Thank you so much for your fabulous work with our dog, Basha. We contacted you when we had some 'big puppy' behavior issues with Basha that were past the point of obnoxious. I only wish we had contacted you when we first got Basha - she was 6 months old & needed intervention then, but we did not take the time. I think it would have saved the entire family a tremendous amout of frustration.

As I recall, even after only one day of you working with Basha she was a significantly more attentive and relaxed dog. Though what was truly amazing was that within 2 to 3 sessions we had a different dog. Most importantly she was not just well-behaved with you - she was attentive and well-behaved with my entire family as well. Thank you so much for helping Basha become a better canine citizen and for helping our family be better 'canine leaders'.

Tony, I would highly recommend you to any new or experienced dog owner.

Thank you.

Deb Clark
Weber's Pet Supermarket
11021 Lee Highway
Fairfax, VA 22030

What a stroke of good fortune it was that we found Tony just when we had decided our two doggies could surely use the instruction of an expert trainer. We don't really know how the Dog World business card came to be in the desk drawer-but there it was, just as Caddy our 1 year old chocolate lab, and our 6 year old mix Ernest, who had just returned from joint custody with our son's family, were both exhibiting behavior that clearly needed to be addressed. So with a quick phone call to Anthony Orange, Trainer, we had set up a week's worth of instruction.

Probably like most dog owners we feel our pups are sweet and smart, so when Tony met them for the first time, we were happy to see he thought so too! Tony's friendly and professional manner immediately garnered their attention and respect, and they (and we) struck up a friendship right away.

Our biggest concern had to do with Caddy's eagerness to greet cars that came into the driveway. We had become convinced that her lack of understanding of the danger of automobiles in motion would put her in harm's way. Tony devised a strategy that had Caddy--and Ernest too--watching, not chasing, the cars, then running to safely greet them at the front steps. Her other digression was picking up Frank's golf balls off the green, perhaps not a major issue for others but a really serious one for him! The golf ball snitching was minimized with a few timely commands, and Frank continues to enjoy working with the dogs most evenings on the golf course.

Ernest is most times the leader, but at times the follower, and we were amazed how this much our older dog responded to Tony's instruction. Tony addressed Ernest's aggressive tendencies by thwarting his compulsive habit of stalking and snapping at large flying stinging insects. As a result, Ernest's demeanor was much calmer and more cooperative, setting a good example for his little sister.

It was evident how hard the dogs worked during the training sessions as they would immediately flop down on their beds afterwards, exhausted by paying close attention and responding to Tony's commands. Now we have a stack of DOGWORLD cards, and are looking forward to sharing them with anyone who has a dog to be trained. Tony is a gifted trainer, as well as a fine individual, and we enthusiastically recommend his outstanding talents that will make for happier dogs and a happier home.

Peggy and Frank Quayle Peggq@aol.com

I have an 8-month-old mix breed (Doberman/Shepherd???) 60 lb. pup that I adopted on Feb 1, 2004. He had been in and out of shelters his entire existence. I am his 5th home and hopefully now his last. I wasn’t so sure I could keep him at first, he was very disobedient an escape artist, he dragged me across the parking lot when I had him on the leash and actually broke away from me twice. He had a whole list of other behavior problems that I could not put up with as well. But he and our Cattle Dog got along so well I decided to try and make it work. I figured if I could not handle him who else would want too deal with him.

Tony Orange was recommended to me by an acquaintance, they called him the “Miracle Worker”. Tony came out and evaluated “Scooby” and said he would be just fine with some work. I can’t believe what a difference it made in just the 20 minutes of work with Scooby in the evaluation. Tony uses positive training with minimal negative correction if needed. I hired Tony on the spot to work with my dog.

Scooby today after training is the best-behaved dog in the house!!! I have 4 dogs and I thought there was no way he would ever be better trained than my 2 Pomeranians who are little angels. Scooby is a different animal, he comes when I call him, walks on a loose leash, sits and stays off the leash even outside in the front of the house. He no longer jumps up on the counter, furniture or people. I can get him in and out of the car without pushing me out of the way to get out. Now he just sits and waits to be taken out the car.

AMAZING! Never did I imagine this dog would be able to do this and do it well. Tony has this certain connection with the animals that very few people have. I would recommend him to anyone who has any type of dog obedience issues. He truly is a “Miracle Worker”.

Tony is very punctual and professional, the dogs love him. I have full confidence in Tony and his training ability, he saved my dog!

Thanks Tony!

Amanda and Scooby
Amanda Clairmonte
Corporate Account Executive
Nextel Communications
703-926-4353 (va)
443-324-6383 (md)
703-368-0095 (fax)
amanda.clairmonte@nextel.com

Our baby Diesel is a completely lovable and rambunctious rescued pit bull. He just loves to play – our problem was that at 70 pounds and having the “mouthiness” and determination that is typical of his breed – what he considered “playful” could border on the intimidating if not downright frightening. We already had one trainer try his luck with Diesel. We were afraid that any more training of the type needed to tone down his behavior might crush his spirit and otherwise turn this madcap “wild child” into an scared, overly-submissive dog.

Enter Tony.

From the very beginning, Diesel took to Tony like a duck to water. There IS something magical about Tony – I’ve never seen Diesel bond so instantly with someone. Tony gently taught Diesel that mouthing wasn’t the best (or even only) way to show his affection, and that “playing” and “obeying” weren’t mutually inconsistent behaviors. He also was able to teach Diesel a number of commands (okay, Diesel thinks they’re fun “games”) that utilized his native intelligence while at the same time burned off some of his considerable energy. At the end of the process, Diesel emerged much more in control of himself and happily eager to obey commands. But he’s still our goofy “wild child” – and that’s why we love him. We are so grateful to Tony for showing Diesel how to live and play safely with his much-more delicate human “parents” without squelching his lively, playful spirit.

Thanks Tony!!!!!

Rick and Kirsten Lockhart Arlington, Virginia rick22207@yahoo.com

We have four animals; a Cavalier King Charles spaniel, a golden retriever, and two toy Maltese, all except the spaniel less than 6 months of age. It seemed to be a little too much to handle. Our pet store strongly recommended Tony Orange.

What a difference five days makes. After just the first consultation, all four dogs had learned to sit and stay, and that is before training even began. As lessons continued, the dogs made tremendous improvements, and on top of it all they looked forward to Tony’s visits. They were so excited when he would come to the house. He has a great gift with animals, and it’s obvious he loves what he does.

Call Tony first when considering a trainer for your dog.

Sincerely,

Glenn and Rachel Harshman

Haymarket, VA GHarshman@accessnational.com

We adopted our Border Collie mix, Abby, from the SPCA of Northern Virginia in September of 2000. We were Abby’s third family; the first two had returned her saying that she could not be socialized. We didn’t believe that, and our first few weeks with her convinced us that Abby had, in fact, been abused by her former family.

When we adopted her, Abby was afraid of most people, especially men, and as she accepted our home as her home, she became more territorial and protective. Inside, she barked at anyone passing our house, particularly anyone who actually drove into our driveway or parked on the street outside our house. If she were outside with us, she would charge at anyone getting out of a car. Being afraid of people, she wouldn’t actually get close to the “intruder,” but would charge to within a couple of yards and bark ferociously.

Frequent visitors to our home became used to being greeted in this way, and recognized that Abby was “all bark and no bite,” but joggers and delivery people were obviously fearful of her. One jogger would repeatedly swing his fist at her when he passed, which only added to her perception of danger from people passing our house. Of course, since she was several feet from him, he never succeeded in striking her.

We hired Tony Orange after seeing him work with some of the SPCA dogs for adoption. We asked him to train Abby to stay on our property, which meant that she could not get close to passersby, and would not run into the street when someone exited their car.

Within a week, Tony had Abby trained to wait for an OK signal before stepping foot off of our property. She still barks at everyone passing by, but she is no longer running into the street or charging at people who are on the street; she remains in our yard.

Tony is highly professional and has a remarkable rapport with dogs. In only a week, he accomplished something that we had been unable to do in the 3-½ years that Abby had been in our family. We can certainly see why he is called The Miracle Worker!

We highly recommend Tony as a trainer for any dog, whether the dog just needs basic obedience or has behavior problems.

Joe and Leslie Grabowski Oakton, Virginia - jcg22124lfg@peoplepc.com

At 7:00 PM on Saturday, October 2, sharing my life with a six month old yellow Lab was the last thing on my mind. Three hours later, Ocho, the Lab who lived down the street from me, moved in. I’d contemplated getting another Lab since I had to put my first one to sleep a year earlier. Now, there was no way I could resist Ocho. When he arrived at my house, I learned that Ocho had been spending 14-16 hours a day in his crate, plus he slept in it at night. I had often seen him out on his balcony, and was told that that is where he was sent when he was bad. Considering the home he came from, plus my reliance on a manual wheelchair, I knew we had a lot of work to do. I knew that Ocho would be a project, but I felt like he deserved a fair shot in life, and I thought I could give him one. Priority one was to get him neutered. Priority two was to find a trainer who would come to my house. I had always shopped at Weber’s in Fairfax, so I returned there to buy some food and toys. I asked if they knew anyone who would do training at my home, and Tony was suggested. The woman at Weber told me that she’d seen Tony work with dogs before, and she was very impressed with his ability. She gave me Tony’s card, and I called him that night. Tony told me that he uses three things to get compliance from a dog – verbal commands, body language, and treats. He said that he would come out to my house for five consecutive days, and each day he would work with Ocho and me for a minimum of ninety minutes. By the time Tony showed up on Monday, I was about out of my mind. Ocho was just wild – in his world, everything was either a game or a toy. Our world changed the second that Tony Orange walked through the door. Ocho jumped up to greet him, and Tony, in a calm and quiet voice, told him to sit. Ocho did. He didn’t sit real still because he was so intensely wagging his tail, but he complied with Tony’s command. I knew at that point that Tony was someone special. I have never seen a human interact with a dog like Tony does. I don’t know what it is about him, but Ocho just knows that he has to listen and obey Tony. In the week that we were together, we worked on sit, down, stay, and come. Ocho didn’t always get things right, but Tony never raised his voice. If Ocho didn’t respond to Tony’s command, a slight shift in body position often did the trick. Tony gave lots of love and praise and treats, and he really seemed to enjoy what he was doing. In the weeks since our training ended, Ocho and I have continued to work on the commands he learned with Tony. I’m very proud of how well Ocho is doing. When he first got here, Ocho would pull the clothes off of my lap as I took them from the bathroom to the washing machine. Now, I can put him in a down-stay in one bedroom, go to the bathroom and get my dirty clothes, and take them to the washing machine without fighting a 55 pound dog. The simple commands that we learned with Tony have been so helpful in small ways like that. I know that Ocho and I have a long way to go before he’s a well-mannered and obedient dog, but I think we’re on the right track. Tony impressed me with not only his methods and knowledge, but also his professionalism and dedication. He always arrived on time, and there wasn’t much fooling around while he was here. Ocho was exhausted at the end of the sessions, so I know he was working hard. Ocho and I are both fans of Tony, and we would recommend him to anyone!

Kris Gulden

We took in an 18 month old Maltese from Maltese Rescue. He had not been abused but left alone much of the time. He had no training and tended to want to rule the roost. Tony’s name was given to us from Weber Pet Store in Fairfax. I was told that one hour with Tony and I would have a new dog. We decided to ask him to work not only with our little Winston but also with our son’s 6 year old Lab who also had no formal training.

Tony came to our home for 5 days and worked with both dogs. He had my husband and me involved in order that we could continue to follow up when his training sessions were over. It was amazing to see the results in just those few hours. Our little Winston sits, lies down, stays, and most important comes on command. Tony also helped us by giving suggestions on housebreaking and barking. We now have a well behaved little guy who can be around anyone including our 19 month old granddaughter. Needless to say, the lab was not as difficult and is also an obedient dog and joy to have around. We would never considering having another dog without hiring Tony to train it.

Bobbi and Larry Jennings BJay1729@aol.com

Chuck and I are so pleased to share our wonderful experience with Tony Orange. We adopted Sampson, our 6-year old black Labrador Retriever, from Lab Rescue of the LRCP, Inc. in September, 2004. Sampson is a loving, calm, affectionate Lab and still has lots of energy and enthusiasm for play. Sampson’s former owners had given him up to a shelter but he did luck into a wonderful foster family before we adopted him.

Our 9-year old daughter has desperately wanted a dog to love and, much to our surprise, bonded immediately with Sampson on our first Adoption Day. Due to a very frightening experience as a toddler with a large dog, she was still somewhat timid of Sampson and wary of participating in his care once he joined our family. She often found his enthusiasm and excitement intimidating and because of her petite size, she was outmatched by his weight and strength. Enter Tony Orange, who was recommended to us by the lovely folks at Weber’s Pet Supermarket.

Tony’s style is calm, firm, and loving and Sampson was taken with Tony immediately. By the end of the first session, Tony had Sampson following the commands of sit, stay, down and had addressed two behaviors that needed correction. Erin and I watched Tony’s sessions every day with Sampson and Tony quickly integrated us into the training. Chuck participated on the 4th and 5th days and was equally impressed with Tony, his teaching style and all that he had accomplished.

Tony has a true gift that is so hard to capture in words. It is immediately obvious in his voice, his body language and his manner. Even our neighbors, out for walks with their dogs, would stop and watch him as he worked with Sampson. And, Tony, ever the teacher, was wise enough to incorporate those other dogs into Sampson’s training.

The real “magic” for us was in watching what Tony was able to teach not only Sampson BUT Erin and me, as well. Chuck has been around dogs his entire life but for Erin and me, these are new skills to master. We are both much more at ease and Sampson is too. Erin is now fully involved in Sampson’s life. She independently gives him treats, takes him for his walks (not him “walking” her) or plays ball alone (without old fears of getting bitten or tackled) and is completely confident in her ability to manage his care and his behavior. What a transformation!!

Chuck and I are very grateful that Weber’s recommended Tony Orange to us. We truly believe he is a “Miracle Worker” and feel very blessed that he shared his gift with our family!!

Ginny and Chuck Raderstorf GRaderstorf@aol.com

I asked Tony to train my two dogs after I had seen him work wonders on a neighbor's dog. My neighbor's dog was very dog aggressive and in 1 1/2 hours he seemed like a new dog.

I had trained my dogs before, but I saw little to no difference in their bad behavior. One of my dogs was dog aggressive, both barked excessively-basically just ill mannered dogs. I do not enjoy training; I find it tedious and boring.

I saw that Tony did the training and I all that I would have to do is follow through so I gave it a try.

Tony is "The Miracle Worker"!!

He worked with each of my dogs 1 1/2 hours each. He taught them to sit and stay and to listen to me. We went for a walk in the neighborhood and encountered other dogs. In just two encounters with other dogs, he quietly and gently taught my aggressive dog to ignore the other dogs.

I have since encountered many dogs; she notices them, but keeps walking.

What I did not expect from the training is the overall calm that both dogs exhibit. They have stopped barking when I am fixing their food, they don't bark at people or dogs on the sidewalk. They both seem very self-assured and calm.

The bad habits that my dogs had acquired over seven years seem to have disappeared in one session.

I enjoy working with them now because Tony taught them and all I have to do is keep it up. He is kind and gentle and I would recommend him to anyone and everyone-if they need a quick fix or a problem dog that no one else has been able to reach.

Susie Dorman Fairfax,Va. (703) 425-6973

My beautiful Black Russian Terrier, Georgi, always a handful and aggressive, became completely impossible after my husband's death. He decided that he needed to protect me at all times--that was his job--and whenever anyone came to the front door, Georgi would run toward the door, growling, and would fling his full body weight at the glass, and continue lunging, leaping into the air (six feet high!) and snarling and snapping until I dragged him off into another room. This was not easy for he is large and all muscle. And if anyone dared come in the house, he lunged at them with the intention of biting. I feared that it was just a matter of time before he bit someone badly.

I got in touch with Tony and he came every morning for a week. The first two days he was here, Georgi wanted to kill him--was trying to bite even with a muzzle on. But Tony worked very patiently with him to get Georgi to understand what was expected of him--not to lunge, but to go quietly to the front door to see who was there and then, at my command, to go to the bedroom. Once Georgi began to see what he should do, he actually became calmer overall and less fearful. And by the end of the week, Tony was working with a well-behaved, unmuzzled dog that was no longer attacking the door when the doorbell rang.

The training Tony gave Georgi has affected the way Georgi behaves in the car as well. When I give him a voice correction, he knows not to lunge and bark at passersby.

I was very impressed and pleased with Tony's skill. He doesn't use choke collars or punishments, but instead uses positive reinforcement

to motivate the dog. He helped me to understand that Georgi was behaving so aggressively because I hadn't let him know clearly what I expected of him. My friends no longer fear coming to visit, and I think even the mailman no longer dreads coming to the front door!

I would recommend Tony to anyone, without reservation, and would be happy to talk about his expertise. He knows dogs!

Sheila McMillen smcmillen@cstone.net

I have read the other testimonials everyone concluded that Tony is, in fact, a miracle worker. I learned this even before he began training my dog. I recently was given a beautiful Belgian Tervuren that had no socialization or training. In addition, I was having a very difficult time getting her to eat. She would not touch the dog food I put down for her (even though the previous owner gave me the food.) Instead, every night I was fixing chicken for her so that she would eat.

When scheduling the appointment for Tony to come and train my dog, I mentioned that I couldn't get her to eat dog food. Tony told me what and how he feeds his dogs, so I quickly rushed out to get the ingredients. She gobbled it up and I have had no problems with getting her to eat since then.

When Tony did start the training, Dorie demonstrated the typical trait of the breed, a very quick learner. I had been trying for 3 weeks to get her to sit. Tony was there about 45 seconds and she responded to his "sit" command without hesitation. The remaining sessions went as great as the first and the 3rd and 4th sessions were spent training me how to properly handle Dorie and practicing continuity.

Dorie seemed to look forward to the training each day. She was happy to be out and learning new behavior and she loves Tony. If you are looking for someone to help in training your dog, regardless of age, Tony is truly a miracle worker. Previously I had attended the classes given by the County and the results after 8-10 weeks were not half as effective as Tony's training in just 5 days.

Thank you so much Tony.

Kathy Kormos & Dorie kkormos@cox.net

Ruby, our brand-new 7-month-old Pembroke Welsh Corgi, wouldn’t go up or down stairs; wouldn’t sit, lay down, stay, or come on command; and wouldn’t walk cooperatively with any of our other three dogs. All of our other dogs (7 assorted rescue dogs over the last 18 years) came to us as at least semi-trained adults. Ruby was our first puppy, and we knew very little about basic dog training. What to do? Weber’s Pet Supermarket in Fairfax, Virginia, told us about Tony Orange. In one short week of house visits, he just about fixed everything. Tony showed us that Ruby was trainable, that she would listen to commands. He taught Ruby not to be afraid of the steps, and now Ruby gallops up and down those steps like a banshee. Through the heeling lessons, Ruby learned to walk in a straight line (what we call cooperative walking). Now Ruby walks in tandem with our 13-year-old mixed breed, Sheba. But what Tony really did was to train us through example. He explained the “what” and the “why” for everything he was doing, and left us with the knowledge we needed to continue the training when he was gone. We join the many others who have been through this training in saying, Thank you, Tony!

Susan Neill and Ed Weitzner Vienna, VA