I am a dog trainer who comes to you. I provide bespoke 1-2-1 dog behaviour and manners training, serving North Essex and borders.
I aspire to strengthen your bond with your dog, enriching your life together
Let’s start something special!
I love dogs. I am a dog trainer who understands canine thinking and behaviour as well as your needs. You, your dog and your situation are always unique. Together, we can meet any challenge and improve your quality of life.
“Chris is very good with dogs and people. He is kind, caring and has a natural calmness about him.”
Ann, Great Dunmow
I come to your home for 1-2-1 dog training. We start with real life! And we start together, as training is all about your interaction with your dog. And we start with low distractions, gradually building these as our training progresses.
I founded Dog Citizen® as an independent family business. I have lived in Great Dunmow since 2009 and am community spirited, supporting our local and wider dog community whenever I can. I am not franchised and do not work to a formula. Your dog is an individual so all my training programmes are bespoke.
I also offer a premium occasional dog walking and drop-in service around Great Dunmow, Essex. As a dog trainer I know how to keep your dog safe, engaged and happy. I am insured and first aid trained. If you need a trustworthy, reliable professional dog walker for ad hoc or weekly walks, we can start something special together.
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Excellent5.0★★★★★ Based on 22 reviews fromLauren S ★★★★★ Chris is a fantastic trainer - really welcoming, totally understanding, patient and absolutely thorough with his training methods from first observation to writing up detailed guidance for ongoing support.I have a 3yo fear aggressive rescue, I booked 3 lessons and Chris brought it back to basics from understanding behaviour to obedience and so on, showing how positive training methods can work, making walks a lot more pleasant, especially if you cook little burger treats (recipe courtesy of Dog Citizen website alongside many other great blogs to read!).By implementing Chris’s guidance and over time ensuring consistency, I continually see progress not only for my dog but my handling too.Highly recommend, thank you!Wendy ★★★★★ I've been having training sessions with Chris with my young springer spaniel. My dog was pulling and lunging on the lead, which made walks quite hard going. His recall had also gone downhill as he got older and with so many exciting distractions going on. Chris came out with us on walks for the training and explained everything to me clearly and showed me what to do to improve things. He followed up the training sessions with a comprehensive summary with recommendations and things to practice. Recall is so much better now and lead walking is definitely improving all the time with practice. I feel much more confident with knowing how to deal with things. Chris is very knowledgeable, kind, understanding and patient. He obviously has a natural empathy with dogs and my dog was always very excited to see him! Thank you Chris from both of us 😊Corinne W. ★★★★★ Chris was absolutely amazing. He gave me all the tools I needed to make a fantastic improvement to our newly acquired and ‘re-homed’ spaniel. He totally understands dogs and their motivators and he translated this in a way which enabled us to really engage and improve our dog’s behaviour. I would hugely recommend him to anyone thinking of training their dog.Jolly J. ★★★★★ I asked Chris for help with my adult, but fearful and reactive, English Springer Spaniel back in July. Walkies was not a pleasant experience for myself or my dog! Well, it’s the best thing I could have done! We had a meet and greet to begin with, followed up with a detailed programme that Chris tailored around my dog’s specific training needs. I didn’t hesitate in booking my sessions straight away. Chris taught me all the things I should be doing, and also what I should NOT be doing, to help my dog, and to better understand his behaviour. Chris covered everything by going back to the basics of loose lead walking, through to my dog’s fearfulness and reactivity. Chris taught me about the underlying causes of my dog’s behaviour, and how to deal with it, and manage it effectively. There is no miracle cure, but now, with the right training from Chris, I can see light at the end of the tunnel. Unlike some trainers, it was so good to have Chris actually accompany me out on walks, where he could see what problems I was experiencing, first hand. Every session was followed up with written summaries and tasks to practice. Chris welcomed updates between sessions to ensure everything was going well before our next lesson. Chris is calm, trustworthy, very professional and reliable. He is very quick to respond to messages and any concerns. Overall, extremely likeable, caring and helpful. Our programme has now completed, and my training continues. Practice is key. Chris genuinely cares about the work he does and continues to welcome future updates on our progress. I couldn’t recommend Chris highly enough and if I still experience difficulties, he’s the ONLY trainer I will be booking again. It’s been a pleasure working with you and we’ll keep you posted, Chris! Thank you from Kym and Vinny 🐾🐾Kirsty B. ★★★★★ We contacted Chris to see what could be done about our schnauzer/poodle cross, Ruby. She had developed a dreadful habit of barking and growling aggressively at other dogs when she encountered them. We were concerned that at the age of 3 it might be a bit late in the day to be looking at training it out of her. However, Chris very quickly explained what he felt were the issues and how we should go about resolving them. The training included a lot of focus on where we were going wrong and what we, the owners, needed to do to help the situation. Each lesson with Chris was a great learning experience and it was helped by him sending us notes afterwards to outline what had been discussed at each lesson. We are now in a position where Ruby is really enjoying the company of other dogs without displaying any unwanted behaviour. It's made walking her so much enjoyable, as previously it had become a real nuisance to be constantly apologising for her.Claire M. ★★★★★ We’ve had three training sessions with Chris, and it’s been absolutely brilliant! I’d highly recommend Chris to anyone wanting to train their dog! He is so calm and reassuring and has such a lovely manner with the dogs.We’ve worked on jumping up, recall, basic obedience, and Nala has made huge improvements in all of these areas. It’s been so good to get a basic understanding of what works and how to be consistent with it all to ensure Nala understands. I’ll continue working on the things Chris has taught me and all being well, I’ll have a very well behaved dog!! Thank you Chris for your kindness and patience throughout.Jackie W. ★★★★★ Chris was great helping us with our training of our 2 year old Labrador- great hints and tips and excellent follow up. To be fair our lovely dog needed less help than us !! I would definitely recommend Chris to anyone needing advice and help turning their dog into a good dog citizenThank you 😊Jodie H. ★★★★★ Chris is kind and understanding with both humans and dogs 🐶, he worked with me and my complex little Patterdale to work towards overcoming extreme reactions to dogs and people and has shown me how to encourage calmer responses and build a stronger trust bond with my dog. We have made great progress since our sessions with Chris. Highly recommendKerry O. ★★★★★ Chris did a fantastic job with my rescue cocker spaniel, Lottie.After a traumatic start to her life, she developed an intense fear of men which resulted in unwanted barking and growling. Chris was calm, understanding and built a good relationship with her in only 4 sessions.Lottie was also a strong lead puller and had no recall. Chris was so patient in training both Lottie and myself.Chris has given me the tools and understanding of canine behaviour I need in order to continue with Lottie's training independently. I feel like he's given me my dog back. I can't thank him enough.Joe H. ★★★★★ I can't recommend Chris from Dog Citizen highly enough. I thought I knew how to train a dog until I met him! The training is fun and it works! Highly recommended.Jane J. ★★★★★ Chris helped us with Maggie, a cocker spaniel.It unsurprisingly turned out we needed as much training as our puppy. Brilliant advise and excellent results. Thank you Chris.Bianca S. ★★★★★ Can’t recommend Chris enough. Most professional and on-the-ball trainer we’ve had, and we saw great results immediately. Highly recommend to anyone looking to have a training sessions or at home visits.christopher T. ★★★★★ Chris from Dog Citizen gets on really well with our BT. Not only have we seen a marked improvement to recall and impulse control, se also now have a trusted friend for our pooch to provide engaging and productive walks.I highly recommend.Omar Durkin-Gharib (. ★★★★★ Chris has been a lifesaver helping to keep my two energetic labradors Radler & Hugo exercised and stimulated while I’m away with work or on holidays.From the first moment we met I was reassured by Chris’s organised and professional manner. He thoroughly determined each of my dogs individual needs and incorporated some much needed refresher training for recall and lead walking into their daily walks and visits.Chris has always been extremely accommodating, even at very late notice! Communication is always excellent with welcome pupdates daily on training and walks.Two very happy pups. Thank you for all your help..OmarLindsey R. ★★★★★ Chris is not only brilliant with my doggo, but is trustworthy, reliable and professional. He takes his business seriously and has all the qualifications necessary and some, which he'll happily show you! He is super friendly and you can tell how much he loves dogs. This really helped put me at ease when booking his services. Risco loves Chris and dogs know best 😅Ty F. ★★★★★ We called Chris after Monty, our Bernese Mountain Dog, chased one too many dogs through the park with absolutely no recall. Being a large breed other dogs (and their owners) would be intimidated by our dope of a dog. It made walks stressful and frustrating.We hoped after some training we could get him under control. What we didn't expect was the training would transcend obedience into building a stronger relationship with Monty that is fulfilling for us and for Monty.Chris took the time to learn about Monty and adapted his program to allow for his size, his low food drive, and his elbow elbow dysplasia. Each week we would practice by doing, reverting back to basics and slowly building up.If you're thinking of training I would just say this one thing: You will get back 10x what you put in. Chris gave us the keys but we have to take the wheel and put the miles in to get the returns. He's really training you, not the dog.Today Monty is well on his way to being a well behaved dog, walks are much less stressful and much more enjoyable. We're working towards him being a therapy dog so he can bring joy into the lives of others like he has to us.Karly P. ★★★★★ Chris has been working with myself, my husband and our wonderful teenage Bernese mountain dog. Chris has helped us so much in just 5 sessions, but we are eager to do even more with him to make our dog even better. Chris is patient, calm, professional and very knowledgeable. He came to meet us to chat through things before we started working together. He worked with us, training us in our dogs usual environments and walks. Our dog loved him straight away and we all really trust his advice. We are perfecting his recall and lead walking and as a teenager this can be difficult. Things have improved so much and we've even had successful recall!Thanks so much for everything Chris and looking forward to continuing the great work.Keely S. ★★★★★ Thank you so much Chris, you really have helped to train not only my dog Buddy, but me as well!Before we met you I had a dog that was pulling on walks, stealing food and had no manners. With your guidance and help I have a dog who is starting to understand the rules, is a lot easier to walk and has stopped stealing food from the table.We still have a way to go but I can’t thank you enough for steering us in the right direction.Chris H. ★★★★★ We have a 2yr old springer and it’s been a frustrating 2 yrs trying to make him walk without pulling. Having heard about a local trainer, we booked a course of sessions with DC and Chris introduced a new calming routine for both the dog and us. It was completely different tact from previous trainers had asked us to adopt. Initially we were apprehensive of this calmer approach as our dog is nuts, very excitable and definitely not calm.However, this new tactic allowed us to immediately be calmer and enjoy the walk and our Baxter was suddenly calmer and when let off lead he wasn’t so hyped up.Having Chris walk with us he was able to see Baxter’s temperament and gave us home work to practice and apply during walks and at home.Baxter is so much happier, trusting and more obedient.We are also so much happier and calmer.Thanks Chris, it all workedHenry I. ★★★★★ I started this journey with Connie, a very nervous and frightened 18 month old rescue dog, with no training either on or off the lead. I was finding trying to teach her the basics challenging, even though I have had dogs previously and I contacted Chris who had been recommended to me by another dog owner who had experienced similar problems with their pet. He walked around my local park with us and explained in his very calm and informative way what was going on in Connie’s mind and the best way of addressing her problems with simple steps. As well as our training sessions, backed up with emails outlining what our objectives were for that week, Chris was always available on the telephone for guidance and reassurance.Three months later and with Chris’s help Connie is now a happy and obedient dog who is a pleasure to take for daily walks. She still needs help with her confidence and anxiety problems but with Chris’s assistance I have every confidence we can make further progress. For anybody who is having problems or requires some advice about their pet, I would not hesitate to recommend Chris. With his calm and professional approach, backed up by his knowledge of canine thinking, I am confident you will not regret doing so.Henry InghamNick T. ★★★★★ Dotty,our10month old Border Terrier has become a more obedient and controllable dog with Chris's help.We ourselves have also learnt alot and will continue to work with Chris.Chicken ★★★★★ I am writing this on behalf of my mum and Dolly.Chris has worked with mum and Dolly to help them understand how to work together to train the both of them in a way thats fun for all.Dolly has learnt the important skills of recall and stay, along with sitting before crossing the road and most importantly not to pull when on the lead.Dog School has been an education for the whole family and Chris has been an encouraging and patient teacher. The lesson reminder leaflets are great for looking back on too.Thank you for all your hard work.
Latest News
august 2024
We were delighted to be the joint sponsor of the Dog Show at the Countess of Warwick Show this summer.
july 2024
We shared the force-free dog training message at a fundraiser for East Anglia Air Ambulance!
