Guides

Dog training advice from 8,000+ dogs trained

Straight, usable advice on the problems owners actually ring us about. Read it, try it, and call us if your dog needs hands on help.

Behaviour

Why your dog pulls on the lead, and how to stop it

Lead pulling is the single most common thing owners ask us about. In over 8,000 dogs trained, we have almost never met a dog that ...

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Dog reactive to other dogs on walks

A dog that barks and lunges at other dogs on the lead is not usually an aggressive dog. It is a dog that has no way to create dist...

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Dog barking at the door or at visitors

Door barking is a rehearsed routine. The bell goes, the dog explodes, the person appears anyway, and the dog concludes that barkin...

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Separation anxiety in dogs, what actually helps

Separation anxiety is one of the most miserable problems to live with, for the dog and the household. It is also one of the most c...

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Recall training, why your dog ignores you

A dog that ignores recall has usually learned that coming back ends the fun. Every time the recall means the lead goes on and the ...

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Puppy biting and mouthing

Puppy biting is normal, it is not aggression, and it is also not something you have to simply endure for six months. Most of it is...

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Resource guarding, food and toys

Guarding is normal dog behaviour that has become a problem in a human house. The growl is information, not defiance, and punishing...

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Dog jumping up at people

Jumping up is a greeting that got paid. Dogs greet face to face, we are tall, and every hand that reaches down to a jumping dog co...

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Dog aggression, when it needs a professional rather than a video

Most of what owners call aggression is noise. Some of it is not. Knowing the difference matters, because the wrong plan applied to...

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Adolescent dog training, the six to eighteen month wobble

The dog that had brilliant recall at five months and ignores you at eleven months has not been ruined. It has grown up, and adoles...

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Toilet training a puppy, the routine that actually works

Toilet training is not a training problem, it is a management problem. Puppies do not have the bladder control to make good decisi...

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Crate training, how to make the crate a good place

A crate is either the best thing in a dog's day or a small prison, and the difference is entirely in how it is introduced. Done pr...

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Dog scared of fireworks or loud noises, what actually helps

Noise fear is one of the few problems with a hard deadline, because bonfire night arrives whether the dog is ready or not. The wor...

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Dog chasing cars, bikes or livestock, how to stop it

Chasing is the hardest habit to break because the dog does not need you to reward it, the chase pays for itself. It is also the on...

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Loose lead walking: choosing kit, and the handling that makes it work

Most owners have already tried to buy their way out of pulling before they call us. There is a drawer with three harnesses in it. ...

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Long line recall training: the safe route back to off lead freedom

The long line is the most useful and most misused piece of kit in dog training. Used properly it lets a dog make choices while you...

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Recall around sheep, deer and rabbits: the countryside problem

Essex has more livestock and more deer than people think, and the lanes and fields around Harlow, Epping and the Rodings put plent...

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Attention barking: why your dog shouts at you, and how to stop it

This is the bark that follows you round the house. It happens when you sit down with a cup of tea, when you take a phone call, whe...

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Dog aggression towards strangers: what is really happening and what helps

Owners rarely ring us on the first growl. They ring after the lunge at the postman, or the moment a visitor pulled their hand back...

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When two dogs in the same house start fighting

A fight between two dogs who have lived together for years is frightening in a way that street reactivity is not, because there is...

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Lead reactivity or aggression: telling the difference, and why it matters

Two dogs can look identical on the pavement: barking, lunging, owner hauling them past. One desperately wants to reach the other d...

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Muzzle training: how to do it kindly, and why more dogs should wear one

A muzzle is a piece of safety kit with a public relations problem. Owners avoid them because of what people will think, and then l...

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An eight week separation anxiety plan you can actually follow

Separation anxiety advice is usually a list of principles with no timeline attached, which is useless when you have a job and a do...

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Crate training a rescue dog when you do not know its history

Crate training a puppy is straightforward. Crate training an adult rescue that may have spent time shut in something is a differen...

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The puppy socialisation checklist: what to do between eight and sixteen weeks

The window between roughly three and sixteen weeks decides a great deal about the adult dog you end up with, and most of it happen...

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Socialising an adult dog that missed out as a puppy

Plenty of dogs arrive in their forever homes at two, three or five years old having seen almost nothing. Lockdown puppies, farm do...

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How to stop your dog barking in the garden

Garden barking is the problem that costs owners their neighbours. It builds quietly, because the dog is unsupervised, the barking ...

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Cost & process

How much does dog training cost?

Prices vary enormously, and the cheapest option is rarely the cheapest in the end, because problems that get half fixed come back ...

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What is board and train, and how does it work?

Board and train means your dog comes to live with us for a set period and trains every day inside a real routine. It is the fastes...

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How long does board and train take?

The honest answer is that it depends on what you are asking the dog to change. A young dog learning structure is a different job f...

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What happens on day one of training

Day one is about information, not performance. We want to see the real dog, including the behaviour you are embarrassed about, bec...

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One to one training versus group classes

Group classes and private training are not competing products, they suit different dogs. Putting the wrong dog in the wrong format...

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What age should dog training start?

Training starts the day the dog arrives, whatever its age. What changes is the content, not whether you are teaching, because the ...

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What to look for when choosing a dog trainer

Dog training is unregulated in the UK, so anyone can print a card. That puts the responsibility on you to ask better questions, an...

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Group dog training classes, what they are good for

Group classes are excellent at one job, which is teaching a dog to work while other dogs exist nearby. They are poor at another, w...

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What puppy training actually costs in Essex, and what changes the price

Owners ring us with a puppy at eight weeks old and one question underneath everything else: what is this going to cost me over the...

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The first week with a new puppy: what to do, day by day

The first week sets more of the tone than any training class you take later. It is also the week most owners are running on no sle...

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Twelve questions to ask before you book a dog trainer

Dog training is unregulated in the UK. Anyone can print a card and call themselves a behaviourist tomorrow. That puts the burden o...

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Choosing where your next dog comes from: breeder or rescue

A large proportion of the behaviour cases we see in Essex trace back to the first eight weeks of a dog's life, before the owner ev...

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Dog training equipment: what to buy, what to skip

Walk into any pet shop and there are forty ways to spend a hundred pounds, and roughly four of them will help. This is the kit lis...

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Puppy classes or private training: which fits your puppy?

A search for puppy classes often means two different things: a place to meet other puppies, or help with a problem already happeni...

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Dog obedience school or training at home?

People searching for a dog school often want a dog that listens on walks and at home. A training venue can help, but it does not a...

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What should a residential dog training quote include?

A residential training quote is not just a number of nights away. You are comparing daily care, training for an individual dog and...

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Specialist services

What is a family protection dog, and is one right for you?

A family protection dog is first a family dog. It lives in the house, sleeps by the sofa, is safe with your children and your visi...

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How a protection dog is trained and temperament tested

Protection training is mostly obedience. The bite work is the part people picture, but it is the smallest part of the programme an...

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Security dogs, what the work involves

Security work is unglamorous and repetitive, which is exactly why temperament matters more than drive. A dog that cannot switch of...

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Assistance and therapy dogs, how the process works

Assistance and therapy dogs are built around a person, not around a syllabus. The starting point is always the individual's daily ...

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Is a family protection dog right for your household?

We turn people away from protection dogs regularly, and that is part of the job. A trained protection dog in the wrong home is a l...

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What owning a family protection dog actually involves

People ask about the price of a protection dog long before they ask about the ownership, which is the wrong way round. The purchas...

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Protection dog or guard dog: the difference, and which one you need

These three terms get used as if they mean the same thing, and they do not. Buying the wrong one is expensive, sometimes dangerous...

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Buying a fully trained dog: what should you check?

'Fully trained' describes no single standard. A video of a dog following cues on a field does not tell you how it settles in a hom...

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