CLASSES AND INSTRUCTORS IN YOUR AREA

Click on the following links for detailed information on our various classes:

- Confi-Kitten Classes
- Confi-Puppy Classes
- Clicker Training for Adult Dogs
- Instructor Training


Below is a list of ThinkingPets instructors and their various areas. Should you wish to contact an instructor via email, please use the 'contact us' section. If there is no instructor in your area, we will put you in touch with the nearest Confi class.



Karin Landsberg (DipCABT CABP(Coape)OCN/CertCAB)

Area: Waterkloof
Tele: 073 269 0418
Behaviour Consultation Region: Gauteng Province

Karin has been involved in the field of Animal Behaviour since 1997. She originally worked in Cape Town, where she was one of the co-founders of an Animal Behaviour Centre. She has done extensive research into the field of kitten socialization and habituation, and in 2006 launched Confi-Kitten classes. Since moving to Johannesburg, she has established the ThinkingPets Behaviour Practice and she consults with clients daily on all aspects of feline and canine behaviour problems, as well as offering puppy, puppy II and clicker training classes. She also lectures on the development of kittens and puppies country wide, and hosts Mobile Clinics throughout SA together with other ThinkingPets instructors. She writes the regular series "Consultation Hour" for Cats Life Magazine and "On the Couch" for Animaltalk Magazine, and since April 2006 has been co-writing articles with Dr Peter Neville in the UK. Karin has been the guest speaker at seminars, as well as appearing on radio and television. She is currently contracted to Iams South Africa to develope their puppy school system, ensuring a high standard in all the Eukanuba puppy schools. Karin holds an OCN UK accredited Diploma through the Centre of Applied Pet Ethology in the UK, as well as a Certificate in Companion Animal Behaviour from the Ethology Consultancy.





Niki Elliott

Area: Bryanston, Rosebank
Tele: 082 451 0433
TTouch Consultation Region: Gauteng Province

Niki and Karin started the ThinkingPets behaviour practice in July 2006. Niki brings to the mix her experience in TTouch and training, as well as hosting Confi-Kitten, Confi-Puppy and clicker training classes in Bryanston. Niki qualified as a TTouch Practitioner Level 1 in 2003 and went on to qualify as a Level 2 Practitioner in 2005. She consults with clients at their homes as well as at her premises. She has been presenting TTOUCH workshops at various venues all over South Africa, including one day lectures for Veterinary Nurses at Onderstepoort Veterinary Faculty. In December 2003 she qualified to give Puppy Socialization classes and went on to incorporate the clicker training method into all these classes after qualifying as a clicker training instructor in March 2004. In December 2005 Niki qualified as an Obedience Instructor and in January 2006 she qualified as a Confi-Kitten Practitioner. Niki is one of the co-presenters of the ThinkingPets Instructor courses nationwide and has been the guest speaker on radio and television programs. Niki has written articles on TTOUCH for CatsLife, Animaltalk and several different breed clubs.





Tracy McQuarrie

Area: Floating Instructor
Tele: 083 222 5180

Tracy has been training and competing with her own dogs for the past 15 years. After her standard poodle Jennifer became a breed champion, they went on to find something fun and exciting they could do together. This is when they discovered agility, where they reached the highest levels in all 3 disciplines. Tracy realised there are a lot of people who want to enjoy this fun sport with their dogs without necessarily competing. She now offers fun agility classes, and along with puppy classes she also offers acting classes for dogs. These classes were created to compliment Tracy's other job as a film editor where she saw productions needing trained and well behaved dogs but realised that they are few and far between . Tracy is studying to be a TTouch practitioner and has successfully completed her COAPE and ThinkingPets instructor courses. A big passion of Tracy's is working with shelter dogs and helping to find homes for abandoned dogs through her website www.barkingmad.co.za. She joined ThinkingPets in August 2008.





Wendy Wilson

Area: Randpark Ridge
Tele: 083 336 1761

Wendy has been training and showing Basset Hounds under her KUSA kennel name "Aberdare" since the early 1990's and has made up a couple of Champion Bassets. She left the show world to concentrate on training and animal behaviour as one of her Basset pups started swallowing stones which led to a consultation with a well known Animal Behaviourist and thus opened the door to the fascinating world of Animal Behaviour. Wendy has completed the 2 year Ethology Advanced Dog Behaviour Course with " Best Practice" presented by the Late Prof Odendaal, as well as passing a Canine Instructors Course "with Merit", and the Clicker Course presented by Eugenie Chopin. She is at present training to qualify as a TTouch Practitioner and is a firm believer that a combination of TTouch and Clicker training can overcome a lot of the problem behaviours that owners experience. Wendy started running her own Puppy School 'Over the Moon", after being approached by the local vet in 2006. She offers both Puppy 1 and Puppy 2 classes. "Over the Moon" joined ThinkingPets in 2007.





Heather Whitfield

Area: Bakenkop (Centurion)
Tele: 083 566 7009

Heather is a qualified Animal Rehabilitation Therapist and acquired her International Accreditation in Hydrotherapy in the UK. She runs her own business called Paws-itive Paws-abilities. The services that she offers include Puppy Socialization classes, Animal Behaviour Consultations, Hydrotherapy & Rehabilitation, Massage Therapy and Clicker training. She also has the South African Agency for Nina Ottosson Products (Educational Puzzles’) for dogs and cats.

As she grew up on a farm, being surrounded with a huge selection of animals all her life, she developed a real passion for animal welfare and the rehabilitation of all animals. She believes in caring for animals in a holistic manner – in both behavioural and health aspects - and gives them the love, care and respect that they deserve. Heather became a Registered Jack Russell Breeder in 2006 and started with various courses to further her knowledge and to gain experience in the Animal Training Industry. She became a ThinkingPets Confi-Puppy instructor in 2007.





Nicky Lucka

Area: Corlette City, Lyndhurst, Melville, Parktown, Birnam.
Tele: 083 408 1517

Nicky Lucka has been training her own dogs since she was very young and has been actively involved in teaching other people for about 11 years. She is a qualified TTouch Practitioner, has completed a clicker training course, and is currently completing a Behaviour and Training course. She shares her life with her 5 dogs, and in her spare time, she trains her two German Shepherds. Nicky competes in obedience trials as well, and has won several events in the past. She joined ThinkingPets in October 2007.

She firmly believes that properly run puppy socialization classes coupled with TTouch and clicker training will add to the overall wellbeing of your puppy.





Bev Davis

Area: Durban
Tele: 083 775 4096

Bev qualified as a puppy class instructor in March 2008 and is currently training to be a TTouch Companion Animal Practitioner. She is passionate about all animals and delighted to be part of ThinkingPets.

Bev previously worked in customer liaison with a national bank and is currently the fundraiser and functions co-ordinator for a prestigious school on the Berea.





Anelize Van Wyk

Area: Waterkloof Glen
Tele: 079 272 4595

Anelize became involved with clicker training in 2007 when she took one of her own dogs to classes. Since then she has continued to clicker train both her dogs for fun. She passed the Dog Behaviour Course presented by late Professor Odendaal with best practice. Currently she is involved in the TTouch Practitioner training and studying Canine Behaviour and Training through ThinkingPets and COAPE. She joined ThinkingPets in 2008.





Lindy Dekker

Area: Horse Consultant
Tele: 083 616 0577

Lindy has a long history with horses. She used to compete in dressage up to Elementary level, but now tries to avoid competitions. In March 1999 she attended a Natural Healing course for animals, which included Reiki and Aromatherapy as well as an introduction to TTOUCH. She started her own therapy business in 2000, using an LPG Equine machine which is used to massage horses. In January 2001 she attended her first five-day TTEAM workshop and in September 2003 qualified as a TTEAM Practitioner Level 1 and in April 2005 qualified as TTEAM Practitioner Level 2. She has been organizing the TTEAM Practitioner training clinics since 2002.

In 2004 she started the TTOUCH for Companion Animals programme and graduated as Companion Animal Practitioner Level 1 in October 2006.

As well as organizing the practitioner training clinics for TTEAM she gives 1 or 2 day clinics as well as private consultations for both horses and companion animals - traveling to all sorts of interesting places. Lindy joined ThinkingPets in 2007 and successfully completed her COAPE CO3: Think Cat course offered by ThinkingPets in 2009.





Ilze van der Walt

Area: Heidelberg
Tele: 082 921 4448

Ilze grew up on a farm in the Free State, with animals as her constant companions. She became involved with TTouch after she had a bad experience at a dog training school. Ilze qualified as a TTouch practitioner for companion animals in May 2007. Thereafter she enrolled in the ThinkingPets program and became a trainer early in 2008. She has also done an extensive Clicker training course for dogs.

She is currently running Puppy I and II, as well as clicker classes for adult dogs. Ilze offers Ttouch workshops from time to time.
"For me the training through the ThinkingPets program (which incorporates TTouch and Clicker training methods) is the ultimate respectful training system, where learning can happen without fear and owners can learn to communicate with their dogs while training. My life time goal is to make a positive difference in as many animals' and their people's lives as possible."





Janina Kruger

Area: Hermanus, Somerset West, Strand
Tele: 082 490 1650

Janina is our ThinkingPets Regional Manager for the Cape/Overberg area. Her classes are held in Hermanus, Somerset West and Strand, making her the first ThinkingPets instructor in the Western Cape. We are thrilled to add her to our team of dedicated professionals. She is currently running Puppy I and II, as well as clicker classes for adult dogs.

"Growing up in a family of animal lovers, I was passionate about all animals, including wildlife, from a very early age. I started my career in the Kruger National Park, in environmental education, later moving into tourism and hospitality. I completed an animal communication workshop in 2006, before starting the TTouch for Companion Animals practitioner training in the same year. I am very excited and privileged to join ThinkingPets as a puppy class instructor. It constantly amazes me how much animals have to teach us, as we try to train them."





Sally Montgomery, BSc. (Zoology)

Area: Floating Instructor
Tele: 083 419 9199

Sally has always had a passion for animals. She started training the family dogs from a young age. Despite having a life-long dream to be a vet, it was not meant to be. However, after studying a BSc in Zoology, this still did not fill the need she had to work with animals and she found herself drawn to Tellington Touch. After 3 years, Sally qualified as a TTouch Practitioner in 2005. Through another twist of fate, she met and started working with several behaviourists at a Behaviour Centre in Cape Town. Between 2001 and 2006 Sally spent all her free time training, reading and learning all she could about dogs and their sometimes inexplicable behaviour. During some time spent living in Natal, Sally ran her own successful puppy school at the vet where she worked.

Sally now works full time for Bayer Animal Health. She joined ThinkingPets in the beginning of 2008, shortly after moving to Johannesburg.





Diane Beverley: BSc. (Hons) Geology

Area: Floating Instructor
Tele: 082 321 4379

After getting her own pup called Magic just over a year ago, Diane decided to attend a ThinkingPets puppy school with her. During her training, she became captivated and decided that she wanted to learn as much as she could about dog training and behaviour. In April 2008 she enrolled in the COAPE CO4 Canine Behaviour and Training course and subsequently qualified as a ThinkingPets Instructor in October 2008. Diane is one of our floating Instructors who assist other instructors in a variety of classes and her goal is to gain as much knowledge and practical experience as possible in order to help dog owners with any problems they may have with their companion animals.





Deborah Fenton: BCom. (Hons) Information Systems

Areas: Floating Instructor.
Tele: 082 452 0686

Deborah attended a TTouch workshop with her dog Giles where she was introduced to a whole new way of training.. Years later when she got a new puppy she discovered ThinkingPets and has never looked back, this revolutionalised her view on training and made her think. Deborah is one of our floating Instructors who assist other instructors in a variety of classes.






Kay Aitcheson, BCom(Acc)

Areas: Riverclub Vet and Bryanston.
Tele: 083 448 2522

Kay is a qualified TTOUCH Practitioner 1. She has been passionate about animals since childhood, and this passion clearly shows in the ease with which they work with her. Kay teamed up with Niki Elliott in 2004 to form "Bodies in Balance" and has since qualified, and practices clicker training instruction, obedience instruction as well as puppy socialization. She specializes in dogs and holds a special place for Chow Chows. Kay joined ThinkingPets in 2008 and offers several puppy classes with Niki all over Gauteng.






Manuela Fritz

Areas: Centurion.
Tele: 076 427 9166

Manuela has always been interested in animals and as a child wanted to become either a farmer or a vet. After completing school she studied economics and was a financial project manager with Siemens (telecommunications sector) in Milan for 5 years, but her old passion took over and she decided to change careers.

She was an environmental consultant in Austria for 2 years and worked mainly on nature conservation projects initiated by the European Union. In 2007 Manuela moved to South Africa and started the TTouch practitioner training, and is currently doing the COAPE course through ThinkingPets.

Manuela loves huskies - their natural beauty, intelligence and fiercely independent and mischievous nature, and is very involved with Husky Rescue - an extremely time consuming but rewarding job.

She now works fulltime with animals, and is involved in various animal welfare projects. Manuela became a ThinkingPets instructor in March 2009.






Paddy Sexton

Areas: Tokai, Cape Town.
Tele: 073 797 4521

Paddy has been involved with dogs and dog training for over 20 years and brings this vast wealth of experience to the ThinkingPets group. She has a certificate in Animal Behaviour from the late Professor Odendaal's Ethology Consultancy, and completed the Pets-as-therapy course successfully. She then went on to qualify as a Confi-Kitten instructor in 2004 and is currently one of our ThinkingPets Puppy Instructors in Cape Town, offering puppy and clicker training for dog and cat owners.






Karin Wichmann

Areas: Villieria, Waterkloof Ridge and Waverley.
Tele: 082 292 2117

Karin has always had a passion for dogs. After working at a veterinary practice, she decided to look for a career that would allow her to work with dogs. She joined ThinkingPets in order to accomplish this dream, and successfully completed her ThinkingPets Puppy Instructors course in 2008. Karin currently offers puppy and clicker classes for beginners, and finds working with dogs extremely satisfying as well as exciting.






Nicole du Plooy

Areas: Krugersdorp, Little Falls, Honeydew, Muldersdrift, Florida Hills, Strubens Valley
Tele: 082 303 4935

Nicole has been riding horses for the past 14 years and received her West District colours for Dressage and Showing. In juniors she decided that show jumping was what she loved to do and moved up the grades to JB.

She lives on a Plot with horses, pigs, a cow, 7 dogs, ducks etc. and feels that animals are truly her life. She decided to get a little French bulldog and took him to a ThinkingPets class and never looked back. Nicole now runs puppy classes and is studying to be an Animal Behaviourist.

"I do as much charity work as I possibly can for places like Wet nose, FORA and so forth. I find this truly rewarding to help animals who cannot speak for themselves."






Debbie Conradie

Areas: Durbanville, Cape Town
Tele: 021 919 1991

Debbie's love for horses began when she was 7 years old, even though she has always been interested and involved with animals. She stumbled onto TTouch in 2001 whilst searching for better methods and ways to train her newly acquired young horse. While not able to realize her dream of becoming a vet, she qualified as a Tellington Touch practitioner for horses and companion animals where she is now able to make a meaningful impact on the lives of animals and their people through the effective and gentle methods of TTouch.

From 2003 to 2005 she worked as a veterinary assistant where her skills as a TTouch practitioner served her well especially when it came to calming frightened and stressed hospitalized animals. She found that TTouch enormously benefited animals that had undergone orthopaedic surgery, helping to improve mobility and control pain. She also worked as an anaesthetist and surgical assistant.

In 2006 she completed the Ethology Consultancy Advanced course for dogs and cats and in 2008 the Centre for Applied Pet Ethology course in dog behaviour. In her spare time she consults and runs Tellington Touch workshops for dog, cat and horse owners and hosts kitten habituation and socialisation classes. Debbie consults for a local shelter and has had a lot of success rehabilitating dogs that have been confined for a long time. Besides her horse, her pets at home include 4 cats, and a Pug/Spaniel cross. She qualified as a ThinkingPets Confi-Kitten Instructor in 2009.






Hazel King

Areas: Southern Suburbs, Cape Town
Tele: 021 715 4042

Hazel has always been interested in animals: her first memories involve the neighbour's cats and when her family decided to get a kitten the first thing she did was go to the library to take out a book about caring for cats. So really, qualifying as an Animal Behaviourist is simply a natural progression. Hazel is a cat specialist; having bred Burmese for 12 years as well as showing them successfully. She is a SACC judge and committee member of Western Province Cat Club. When she got her first rabbit in 2001 she realised that there was a huge depth of ignorance about rabbits, and set about learning as much as possible about them, in order to assist rabbit owners with their pets' behaviour problems. Hazel also spends time with horses, riding, teaching and competing in dressage. She qualified as a ThinkingPets Confi-Kitten instructor in 2009.






Charmaine Morgan

Areas: Malmesbury, Melkbosstrand, Tableview and Milnerton.
Tele: 072 210 1731

Charmaine has always loved cats and got her first cat in 1996. She used to work for the ambulance service and is a qualified Basic Ambulance assistant and registered with the Healusinth professions council. In 2000, during the oil spill Charmaine helped out at an animal sanctuary and helped raise a few hundred penguin chicks. It was then that she realised that she wanted to work with animals. She has done a few animal communication workshops and did the basic and advanced Feline behaviour course through Ethology Consultancy. Charmaine did Reiki up to level 2 with the Idea of incorporating it when she sees a client. Recently, she completed the ThinkingPets Kitten Habituation course and successfully qualified as a Confi-Kitten Class trainer. She also breeds Devon Rex cats, and has been involved in showing cats since 2004. She manages Blue mountain kennels and Cattery and joined ThinkingPets in 2009.






Rozanne Ihlenfeldt

Areas: Northern Suburbs of Cape Town, Durbanvile, Cape Town
Tele: 072 896 1021

Rozanne has always been passionate about animals and decided to get more involved when she got her own dog in 2007. She started showing her dogs in the breed ring, then did obedience training and finally went on to do agility training with her 3 Yorkshire Terriers. She now competes in Agility and Dog jumping events with her 3 Yorkies Rolo, Vadge and Twix. She's enrolled for the COAPE course beginning of 2009 and completed the Confi-Puppy instructor course in August 2009. Based in the beautiful city of Cape Town she started her ThinkingPets "Paw-Some puppy school" in November 2009.

"My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am."






Nicola van Ass

Areas: Randburg, Lonehill
Tele: 083 309 0400

Nicola joined ThinkingPets as a puppy class and adult dog training Instructor in November 2009. She has always had an affinity for animals and even though she is currently working in an advertising agency, she is in the process of completing the COAPE Diploma in Animal Behaviour and Training. Nicola is absolutely passionate about the well-being and training of all canine companions and is happy to have an opportunity to be a part of their lives.






Nicola Van Dyk

Areas: Southern suburbs, Cape Town
Tele: 082 803 3021

Nicola has had a great love and passion for animals since childhood and grew up in a household with various dogs and cats as members of the family. She has always tried to be involved with animals in some way or another.

Whilst working in a veterinary practice in Johannesburg, Nicola heard about ThinkingPets and their training methods and decided to find out more and how to get involved. She joined ThinkingPets in 2009 and completed her training as an instructor in December 2009.

At the beginning of 2010, Nicola and her husband relocated to Cape Town where she now offers her ThinkingPets puppy school services to clients. In addition to her love for companion animals, Nicola has also been involved with horses, first as an instructor at a riding school in KZN and then later when she competed in Eventing and Show-Jumping.






Judy Post, MSc(Entomology)

Areas: Southern suburbs, Cape Town
Tele: 082 732 5645 or a/h 021 788 9437

Judy grew up with a great passion for all creatures great and small, so after school she naturally progressed to completing a degree in Zoology and Entomology. After her studies she took a break from her books and due to her love for animals, worked as a veterinary nurse at the Cape of Good Hope SPCA for a year. She then went back to her studying to become a research entomologist, which she has been doing for close on 20 years.

Her passion for working with animals, and the appearance of the 3 year TTouch Practitioners course in South Africa, prompted Judy to enrol in 2007. She qualified as a TTouch Practitioner in September 2009. Judy loves the gentle methods that TTouch teaches us to bond with our animals and to help them become more self-confident and happy. With animal behaviour knowledge so important as a backup to TTouch, Judy has now enrolled for the COAPE CO4 Canine Behaviour course, which she expects to complete later this year. Judy joined ThinkingPets in 2009 and completed her Confi-Kitten instructor’s course later that same year.






Alexandra King

Areas: Blue Hills, Midrand
Tele: 082 330 9063

Alexandra has always had a passion for animals, and from a young age wanted to be involved with helping animals and owners.

She first became involved in the industry when she adopted her Labrador Retriever Suga and started to do obedience training with her. They excelled at the obedience training and then started doing agility. Through the agility world Alexandra heard of ThinkingPets and this prompted her decision to join the company.

She is convinced that more people can benefit from training their puppies and adult dogs. Through this we ensure that people and their pets form a more solid bond thereby ensuring a love filled relationship.

Alexandra is currently studying part time through Unisa for a Diploma in Animal Health.






Jeanne Basson

Areas: Stellenbosch
Tele: 072 212 8229

Jeanne joined ThinkingPets early in 2009 and after the successful completion of her training, became a qualified ThinkingPets Confi-Puppy Instructor. She currently offers Confi-Puppy Classes in Stellenbosch.

She enjoys working with animals and is delighted to help owners establish a close relationship with their dogs, to ensure lots of fun and a life time of companionship.






Donovan Alho, MSc (Biochemistry)

Area: Moreletapark
Tele: 082 565 4730

From a young age, Donovan developed a great affinity for four legged friends. Ever since he could remember dogs have played a fundamental part in his life, from St Bernard, GSD, Bulldog and Beagle to adopted Bouvier and rescued SPCA mutt; they have all played an integral part in developing his character. During school holidays, Donovan would often volunteer as an assistant at local veterinary practices. He commenced his tertiary education at RAU with majors in biochemistry and psychology, complemented with subjects such as zoology, anatomy and physiology. After completing his Masters degree in biochemistry, Donovan decided to pursue a career in a more business orientated field and joined the sales and marketing division at the major pharmaceutical company, Adcock Ingram. He is currently part of the analytical instruments sales team at Afgri. After a series of fortunate events, Donovan stumbled across the ThinkingPets group who offered him the wonderful opportunity to indulge his joint passions for behavioural psychology and canine companionship. Donovan joined the group in 2009 and qualified as an instructor in 2010.






Susan van der Byl

Area: Waterkloof, Waverley
Tele: 072 345 2395

Susan has always had a great love and respect for all animals and holds a special place in her heart for dogs. Growing up on a plot she was always surrounded by a variety of different animals and never realised that many people never have the privilege of forming a bond with an animal. She always wanted to follow a path which would include animals and was thrilled to discover the ThinkingPets Behaviour Practice. Susan qualified as a Puppy instructor in March 2010 and plans to continue her studies in Animal Behaviour by enrolling for the COAPE Diploma.

Susan spends her free time volunteering for a local animal shelter – she hopes to make more people aware of the plight of shelter animals and at the same time show people how to form a strong bond with their canine companions. She shares her life with her dogs Charlie, Cassie & Max.






Kieron Piper

Area: Diep Rivier, Cape Town
Tele: 082 510 4107

Kieron Piper is currently completing a Btech in Nature conservation through the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. She met Janina Kruger in Hermanus in 2008 shortly after she had found her first dog on the Nature Reserve where she was working, and was fascinated by the training tips and information she received. After returning to Cape Town, she attended the Confi-puppy course. Kieron completed her training in February 2010 and is now a Level 2 instructor with a puppy school in Diep Rivier, Cape Town. She is also currently completing the COAPE Diploma in the Practical Aspects of Companion Animal Behaviour and Training.






Louise Veary

Area: Tokai, Cape Town
Tele: 083 522 1891

Louise has been involved with puppy training in Cape Town for several years and in 2009 she joined ThinkingPets as a Confi-Puppy Instructor. She spends all her free time riding horses and is absolutely passionate about animals, and loves training. She even trained her budgie to do tricks on cue, and shares her house with her pets, husband and two daughters.






Tarryn Wilmot

Area: Maputo, Mozambique
Tele: +258844011464

Tarryn Wilmot has always had pets and is passionate about animals and animal rights. Her love of animals is the driving force behind everything she does. She joined ThinkingPets in 2010 because she felt their positive approach to animals and animal training is in line with her own personal beliefs. She currently lives in Mozambique where she is helping to run the local animal shelter. She is planning to go on to study the COAPE Diploma.