Training

From the beginning of Diamond I've been asked if I would take on training for dogs however I've always declined. Although there is no legal or regulated requirement for a dog trainer to be qualified, in my eyes I felt I needed to be as experienced, well read and to study as much as possible prior to offering this service. 

Having completed the 'Puppy Lab', an extensive course run by The Canine School of Science, as well as 2 years volunteering heavily with rescues, 2 years of working daily with dogs, undertaking training classes and workshops with my own dog, I decided to begin my quest to gain trainer accreditation with the Institute of Modern Dog Trainers (IMDT).

The IMDT are an internationally recognised education provider for Dog Trainers, and uphold a code of ethics which I am fully committed to.

I am extremely proud to have gained my qualification and accreditation following my assessment in August 2019. I am committed to continuing professional development to ensure my approach is up to date, science and evidence based, and to continnue my learning.  

The process of gaining qualification and accreditation through the IMDT concludes with a thorough 2 day assessment involving both practical and theory based examinations. Full membership with the IMDT is only offered on the basis of passing each of the 4 areas of assessment and is therefore a rigorous process. I chose this route to reflect my commitment to dog training, and to ongoing learning.

I am completely committed to ensuring that I only take on work I feel is within my juristiction as a trainer. Any identified issues I do not feel able to advise on I will always refer on to a behaviourist and may recommend veterinary examination to rule out any underlying medical issues.

Current Classes - 

Puppy Training - A 6 week course providing you and your puppy with foundations to their training, building life skills and working on basic behaviours. 

Awards Classes - Bronze, Silver, Gold & Diamond Awards! 

This is a rolling class with a monthly subscription. Starting with the Bronze award, each award has its own criteria of behaviours for you to learn and work on with your dog. Once your dog is competent with each of the criteria, you gain your award! This covers and subsequently builds on your basic behaviours, leading to more complex and advanced levels of training, all at your own pace. 

If classes aren't for you and your dog, 1:1 training to work on areas including anything puppy related, jumping up, recall, lead walking, enrichment and mental stimulation, barking, confidence and anxiety is available.

I am able to offer some advice for mild seperation anxiety. If your dog is experiencing issues with severe seperation anxiety, human aggression/ dog aggression I can happily provide details of a behaviourist to assist you.

All of my training uses methods of positive reinforcement and is 'force free'. This means that we use kind, encouraging methods to train our dogs. We used reward based training and also work on allowing the dogs to make positive choices, to think for themselves and to work those clever brains! My job is not to judge anyone for what you may view as mistakes made, my job is to help you and your dog build an incredible bond through fun training methods. 

If you would like to book training or to discuss your dog's individual requirements please get in touch and we can have a chat.