Steve Andrews is a professional dog trainer based near the market town of Woodbridge, Suffolk. His classes run from his fully enclosed paddock in Old Martlesham. He will also train at your home.

Steve offers a range of dog training classes including private, 1-2-1, group, puppy and adolescent, group walks, obedience and rehabilitation.  

Steve has designed his own range of luxury leads and collars called 'Jonah&Billys’. Made in the Uk from vegetable tanned leather, with hand forged trigger and ‘O’ ring they are the perfect combination of durability, style and great quality.

My Life With Dogs

"I've lived in the market town of Woodbridge for fifty years and for thirty of those I've had the pleasure of sharing them with some incredible dogs. My passion for dogs started when I was a young child. My family had a Chihuahua who I enjoyed being around. At the age of nineteen I was to fall in love with the breed that was to become my loyal companion and one of my teachers, my breed of choice would be the Dobermann. My current dogs are my Dobermann Ruga and my Boston Terrier Billy."

"Like many new owners that I see today, I was not prepared for the journey I had before me. Putting a highly intelligent high drive guard breed with an uneducated novice owner was a guaranteed way to learn what you don't want in your life as a dog owner. Did I make mistakes? Yes, every one in the book pretty much! Do I regret it? No! Because that dog and the many more that I have owned since then has made me the trainer and owner I hope I am today. In my early thirties I took up dog showing, from that learned that through structure, engagement and association the human/dog relationship could be built to an extremely high level. Whilst having a very successful show career thanks to my once in a lifetime dog 'Jonah' and his house mate 'Sala'. I started to work with people's dogs in my area. Firstly, free of charge to try and build a reputable reputation and to get as much hands on experience as I could, not only with training dogs but also how to teach, communicate and build confidence with the owners. That was ten years ago I'm continuously learning new skills to achieve greater obedience and behavioural modification".

My training philosophy

 "For the past thirty years I have trained my own dogs with the principle of rewarding behaviours I do want and putting a stop to and correcting  behaviours I don't want. If you apply this principle consistently from an early age in a fair, clear concise manner it's obvious that you will end up using positive reinforcement far more than correcting negative behaviour.

Whether we are talking about adults or children we go through life living with consequences for our behaviour, this happens when we are at school, work or our family lives. Through consequences comes pressure being able to work through the pressure is an efficient way to grow in confidence and and to learn positive learned behaviour, what behaviour is acceptable and what behaviour is not, in my opinion dogs learn very efficiently when using this principle."

"All my training and conditioning is applied in a fair, consistent and persistent way to keep the communication between human and dog easily understood. All dogs are different in what drives them, some dogs are food motivated, some are more toy/tug motivated. It's my responsibility to find out what motivates the dog, this is fun and bond building in itself!"

"To me dog training is not a one size fits all system so what may work for one dog may not work for another, so thinking outside the box and designing the best programme to suit a dogs individual needs is what makes me continuously grow as a trainer. I use marker training within my training to help communicate with the dog, whilst you can use a 'clicker' for this I use verbal markers because I feel it allows me to express myself more to the dog through the tone of my voice. For me to have clear communication with your dog I may suggest using certain tools these consist of: training lines, high value food, tug toys, slip leads, training collars and low level remote collar for off lead/ re-call work. None of this equipment will be used unless the customer gives their full consent."

"I often get asked how often do I train my personal dogs ? My dogs get some form of structured obedience everyday, it keeps them on their toes and obviously keeps them checked in with me. It's the regular engagement that keeps me high value in their eyes. To me training a dog isn't just allocated time slots during the day when you train your dog, to me it's a way of life  because when I'm with my dogs there are rules, boundaries and structures in place. When this is applied and paired up with making sure that your dog has lots of fun with you, you can't help but build a rock solid relationship with your dog."

"The more open I can be to different techniques and equipment the more I can help you and your dog!  I am a member of the International Association of Canine Professionals and adhere to a strict code of conduct."

PRIVATE LESSONS

Steve has a fully enclosed training paddock, located in Old Martlesham. From here he runs private and group lessons.

As every dog is different the first step is to have a 1 to 1 consultation. Allow at least one, maybe two hours, to assess you and your dog. Through observation and discussion Steve will formulate a training schedule based on either obedience or behaviour modification. The training process will be fun and form firm bond between you and your dog.

£55 per hour

Block book 10 sessions for £495

Please note unless 24hours notice is given missed appointments are charged at full price.

products

Steve has designed a collection called 'Jonah&Billy’s' of great quality leads and collars. Jonah and Billy’s bespoke items are made in the UK from vegetable tanned leather, with hand forger trigger and O ring on the handle. Well made and good looking they will last for years. See the below page for details.

training aids

Devising the best programme for your dog may require tools or equipment to establish good clear communication. Steve will advise and supply specialist training devices to support his methods and may suggest the use of training lines, high value food, tug toys, slip leads, training collars or remote collar for off lead and recall work. All of which can make a huge difference to achieving your goals.

"Only known Steve 4 months as we were keen to have an obedient dog so it could enjoy our busy life at work and also at the weekends walking in Woodbridge and Aldeburgh. I started at 3 months old and although Millie is only 22 weeks now, seeing Steve every week or two has been amazing.  At 22 weeks Millie can walk to heel, recalled when on and off the training lead, stay where she's been asked and has stopped jumping up. I'm being trained and really enjoy it. I'll keep coming and recommending. Thanks Steve." KEVIN HALL

"We were unable to take our 8 month old Vizla anywhere where he had to be on a lead as he would lunch himself at me and the children and he was just being silly. Within less than an hour with Steve, Duke was walking at heel through town. I have since done the school run and people are amazed with the change. I highly recommend Steve." TIFFANY TROUILLEZ FOUNTAIN

"Steve has turned mine and Storm's life around. Before we went to see Steve she would react to any dog that went past. Now, after doing an obedience class, one to ones and having just finished another course Storm can run straight past other dogs and come straight to me. Also we went into the Suffolk Canine Creche with 64 other dogs without one growl. If you have any issues with your dog , Steve is the person to help." JO BROWN

"I had one session with Steve to help me with my dog Otto who had started to show some signs of being reactive. Steve gave me tips and training techniques which I have followed religiously and 5 months on he is a different dog." SEZ RELF

"Steve is a marvel- he is calm and so helpful giving great direction. I would highly recommend using him as a dog trainer." MANDY LEESON-VANIL

"Every vet in the country should have a little of Steve's magic ways. After fruitless days trying to get our Lab to swallow vital life saving pills Steve gained it's trust within minutes then with masterful none stressing technique, to humans too, popped the pills in seconds. My wife thinks he's stupendous, me I think Steve is just exemplary. Best regards Steve and thanks for giving our beautiful Labrador the best chance. Most highly recommended."  JOHN FISHER

"We have a gorgeous large chocolate doodle who is appalling on a scent, so much so, on 3 occasions he went missing for an hour. This resulted in him being confined to a lead and us being very stressed as we did not want to endanger our dogs life. From my initial phone call to Steve through to our one to one sessions I cannot thank him enough. Perci responded very well to Steve and his training methods and Steve could see what our issue was with Perci's high prey drive. Steve has a lovely manner about him with both dog and  hooman beans which means he gets the best from both parties. The last big session involved us walking Perci off lead along the river Deben with cows to the left, birds to the right, hoomans and their dogs on the path and Perci stayed by our side, this is something we could only dreamed of. We have taken his advice and training methods and will be putting them into practice daily, I also feel I can contact if needs be. Thank you"  YOGA RANDALL

"I took my Welsh Collie, Bryn, to meet Steve for the first time on Saturday desperate for some help with his recall, as he gets easily distracted and takes off if I let him off his lead. I was just in awe when within a few minutes Steve had him coming back when called everytime! He even got away from me once and Steve had him sitting and staying until he walked over and picked up the lead! Everyone yes, everyone who has a troublesome dog needs a Steve in their life, the one outstanding thing he gives is confidence in yourself to handle and have a better relationship with your best pal. After just one hour I feel so much more confident in my own abilities. And ladies, it never hurt to have a bit of eye candy when training your pet!" LINDA FIRMAN

"Steve is absolutely brilliant, we can't praise (or thank) him enough with all the help and support he's given us with our lovely Staffie Moxie. Moxie is a rescue, who came to us aged one from North Essex. Before our sessions with Steve she was very very reactive on the lead to all and any other dogs, and she pulled like a steam train too! Moxie is now 2 and since May 2016 we have had 5 private sessions with Steve and we now have a dog that walks perfectly to heel, doesn't pull, and also tolerates other dogs whilst on the lead. In fact, if the other dog is off the lead she isn too worried at all now. It's all thanks to Steve's guidance, excellent methods and deep, deep knowledge of canine behaviour. We can highly recommend Steve for all training needs for any dog, any breed, any size."

Steve and Billy