Ideally, as soon as you bring your dog home. I train puppies from the age of 6 weeks onwards. Training is about learning to communicate with each other and teaching the dog the skills and manners required for a happy life with their human family.

No, I will require the pet parent to be present for and actively participate in the training. My training philosophy is to “train the dog and teach the human”, with dog training comprising 50% teaching the dog and 50% teaching the human.

Dogs of any age can be trained, however, training older dogs will require more time and patience than training puppies. One reason is that the longer a dog engages in unwanted behaviours, the longer it will take to unlearn them. Prevention is better than cure also applies to dog training.

Every dog is different, some learn extremely quickly while others require a little more time. It also depends on how consistent the pet parent is in practising with their dog. I generally suggest a minimum of 8 sessions, after which we can decide whether any more sessions will be required to reach our training goal.

Every behaviour must be taught in different locations for the dog to “generalise” a behaviour, e.g., that SIT is the same indoors as it is outdoors. Training is always started indoors, with very few distractions and only when the dog reliably performs the behaviour indoors, can training be taken outdoors, where there are many more distractions. If a dog doesn’t follow the COME command at home, they will not follow it outside either.

Puppies, just like human babies, explore the world around them with their mouth. And just like human babies, puppies feel uncomfortable when they are teething and tend to bite everything they can find. I can teach you how to redirect the biting by providing acceptable chewing options and also what to do when your puppy is biting you.

Dogs pull for several reasons, they want to get to that tree that every other dog in the neighbourhood has peed on, or to meet Buddy down the road. They also pull because they naturally walk faster than humans do. That said, pulling is unacceptable and can be downright dangerous, for both the dog and the human. It is important to teach the dog that pulling does not pay and how to walk calmly on a loose leash. I can help you with both.