Professional Dog Trainer. Available for 1-2-1 sessions and groups covering all areas of dog training
(40)
23/10/2023
Darling Margaux (5 months) came for a 1-2-1 session this afternoon. She’s Clemmie’s daughter from a recent litter (Clemmie is daughter of Zara and sister to my Margot and Izzy, granddaughter of Twiggy) 💕💕💕 she’s so clever and beautiful. We worked on reflex to name, sit and stays, recall to the whistle, heel work and then heel work and recall away from a distraction. She was a super star! Ingrid left with lots of goodies from Skinner's for both Margaux and her older labrador at home Anni.
22/10/2023
WOWZERS!!!
Today was week 4 of my puppy group! Congratulations! All the puppies are coming along so well - we can now start to introduce some more exercises for them to go away and practice. I've set up a WhatsApp group so that we can all make contact during the week to share experiences and ask questions, plus I can give them additional training exercises if they have time.
Today I've sent them a You Tube Video of me with Purdey when she was only 6 months old. "Purdey (6 months) working c**ker: Bowl exercise - heel, steadiness, lining up and recall." The 'bowl' exercises are a very useful tool for all training. Today we were working on our recall past a bowl and heel work around a bowl. I still have a few spaces left in my next puppy group starting on Sunday 12th November from 11am which runs for 6 weeks if anyone is keen to join please contact me asap. https://youtu.be/fNfd-wRtwmg
21/10/2023
Getting ready to go out to the pub and saying goodnight to the girls dogsportsclothing
21/10/2023
Getting ready to go out to the pub and saying goodnight to the girls FAIRFAX & FAVOR dogsportsclothing
21/10/2023
GUNDOG FOUNDATION WORKSHOPS
Still a couple of spaces remaining:
Tuesday 24th October
AM (10am to 12pm) 1 space available
PM (1pm to 3pm) 3 spaces available
£50 per dog/handler
A fantastic opportunity to train your gundog breed on the stunning West Wycombe Estate, Bucks. (Pet gundogs welcome!)
In each session we will give the dogs the opportunity to retrieve canvas dummies in parkland, woodland and in water. All breed of dogs welcome. Dogs should be approx 10 months and older and keen to hunt/retrieve. If you've attended my puppy groups and/or heel and recall workshops with me - then these workshops are for you to progress and have some fun with your dogs.
e-mail [email protected] for more information or click the link below to book up: https://www.jtdogtraining.com/groupsessions
20/10/2023
Can highly recommend for your shoot and training days to keep your dogs completely energised 🥰
19/10/2023
COLD GAME TRAINING DAY
A fantastic Cold Game Training Day today at West Wycombe. We had 7 retrievers and 1 springer spaniel. Some of the dogs had never retrieved game before!
We worked on dummies in the morning in parkland, on and over water and a fence, which included marks and memories from a drive. Then after a short break for lunch including a glass of fizz and chocolate chip cookies, we moved onto a selection of cold game (pheasant and partridge and one pigeon) in the woods.
Each handler was asked to take a 'bird' from my cool boxes and to familiarise themselves with it. Allowing the dogs to see, smell and look and we set off to the woods. Following a number of warming up exercises, depending on the experience of the dog we had 2 marked or blind retrieves down the track through the woods.
We finished the afternoon off with a pheasant and partridge 'drive' in the woods. What a delight to see the dogs suddenly appear with a bird in their mouth.
Huge Congratulations to Emily Creaser with her young labrdador retriever Crumble for coming away with a goodie bag from Muntjac Trading and a JT Dog training rosette for the most improved gundog throughout the day. Crumble retrieved her first dummy from a marked retrieve using shot out in parkland, a water retrieve from the river and then retrieving both partridge and pheasant from the woods. AWESOME!
Huge thanks for the amazing support today from Muntjac Trading ACME Whistles & Skinner's
Do you have a gundog breed or a budding young gundog?
Then one of these groups are for you.
£50 per session for up to 8 dogs with their handlers
🐾 Recall
🐾 Heel work
🐾 Retrieving dummies in parkland, woodland and water
🐾 Steadiness
(Pet gundogs welcome)
Dogs should be keen to retrieve and have a reliable recall or if not you can use a long line.
18/10/2023
Very excited to receive a package today from Muntjac Trading ready for my gundog training days ahead in October and November.
Lots of wonderful goodie bags with dummies, lanyards and leads for my gundog foundation groups and cold game training days. Lots of new dummies of all shapes and sizes available to purchase too 🥰 **kerspaniel
17/10/2023
I was delighted to be awarded a Certificate of Merit in The Cambridge Field Trial Society 'All Aged' AV Retriever Trial Stake for 16 dogs at The Cokenach Estate, Barkway, Hertfordshire yesterday, by kind permission of the estate owners and MR Kenneth Grant Esq. good girl Margot “Gwidigada Atlantic Spirit” 🩷
17/10/2023
FIELD TRIAL UPDATE: We were awarded a COM! 🥰
(I've put these notes together for those who might be interested to know what goes on during a retriever field trial. Obviously each retrieve is unique on the day and each dog and handler are put through their paces!) Can be extremely stressful - not for the faint hearted! 🤣
Yesterday (Monday 16th October 2023) I was running Margot (Gwidigada Atlantic Spirit) in The Cambridge Field Trial Society 'All Aged' AV Retriever Trial Stake for 16 dogs at The Cokenach Estate, Barkway, Hertfordshire by kind permission of the estate owners and MR Kenneth Grant Esq. It was an emotional day as a very dear member of the committee Geraldine Thompson had recently passed away. Some lovely tributes were made to her.
It was a driven pheasant trial - I was number 2 ...
I started off on the right in line with 8 other handlers, we were told to take our leads off and the drive began - it seemed to go on forever, it always does. A number of pheasant were shot out on a grass horse field with wire fencing to the back of us. Then a very large c**k pheasant landed just in front of us and got up and ran - this was too much for the dogs either side of me, who both ran in! Margot stood her ground (good girl) and didn't move an inch. Phew! That meant that the first retrieve would be mine. During the drive a hen bird was shot and went behind the line and landed just on the edge of the wood. Margot couldn't see this as the other handlers were blocking her, luckily I had a good mark on it. When the drive was over the other handlers were told to put their dogs on the lead and both myself and number 6 were told to go with the judge. Always tricky when you know that there are number of birds laying out in the grass field to the front of us, so without excellent heel work your dogs can easily rush off for the retrieves.
ROUND 1: My first retrieve was the bird that fell to the back of the line, beyond the wire fencing (not barbed wire), quite some distance to the right. This was going to be a tricky retrieve as very close by were all the other birds laying out in the grass field. I sent Margot directly through the wire, then stopped her and cast her right. She wanted to go into the wood as that is where all the pheasants had flown. Another stop and a push right sent her along the track some 60 yards to where the bird fell. The scenting conditions were good and after a bit of a hunt (as the bird had moved) she picked and came back through the wire to deliver the hen bird to hand. (Phew!). Our second retrieve in that round was out on the grass field. Again tricky as all the birds were all within 10 yards of each other. She picked cleanly and returned.
Another drive
ROUND 2:
This time I was on the left. The guns stood out on a ploughed field with some mixed cover crop out in front. Again a pheasant drive. A number of pheasant landed out on the plough to the front of us. During the drive there was a runner going away between us and the other handlers on the right, Margot had marked it, but one of the dogs from the right was sent - phew! Margot settled back down. Then a hen bird got up and ran directly in front of me. Margot clocked this immediately and I knew that I was going to be sent for it, but had to wait for my number to be called. She was ready and up on all haunches .... then I heard my number and was sent. The bird ran directly into a huge bush of stinging nettles, but Margot followed it and cleanly picked it and delivered it back beautifully to hand. Phew! Another retrieve under my belt. However, after having picked a runner during the drive we needed to come back inline - off lead and be calm and collected for the continuation of the drive. She did me proud!
ROUND 3:
I was taken back to the plough field where the second drive had taken place. Here the judges were being very specific with which bird you were to pick. I was asked to pick the bird to the far left of the drive approx 20 yards from the judge. I sent Margot out, she took a good line, but was being pushed right with the wind slightly - where all the birds were that she shouldn't pick. A couple of stop whistles and casts to the left and then a hunt. She winded the bird required and picked cleanly. Phew retrieve number 4 under my belt! The Plough was quite tough under foot, but she ran out and back with gusto!
Another drive
ROUND 4: 2 retrieves
We had gone back to the yard to collect our vehicles as it was quite some distance away. We parked up and then walked out into a huge open white grass field. The guns lined up in front of a large hedge with woodland to our right. Margot couldn't see the birds land, so she was up on her haunches like a Meerkat, marking everything! Our first retrieve was very tricky - we were sent to the corner of the large field and I was told the bird was in the middle of some cover crop near to a dead branch in the hedge. It was a good 100 yards or more away. It was a long way! Margot didn't take the best line as the wind again pushed her right. I didn't want her to go left as that is where lots of other birds had landed, if we picked the wrong bird we would have been out! She went into the cover crop and the judge was waving his stick in a circular motion to say that she was in the area. At this stage I couldn't see her at all! The cover crop was very tall and she was out of sight. The radio wasn't working very well, so we couldn't hear what the judge was saying. I stopped he and told her to hunt (this is where your verbal and whistle cues without the dogs seeing your arms are so important!) We then heard that she was out of the area and had gone into the woods. I then recalled her to try and get her back in the area. She came back to the area and I asked her to hunt again, still no bird. She then went out of the area (still not able to see her, but we knew from the radio) - then suddenly she returned back with a hen bird. Phew! The judges later went out to the area that I was sent to and there was no bird there, so it must have run on.
Following this there were only 3 of us remaining. There were a number of birds down in front of us very close to a peg and we were asked to send our dogs. Being the lowest number I was sent first. Margot took a good line and with one stop and push to the left she winded the bird and picked.
I knew that Margot had gone well, but so had the other 3 dogs in the last round. Huge congratulations to Josephine for winning with her gorgeous dog and Doug for getting a COM and winning the guns choice trophy.
I was over the moon to receive a COM in an All Aged Trial as there were some fantastic dogs competing, the judges were kind and fair, the fellow competitors very jolly, friendly and supportive and guns were ALL amazing and not forgetting the organisers and helpers. Thank you so much for a great day. Here are a couple of photos as a memory of a fantastic day.
16/10/2023
Still some exciting training opportunities for your dogs and puppies. Pease PM or e-mail me for more information [email protected]
I look forward to seeing you soon!
Huge thanks to Muntjac Trading ACME Whistles & Skinner's for supporting all my upcoming events 🥰
Lots of exciting training opportunities still available throughout October and November 2023
14/10/2023
What an ‘epic’ day we had on Wednesday at The Ridge & Pophleys Shoot on Wednesday. Great team of guns, beaters and picker uppers. Thank you Stretch and Lynda and Tara for taking the photos
14/10/2023
A stunning day out today picking up at Wormsley with the girls. 4 magnificent drives. Girls are now starting to get very fit and ejoying every minute of it.
12/10/2023
FIELD TRIAL UPDATE:
Today I was running Margot (Gwidigada Atlantic Spirit) in the Arun & Downland Gundog Society Novice Trial for AV Retrievers at Hawstead Farm, Wi******er by kind permission of Mr Dan Gradridge. It was a driven 16 dog duck trial. I was number 1!
It was a fantastic day and we got through to the final round, but she just pulled to the left on quite a narrow retrieve and sadly picked the wrong bird, so we were not in the awards. But a massive achievement for us. There were some fantastic dogs competing, the judges, fellow competitors and guns were ALL amazing and not forgetting the organisers and helpers. Thank you so much for a great day. Sadly no photos, as I was too stuck in with so many retrieves and trying to concentrate.
10/10/2023
CLICKER TRAINING
Delighted to receive my Level 1 Certificate of Achievement for the Clicker Trainers Competency Assessment Programme with a Distinction. Thank you to Gundog Trainers Academy and Helen Phillips Clicker Gundog
If you are interested in seeing the criteria and various stages for this achievement you can find it here on my JT Dog Training You Tube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2jLR2E3J7bFmTtM_Vuy9TXDx0BnY5LcI
**ker
BOOK NOW!
Any questions please get in touch via e-mail: [email protected]
09/10/2023
FIELD TRIAL UPDATE:
It was a very early start for me this morning with Margot to drive up to Staffordshire for The Labrador Retriever Club's 288th Field Trial Meeting. A Novice Stake for 16 dogs. It was a walk up in very deep kale which tested all the dogs. Margot's first retrieve was a dry run, but she held the area nicely and worked well - I got a compliment from Steve Richardson the A panel judge at the end of the day. Her next retrieve was a mark out the front with the wind going away from us. I had to stop her as she passed the fall and hunt her onto the bird. It was a runner, but she held the ground and hunted very nicely and picked. Sadly after a short break and relocation to a different area/changing direction in the kale we were put out when there were a number of partridges running all around our feet. Margot put her nose down and darted forward, which was not good - this resulted in the judge asking me to put my lead on :(
We've not experienced partridge running around our feet before!! It was a great trial, brilliantly organised - great judges and guns and congratulations to Steve who won. Understandably we were not allowed to take photos during the day, so here is photo of her at home resting! 🥰
08/10/2023
UPDATE ON SPACES LEFT ...... BE QUICK TO BOOK UP
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
BRAND NEW: HEEL AND RECALL WEEKEND WORKSHOPS
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
£40 per dog for a maximum of 8 handlers per group set in a secure 3 acre paddock just outside Princes Risborough.
Do you need help with:
Focus?
Recall?
Impulse control?
Heel work?
Loose Lead Walking?
Sit stay?
Then these workshops are for you.
Suitable for all breed of dogs/puppies.
Click on the links above for book and find out more information or PM or e-mail [email protected]
08/10/2023
Practicing our sit stays for 15 minutes out on our daily walk today. Thank you Sally Richardson for the reminder on The Gundog Network. Out on a shoot or in a trial you might have to sit still/quiet with your dogs for up to 40 minutes sometimes whilst the drive takes place. Good girls 💕I frequently practice this with my dogs so that they can learn to do ‘absolutely nothing’! Start with them on the lead then off. They can be in a sit or lie down. Even a trip to the pub with your dogs is good practice. I managed to find a nice tree to sit on!!
Share your photos of your dogs out on walks doing nothing!
GUNDOG FOUNDATION WORKSHOPS (Tuesday 24th October)
Chris and Bobby came for a 1-2-1 session yesterday with his gorgeous 8 month old Small Münsterländer. His training is coming along very nicely so he's booked onto one of my gundog foundation classes on The West Wycombe Estate, Bucks on Tuesday 24th October.
If you have a budding young gundog breed that you'd like to bring along, click on this link to book up either the AM or PM session (pet gundogs welcome). This class is also suitable for puppies of approx 6-8 months and older. https://www.jtdogtraining.com/copy-of-1-2-1-group-sessions
04/10/2023
A fantastic day out picking up with my girls today in the stunning Chiltern countryside. 🤗 thank you Stretch and all the team. There are even puff ball mushrooms growing down at Happy Valley! 🍄 The birds were just stunning and I can’t wait for my ladies day there on Wednesday next week 🩷
03/10/2023
COLD GAME TRAINING DAY
Today I held my first Cold Game Training day at West Wycombe. We started off by settling the dogs into the day with some steadiness exercises in the open parkland, then dummy retrieves in and over water. Depending on the level of dog's ability I would change the retrieves. Some of the dogs had blind retrieves, some memories and some marks. All the dogs were stretched to their full potential and all excelled! Wonderful to see 🥰
The estate is just perfect for gundog training and lends itself well to all sorts of retrieves for all breed of gundog. There is stunning parkland, woodland and plenty of water.
All the dogs and owners excelled and had a great morning. Then back to base where we sat for a short rest to have our lunch, coffee, tea, cookies and fizz!
During this time I had a chance to hand out our goodie bags from Muntjac Trading which contained a small dummy keyring. Then all the handlers got to choose a new Alpha ACME Whistles (either 210.5 or 211.5) in a variety of colours. Thank you the handlers were delighted to receive these gifts.
Then it was time to get the cold game out. As we are only a few days into October and that West Wycombe is a partridge shoot, we were using partridge. Some of the dogs had not retrieved any game before and some were a bit rusty... so we started off giving the handlers all a bird each to hold and show their dogs. The handlers were then asked to take their dog into the woods, throw down the bird, walk off with their dog and then send back to retrieve the bird as a memory. Some of the dogs needed a little bit of play and encouragement and some went straight and picked up the bird and took it back to the handler. AWESOME!
Following this exercise we did a mini drive in some woodland by the waters edge for the dogs to watch and then walked off. One by one the dogs were sent back for a retrieve. They all loved this exercises - classic of what would happen on a shoot day. All the handlers were delighted when they saw their little dogs return with a bird in their mouth 🙂 We then went towards the water and climbed to the top of 'The Temple of Venus'. Hugo was on the other side of the river - some dogs had a blind retrieve over the water, some had a mark on land over the water, some a mark in the water. Some dogs were not too keen to enter the deep water to begin with, but by the end of the afternoon all dogs were swimming and all dogs retrieving from the water. Wonderful!
Keep up the great work and hope you all enjoy the season ahead.
I do have some more spare dates in November where I can offer some more training days if there is interest. Please let me know
02/10/2023
There is always time for a little training session with Purdey to show Olivia after an engagement party at the weekend. 💖 (I don’t normally wear my best frock when training!!😂). You can see she’s now steady, on the stop whistle, can recall away from a distraction, keen and has a beautiful delivery to hand. We’re working on her hunting and that’s also coming along a treat! Loving my little c**ker 😍
01/10/2023
My new puppy group started this morning 🩷 can’t wait for 6 weeks of puppy joy! All these puppies have already got off to a great start with their owners. We will be working on focus, loose lead walking, recall, sit/stay/wait, settle, find it and a play retrieve. See you next week!
Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Jennifer Thomas Dog Training posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Contact The Business
Send a message to Jennifer Thomas Dog Training:
Videos
There is always time for a little training session with Purdey to show Olivia after an engagement party at the weekend. 💖 (I don’t normally wear my best frock when training!!😂). You can see she’s now steady, on the stop whistle, can recall away from a distraction, keen and has a beautiful delivery to hand. We’re working on her hunting and that’s also coming along a treat! Loving my little cocker 😍
🐾NEW NOVEMBER PUPPY GROUP🐾
Due to high demand I've just released a new puppy group starting on Sunday 12th November at 11.00am to 12pm which runs for 6 weeks.
Have you recently got a young dog or puppy? Do you perhaps need to re-visit a puppy group to get all those important foundations of focus, heel work, recall and settle in place as your dogs go through adolescence? Then this course is for you!
The 6 week course is held in a secure 3 acre paddock at the back of my house just outside Princes Risborough, Bucks. Plenty of secure off street parking. Cost £180 for 6 x 1 hour sessions. Click on this link for more information and to book: https://www.jtdogtraining.com/service-page/puppy-group-sunday-at-11am-for-6-weeks-1?referral=service_list_widget
Purdey’s first ever partridge retrieve ❤️
This was Purdey’s first ever retrieve of a cold partridge, just at home. She sat to watch Margot retrieve and deliver to hand first and then it was her turn.
As you can see she really wasn’t sure what it was or what to do with it, bless her. For her first time I decided to have a go at home in a quiet environment with no distractions or excitement of the shoot day. She’s only 14 months old so will only be joining me in my vehicle whilst I’m out picking up and then I’ll get her out to socialise in between drives.
It’s really important that the dogs work it out them selves, then a bit of encouragement at the right time. Here you see I’m very much focussing on recall, not so much on the retrieve, or the bird. I don’t want the bird to become too high value at this stage otherwise she won’t want to bring it back to me - she runs up to it, has a good look, sniff and investigates the smell and texture, but really isn’t sure. To make it fun I pick the partridge up and give it a little throw, this time she takes a wing in her mouth, I try a couple of times again and then she picks the whole bird and brings it to me. Then we stop and put the bird away. It’s not perfect, by any imagination, but I’m pleased. One step at a time. Good girl Purdey ❤️
BOOK NOW - EXPERIENCED GUNDOG TRAINING
One space has just become available on my gundog group on the stunning West Wycombe Estate, Bucks on Wednesday 23rd August from 1.30pm to 4pm £50.
I also have 4 spaces available on Thursday 31st August from 1.30pm to 4pm. Click here to book up: https://www.jtdogtraining.com/copy-of-1-2-1-group-sessions
I popped down there this afternoon with Margot to check the water and it is amazing!!! Apologies for the poor videoing!
⭐️BOOK NOW⭐️
Once space has just become available on my Experienced Gundog Training afternoon on The West Wycombe Estate (HP14 3AA) on Wednesday 23rd August from 1.30pm to 4pm. BOOK NOW!
Plenty of lovely clear water - walk up training, blinds, marks over water and lots more! £50 (apologies for the poor camera work!) This was taken this afternoon - the conditions are fabulous!
4 spaces also available on Thursday 31st August from 1.30pm to 4pm. Click here to book: https://www.jtdogtraining.com/copy-of-1-2-1-group-sessions
A bit of pre-season training with the girls #gundogs #labradorretriever #workingcockerspaniel #gunshot @ejchurchill @muntjactrading
New puppy group starting on Friday 4th August from 10am to 11am which runs for 5 weeks.
A lovely marked retrieve for Gill’s young dog with a few obstacles on the way 💖👍💦
Hi - I’m Jennifer and I thought that I’d share some history about me!
I’ve always had a huge passion for animals and was lucky enough to be brought up with dogs and horses from a very young age. During my late teens I spent a couple of years as a working pupil with Gill Watson where I competed Arthur my 16.3 Irish thoroughbred gelding at a number of one day events around the UK.
I then married Ryan in 1996. On the day we got back from our honeymoon we knew that we really wanted a pet, but both working and living in a flat with no garden a dog wasn’t possible for us - so we went out and found a beautiful Oriental kitten Chloe. She was adorable, but hated being left on her own all day, so we got her a friend - Millie a Burmese beauty! Then it was time to have a family and three years later Olivia came into our lives and then four years after that I had Hugo. When we moved into our current house, The Old House Farm in 2005, we knew that we were ready to have a dog.
Now in March 2020 we still live at the same house and have 6 labradors (Lulu 13, Pipit 11, Twiggy 9, Hattie 7, Zara 3, Margot 1 today!). We also have two cats, Olly 7, and Bella 7. I’m a Kennel Club Accredited Breeder and have so far had 5 litters, with more to come in the future hopefully.
I’ve been a bit of dog training for the past 10 years, but last year decided to become a professional dog trainer by getting some qualifications. Approximately 6 years ago I started to research into dog training and knew that the only method that would work for me is through ‘positive reinforcement’ and that’s when I found the IMDT (Institute of Modern Trainers). I attended a two-day course back then and then most recently a five-day course in September 2019 to then go on and do my assessment in October 2019. This was the hardest thing I have done in my life, but I passed and an now an IMDT Qualified Dog Trainer together with an accredited certification from The Open College Network Level III Principles of Dog Training and Behaviour, am a member of The Guild of Dog Trainers and have attended a IMDT Canine Body Language course and a Canine Aggression and Rehab course.
I’m also chairman and retriever working test secretary for The Chiltern Gundog Society with nearly 1,000 members owning both retrievers and spaniels. We put on training every month from March to September and organise a number of working tests and field trials for both spaniels and retrievers. This is a voluntary role which is hard work, but enjoyable as I have the most amazing committee who are extremely supportive and brilliant.
I will continue to increase my learning and knowledge of dogs, their training methods and behaviour moving forward and I look forward to working with you all.
