My story
I became a dog behaviourist because of a dog who growled at me — my own.
Everything I teach today, I learned the hard way: by misunderstanding the dog I loved most, and then spending years learning how to truly understand her. Her name was Nikkie. This is her story, and mine.
The puppy in our palm
Nikkie was just a few weeks old when we found her wandering near our home in India — one of a litter our neighbourhood street dog had recently given birth to. She was so small she fit in our palms, tail wagging. Our hearts melted; she was ours from that moment. Growing up with her was pure joy — playful and ever-loving, as all dogs are.
The homecoming that broke my heart
After a couple of years, I moved to England to work as a software engineer, leaving Nikkie at home with my parents. I missed her constantly — I saw her in every dog I passed. When I finally returned two years later, I walked through the door expecting the warmest welcome of my life.
Instead, Nikkie growled and bared her teeth at me.
I was hurt, angry, confused — and heartbroken for her, all at once. And it didn't pass. She grew dominant and aggressive with the whole family. No one could go near her. We were afraid of our own dog. This was not the Nikkie I knew. Something in her had changed — and we had no idea what, or why.
The moment everything made sense
Nearly ten years later, I was living in the US when I happened to watch a television programme on dog psychology. As I watched, the years with Nikkie replayed in my mind — and suddenly, everything made sense.
We had never understood her. We had treated her like a small human, misread everything she was trying to tell us, and labelled her "dominant" and "aggressive." We knew nothing of her psychology, her pack nature, her language. She had been communicating with us all along — and we had been unable to listen.
"Her aggression had never been dominance at all — it was fear."
Thirty minutes that changed two lives
It was a couple more years before I could be with Nikkie again. By then she was sixteen — old, mostly lying in her corner, and as aggressive as ever.
This time, I approached her completely differently: with calm, with compassion, and with the understanding that her aggression had never been dominance at all — it was fear, and a lifetime of trying to protect herself. She gave me that same aggression for about twenty minutes. Then something shifted. She recognised that I was different now. She let the aggression go, and she trusted me — fully.
That evening, we went on a two-kilometre walk together. In all those years, that had never once happened. It came very late in her life, but we got our old Nikkie back — in about thirty minutes, after more than a decade of fear on both sides of the leash.
That transformation is why Being K9 exists.
Learning from the man behind the show — The Dog Whisperer — Cesar Millan
The television programme that opened my eyes that day was Cesar Millan's. Years later, after Nikkie had shown me what this understanding could do, I travelled to California to study it properly — completing the Dog Psychology course in person at Cesar's Dog Psychology Center, and receiving my certificate from Cesar himself.
From one dog to hundreds
I began helping friends with their dogs. One of my first cases was a family who had brought home a dog to support their child with autism — and were about to give him up because they couldn't manage his overexcitement. Understanding his psychology connected that dog to his new family. Today, the boy and his dog share a wonderful bond.
Man quit Dh45,000 job to become dog trainer
Eventually, I left my corporate career to do this full time — a story Gulf News covered, and Xpress too. For more than a decade and a half now, I have been sharing this knowledge with anyone open to bonding with their dog the way they themselves would want to be bonded with.
What Nikkie and Mr. Bean taught me
Dogs are ready to live in balance. It is we humans who, without knowing it, treat them in ways that are unnatural to them — and then struggle with the consequences. Dog behaviourism is the world my Nikkie opened for me.
And I cannot speak about what dogs have taught me without speaking about Mr. Bean. He is the finest puppy teacher I have ever worked alongside, and nobody taught him how to be one. Put a puppy in front of him and he simply does what a dog parent does — permits, corrects, holds a boundary, softens the moment it is respected — and never says a word about any of it. Everything I explain to owners about Conscious Puppy Parenting, he turns into something they watch happening in front of them, in real time.
I owe him a quiet debt. Much of what I have been able to teach humans about raising a puppy, he taught first, without ever being asked to.
The door is open
You are welcome to learn this for your own dog.
A note on the name. For many years this work went out into the world as Nikkie's World — named, of course, after the dog who started all of it. It is Being K9 now. The name changed; nothing underneath it did.
Pet photography
And where my two loves became one
There is one more thing I should tell you about myself. Alongside dogs, photography has run through my whole life — and somewhere along the way, the two became one. When you can read a dog, you know the exact moment to press the shutter: the flicker of calm, the mischief, the trust. That is how the pet photography came about — not pointing a camera at a dog, but waiting for the one honest moment, and catching it.
In their words
What dog owners say about Rajiv
From the moment I was given Rajiv Saini's business card I was told "He has been trained by Cesar Milan"! Intrigued, I googled him and I was very excited to be about to call someone who had been trained by none other than "The Dog Whisperer"...
However, once I started speaking to Rajiv, I realised that his passion for helping people have a great relationship with their dogs was much more important to him than anything else...he did not even once mention to me over our conversation about his background. This humble attitude was what marked me the most.
During our first session, Rajiv was able to give me the foundations of what I needed to feel confident as a new puppy owner. He spoke about concepts that were so basic and so profound and effective at the same time. He involved my children who were also able to understand and connect with what he was aiming to teach us.
I could go on and on in detail about the impressive knowledge and skills which Rajiv Saini has to offer and share...however, it is enough to say that his training methods are so powerful and his way of connecting with me as the owner was one of the most impressive experiences I have had in a long time.
Thanks to Rajiv I feel confident, happy and I am able to already enjoy my puppy without feeling overwhelmed at the task at hand!
I'm deeply impressed and inspired of Rajiv training style!!!
His calmness, his wisdom and the way of communicating as well as the wide knowledge about dogs and their psyche impressed me deeply as a psychologist. I have seen quick results and learning success of our puppy within few minutes or hours - which was often magical!
For me, the best dog coach I've ever met. Definitely recommendable!
Kelly is blessed having a great start in her life thanks of you Rajiv!
Rajiv has taught us so much and his sessions are much more than training - I’m a big fan of the Dog Whisperer TV show, and was thrilled when I found out Rajiv had trained with Cesar. He is the Cesar Milan of the UAE with a true gift for his work- helping dogs and their owners to be happy.
Rajeev is the best dog trainer I have ever comes across. He is intelligent, understands the physocology between the dog parents and the dogs themselves.
He uses practical tips and tools and ensures that dog parents understands the importance of their own behavior before that of the dogs.
It has helped us immensely to improve the expected behavior of our 2 dogs and cannot thank him enough !
Rajiv has an extra ordinary understanding with regards to behavior and mindsets of dogs. He understands and explains with patience the deeper underlying issues which are the result of what we witness.
My kids enjoyed the session with Rajiv and we developed a greater understanding about how to treat and respect animals along with training them correctly.
We recommend Rajiv very strongly to every new pet owner. You sure can do wonders with your relationship with your pet following Rajiv's advises.
Rajiv has a natural way with dogs, and their humans. We met him about 7 months ago and brought up our new puppy Rancho through his training methods. The training was comfortable, not rushed, and Rajiv took the time to answer any and all questions we ever had. Rajiv demonstrated extreme patience with Rancho , and mostly, the learning humans. We truly cannot recommend Rajiv enough! We tell everyone about him, his love for dogs, and the passion he has to make both humans and dogs successful. Leema & Ajith
Rajiv is absolutely incredible!!! We got an American Bully pup a month and a half ago. While I was delighted to have Kaia, I was quite nervous as well as I didn't understand her behavior at all. Rajiv has taught us so much about Kaia and myself. I can't recommend him enough. Truly a joy to meet him.
Working with Rajeev changed our world! He not only helped us understand the psychology of our dog and how to help him become better for our family, but also how our own pre conceived notions needed change to bring out the best in our dog. Rajeev is a mentor who helps people and animals bring about change. I couldn’t recommend him more!
Rajeev is the ultimate dog whisperer. His method is based on teaching you the language of your dog. He teaches you how to gain connection, respect and trust of of your dog. As a first time dog owner, he brought me into my little puppy’s world and helped me understand him. It has been highly effective.I would highly recommend working with him.
Rajiv is amazing. His understanding of dogs goes way beyond what I was expecting - he opened my eyes as to how dogs think and his training is gentle, informative and a real eye opener. Our dog is a 1 year old Dachshund with no prior training and Our training sessions with Rajiv made a huge difference.
We had an awesome experience with Rajiv. He is highly skilled and really really understands dogs and their behaviours - and their owners too. More importantly he is a great guide and mentor. For first time pet parents like us, he was really insightful with his observations and recommendations. Would recommend him and his amazing services always. If you want a “dog-whisperer”, Rajiv is the man. And more…
Rajiv Saini is an amazing guy. He taught me a lot how to be a pet parent, he is just too good. Can't recommend him enough.. He helped me to handle many behaviour related issues of my little one.
To be honest if you wanna know about animals Rajiv is your guy.he has such good understanding of animals that you have to see it yourself .I had two trainer before him and none of them are good as Rajiv
We had a wonderful experience with Rajiv as a trainer for our Dog . He is very patient in answering all our queries/doubts etc . He is very knowledgeable and will make sure that he passes on that to you as well.
It was wonderful interacting with him about not just dogs but as well as human nature/behaviour etc.
Would surely recommend him to anyone who needs some help in learning how to deal with their K9 friend !
Rajiv is truly amazing at working with dogs and the owners! He's calm and assertive and will teach you how to understand your dog and communicate with them. Couldn't recommend him more!
Rajiv is highly knowledgeable and understands dog psychology. He was able to highlight key behavior changes that would be beneficial for our dog and for us. His intervention has made our life sooo much better! Thank you so much Rajiv! We highly recommend you!
he is a magician, he can talk to dogs. one of a kind
The less said about Rajiv the better. I hv 2 dogs with very different behavioral patterns. I was going bonkers trying to manage them. I have completed 4 sessions today and im very happy with the progress. I can't say he is a trainer, he is more of somebody who deepens the bond between you and your dog by simply making you understand your pet and their behaviour. His techniques have even helped me in my personal life control my anger and be more patient. A great guy and most of all he understands you and your pet. Would recommend him any day.
Thanks Rajeev.
You have not just helped me learn about Nature better, or Abi, but also about myself better. Your patience and understanding has got me going a long way with so much clarity and confidence, and a new understanding and appreciation about a whole new way of life!
You have been a great inspiration for me and thank you for the bond you created between me & Abi!
Rajiv is amazing! I would strongly recommend working with him whether you are having issues or not. There is a lot of value in learning how to communicate effectively and you will have a closer and happier bond with your dog.
Rajiv is amazing! He helped us to change our mindset and our dogs have never been better!
Highly recommended. Rajiv gives a whole new perspective into the world of our furry best friends... And the results speak for themselves
Rajiv is impressive in the way he trained us and my dog! he is really an expert!
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