About Sidney Aarons

Hi, I'm Sidney Aarons - welcome to my website!

My obsession with dogs started when I was 7 years old. My father was taking care of a litter of one week old German Shorthair Pointer puppies and their mother for another family whilst they were on holiday. During this time my sister and I helped out by cleaning and playing with the pups and their mum so naturally we became very attached to them and couldn't imagine our lives without dogs. Unfortunately holidays always come to end and we were told that the family would be picking up the pups and their mum - my father knew I would be devastated as I had spent most of my time with the pups and he asked if I would like to keep one of them - of course I jumped at the chance to have my very first dog. I named her Bronlea - a pretty little girl that was brown and white in colour, dad told one of the conditions to having dog was it had to be female which didn't make any difference to me, there were 3 girls and 4 boys Bronlea was the smallest but she was the most playful and the cutest(I still remember after all these years) she was so sweet even as a pup she follow me around the house and when sat down she would curl up at my feet and sleep. As she grew she kept her sweet nature, she would sleep in my bed at night, we were inseparable and I miss her every day!

My father and I would go to the local obedience school on Sunday mornings, however it wasn't long before he preferred his sleep in and I was allowed to go on my own with my special little girl.  Bronlea and I were inseparable - she slept in my bed and sat at my feet during dinner, we would play chasy, hide and seek around the house and the back yard, I would take her to the park across the road and throw the ball for her which she loved. When we were having dinner she would lie at feet and I would pass her food, mostly the food i didn't want but once my parents realised what I was doing she would stay outside while we were eating yet I would save something for her. When I was 10 we signed up for our first obedience trial, we didn't do well but we had fun...she wasn't very good at sit stays so on the trial day we had to a group sit stay so when we were instructed we told our dogs to stay and we walked away for about 30 feet and when turned around and she wasn't there and I looked down and there she was sitting right in front of me. 

Not long after the trial Bronlea started to collapse for some unknown reason and after a number of test she was diagnosed with Leukaemia. I was lucky I was able to spend another 18 months with her until she passed. My experience with Bronlea was profound enough for me to know what I wanted to be when I grew up and it wasn't long before I pestered my father for another dog.

Along came Smudge - a male Boxer - like his owner, he was a troublemaker and a lot more wilful than Bronlea but I loved him all the same. I taught him the basics, toilet training and obedience and he and I shared my bed tooWe went to the same obedience school as I did Bornlea. As a teenager I got into motorbikes and I spent less time taking Smudge with me however he was very much part of the family and was treated as such. When he was 12 Smudge developed a tumour and his health deteriorated very quickly. Sadly my poor old mate passed - I was 24 by then.

I missed not having a dog and soon after I bought a German Shepherd x English Staffordshire puppy that I named Paz. He was very naughty and would bark all night, pull clothes off the line and destroyed whatever he could get his teeth into. I was living in a share house so his behaviour did not go down well at all with my new house mates, not to mention the cost of replacing my house mates bedding, clothing and shoes!

One evening, when I was telling my friend of my troubles with Paz, he suggested that I take him to a dog obedience class - I remember standing there and asking myself why didn't I think of this myself'! I opened the Yellow pages and booked into an 'information session' at Australian Dog Training (ADT). This was the beginning of my future with dogs! I joined ADT as a client and owner of a naughty dog and a month after signed up to become a student dog trainer - this is where my life had a dramatic change and I went on to learn about canine behaviour and training. 

The course opened a lot of doors for me and I met one of my greatest mentors and friends, Boyd Hooper. Boyd was the founder of ADT and the National Dog Trainers Federation (NDTF) and it was his enthusiasm, knowledge, compassion and his encouragement that helped me become the trainer and person that I am today. Once completing the course I went on to train with a number of people and have attended numerous seminars and courses and spent countless hours talking to trainers from all fields. I continue to learn and study and thanks to the internet it has allowed me to make contacts all over the world.

There have been a number of people who have helped me over the years and have unselfishly given up their time and imparted their knowledge to help me become the trainer I have always wanted to become and some of those people are: Boyd Hooper, John MacDonald, Steve Austin, Mark Murray, Danny Jagovic, Glenn Cooke, Dr Robert Holmes, amongst many others! I cannot thank these people enough for all of their support over the years and it is something I will never forget.

I have had the privilege of working in a field that I truly enjoy - I have managed my own training centres; trialled my own dogs as well helped clients reach their goals in obedience trialling; lectured for the NDTF; trained dogs for scent detection, law enforcement and security; managed boarding kennels and training facilities; live demonstrations at expo's; a panel member at Monash University for PHD candidates in Canine behaviour as well as the resident dog trainer for the award winning Hound TV in seasons 1 and 2. 

I am very proud of my achievements so far and one of my greatest joys is success fully helping my wonderful clients who entrust me with their precious pets. As a result, I am passionate about helping people understand their dogs so they can live a happier life together. Through training sessions, workshops and seminars I strive to inspire others and motivate you to understand dogs better too.