Success Stories

Stories from some of our happy clients and their dogs. More reviews are on my Facebook page.

bond

We contacted Giles to help out with our 5 month old black Labrador, Bond. Giles spent a couple of hours at home with us and helped us sort out a few behavioural issues. We have an adorable dog, however, he has a very strong mind and was pushing boundaries. Giles provided us with strategies to use which were effective.

We then engaged Giles a few weeks later to assist with lead training. This was a huge success and we now have a puppy who walks well, regularly looks up at whoever is walking him and seldom pulls. Giles also taught Bond other commands which he now obeys (most of the time).

Bond was always willing and happy to spend time being trained by Giles.

~Rebecca Connolly, July 2022

Obi

Giles has been amazing! We adopted Obi when he was 1 year old. He is now 6. We adopted him from Dogwatch Sanctuary. Without Giles and Diesel Obi would never have got his second chance in life. He had been mistreated when he arrived at Dogwatch. He was very timid and trust was an issue.

Giles helped with everything from crate training to lead walking. Obi still loves his walks which we do regularly. He loves to play with Giles and Diesel and can do some really cool tricks now.

Thanks so much Giles for all you do. We know you save lives and help doggies lead a better quality of life with the training you do.

Couldn’t recommend more highly!!!

Thank you. The Collins Family

Alfie

The best thing you can do for your dog and your household is give Giles a ring. I wish we had done it years ago! I’ll admit I was reluctant to pick up the phone, despite recommendations, because I thought ‘oh its going to be hard and a lot of work, and I’ll have to do it all’ or ‘we will have to be very strict and treat our dog unkind’, etc.  But I couldn’t have been more wrong!

Our dog is very small and he thought he was King Kong and we his subjects! He would almost take people’s heads off with barking, snarling and the odd nip whenever they approached. It was getting to the stage that the children were not wanting to interact with him or have their friends around him in fear he would hurt them. I would avoid or try and anticipate potential problems all the time, which were just escalating!

Giles was able to guide us in turning our dog’s behaviour around in a very short period of time. He was kind and knowledgeable and his strategies were realistic and manageable. He taught us what was reinforcing or exacerbating our dog’s undesirable behaviour, ways to change it and how to identify this ourselves to continue his improvement. He taught us and our dog loose lead walking. Who knew dog walks could be relaxing! We recently had a houseful of guests staying the weekend and they couldn’t believe the change in him. Neither could we! He sat happily on others laps or interacted with complete strangers with ease in our home.

I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Giles or as my children refer to him ‘The Dogfather’. Best call you will make!

~Julia Croft, August 2021

Harvey the Labrador

Giles is THE go-to guy for any dog behaviour issue (even the ones you don’t know you have yet).

Our 4 year old lab cross is 95% lovely and 5% rogue.

Depending on your situation, Giles may end up training you more than your dog! We’ve learned so much about how our behaviour was contributing to Harvey’s anxiety and fear without us realising. Worth adding that Giles is incredibly calm and never uses punishment, fear or aggression in his training. It’s all positive and it works.

Harvey is one of those ‘give him an inch and he’ll take a mile’ dogs and I know I can get in touch with Giles anytime for an extra session, a dog walk or some advice.

We worked with Giles for several months last year and I’m sure we’ll do so again. He is so passionate about helping your dog be the best he/she can be and has a limitless arsenal of practical techniques and advice.

I wasted so much money on different collars, harnesses and leads and wish I’d invested in training with Giles sooner. Loose lead walking is life changing!

If your dog is reactive, pulls on the lead, jumps up, barks or has any undesirable behaviours get in touch with Giles. You won’t regret it

One year later and still walking beautifully 

Harvey does need reminding but that is on us. Giles taught us some simple techniques to use when needed.

~Rochelle Milligan, June 2021

CHARLIE

Our lovely Charlie lost his way and was very much placing himself as head of the house, nipping, jumping, human walking rather than dog walking, trying to take our baby’s food and generally being disobedient.

We spent 2 hours with the Giles today and he taught us the skills we needed and gave us a thorough understanding about what Charlie’s behaviours meant and how to work on correcting them.

Giles teaching and handling style is affirmative and calm, not aggressive and he does not use punishments, rather Giles uses positive reinforcement.

Within a couple of hours of Giles leaving we decided to put what we had learned to the test.

Charlie was loose lead walking (even though this wasn’t something we even got around to covering off), and wouldn’t even so much as sniff at our baby’s food even when we put it in front of him!

Highly recommend The Dogfather NZ to anyone and everyone!

$250 is a lot of money but it is money well spent, we have noticed a massive improvement and have learnt a lot from our time today.

~Max Taylor-Hallett April 2021

harvey

Giles has made a tremendous difference to the behaviour of our very sassy corgi. We now have a more relaxed household. Walking is no longer a chore as he is loose lead walking. I thoroughly recommend The Dogfather, sooner rather than later.

~Sandra Kenneally, June 2020

BEAR

Giles is so passionate about what he does. We had the pleasure of getting to know him whilst he trained our young puppy Bear. Bear was a bit of a nightmare on the lead, pulling and not listening to us at all. We have had a fantastic outcome. Bear is walking behind us and is really calm. Giles has given us loads of pointers and shown us what to do with other commands. Giles is completely approachable, understanding and really knows his stuff. We have absolutely no hesitation in recommending him. Thank you Giles, you really are the “Dogfather”.

~Sandra Durack, February 2020

Sherman

Giles came to our home to give us some tips for our new puppy,Sherman. The nipping and whining have all stopped. And he comes to his name. Giles is kind and gentle. He obviously loves dogs. Highly recommend. Very cool for an 8 week old baby. Thanks Giles.

~Sue Evans, January 2019

Daisy

Last weekend Giles came to work with our family and our 1 year old Lab. The changes have been fantastic! We have plenty of ongoing work to do, but she is more relaxed, almost stopped stealing completely and walks calmly on the lead without pulling. The insight he provided was pitched well for our whole family to learn together.

~Kathy Fry, February 2019

ash

You are an amazing dog trainer Giles. Ash a different dog, relaxed, playful, fun and under control. What you have managed to achieve in such a short time is unbelievable. We are so lucky that you were recommended to us from Darrin, Louisa and Jed. Teaching a farm dog to enjoy an urban environment with many distractions isn't easy but you did it with such ease.

~ Treasa Glubb, December 2018

Jack

Hi Giles,

Just a quick note. l want you to know how thrilled I was the other week with Jack’s good manners. Friends from England, whom we haven’t seen in over a year, came to visit. Jack was completely calm when they came to the door and only got off his bean bag to greet them once they were seated. None of his previous noisy carry on. Then he went back to his bean bag and listened to us talk. At one stage, I left the room and he got up to follow me but my friend told Jack to sit and he did so immediately. I think your student needs a gold medal. Teacher better have one too!

~ Jack’s HuMUM

Jed

Giles has a great knowledge of dog behaviour. He supports us on a regular basis and continually supports the development of our Bearded Collie, Jed. I highly recommend! Many thanks to you and Mr. Diesil.

~ Louisa Ngaue & Jed

Cola

I can’t recommend Giles enough. He was excellent with our six month old black Lab. She had been causing us a few headaches. Within a couple of hours visiting our home, Giles had given us many insightful tips on how to interact with her and how best to set up our home and outside areas for her. Within a day of implementing these changes, we had a very well-behaved puppy. It is still an ongoing process, but it’s great to know we are on the right track and raising an obedient, well-behaved and happy dog. Thank you Giles.

~ James Alexander

sambuca

We called Giles in to work with Sambuca, our two year old Maltese-Shitzu, who went crazy every time he saw another dog while out walking - barking, snarling, lunging, panting etc; and also reacted to any animals he saw on TV or heard in the neighbourhood. It turned out Sambuca has some anxiety issues, and by changing the way we do things at home he became much calmer and better behaved after only one session with Giles. Giles walked him today and Sambuca's usual bad behaviour was nearly non-existent. We have a way to go so we can have Sambuca responding as well to us, but are very confident we will get there. We have learnt so much about how dogs tick and especially about our own dogs from Giles. As a bonus, our other Maltese-Shitzu is also calmer and better behaved as a result of the new rules around the home! Fantastic!

~ Hettie Arends-van Kessel

ralph

Thanks Giles for an awesome training session tonight. Our beagle puppy is walking in a straight line, listening to commands and not sniffing the ground, something I thought was impossible to teach a beagle. He is such a happy wee man. Looking forward to the next session. See video of Ralph

~ Sue Hill & Ralph

cooper

After a friend’s recommendation, we contacted Giles to help us with our cute but very stubborn Japanese Spitz. He would pull on the lead, stop suddenly and didn’t really seem to listen to us. Giles was able to give us the skills we needed to get our dog to do what we wanted him to do. What a difference it has made! He now walks on a loose lead, stops when we stop, which has made walking him more enjoyable for us and fun for him. We sought other training prior to contacting Giles, however this wasn’t as effect. Highly recommend contacting The Dogfather and his assistant Diesil.

~Rochelle Bloy, July 2020

JAE JAE

The changes in JaeJae were instant. From the moment Giles left she was calmer and more relaxed. She is now happy to play on her own and rest quietly on her bed. Before she was always running around crazily. A few guidelines in place and she is a much happier dog. Her jumping and tearing/biting at me and other people has stopped. She’s great around kids now and her barking has dropped from fairly constant to most days not barking at all. To start with I was so concerned that she had lost her bark, that I contacted Giles. He was correct in saying that when she needs to bark she will bark. She is now relaxed enough that she comes to work with me most days and will happily sit under my desk. She's not perfect - (I still need to find a cat father) and there are issues we may get you back to help with at some stage. But the fact is we are both very happy. My only wish is that I should have done this earlier. I can't thank you enough Giles.

~Sarah Killoh, 2019

Jack

We have had so much pleasing progress with Jack at home. The training was easy for the whole family to understand.... including our 2 year old schnauzer.

~Phillipa Inwood, January 2019

Alfie

After Giles visited me and Alfie I now have a calm wee dog with no barking, walks happily when out. He has changed completely now a calm, happy dog. Doesn’t jump on visitors. Thank you so much Giles!

~ Prue ME Urlwin, December 2018

Kai

We have seen a huge difference in Kai after just one session this weekend! The tips and tricks Giles has given us to help with Kai’s behaviour (chewing, whining, recalling, walking on his leash to name a few) have him acting like a different dog already! He’s more relaxed and so are we. Giles knowledge and skill with dogs is just amazing and we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him.

~ Carmel Twohig-Jones & Kai

husky rescue

Huskies are notoriously difficult to train due to high intelligence and strong-willed independence. Giles has been working with our adoption dogs to help get them ready for new owners. The results have been very effective, thus meaning the dogs are easier to place in new homes. Giles has also been working with a wee female husky that was beaten; his patience with her has been amazing and she has come ahead in leaps and bounds! She has been desensitised to the movement of humans and of flying objects and now comes up for cuddles just like any other dog. He has trained my own Husky as well, Samurai, 14 months old. Sam needed to be taught to walk at heel and I did not want anyone to use a check chain on him. Giles’ handover method has worked brilliantly with Sam. He walks nicely at heel and has even learnt non-verbal commands for heeling. His handover method means that he knows the dog can do it before showing you how to get the same result; meaning he can focus on the dog first, and then the owner having the same control. Do not hesitate to contact me at Husky Rescue NZ for any further recommendation.

 ~ Michelle Attwood, Founder, Husky Rescue NZ

Eddie

We have worked with Giles for a few years. We started training with Giles when no one could help me with my boxer, Eddie. Giles has an innate ability to work with dogs that you can’t get from a text book. He has a strong duty of care to follow up and follow through with the dogs and their owner. Such a rare thing in the world of dog trainers.

~ Hope Rogers 2021

daisy

What a magician you are! Our 3 dogs were finding it really hard to adapt to city life and our pug had become a nightmare owning everyone and setting the others off. After such a short space of time all 3 dogs had stopped barking, bin days are a pleasure and we are able to receive visitors and have the dogs look out the windows without a single bark!

We are the envy of our neighbors!

You have restored peace and order to our home and I am so very grateful.

I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend The Dogfather. Our home is quiet and peaceful and our dogs are calm and content.

~Helen Hodgkinson, October 2020

sprout

Thank you so much Giles. Sprout is doing very well with in one visit. I will highly recommend Giles to anyone who wants their dog trained.

~ Abhishek Thakur, January 2019

Karlo

Giles is honestly one in a million! We took our older dog,a Bullmastiff Rottweiler cross, to multiple trainers with no improvement on his recall and pulling on the lead. Our Rottweiler pup was chewing everything in sight. Within a week, there was a huge difference in behaviour, after 2 months our boys were coming when called and walking like stars on the lead. Giles didn't judge our boys by their breed and understood their needs along with ours. I now feel comfortable taking the boys out without them running riot; they are a dream! Thank you Giles for all your hard work!

~ Sade Cruickshank & Karlo

rita

We contacted Giles to get his assistance with our miniature Schnauzers after a recommendation from our neighbours. So far, he has worked with Rita (almost 9 months old) and will come back to work with Ted (4 years old) in a few weeks. Giles has also helped us with the Schnauzer greeting (read noisy mugging) for visitors and us when we get home from work. Rita was pretty much impossible to walk, as she pulled the whole way and it was not a pleasant experience. Giles has worked wonders with her (see her video clip) and showed me what to do yesterday. Today Rita and I went solo and it was amazing! She is not pulling at all and is very aware of how to walk. I cannot recommend Giles and what he does enough. He has a great manner with the dogs and obviously loves working with them as much as they enjoy going out with him. We wish we had got him ‘round sooner!

~ Karen Haines & Rita

minky

Well, I don't know how you're doing it, but it's definitely working!

Minky has anxiety issues, barks a lot, follows me everywhere, guards me 24/7, and intensely dislikes other dogs - anywhere!

After just a week of following Giles’ guidelines and Giles working one-on-one with her, she's quieter, hardly barks, stays with whatever she's doing when I walk by, and is a much more relaxed dog all ‘round!

Our third session today, and I've just watched a video of her walking, calm and relaxed, while three dogs nearby were going bonkers! Not a peep out of her at all!! Before, she'd be lunging, screaming and slobbering!

I AM IMPRESSED!!!! Way to go Giles!!!!

~ Andrea Matthews & Minky

no longer freight train!

Six months ago, I couldn’t even walk my dog, without being dragged down the street. It was a struggle and I hated every minute of it. He was nicknamed Freight Train. We followed your guidelines and practised what you showed us. Now, we love it. Thank you Giles.

~ Frances Howley