Around dogs since I was a child. Today, alongside yours.
My name is Nikolaos Antoniou and I'm the lead dog trainer at A to Z Dog Manners. I've been training dogs for more than 20 years — professionally since 2006 — but really my relationship with them started far earlier, as far back as I can remember.
How all of this started
I was still a child when I took on the care of Frida, a Border Collie mix and my first dog. That's how my relationship with dogs began — long before any career or certification. From that moment on, my life was never really without a dog.
When I enlisted in the Hellenic Navy in 1997 as a Quartermaster, my love for them followed me everywhere. A few years later I found a way to turn it into a career. In 2006 I qualified as a Dog Handler Guard, and training has been part of my daily life ever since.
One of the greatest honors of my career was Bref and Dani, two service dogs I adopted when they retired from active duty. I cared for them through their final years the way any companion who has given so much deserves: with love, respect and gratitude for everything we lived and worked through together.
I'm not a dog trainer in the Navy. I'm a dog person who happens to work in the Navy.
More than 20 years on, my work with dogs has taken many forms: from military duties and service training through to advising private owners. What stays constant is the same principle: every dog is an individual, and their training has to start from their character, not from a standard template.
The A to Z philosophy
Our training philosophy is built on the principles of . It's a method that combines rewarding the behaviors you want with correcting the ones you don't, using all four quadrants of operant conditioning to create clear boundaries and build an honest relationship of communication and trust between a dog and their owner.
Our goal is to build a clear line of communication between a dog and their owner, because a dog doesn't just need to "obey". They need to understand, to trust, and to feel safe within the boundaries they're given.
For that to happen, we first have to get to know your dog — their character, their needs, their difficulties, and the way they live within your family. Only then can we design targeted training, tailored to your needs, that has real meaning and real results.
Training is personal. That's why at A to Z Dog Manners we always work with the owner present and actively involved. Your dog isn't going to live with the trainer. They're going to live with you. So you're the one who needs to be trained — how to guide your dog, how to understand them, and how to keep the training going properly in your everyday life.
Εδώ μπορεί να προστεθεί ένα πραγματικό παράδειγμα σκύλου, ώστε να φανεί πώς ο χαρακτήρας κάθε σκύλου επηρεάζει τον τρόπο εκπαίδευσης.
Certifications & experience
Alongside my work with A to Z Dog Manners, I serve in the Hellenic Navy as Head Trainer of the Military Dog Unit. That experience has taught me a great deal about communication, patience, precision, and the relationship of trust that has to be built with every dog.
- KEFSKY — Hellenic Air Force
- Military dog handler (2006).
- KEFSKY — Hellenic Air Force
- Certified military dog trainer (2012).
- KEA — Hellenic Coast Guard
- Certified explosives detection dog trainer (2024).
- Search & Rescue
- Seminars with international judge Thomas Middlemas (2009).
- International joint training
- Exercises with Allied Forces K9 units, including teams from the USA and Germany.
- Missing person searches
- Led K9 teams on official missions.
- Navy Special Forces & security services
- Training partnership supporting their teams' operational capability.
How we work
Every collaboration starts with a conversation. Before I recommend any program, I want to get to know you — to understand what you're struggling with, what you want to achieve, what your daily life looks like, and what your dog's character is.
At A to Z, programs happen with you there. We don't take your dog off to a facility and hand them back "trained". That might sound convenient, but in practice it isn't enough. Training has to carry over into your home, your walks, your everyday contact, and the relationship you have with your dog.
The goal is for you to learn alongside your dog. To know what you're asking of them, how to ask it, and how to keep going properly even after the program ends.
Περιοχές της Κρήτης που εξυπηρετούνται.
Ενδεικτικός χρόνος ανταπόκρισης / πόσο σύντομα μπορεί να κανονιστεί η πρώτη συνάντηση.
Ready to meet?
If you want clearer communication, more calm and proper guidance in your relationship with your dog, we can start with a first conversation. Pick the program you're interested in, or get in touch and we'll work it out together.