Hello! My name is Anthony Schwickrath, owner and head trainer at AFT Dog Training and in the past served as Vice President & Treasurer of The Center for Animal Health & Welfare from 2012 to 2020 (formerly the Northampton County SPCA). My lovely wife, Jessica, and I have together since we were 14 years old. With 3 children and 7 adopted dogs, I know first hand how important it is to have positive relationships between pets and people.

Growing up, my father always had a large range of pets; lizards, turtles, ducks, crows, snakes, cats, dogs, and even a pet monkey. At one time, we had as many as 16 dogs in the house struggling to get along. This was before the Cesar Millan era, and we were at our wits end with what to do to correct these major issues. This became the foundation of my love for dog training. By changing our unstructured habits and becoming better leaders towards our dogs, we were able to overcome behavior issues and maintain positive relationships between our pets and our family.

Shortly after this time, my beautiful wife graduated from Kean University and began volunteering at our local animal shelter. Quickly promoted to Canine Manager, we both realized our true passion was working with dogs. By 2006, we began to fulfill our dream of owning our own dog day care. After completing my dog training certification from Animal Behavior College along with hundreds of hours of hands-on experience, I decided to start offering training services outside of the day care facility, and AFT Dog Training was born.

I love working with all dogs and behaviors, but I still am especially drawn to rehabilitating aggressive dogs. It is my hope that through rehabilitation, fewer dogs will end up in shelters and more dogs will be taken from shelters and put in loving, positive environments. I look forward to meeting you and your furry best friend!