Leighton Oosthuisen

Cave Creek AZ

A professional dog trainer and behaviorist for 30 years, Leighton Oosthuisen has served in the Military, Law Enforcement and Search & Rescue.
Leighton founded Partners Dog Training School in 1998. Their staff of three dozen professional trainers work with over 4,000 dogs a year. While the school specializes in pet dog behavior modification, they also offer boarding, daycare, sport dog training, CGC classes, dock diving, swimming, snake avoidance, group obedience and agility.

The school provides Resident (Board & train) training for up to 90 dogs daily, 15-20 group classes a week and in home private lessons. In 2014 they won the Facility of the Year Award.

His rattlesnake avoidance program for dogs is the largest in the world, and has been featured on television, radio and in newspapers.

Leighton is the resident dog expert on NBC 12NEWS EVB LIVE, and appears weekly in segments on dog training and behavior.

He has also had appearances on the Today show, Channel 3TV, Channel 15 TV, Channel 10, KTAR radio and the AZ Republic newspaper.

He has written numerous articles and has won Dog Writer of the Year Award. His blog @LeightonDogs has had over 60,000 views. He is one of a select few private trainers to be licensed by the DEA and ATF.

Leighton is a Gold Medal winning competitive target pistol shooter, and has represented the United States.

Leighton has a passion for photography and videography. His work has appeared on TV, in print and online. Clients include NBC, Tennisography, Tennis Channel and the BBC. He has trained dogs for feature movies include Howling IV, Purgatory and Winged Migration. Commercials have included Eyeblack, Donnay, Petsmart, Titleist, Toyota, BBC, Animal Planet and Discovery.

Association of Professional Dog Trainers

International Assoc of Bomb Techs & Investigators

International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA)

US Practical Shooting Association (Master classification)
National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF)

  • Work
    • Partners Dog Training School