​Why do you run your Companion Dog Training Course over 2 days and not weekly?

Whilst traditionally many dog training classes have always been run weekly, we believe that for practical dog training, both the dogs and owners are more successful completing all aspects of their training in two full days rather than hourly sessions over several weeks. This means that overall those attending get more hours of training than on a 1-1.5 hour session over a 6-8 week course. It prevents the opportunity to miss or skip a session which can affect the dogs progressive learning and disrupt the class. It also prevents a pack mentality forming in a class situation and bad habits being picked up between the classes.

Why do you train mostly outdoors on the Companion Dog Training course?

Some commands are initially best taught in a controlled, indoor environment. However, this isn't always realistic enough for dogs and their owners when they get out in the real world. If you teach a dog around distractions and reward the right behaviour in these circumstances then the response in future is much more likely to be consistent and successful.

How do you train the dogs on the Companion Dog Training​ course?

We believe that training the owner is as important as training the dog. This is why we teach every single dog on the course ourselves with each new command or task so the dog clearly understands what is the right behaviour. This way the owners are clearly shown what to do by observing us first. We then pass the dog back to the owner and teach them how to get the same positive response with their dog. This prevents both the owners and the dogs misunderstanding what is required to achieve a particular response, command or goal. Our aim is to train you as much as training your dogs so that you continue on the right path afterwards. Remember practise, practise, practise.

I am concerned that 2 days of solid training is too much for my young dog?

We fully understand your concerns. Please be assured that the dogs are not continuously training every second of each day. The dogs will have a lot of rest breaks during the day to ensure they are not over worked and have time to process what they are learning. Resting is as important as learning. We make it clear to everyone from the start of the course that they will be surprised how much learning the owners will be doing without their dogs.  This is so that you can focus, listen and observe what we do. Just like dogs, people get distracted too, especially if they always have their dog on the end of a lead all the time. We have found dog owners learn well by this different approach and by being shown what to do first. This means the dogs do not necessarily all train at the same time as you will often be working in pairs, in groups and individually depending on what we are wanting to achieve. We are always aware of the dog's age and breed type which reflects on how they will learn to get the best results.