About Eric

Eric Straetmans has been passionate about Dogs his entire life. In fact it was this passion that made his becoming a professional dog trainer, somewhat of “a calling”.

Before having any "professional" credentials, Eric had 3 dogs of his own. Eric trained these dogs himself through personal study, reading books, internet, and trial and error. And although they were not trained anywhere near to his standard now, to the average person they were pretty well behaved dogs. Friends and co-workers could see that Eric had an understanding of dealing with dog behavior problems, and would frequently ask him advise, on issues with their dogs. Questions such as:

“How do I housebreak?”, “How do I stop my dog from chewing EVERYTHING in my house”, “Can I get my dog to stop jumping up?”, “How do I get my dog to stop pulling me down the street?”

Eric soon realized how much he enjoyed helping people fix these problems and have better lives with their canine friends. He found it more rewarding and had more fun doing this than in his present job running a very popular nightclub (and the bar was a lot of fun! lol). It was not long before Eric was seeking a trainer he could learn from to turn this passion into a profession. Luckily being situated in Niagara Falls, Eric found Dave McMahon and his academy for Dog Trainers. Here he spent over a year learning, as Dave’s apprentice, then teaching private lessons, and group classes. Eric’s areas of learning included: obedience training, schutzhund (protection) training, scent work, and many others. Eric received his “MASTER DOG TRAINER” certification from Dave McMahon’s school in Dec 2004. ERIC THEN BECAME A CERTIFIED MEMBER OF THE I.A.C.P. in 2005.

Eric opened his own dog training school and pet grooming salon in 2005 operating under the names DOG GONE SMART & TIP TOP TAILS. Eric, knowing life is a journey of continual learning, was always seeking experience and people that could improve his already great dog training techniques. He found himself training for the Niagara Falls Humane Society, volunteering daily and training their lost cause cases, dogs that they “just couldn’t adopt”. Eric’s goal was to rehabilitate them and give them a better chance to find that second family to love. This was not only extremely rewarding, it helped Eric experience firsthand how to deal with aggressive, dominant, and hard to deal with dogs.

Eric sought as much education as he could, keeping an open mind to all methods and techniques. He leaned methods from renowned trainer Fred Hassen, took seminars with the ASPCA in dealing with shelter dogs, and YES even spent time with “all positive” trainers just to name a few.

Now in the Mississauga-Oakville area Eric has come up with his own system. Understanding that not every method will work with every dog, this system is a cornucopia of tried and true methods that work. It is a system based on "balanced" methods, using both positive and negative re-enforcements. Eric’s training system is one that can adjust to the temperament and needs of the individual dog. The System is known as BEYOND THE LEASH K9 TRAINING (un-leash the potential in your dog) and is based on “real life” dog obedience for the real world…not in a competition ring.

So whether you want to just change a few small behavior issues in your dog, or completely rehabilitate a dog that is unmanageable, Eric is the one who can help.