What I help with

The services differ in what they are aimed at. The way they run does not, so it is worth setting out once rather than eight times.

Everything happens at your place

Your home, your yard, your street. Not a hall across town. Dogs generalise far worse than people assume — a “sit” learned on a rubber mat is not the same skill as a “sit” at your own front door with the postie outside, and one does not automatically become the other. Working in context removes the transfer step entirely, which is where most class-based training quietly leaks away.

You do the handling, I coach

A dog that only responds to the trainer is a party trick. You will be the one holding the lead for the next decade, so you are the one who practises. That feels slower on the day and it is the reason it still works in a fortnight.

The whole household, in one conversation

Most dog problems have a human consistency component — one person allows the couch, one doesn’t; one knees the dog off visitors, one gives it a cuddle for the same behaviour. Your dog is not confused. It has correctly worked out that the rules depend on who is in the room. That is fixable in one conversation with everyone present, and close to impossible to fix second-hand.

One thing at a time, then a week or two to practise

Sessions are an hour, and that is the method rather than a limit. A three-hour visit covering the house, the walk, the recall and the barking produces a household that remembers none of it by Thursday. So we fix one thing properly, you practise it until it is automatic, and the next session starts by checking it held before we add anything. Support in between, because the questions that matter arrive around day four rather than on the day.

And an honest answer about what I can’t do

Every service page below carries a section on what that service will not fix and when you should be talking to someone else — your vet, a veterinary behaviourist, or a group class. If I don’t think I’m the right person for your dog, I’d rather tell you on the phone than take the booking.

Most people book the wrong one first, and it is usually the same mistake in the same direction: booking obedience for a problem that is not about obedience. Here is the short version.

If your dog knows what you want and does it anyway — pulls, jumps, ignores you outside, steals things, will not settle — that is a training gap. Start with obedience training, or puppy training if it is under about six months.

If your dog is frightened, panicking or over-aroused — barking and lunging on lead, guarding, growling, falling apart when you leave — that is an emotional problem and obedience will not touch it. You can teach a frightened dog a beautiful sit and it will still be frightened. Start with a behaviour consultation, or go straight to the specific page if you already know what you are dealing with.

If something changed suddenly, or your dog is over about seven, or it reacts to being touched in one particular place — see your vet before you see me. Pain drives far more behaviour change than most owners realise, and no amount of training fixes a sore dog.

And if you genuinely cannot tell, ring me. Two minutes on the phone is usually enough for me to point you at the right one, and I would rather do that than have you book the wrong thing.