Alex Cooper runs Essex Dog Trainer from Chelmsford. He has been training dogs for over 15 years, has worked with more than 10,000 of them, and in October 2025 became World Champion with his German Shepherd Banzai.
5.0 on Google from 250+ reviews
Your training is planned by Alex, World Champion dog trainer
Master Dog Trainer, Guild of Dog Trainers
Get help with your dog
We reply Monday to Saturday, usually within the hour, by email.
Thanks, .
We reply Monday to Saturday, usually within the hour, by email.
I took my dog Honey for one session with Alex with not a lot of hope due to her reactive behaviour to other dogs but in just one session he had her walking with other dogs and by the end of the session she looked so much more comfortable than before. …
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I took my dog Honey for one session with Alex with not a lot of hope due to her reactive behaviour to other dogs but in just one session he had her walking with other dogs and by the end of the session she looked so much more comfortable than before. I really can't thank Alex enough for the techniques and confidence he has given Honey and I look forward to continuing the training. Would highly recommend Alex!
Behaviour
Alex did wonders for the confidence and obedience of my nervous adolescent dog.
German Shepherd · Reactive
Alex is a very talented and dedicated dog trainer. We thought nothing could changed about our GSD who had a massive problem with other dogs. …
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Alex is a very talented and dedicated dog trainer. We thought nothing could changed about our GSD who had a massive problem with other dogs. After 1 session our boy is like a different dog with his behavioural and obedience still work in progress but unrecognisable as the same dog. If you have a dog problem, and no one else can help, maybe you can hire the Essex Dog Trainer
Alex is a professional dog trainer based at Boyton Hall Farm, Chelmsford, and the person behind every programme on this site: residential training, puppy training, 1-2-1 sessions, day training and protection dog training. He started Essex Dog Trainer because owners in the county had plenty of classes to choose from but very little hands-on help with the dog in front of them: the one that pulls, will not come back, nips the children or loses its head when another dog appears.
Before dogs there were the Royal Marines: Alex served until he was 22, and his first German Shepherd, Dylan, went on to become a police dog. More than 15 years later he has worked with over 10,000 dogs. Most of them are ordinary family pets, from Cockapoo puppies to adolescent Labradors and rescue dogs with a history. Some are working and sport dogs. The approach is the same for all of them: understand the dog, set clear goals with the owner, and train in the real places where the problem shows up.
World Champion with Banzai
In October 2025 Alex and his German Shepherd Banzai won the RSV World Championship in Korbach, Germany. Their score of 293 points is the highest by a British competitor at an RSV World Championship. The win followed his title as GB National IGP Champion 2021 with Jango.
Why does this matter if you just want your dog to walk nicely? Because competition at that level tests the same things you need at home, under far more pressure: focus around distractions, precise obedience, a reliable recall and a dog that is calm until it is asked to work. Alex trains his own dogs to that standard, and he brings the same eye for detail to a nine-week-old puppy or a reactive Rottweiler.
Tell Alex about your dog
We reply Monday to Saturday, usually within the hour, by email.
Thanks, .
We reply Monday to Saturday, usually within the hour, by email.
There is no single method sold here, and no promise that one tool fixes every dog. Alex works from outcomes. The first conversation is about what you want to be different in three months: a dog you can walk past other dogs, a recall you trust in the park, a puppy that settles in the evening, a home that is calm when visitors arrive. From there he picks the format and the plan.
You want to learn it yourself.1-2-1 training at the Chelmsford field or in your home. The initial 1.5 hour session is £160 at the training field, or £190 at your home.
You want it done for you. A residential course, typically three weeks, with 1 Update Per Week (3 on VIP) and a full handover so the training transfers to you. From £850p/w.
You want progress while you work.Day training at the Big Dog Club, from £90/day.
Not sure whether your dog needs a trainer or a behaviourist? His guide dog behaviourist vs dog trainer explains the difference, and Banzai's story shows what patience can do with a dog others had given up on.
Whatever the format, the training moves out of the field and into real life: the high street, the school run, the country park, the beach. A dog that only behaves on a training field has not finished its training.
A large part of Alex's week is behaviour work: dogs that react on walks, guard food or people, panic when left, or have bitten. It starts with a 1.5 hour 1-2-1 behaviour session, £160 at our Chelmsford field, or £190 at your home. Alex finds out why the dog does it, explains it in plain words, then shows you the plan and you practise it together in the session, so you leave knowing exactly what to do. Follow-ups are at 1-2-1 rates (£100 at the field, £120 at home). If he thinks pain could be involved, he'll ask you to see your vet too.
Tracking, obedience and protection, judged to the point: these are Alex and Banzai, his own German Shepherd, competing at the world championship.
Photo: Albert Griep Svensson
Essex Dog Trainer is based at Boyton Hall Farm, Chelmsford CM1 4LN. Training sessions run at the secure training field at Roxwell, west of Chelmsford (CM1 4LT), or at your home anywhere in Essex: Chelmsford, Brentwood, Basildon, Colchester, Braintree and the rest of the county. Residential places are open to owners anywhere in the UK.
Send the short form. We reply Monday to Saturday, usually within the hour.
Tell us about your dog: age, breed, how long you have had them, and what is going wrong (or what you want to get ahead of).
We will say honestly which option fits, what it costs, and what you can expect in what timeframe. If training is not the answer, we will say that too.
If you want to go ahead, we book the initial session or the residential start date.
Short clips of everyday training, on Instagram as @essexdogtrainerdogs.
Alex Cooper is a professional dog trainer based in Chelmsford, Essex, and the owner of Essex Dog Trainer. He has trained dogs for over 15 years and has worked with more than 10,000 dogs.
What did Alex Cooper win?
Alex and his German Shepherd Banzai won the RSV World Championship in Korbach, Germany, in October 2025 with 293 points, the highest score by a British competitor at an RSV World Championship. He was national champion in 2021.
Is Alex Cooper qualified?
Yes. He is a Master Dog Trainer with the Guild of Dog Trainers, alongside the national and world titles above.
Who will I deal with?
Your training is planned by Alex, World Champion dog trainer. Alex leads a small team: he assesses your dog, sets the plan and does the handover with you. Ask him in the form how he would work with your dog.
Get help
Tell Alex what your dog is doing
A few lines is enough. Alex will reply with where he'd start and what it costs.
