is becoming a much more manageable and obedient dog. Neil has given us the confidence to control Callie in a way we once did not think would ever be possible!"          Linda & Richard Lee, St Leonards

Mr King was recommended to me and I am very grateful as I have a very strong difficult dog with behavioural problems.  I found Mr King to be very professional, caring and understanding of my dog and myself, and would highly recommend him in the future.

Lesley from Bexhill

'The techniques that Neil demonstrated to us have been very beneficial in training both us and the dog.

We have been very impressed with Neils knowledge and expertise and his professional manner'

Mrs & Mrs Sanson ,  Eastbourne 

'I was desperate for help with my two female puppies who were fighting more and more, I was advised by a number of people to part with one of them.

It only took 3 visits from Neil to solve the problem altogether and even after the first visit they started to tolerate each other again. 

Mr & Mrs Hood from Eastbourne

Jumping Up

Jumping Up


The behaviour is usually learned while they are puppies. When a puppy is very young, we usually sit on the floor and allow our puppies to crawl all over us licking our face and ears. As they get bigger we laugh at the way they greet us with not just a wagging tail but often a full body waggle as we return home to them.  It is practically impossible at this stage not to drop to the floor and engage in a mutual exchange of hugs and kisses.  All this time we are training and rewarding our puppy for jumping up.
 
Our inconsistency perpetuates the problem.

Whilst you might not have a problem with greetings like this some of the time it becomes a different matter when you are all dressed up and either don't want to get covered in doghair or the remains of the last walk are still attached to your puppies paws.  If you allow your dog to jump up sometimes and not others he will get confused and unfortunately telling your dog to get down or pushing him down will be misinterpreted by him as attention and may only add to the confusion.   If your reprimand is severe enough, your dog may stop jumping at that moment but it doesn't solve the problem altogether; and it certainly is not a very nice thing to do.  Even if your dog learns that jumping up on you is not a good idea, he will usually get away with jumping up on everyone else.  
A better solution is providing your dog with an alternative method of greeting you and others. Teach your dog to sit and stay. He cannot sit and stay and jump up at the same time.
 
Practice is essential.

If your dog is excitedly jumping up when you return home from work and this only happens once a day, then he is only getting one practice session a day.
 
In order to perfect the proper greeting routine, your dog needs much more practice than that. You can speed up the training process by leaving through the back door and returning through the front door over and over again. When your friends come over, have them do the same. Each time, ask your dog to sit and stay before opening the door. At first his excitement will make it difficult for him to concentrate but after you've repeated this process 10 times, he will calm down and be able to concentrate. Remember to do everything in small steps and before asking your dog to sit and stay in a distracting and exciting situation, be sure he has a reliable sit and stay in normal, non-stressful situations.