Kristina Rapson

Providing The Best Dog Training Toronto

Kristina is an award winning dog trainer and behaviourist in Toronto who recently won best dog trainer for the Canadian Choice Awards 2024. She has also been listed in the top 6 on 5 different lists. With a specialty in behavioural issues and rescue dogs, her methods are different than most other trainers with a focus first and foremost on improving the human / dog relationship and communication. If you think you’ve tried everything, it’s likely that Kristina has some new methods that will help you get you and your dog to where you want to be.

For more information on Kristina’s background, philosophies and services, please navigate through the menu

We Specialize in Behaviour Issues

Having some trouble with your dog's behaviour?
We can help with anything including but not limited to:

Leash Reactivity / Aggression

Does your dog react by lunging, barking and growling on the leash towards people, dogs, small animals or fast moving objects?

Aggression

Is your dog struggling with aggressive tendencies towards other dogs or people? Are they insecure or fearful? Are they resource guarding or possessive?

Over-Excitment / Hyperactivity

Does your dog have a tendency to be hyperactive or over-excited? Are they constantly jumping up on people, pulling on the leash and barking or whining?

Nervous / Fearful Dogs

Does your dog have anxiety or fear towards people, environments or stimuli? Does your dog need some major confidence boosting?

Rescue Dog Rehabilitation

Rescue dogs often come with some baggage and specific behaviour issues that need to be addressed. We specialize in rehabilitating rescue dogs and street dogs.

E-Collar Training

E-collar training can be an invaluable tool for specific behaviour modification or obedience training. It is especially helpful with recall and resource guarding.

Trusted & Certified

See what people are saying...

Our experience with Kristina was awesome. Within minutes of meeting us and our dog, for an in-studio consultation session, she was able to provide such valuable insights on his personality and tendencies. She later gave us the proper training approach and techniques to correct an issue we were having and we've have already started to see a difference in his behaviour in such a short period time. We look forward to continuing to work with her.

Tim Ritcey
Kristina is a kind and compassionate trainer with a soft spot for international rescue. What is most impressive to me is her drive to continue to stay on top of her education. She has invested a lot of time and money into constantly learning more to help her students achieve the best possible outcomes with their dogs.

Amber Remedios
Kristina is knowledgable and a hands-on trainer. She was attuned with my dog and created a very safe and supportive environment that promotes learning. I highly recommend her.

Christine Kim
Kristina was super knowledgeable and helpful in working with me and my dog to concur her resource guarding and reactivity. Her clear homework instructions were easy to follow and she was always available to help whenever I needed it. Forever grateful for her expertise!

Kayla Carson
After just one session I noticed a huge improvement in Lima and her reactivity and behavioural issues. Kristina provides detailed feedback after each session and helpful tips tailored to your dog’s needs. Without Kristina’s observation and guidance I would not have been able to identity all the things that could be causing the behavioural issues. Super happy with the sessions. Would definitely recommend!

Sandra Santi-Espi
As a first time dog owner, Kristina gives me all the tools I needed to best support my pup! She is super knowledgable and understanding of my pups needs and has so many helpful resources. She is also great with humans - professional, kind, and easy to work with. She has checked in with me throughout my training journey making me feel very supported!

Faith Gallant
Kristina is a wealth of knowledge, her experience with dog psychology (especially rescue dog) is immense and she provides a lot of detailed homework between sessions to keep everyone on track and get the most from your sessions. Highly reccomend!

Kendra Nicholson
There's a good reason Kristina has 82-now 83- five star reviews here. My partner and I have been with her for just one session with our two rescue doggos and already she has helped us more than all the googling and unsolicited advice possibly could. She offers clear, concise instructions without shaming you for not knowing this as some trainers can. She is always paying close attention to the pups without making you feel ignored and uses those small moments that occur in sessions as only a professional like her could pinpoint as a learning experience for us, and teachable moments for the furry ones. We are absolutely thrilled and are looking forward to continuing this with her!

Gideon Ruttimann-Hoskins
Kristina is the dog whisperer. I started working with her when I was at wits end with my golden doodle puppy -jumping, biting, leash pulling, barking. Over a few sessions she helped us curb the undesirable behaviors and make him an obedient calm puppy. Results were immediate and her follow up helped make sure we were making continued progress on our own. I"m so so so glad I worked with Kristina. My pup turned one today and he's a really well behaved guy,

Kristine Coco
I was so grateful when I received a referral to Kristina after we adopted our sweet pup from Redemption Paws. It has been so wonderful to work with Kristina throughout our pups training journey. Kristina is clear in her communication and instructions. Everything was always explained clearly which helped me to understand my dogs behaviors. After each session Kristina would send a summary and homework for us to practice. It really helped me to be able to reference back to these emails throughout the training process. I've contacted Kristina anytime a new concern or behavior comes up, and each time she has supported me to quickly address it. I feel empowered and prepared to deal with any challenge that may arise in the future with my pup. Thank you Kristina, you have helped me to become a confident dog owner! If you have found Kristina don't hesitate to book- I know you will also feel grateful you found her!

Courtney Nunn