The Urban Dog

31/08/2024

Keep an eye out on our Back to School offer over at Urban Freestyle!

You know your human kid needs a fresh start with their education this September, but what about your dog?!

Fancy learning some new tricks, obedience elements, and how to use all sorts of obstacles in your training safely and effectively?!

For less than the price of a cup of coffee, you can access DOZENS of online lessons, get support and feedback on your training videos in our private facebook group, and even chat to us in real time once a month!

The offer is valid for a calendar month, after which you can cancel OR stay with us for what is already a bargain price of £29pm.

The discount code will be released to the general public on Monday 2nd September, but if you're an email newsletter subscriber you'll get it THIS FRIDAY!

We can only extend this offer to 25 lucky dogs so if you're keen to come and find out what all the fuss is about with very little risk - now's your chance.

If you like training your dog, you want fresh ideas, a supportive community, and feedback from 2 professional trainers then subscribe now and get priority access to the discount code- once they're gone, they're gone!

14/08/2024

Happy birthday to my beautiful boy, Puppy! I can always count on him, no matter what, always by my side, bringing joy, love, power & protect. Crazy to believe he is mine, and I'm forever grateful for every moment together. He is always ready to do hard work with a huge heart. Love you big man, thank you for another year ❤️!
Happy bday for the rest of the litter xx

02/07/2024

Big changes are coming...

It's time to share the big news!

I start my PhD in Wales (Aberystwyth University) full-time from October. I want to tell you a bit about why and how this happened, and what it means for working with me in the future.

I have so much to say about the 10 years of running this business, being a dog trainer and living in Devon. I want to express my appreciation and to thank everyone for their support and friendship, and to close this chapter, but I will need a separate post for all the emotions ❤️.

I'll start with where this idea came from. I've always loved science, and since my Masters thesis (MSc Genetics) from time to time I've looked to get back into research. As I love learning, I seek to learn from experts and always studying courses.

Many of you don't know, but the state of the dog training industry on the peer level has been quite ugly for years now. There is lots of hate about methodology and jealousy between camps and trainers (forgetting that everyone is here for the love of dogs, and that papers can be important, but they really can't buy you experience). I keep myself out of most of the empty debates, learning from experts from different fields and some of my best friends are dog trainers themselves. My biggest pride is watching the teams I support have fun, progress, build bonds and pick up some serious skills. The other most important thing to me is to know that my own dogs having a great life!

Long story short, I started looking again to do a PhD, to create data and facts instead of even hearing of these petty wars. Literally a few minutes later I found this project. Reading on, everything made perfect sense, it was like it was written for me, as I can use my academic background and my dog training skills together. Application and a few rounds of interview later, I got the position and will be starting my postgraduate research in Aberystwyth University in October.

My research is aimed to reduce liver fluke transmission, a zoonotic disease (can spread to people). We will use detection dogs to find the mud snail, which carries the liver fluke parasite, giving information for land management. Also, using environmental DNA to confirm the snails & parasite presence. We are hoping to help live stock and human lives and pioneer employing detection dogs in this innovative way. I've met the research teams I will be working with, and I'm very impressed and a bit intimateted 😅, but as the saying goes “If you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room.”
This research is a brilliant learning opportunity through a doctoral program, which, if you know me, you know how exciting that is for me 😁.

What it means to The Urban Dog:
- In person training stops with September
- My membership classes are running to the end of August (I will be crying so hard leaving you guys!)
- My 121 calendar is filling up with priority to existing customers, if you want to train with me before I leave, contact me ASAP!
- I will be holding workshops and game days, walks and pop ups. These are going up to the booking page soon: https://bookwhen.com/theurbandog

Our online training, Urban Freestyle is where you can find me training dogs outside of the university, so don't hesitate to join us!

20/06/2024

Social walk & Puppy Adventure Walk on the 29th Saturday morning.
Please let me know if you'd like to come along!

09/06/2024

Utilise Toy Play workshops

This topic is something I've immersed myself, especially since training for our sport, Mondioring with P. Some believe that bite sports get dogs out of control, but it should really do the opposite.

As you see in the video he is chasing the ring, and I call the last second and he responds immediately.

The exercise you see here in our sport looks similar, just instead of the toy, there is a decoy in a suit running away from the dog. There are two identical sends, in one of those the judge touches your shoulder to signal to call your dog, so you only know in the last seconds which one is a recall!! Call off of a decoy is harder for the dogs, but all I can say that we've been surprised by the deer quite often lately on our walks, and deer for some reason like to jump in front of Puppy. His recall was instant every time and super fast (even turned Freya back 😁).

Lots of exercises from sports can be modelled brilliantly with toys, and itself can give a great outlet for your dog.

This exercise is great for call from chase. Now obviously it needs to be strategically built up and maintained, but it is a great game really, so why not :)?

This workshop is tailored for you & your dog, but if you aren't sure, message me before booking.

https://bookwhen.com/theurbandog
2 part workshop, check description for dates please

09/06/2024

It's our birthday this month and to celebrate we are giving EVERYONE £100 off annual membership, meaning you get a whole year of Urban Freestyle for just £219!

This is insane value, and we won't be giving discounts like this again for a long time so jump in now and let's all give our dogs the summer of their lives!

04/06/2024

We had a super fun scent pop-up session today, thank you to VIP Dog Days!

I haven't filmed much as it was busy 😁, but oh these doggos did so well in this brand new environment, I'm very proud of you all!

We will do more, and our club trial date is decided, the 29th of June.
It will be very likely a closed trial for my customers, but if you'd like to take part message me, and I see if there is space. We will have 3 levels of difficulty, first level is only clove, 2nd & 3rd clove & gun oil, more details to come!

Here are some highlights of Puppy's search, he is fairly new to this, but really likes it!

30/05/2024

We have an Urban Freestyle Pop-Up event in Exeter this Saturday evening! Taster & more experienced groups are available.
Come and try this fun activity :)!

Please comment or message for details.

28/05/2024

Poltimore Puppy Classes,
new course starting soon!

Teach your puppy lifeskills and basic obedience, practice socialisation & confidence building.

Book here:
https://bookwhen.com/theurbandog =ev-s4ai-20240606174500

19/05/2024

We have a huge giveaway over at Urban Freestyle, our online training platform. We teamed up with our friends at Modogo to give you some amazing gear and Urban Freestyle training memebership!
Check it out!

🎉🎁🌠 COMPETITION TIME! 🌠🎁🎉

Modogo and Urban Freestyle are teaming up for this EPIC giveaway worth over £200! 😮

Urban Freestyle combines trick training & obedience, using props and what's around you to create awesome combos! 🤸🏻‍♀️

It's suitable for all breeds, ages and ability of dog! 🐶

This giveaway includes;
Ruffwear Front Range Collar (Colour and size of your choice),
Ruffwear Front Range Lead (Colour and size of your choice),
Ruffwear Treat Trader treat pouch, 🍖
Modogo Clicker,👏🏻
Hebrü Hundesport Nylcott Tug Ball, 🏀
Urban Freestyle Bandana 😎
And a 3 month online membership with Urban Freestyle! 🥳

To enter, make sure you're following both and . Next, share this post on your profile, and tag 3 friends in the comments below, who love their dog!! 🐺

Entries are open to residents of both Ireland and the UK.🇮🇪🇬🇧

Winner will be announced 26th May! 😮🍾

Good luck! 🤞🏻

24/04/2024

Focus Sessions

New 4-week course, focusing on focus :).
If you'd like to train your dog in a class, but worry that he/ she is too distracted by the others, this course is for you!

Do you struggle to get your dog's attention around other dogs, people, smells?
On this course, we will be focusing on building skills for both you and your dog to be successful!

This class is ideal for dogs who've done some training before, not reactive but rather excited around others.

https://bookwhen.com/theurbandog

Please message/email me before signing up to see if this course is for you!
[email protected]

16/04/2024

The next Puppy course in Poltimore is full, but there is a space on the Ide one (Sundays).

FULL NOW. Also last space on our Activity Booster beginner calss, a puppy class follow up course in Poltimore, starting this Thursday!

Book here: https://bookwhen.com/theurbandog

11/04/2024

I'm so greatful for my mentor dogs helping the puppies training!
Chloe was great in this job and Freya is doing her duties brilliantly for long years now. Here you can see how much it can help to practice recall from other dogs in a set up where the other dog is already trained.
In our classes we work towards real life recalls, and the dogs are allowed to interact (in a controlled way).

07/04/2024

Come on Spring! Freya would like to smell the flowers 😁.

05/04/2024

Join us to the Big Canine Clean Up over at Urban Freestyle !
Teach a cool trick and help the Earth :)

If there's one thing we can all agree on, it's that nobody likes litter.

To mark 🌎Earth Day🌎 this year, we are launching the Big Canine Clean Up!

The idea is simple- you just pick up a few bits of litter on your dog walks and share with your friends to get as many people involved as possible.

As a thank-you, and to keep you motivated, we will post a series of FREE tutorials throughout the month right here on this page, teaching your dog to put your own litter in the bin!

On Earth Day, we will do a post where you can all show us what you managed to achieve! And yes, there will be prizes!

Let's spring clean up our environment and have some fun this April 🙌

Note: please be safe & hygienic while doing your litter picking!

02/04/2024

Puppies 😍
I always seem to be too busy taking pictures in class but I couldn't resist to capture these faces.
These puppies recall is quite impressive already, nice to see that everyone is doing the homework!

Next courses in Ide & Poltimore are up in the booking:
https://bookwhen.com/theurbandog

Children welcome (with adult supervision)

For 1-2-1 Puppy training contact me: [email protected]