I'm a complete novice but have a question before I get too involved with the idea.
I need to have 2 vibrating areas on a dog coat, one on each shoulder and needs to be controlled independently, I was thinking of using the same mechanism that makes a mobile phone vibrate.
Am I in the right place to ask if this is possible for a complete novice?
Yes, that should be fairly easy. Pick out some motors/vibrators you want to use and we'll help find motor drivers which can control them from the Arduino.
You're training the dog to react to the vibrations?