Dog Trainer & Behaviourist for Teesside
Relationship Centred Training. International Expertise.
Built on a Foundation of Dog Psychology.
The Dog's Way is a specialist dog behaviour service working with clients across Teesside and the surrounding area — including Yarm, Guisborough, Stokesley, Wynyard, Saltburn-by-the-Sea, and the North Yorkshire coast. Based at Underhill Farm near Stokesley, James McMahon offers one-to-one behaviour sessions for dogs of all breeds and ages, covering reactivity, aggression, separation anxiety, fears and phobias, recall, and more.
Teesside is one of the most beautiful and enjoyable places in the country to own a dog. Saltburn-by-the-Sea — named the UK's best beach for dog-friendliness — is a local and regional hotspot that draws dog owners from across the North East year-round. Ingleby Barwick, one of the largest private housing estates in Europe, is home to one of the most concentrated dog-owning communities you'll find anywhere — suburban, busy, and full of dogs navigating the same green spaces every single day. At the same time, it's clear that people in Teesside are struggling to share space with their dogs. The area ranks among the highest in England for dog bite hospital admissions, according to peer-reviewed research published in Scientific Reports. The data tells a different story depending on who you ask. From where we stand, it's about overwhelmed dogs, social responsibility, and learning how to share the beautiful spaces we call home.
When I moved up from the South West, Saltburn was where I landed — off the train at Darlington, through the industrial heart of Middlesbrough, and out to the coast. It's where my wife's family live, where my business started, and it's still one of my favourite places to work with dogs anywhere in the region.
Teesside is a huge hotspot for dog owners — which means a huge number of people learning to share space together, manage their own dogs, and navigate everyone else's too. A local walk through Stewart Park or Guisborough Forest can be genuinely stressful when you're trying to keep your dog calm and no one around you is doing the same.
What I've learned is that busyness is actually your friend when it comes to dog training. Busy environments act as a natural filter — they tend to attract calmer, better-managed dogs, kept on leads, not ending up in someone else's family picnic. Once your dog can handle that, they can handle most things.
— James
Over A Decade working with Dogs.
What we’ve learned to do differently.
James McMahon has worked with hundreds of dogs across Yorkshire and the North East, with particular depth in fearful dogs, spaniels, and complex behavioural cases. He is trained through Cesar Millan's TCW Fundamentals programme and is a member of the International Association of Canine Professionals (IACP).
The Dog's Way works with clients from across the Teesside area — including Yarm, Guisborough, Stokesley, Saltburn-by-the-Sea, Whitby, and the surrounding villages.
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Every case starts with a full assessment — not a set of techniques waiting to be applied, but a genuine attempt to understand what’s driving your dog’s behaviour at its root. We’ve learned that taking the extra time to understand is always time well spent.
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A frightened reactive dog needs a completely different approach to a frustrated one. Get that wrong — or skip it entirely — and you can spend months working on the wrong problem. We make sure that never happens.
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Most behaviourists arrive with just their knowledge. We arrive with ours — and theirs. Our ambassador dogs are an integral part of how we work, providing a calm, balanced presence that no human can replicate. For reactive, anxious or socially struggling dogs, working alongside a psychologically healthy dog from the very first session accelerates progress in a way that words and techniques alone simply can’t.
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The most powerful tool in changing your dog’s behaviour isn’t a technique. It’s your relationship with them. Every session is built around making sure you leave with genuine understanding — not just instructions to follow.
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No group classes, no generic programmes, no divided attention. Just focused expert support built entirely around your dog’s specific needs.
Your Training journey in Teesside and Beyond.
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There's a reason I start with clients at the farm. Something happens when you turn onto the farm track. The noise stops. Not just the road noise — the particular kind of mental cacophony that comes with navigating a busy town with a dog who isn't coping. I've watched dogs step out of the car at Underhill and visibly exhale. Owners too.
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The farm sits on the edge of the North York Moors National Park, surrounded by fields and woodland. It's about 20-30 minutes from teesside, and definitely worth a visit. I like to drag my clients out of the city. Most people don’t realise how much they need it.
Early sessions here are about giving your dog room. Room to settle, room to make mistakes without the world pressing in, room to show you what they're actually capable of when the pressure is off. That's where the real picture emerges — not in the middle of a pavement standoff on Leeds Road, but somewhere quiet, with time.
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After your first session with us, we bring it back to the places local to you. Because the goal was never to have a dog that behaves at a farm in North Yorkshire. The goal is a dog that can walk along the seafront at Saltburn on a busy weekend in a way where you can really relax and enjoy the view.
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We carry out follow up’s in the locations we know will challenge you and help you succeed:
Saltburn Valley Gardens
Guisborough Forest Walkway
Stokesley Market Town
Helmsley Market Town
Thornton le Dale
How our Clients feel - in their own words:
