Micayla Brenssell launches Good Boy dog training to help people connect to their pups

Dog trainer Micayla Brenssell with Patch, Gladis and Larry. Photo / Carmen Brenssell

Good Boy. Or girl for that matter; it's a common enough phrase heard uttered by dog lovers, although phrases can also get a bit more colourful when the boy is not so good.

Enter Micayla Brenssell, a rural lass from North Otago, who has started Good Boy dog training to help people connect with their new pups or dogs and train them.

Brenssell (25) has her own dog pedigree; her grandfather Ali Brenssell is a well-known working dog breeder while her farming parents Wayne and Carmen have always had dogs.

The arrival of her son Freddy Jopson last year meant she was trying to avoid going back to work full-time and was looking for something that she could do which did not involve a lot of travelling.

Her mother suggested she should be training people's "little dogs" and, after thinking about it, she realised there was a gap in the market for something like that in the area.

She could do one-on-one sessions, or a group if people preferred. Half the training was usually the owner - some people got a new pup and did not really know what to do.

"So many dogs out there do whatever they like because they're not trained. I feel sorry for them.

"It's not the dog's fault. The owner just doesn't know what to do," she said.

It was all about simple obedience, and a little dog should be treated just the same as a big dog. She hoped to help clients so they could progress to doing it themselves and keeping their canine charges under control.

From a very young age, her job had always been to help train pups at her parents and grandfather's, playing with them to get them socialised and teaching them to lead.

She got her first dog when she left school and built up a team of working dogs, picking up ones that people could not get going, or could not get to work.

Working with dogs was something that had always come naturally to her and she was also grateful for the help from her father and grandfather.

While launching Good Boy was a little out of her comfort zone, she was excited about it, saying it could eventually turn into a full-time business.

"The options are endless. I'm quite open to everything," she said.