Explore our range of classes to suit all ages and abilities. Courses designed to be enjoyable, interesting, supportive and create lasting change. Each session has a maximum of 6 dogs, is designed by expert behaviourists and has in- built flexibility to also provide a level of individualised support to help you meet your training goals. Every level of each course is over a 6-week block, and you are given home learning and support on a dedicated WhatsApp group.
Training Courses.
If you’re not 100% your dog is ready to learn in a class environment, please contact us before booking a course, either by phone, email or by filling in this short assessment form. We can then advise you on how best to move forwards in your training journey in the best way for you and your dog.
Puppy Classes
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Life Skills
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Gun Dog
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Loose Lead Walking
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Recall
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Concept Games
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Puppy Classes ✳︎ Life Skills ✳︎ Gun Dog ✳︎ Loose Lead Walking ✳︎ Recall ✳︎ Concept Games ✳︎
Click on the photos for details of what is covered in each course.
Our Puppy Training course is designed to help you understand your puppy and build the foundations for the dog you want to live with in the future.
Puppies can join us from around 12 weeks old once they have completed the vaccinations required for attending class.
What really lights your puppy up?
Understanding what motivates your individual puppy makes training clearer, easier and much more enjoyable.
Across the course we work on practical foundations including:
Recall
Loose-lead walking
Focus and engagement
Sit and down
Waiting
Calmness
Confidence
Learning to cope with distractions
Play and motivation
We also help with the normal challenges of puppyhood, including:
Puppy biting
Jumping up
Frustration
Overexcitement
Difficulty settling
Building confidence in the world
You will learn different ways of teaching your puppy, including luring, capturing and shaping behaviours, as well as how to use rewards effectively.
We use lots of concept games throughout the course. These help develop some of the underlying skills puppies need, including confidence, focus, calmness, self-control and the ability to disengage from distractions.
Our puppy classes are friendly, supportive and non-judgmental. Class sizes are kept small, with a maximum of six puppies, so you and your puppy can receive individual help throughout the course.
Support Between Sessions
Every course has its own WhatsApp group, which you can opt in to join. This gives you access to your trainer and assistant between sessions for additional support.
You can use the group to ask questions, share any difficulties you are having with homework and let us know how you are getting on. We also use it to share useful video content and additional guidance to support your training at home.
Our Life Skills Basics course is an entry-level course for dogs over 12 months old.
It is suitable for dogs and owners who are new to training, dogs who need to revisit their foundations, and dogs who may have recently been rehomed and need some help learning how to work confidently with their new family.
Across the course we work on useful, practical skills including:
Sit and down
Wait and stay
Recall foundations
Loose-lead walking
Looking and focusing on you
Hand touch
Using a marker word
Communication between you and your dog
Fun behaviours and exercises that help your dog learn
We also look at how dogs learn, what motivates your individual dog and how to make training clearer and easier for both of you.
Life Skills is about far more than teaching a dog to sit. It is about developing communication, connection and the skills you need for everyday life together.
Not every dog is immediately ready for a group environment. If your dog is nervous, reactive or overwhelmed around other dogs or people, please talk to us. Behavioural difficulties do not necessarily mean your dog cannot attend a course, but they may benefit from some individual preparation first.
Classes are deliberately small so that dogs and owners have plenty of individual support.
Support Between Sessions
Every course has its own WhatsApp group, which you can opt in to join. This gives you access to your trainer and assistant between sessions for additional support.
You can use the group to ask questions, share any difficulties you are having with homework and let us know how you are getting on. We also use it to share useful video content and additional guidance to support your training at home.
Our Gundog Training Basics course is an entry-level course for gundog breeds and gundog crosses over 12 months old.
Gundogs have been bred for generations to use their noses, notice movement, search, retrieve and work at a distance from us. Those abilities are wonderful, but without suitable outlets they can sometimes leave owners feeling that their dog has become rather self-employed!
This course helps you harness those natural instincts and turn them into skills that you and your dog can enjoy together.
We work on:
Placeboard training
Whistle recall
Whistle stop and stop-sit foundations
Retrieving
Different types of retrieve objects and dummies
Steadiness
Focus and connection
Working around distractions
Games that use your dog's natural abilities appropriately
Adapting exercises to the breed and the individual dog
This is gundog training. You do not need to shoot, work your dog in the field or have any previous gundog experience.
Different gundog breeds have been developed for different jobs, so we do not expect every dog to work in exactly the same way. We adapt exercises to the dog in front of us.
Classes are small, supportive and taught by an experienced, qualified team.
Having a behavioural difficulty does not automatically rule your dog out of joining us. However, some dogs may need individual preparation before they are comfortable and able to learn successfully within a class environment.
Support Between Sessions
Every course has its own WhatsApp group, which you can opt in to join. This gives you access to your trainer and assistant between sessions for additional support.
You can use the group to ask questions, share any difficulties you are having with homework and let us know how you are getting on. We also use it to share useful video content and additional guidance to support your training at home.
Concept Games is a six-week course for dogs over approximately six months old.
Instead of simply teaching individual behaviours, concept training looks at the underlying skills your dog needs in order to cope successfully with everyday life.
Through carefully chosen games we can help shape and reshape concepts such as:
Focus
Calmness
Disengagement
Proximity
Optimism
Confidence
Self-control
Engagement with you
The aim is to train for the situation, rather than waiting until your dog is in a difficult situation and then trying to manage it.
We practise skills when your dog's arousal is slightly higher or lower, helping them learn how to think and respond across different emotional states.
Concept games can give you both practice tools and rescue tools - things you can rehearse regularly, but also skills you can use when life becomes difficult.
This course can suit:
Owners who are relatively new to training
Dogs who have gaps in particular skills
Dogs who need better focus or calmness
Dogs who struggle to disengage from the environment
Experienced dogs and owners who simply want something different, stimulating and fun
It is not about drilling obedience behaviours. It is about playing purposeful games that change the skills your dog brings to everyday situations.
Classes are kept to a maximum of six dogs and are designed to be fun, supportive and engaging for both ends of the lead.
Support Between Sessions
Every course has its own WhatsApp group, which you can opt in to join. This gives you access to your trainer and assistant between sessions for additional support.
You can use the group to ask questions, share any difficulties you are having with the games or homework and let us know how you are getting on. We also use it to share useful video content and additional guidance so you can practise the games confidently at home.
Puppy Intermediate is designed for young dogs approximately 6-12 months old.
Adolescence can be a challenging time. The puppy who appeared to have learnt everything can suddenly seem to have forgotten it all.
Recall can deteriorate. Lead walking may become harder. Your young dog may become more distracted, more confident, more frustrated or find it harder to regulate their emotions.
This course is the natural next step after puppy training.
We continue developing:
Recall
Loose-lead walking
Focus and engagement
Calmness
Everyday manners and life skills
Working around distractions
We also help you understand what is happening developmentally to your adolescent dog.
We look at changes in confidence, reliability, frustration and emotional regulation, and at how good management can prevent young dogs from repeatedly practising unwanted behaviours or putting themselves into difficult situations.
Concept games remain an important part of the course and help develop:
Focus
Confidence
Calmness
Self-control
Disengagement
Resilience
A stronger connection with you
Adolescence does not have to be something you simply survive. It is an important developmental stage and a brilliant opportunity to continue building your relationship with your dog.
Classes are small, supportive, fun and non-judgmental.
Support Between Sessions
Every course has its own WhatsApp group, which you can opt in to join. This gives you access to your trainer and assistant between sessions for additional support.
You can use the group to ask questions, share any difficulties you are having with homework and let us know how you are getting on. We also use it to share useful video content and additional guidance to support your training at home.
Our Loose Lead Walking course is a six-week course for dogs from approximately nine months of age.
Pulling on the lead is one of the most common difficulties owners experience, but there is rarely one single reason why a dog pulls.
Some dogs are excited. Some are worried. Some want to reach smells, people or other dogs. Some have simply spent a long time learning that pulling gets them where they want to go.
Rather than using one technique for every dog, we start by looking at why your individual dog is pulling.
We begin with the absolute basics and build the skill in small blocks each week.
You will learn simple exercises that can often be practised for only three minutes at a time, making them realistic to fit into everyday life.
Across the six weeks we gradually bring those exercises together with the aim of producing a significant improvement in your dog's lead walking.
There will be homework between sessions because loose-lead walking is a skill that needs practice away from class as well as during it.
Classes have a maximum of six dogs so there is plenty of opportunity for individual coaching.
The course is supportive and non-judgmental. Lead walking can be difficult, and we are interested in finding the solution that works for the dog and owner in front of us.
Support Between Sessions
Every course has its own WhatsApp group, which you can opt in to join. This gives you access to your trainer and assistant between sessions for additional support.
You can use the group to ask questions, share any difficulties you are having with your loose-lead walking homework and let us know how you are getting on. We also use it to share useful video content and additional guidance to support your training at home.
Gundog Intermediate is the direct follow-on from our Gundog Basics course.
We continue to build on the skills you started in Basics while introducing new exercises that make the training more challenging, varied and enjoyable for both you and your dog.
Across the course we work on:
Building on your existing retrieve skills
Introducing different types of retrieves
Adding a new whistle cue for directional hunting
Developing greater steadiness
Improving focus and connection
Troubleshooting anything your dog is finding difficult
Building stronger loose-lead walking skills
Developing your recall further
Working around increasing levels of distraction
Working in closer proximity to the other dogs in the class
As your dog's skills develop, we gradually make the environment more challenging. Your dog learns to work with you while other dogs are closer and while there is more happening around them.
We also spend time troubleshooting the areas that may not be going quite as smoothly.
Gundog training is not about every dog performing in exactly the same way. We help you understand why your individual dog may find certain exercises easier or harder than others.
Throughout the course we continue to harness the natural instincts of your pet gundog in a way that is fun, constructive and relevant to everyday life.
We take into account the different gundog breed types and the different jobs they were originally bred to perform in the field. This allows us to adapt the training to the dog in front of us rather than expecting every gundog to learn and work in exactly the same way.
Gundog Intermediate is a fun, supportive next step for owners who want to continue developing their dog's skills, focus, steadiness and enjoyment of working together.
Support Between Sessions
Every course has its own WhatsApp group, which you can opt in to join. This gives you access to your trainer and assistant between sessions for additional support.
You can use the group to ask questions, share any difficulties you are having with homework and let us know how you are getting on. We also use it to share useful video content and additional guidance to support your training at home.
One-off training sessions for clients who have already completed a course with us
Our Drop-In Skills Clubs are designed for people who have trained with us before and want a little extra support with the skills they have already learned.
You may have completed a course, gone away and practised at home, but found that one or two things are not quite coming together.
Perhaps your dog is struggling with a particular exercise, a skill has become less reliable, or you simply feel that you have become a little stuck.
That is exactly what these sessions are for.
Come back and troubleshoot
The Skills Clubs are standalone sessions that appear at different points throughout our training calendar.
You can book onto a session, bring along the things you are currently working on, and we will help you troubleshoot what is happening.
We can look at:
Skills that have become difficult
Exercises you are unsure how to progress
Areas where your dog is getting stuck
How to make an exercise easier or harder
How to take a skill into the real world
How to get your training moving again
Because everyone attending has already completed training with us, we can spend the session working on the areas that are most useful to the people and dogs in front of us.
Linked to the courses you have already completed
The purpose of the Skills Club is to support the training you have already done with us.
You might want to revisit something from Life Skills, Loose Lead Walking, Recall, Concept Games or another course you have completed.
Rather than starting again from the beginning, we can look at where you are now and help you work out the next step.
If you are ready to learn new material, the best option is to book onto the next level of one of our available courses.
A relaxed, supportive hour
These sessions are designed to be practical, informal and supportive.
You come along with the things you would like help with, and our trainers work their way around the group giving individual coaching, exercises and ideas.
There is no judgment if something has gone backwards or you haven't practised as much as you intended.
Training is a journey, and sometimes everyone needs a little help getting unstuck.
Keep your training moving forward
Our Drop-In Skills Clubs are there to help you continue building on the work you have already done.
Whether you need to brush up a skill, troubleshoot a problem or gain a little more confidence with something you have already learned, these sessions are designed to help you keep progressing.
Come along, bring your questions, and let's get you and your dog moving forward again.
Life Skills Intermediate is for dogs over 12 months old who already have good foundation training in place and are ready for the next step.
You may have completed a foundation or basic training course with us or elsewhere. Before joining this course, we would expect you to have:
A marker word in place
Good foundations in behaviours such as sit and down
Some understanding of wait and stay
A reasonable foundation recall
Experience of working and engaging with your dog
A dog who is ready to begin working around greater levels of distraction
This course is about taking the skills your dog already knows and teaching you how to proof that learning in different environments and around real-life distractions.
A dog who can sit, wait or come back beautifully at home may find exactly the same behaviour much more difficult when the environment changes. We help you understand why this happens and how to develop your dog's skills progressively.
There is much more emphasis on working around the other dogs in the class as distractions. We teach your dog that being around other dogs does not mean they need to meet everybody, helping them to remain connected and focused on you.
We also really level up your loose-lead walking skills. Rather than walking simply being about getting from A to B without pulling, we begin making it more engaging and enjoyable for both you and your dog. We work on connection, movement, responsiveness and making walking together something you both actively take part in.
Across the course we work on:
Proofing familiar behaviours around increasing distractions
Developing focus and engagement around other dogs
Strengthening recall
Developing wait and stay
Taking your loose-lead walking to the next level
Making lead walking more engaging and enjoyable
Improving reliability in different environments
Helping your dog disengage from distractions
Building calmness and self-control
Learning new skills each week
Understanding why previously learnt behaviours may become difficult in particular environments
Alongside the practical training, we give you behavioural insight into your individual dog. We look at how factors such as arousal, motivation, confidence and distraction can affect their ability to learn and respond.
This course is about moving from "my dog knows how to do this" to "my dog can do this when real life is happening around them."
Support Between Sessions
Every course has its own WhatsApp group, which you can opt in to join. This gives you access to your trainer and assistant between sessions for additional support.
You can use the group to ask questions, share any difficulties you are having with homework and let us know how you are getting on. We also use it to share useful video content and additional guidance to support your training at home.
A course for young adolescent gundogs
Junior Gundog is designed specifically for young gundogs moving through adolescence.
This can be an exciting but sometimes challenging stage. Your dog may become more interested in the environment, more independent, less consistent in skills they previously knew well, and increasingly driven by natural gundog instincts such as hunting, retrieving and exploring.
This course combines age-appropriate gundog training with an understanding of what is happening to your young dog’s brain and behaviour as they mature.
Understanding your adolescent gundog
Adolescence is a period of enormous change.
Your dog may be becoming physically stronger and more confident, while their ability to make good decisions is still developing. At the same time, smells, movement, wildlife and opportunities to hunt or explore can become increasingly rewarding.
Rather than fighting against those instincts, we help you understand them and use them positively.
What will we work on?
A major focus of Junior Gundog is helping your dog learn to disengage from the environment and reconnect with you.
We also continue building important gundog foundations, including:
Recall
Whistle work
Placeboard skills
Retrieval
Staying connected around distractions
Building value in working together
Preventing your gundog from becoming self-employed
Young gundogs can become very good at finding their own entertainment.
If the environment repeatedly becomes more rewarding than their owner, hunting, exploring and following smells can quickly become their preferred activity.
We want to help you become part of the fun, giving your dog appropriate ways to use their natural instincts while continuing to build a strong working relationship with you.
Small, supportive classes
Adolescence is not always a straight line. One week your dog may look brilliant and the next they may appear to have forgotten everything.
That is normal, and nobody is expected to arrive with a perfectly trained young dog.
Our classes are small, friendly and non-judgmental, allowing us to support each dog and owner individually as they work through this important stage together.
Life Skills Advanced is for dogs and owners who have already built a strong training foundation and are ready to work at a genuinely advanced level.
To join this course, you will need to have either:
Successfully completed our Life Skills Intermediate course
Had an assessment with one of the practice's behaviourists to make sure you and your dog are ready for this level of training
This is not a course you step straight into. It is designed for dogs who already have a broad range of learnt behaviours, can work confidently with their owner and have developed the skills needed to cope with more complex training challenges.
Some of the course is taught in the class environment and some takes place out in the real world, where we can work on transferring your dog's learning into more challenging and varied situations.
The focus throughout is on developing a happy, confident dog who can respond to well-established cues across a wide range of environments.
Across the course we look at:
Advanced proofing of established behaviours
Working in more complex real-life environments
Maintaining focus around higher levels of distraction
Developing greater fluency and precision
Different reinforcement strategies
Rates of reinforcement and how and when to change them
Understanding how reinforcement affects learning and performance
Developing your understanding of different training and learning techniques
Dog body language
Understanding your dog's emotional state
Understanding arousal and how it affects learning and behaviour
Developing your ability to read and respond to the dog in front of you
Troubleshooting more advanced training difficulties
A significant part of this course is about developing your skill as a trainer. We look more closely at why particular techniques work, when you may need to adapt your approach and how to make thoughtful training decisions as you continue working with your dog.
We also introduce a range of different activities and exercises, including some trick training and other fun challenges, giving you new ways to stretch both your own skills and your dog's.
This is a comprehensive course for the real dog geeks - people who have already invested a lot of time in training, enjoy learning about behaviour and training, and want to keep progressing with their dog.
The aim is advanced skill, but always with the dog's confidence, enjoyment and emotional wellbeing at the centre of the work.
Life Skills Advanced is currently building a waiting list. If you are interested in joining a future course, please contact us so we can discuss whether it is the right next step for you and your dog.
Support Between Sessions
Every course has its own WhatsApp group, which you can opt in to join. This gives you access to your trainer and assistant between sessions for additional support.
You can use the group to ask questions, share any difficulties you are having with homework and let us know how you are getting on. We also use it to share useful video content and additional guidance to support your training at home.
Gundog Advanced builds on the skills developed through our previous Gundog courses and takes your training to a much higher level.
A key focus of this course is your dog learning to work successfully off lead around distractions, while maintaining their focus, steadiness and partnership with you.
Throughout the course we continue to develop and proof the skills your dog has already learnt, while also introducing new exercises and challenges.
We use a wide variety of exercises to test your dog's understanding and establish whether they can perform those skills reliably when the picture changes.
Across the course we work on:
Off-lead work around increasing levels of distraction
Advanced recall, steadiness and focus
Proofing previously learnt skills
More challenging retrieve exercises
Introducing new skills and exercises
Working in different environments
Using different areas and equipment around the farm
Developing your partnership and communication
Individual troubleshooting and problem solving
Testing whether your dog genuinely understands a skill rather than simply recognising a familiar exercise
The exercises are adapted to the dog in front of us.
We recognise that retrievers, spaniels and HPR - Hunt, Point, Retrieve - breeds have been developed for different jobs in the field, and at this level those differences are reflected more clearly in the exercises and challenges we set.
The course culminates in a final assessment in week six.
This is benchmarked against elements found within a number of working gundog tests, but has been specifically adapted to reflect the skills taught through ourGundog training programme.
It is not about turning your pet dog into a working gundog. The assessment gives you a meaningful standard to work towards and an opportunity to demonstrate just how far you and your dog have progressed.
This is a comprehensive advanced course for owners who have already put significant work into their Gundog training and want to challenge themselves and their dog further while continuing to build the partnership they have already developed.
We are looking to offer this class and are currently building a waiting list. If you are interested, please contact us so we can add you to the list and keep you informed when dates become available.
Support Between Sessions
Every course has its own WhatsApp group, which you can opt in to join. This gives you access to your trainer and assistant between sessions for additional support.
You can use the group to ask questions, share any difficulties you are having with homework and let us know how you are getting on. We also use it to share useful video content and additional guidance to support your training at home.
Recall is a six-session course designed for owners who are experiencing real-world recall difficulties and want to understand why their dog's recall is breaking down.
Recall is not simply about repeatedly calling your dog and hoping they come back.
We look at:
Why your dog disconnects from you
What may have contributed to the problem
Why the environment can become more valuable than you
Teaching your dog to disengage from distractions
Building value in being close to you
Improving your connection outdoors
Motivation
Using food effectively
Using toys and play
Games that strengthen recall
Working around distractions
Proofing your recall gradually
Troubleshooting when things go wrong
The aim is to give you a series of stepping stones towards a dog who can enjoy greater freedom safely and successfully.
We cannot promise that every dog will eventually be suitable for off-lead exercise in every environment. What we can do is help you understand your individual dog and build a much stronger, more reliable recall.
This is not an introductory training course. Your dog needs some basic foundation skills before joining. For some dogs, completing Life Skills or doing some individual training first may be appropriate.
You will need to have time to practise between your sessions. There is homework each week. Recall is a skill that needs to be developed through regular practice away from class as well as during your sessions.
It is challenging, but it should also be great fun.
Support Between Sessions
Every course has its own WhatsApp group, which you can opt in to join. This gives you access to your trainer and assistant between sessions for additional support.
This is particularly useful during the Recall course because you can share any difficulties you are having with your homework and ask for help before your next session. We also use the group to share useful video content and additional guidance to support your practice at home.