Clifford Dog Training home of Puppy School Gloucester

03/11/2024

Our clients were back to Mantrailing yesterday ☺️💪

31/10/2024

Sassy Bellatrix the Schnauzer is super excited to share that her gorgeous and loving humans have helped her through her Puppy School at Home training with distinction 😀

It’s been fun guys, thanks for the laughs 🐶🐾❤️

28/10/2024

Thank you so much to Hatherley Manor Hotel & Spa, Gloucestershire for running their Paws and Prosecco Afternoon Tea event today.

They worked really hard to slot us into a corner so my boy was able to manage his arousal level. We had a goody bag to take away and also a plate of goodies for him to eat whilst we ate ours. He’s now fast asleep on the sofa.

We all had a great time and we’ve booked again.

24/10/2024

And the second cohort of graduations go to:

Bentley - a shy and thoughtful boy who on week 1 took his time to trust us but what a rewarding little chap he is. He’s got himself some brilliant humans and we might add, for a schnauzer he barely barked once we showed him what to do instead 🫶

Honey - sweet by name and nature. A super bright little girl who could have aced PS at 6 weeks old! A pleasure to have her in class each week and watch her show her humans her many talents.

Macy - now we can’t have favourites but we did have Macy! What a treat for us to have her to train. She’s working hard on her humans but having the most fun along the way.

Go forth little angels and keep reminding those humans how lucky they are to have you to learn from, we can’t wait to see what they learn with you next 💜

24/10/2024

We’ve had 2 classes graduate recently.
🤩🐶🎓
First up -

Denzel - little boy with a big heart. He certainly became class inspector quickly ensuring cuddles were distributed to him first before his friends 🤣

Brody - just the most perfect soft little gentleman. Nothing he doesn’t already know but he was modest about his skill set.

Willow - whirlwind! A bouncy bundle of love and teeth! She was so eager to learn every week and her humans did a fabulous job keeping up with her.

Nancy - the other whirlwind of the group! She kept us on our toes for sure but what a special little lady. She had a team of three servants each week and they all learnt how to speak speedy terrier!

You will all fly in the big puppy world little ones. It’s rare to have a whole class of such kind and social pups, we really wanted to keep you all!

13/10/2024

Sharing this after meeting a man yesterday who refused to put his 3 uncontrollable off lead dogs on a lead because “isn’t your dog friendly, you need to socialize it more…..” allowing his very rude and rambunctious dogs to run up to my clients dog (when it was working).

Please if only for your own dogs safety be a responsible dog owner and clip on around on lead dogs especially when asked politely to do so. It’s the law you know 🤯🤯

There was recently a dog on dog incident in which resulted in an upsetting outcome and since then a few other incidents have been raised regarding dogs off leads not being in control by their owner. Therefore we wanted to provide some advice to dog owners regarding on lead and off lead etiquette.

Engagement, focus, and reliable recall is required if your dog is off the lead. Your dog coming when you call them, is crucial. If you’re comfortable with your pet being off lead please ensure they have good recall in place.

Here are some tips below which will help make sure both your dog and other dogs have the best time off and on the lead:

• Keep your pooch away from other dogs that are on-lead. Many owners will keep their dog on lead for various reasons such as training, reactive behaviour towards other dogs or people, nervousness, not reliable recall, legal or health reasons (including if their dog is post-surgery and is on strict gentle walks).

• Be sure to keep a close eye on your dog at all times – they may wander into an area that you’re not familiar with when they’re distracted by the other dogs

• It’s important to monitor dogs playing in a group environment because things can quickly escalate, especially when a new dog is introduced to the group

• When your dog is off lead, you should keep them away from others that are on lead

• When passing another dog, whether on or off the lead, it’s good etiquette to put your dog on a lead.

• We’re dealing with animals, and even though they may behave well most of the time, it’s wise to have full control.

One of the main concerns is people who let their dogs bound over to other dogs - who may be on the lead or walking quietly beside their owner - usually with some person shouting after them “don’t worry, he’s friendly”

When you are out walking your dog, don’t let them dash up to other dogs - especially if they are on a lead. Dogs will be on lead for a reason. If you see an on-lead dog and your dog is off lead, call your dog back, give them a treat and put them on the lead until you have passed them.

If you can’t do that, don’t have your dog off lead around others.

Further advice and resources can be found on: https://orlo.uk/lUU9j

Regarding animal crime you can find information here: https://orlo.uk/f1lzw

[image taken from the respect the lead website]

12/10/2024

It was a chilly start to Mantrailing this morning but that didn’t stop the dogs from working.

5 new starters, the youngest was 17 week old Charlie who absolutely smashed his baby trails.

We had 3 dogs progressing their trails this afternoon and we worked on starts, open spaces and building confidence.

Huge thanks to Vic at Hereford Mantrailing who is just awesome as always and the best Mantrailing Instructor.

Trailing today:
Charlie - our youngest dog yet at 17 weeks and Ivy, Luna, Dig, Pepper, Cleo, Fly, and Milo.

09/10/2024

Well that was fun 😀🙈🤯🤩🐶🐾

Our 6 week bronze course finished this evening and just look at these 5 adolescent dogs all posing nicely for the camera. We certainly didn’t get that in week 1.

Massive well done to all the owners of Murphy, Wilf, Buddy, Connie and Masey for turning up each week and chipping away and building that focus. Fantastic tricks from all of you and really good effort with the group stay.

Congrats all

08/10/2024

Last night was graduation night for some of our puppy school pups!

Elvis has officially left the building after turning up each week with boundless enthusiasm and showing off a lovely "spin" trick to end the course.

Rosie announced her departure with some vocals last night, demonstrated a brilliant "stay" and said goodbye to us all with a very cute "wave" trick.

It's been a great six weeks with these two superstars and three more pups who unfortunately couldn't make it last night- little Flo, Chip and Bruno.

Don't forget just because your initial puppy school course has ended, it doesn't mean your training has too. We're always here for support and check out our follow on companion courses, as well as the mantrailing we offer.

06/10/2024

It was Mantrailing in Tewkesbury today and with a mix of newcomers to the sport along with some familiar faces.

The rain stayed away for us 💪

Welcome to Cwtch, Paddy, Mabel ,Rubble, Ludo and Betty who all rocked their intros and some have already booked their first progression 😍

And returning for progressions was
Cae, Ozzy, Lucy, Willow. Well done for battling through heavily used areas, other dogs, adults, children, automatic opening doors and wind 🤩

Massive thanks to Vic from Hereford Mantrailing for being awesome as always, setting all the dogs up to succeed and for being a thoroughly all round good egg.

Our next Mantrailing session is on Saturday 2nd November and held in the Gloucester area. If anyone would like to try this dog led addictive sport, get in touch by emailing [email protected] and we’ll let you know more and how to book on.

28/09/2024

In our puppy classes it’s all about that important foundation training - starting at the beginning and getting it correct from the very start. Yesterday we met Charlie, a golden cocker spaniel and coached his owner on how to start the settle exercise with him. Being a busy cocker spaniel it’s so important to teach a settle early so when the family goes to places that they need Charlie to just relax and switch off, he does exactly that.

Just look at Charlie practising and nailing his settle 🤩💙😍🐶☺️🐾

21/09/2024

It was time for us (your trainers) to shine last night. We fought through the rain and thunder and local flooding to get to a pre-arranged Escape Room for a fun team building evening.

We were awesome - we escaped from Alcatraz with 1 minute and 30 seconds to go. The Alcatraz room is considered challenging and only 20% of groups manage it. 🤩👍🤜💪

Well done to us (Lisa, Kerrie, Fay, Kim and myself).

18/09/2024

𝗔𝗕𝗧𝗖 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗗𝗼𝗴 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴
The recent publication of the study titled Comparison of the Efficacy and Welfare of Different Training Methods in Stopping Chasing Behavior in Dogs (Johnson and Wynne, 2024) has sparked significant debate across the animal welfare community. This study, which adds to the growing body of evidence on the adverse effects of shock collars (e-collars), highlights serious concerns regarding the welfare of dogs subjected to this training method. Please see our Statement relating to this via our News page at https://abtc.org.uk/about/news/

[Image/text description: Graphic states ABTC Statement - on recent study concerning the use of shock collars in dog training]

𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦: 𝘈𝘉𝘛𝘊 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘴 - 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 24 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘺.

06/09/2024

⚠️ 𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝑫𝒐𝒈𝒔 𝑩𝒆𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 (𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒚) 𝑩𝒂𝒅𝒍𝒚

Yesterday, I received the following email from a researcher for the TV programme *Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly*:

"𝑀𝑦 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑠 (redacted) 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑉 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 ‘𝐷𝑜𝑔𝑠 𝐵𝑒ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 (𝑉𝑒𝑟𝑦) 𝐵𝑎𝑑𝑙𝑦’.

𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑛𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑒𝑝𝑖𝑠𝑜𝑑𝑒𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑘 𝑖𝑛 𝐿𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝐿𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑚.

𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛 𝑇𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑑𝑎𝑦 10𝑡ℎ 𝑆𝑒𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑜𝑔 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑏𝑜𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑚 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑢𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑛 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑜𝑜𝑛. 𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑓𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑑𝑜𝑔𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑎 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑒.

𝑊𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑑𝑜𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑛-𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑏𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑙𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠.

𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑚𝑒 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛. 𝑂𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦’𝑑 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑎, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑎 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑠𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑠!"

My first thought was to delete the email. I'm not a fan of Graeme Hall. I've watched a few episodes of his show, and in my opinion, he seems to make things up as he goes along, relying on outdated training methods.

However, I was puzzled. Was the “cravat” unwell, and they needed a stand-in? I'm a nobody – why on earth would they want to film me training a dog when there are so many high-profile trainers out there? Curiosity got the better of me, so I decided to give the researcher a call.

I'm still in shock as I write this. The researcher explained that they wanted to invite me to Lytham with my Border Collie to "demonstrate" to Graeme Hall how I would train my dog not to respond to a phone ringtone.

Graeme would then take my training method and use it to teach the Border Collie of the family seeking help – all while filming it for his TV show!

WTF 😳😳😳

I decided to dig a bit deeper and reached out to the force-free dog training community to see if anyone else had experienced something this bizarre.

It turns out that many trainers had also been asked to attend filming sessions to show Graeme how to train dogs before the cameras rolled. Most reported that they refused because of his methods, but a few had shown him and his team how to train a dog, only to be dismissed without any credit for their expertise.

I then did some open-source research on "The Country’s Best Dog Trainer," as the *Daily Telegraph* calls him. He has no formal training in canine behaviour or training. He’s essentially winging it with the help of whatever trainers are willing to show up and assist him.

According to his website, he charges £875 per session 🤔😧

Now I’m not someone who normally criticises other trainers. I prefer to let my clients decide if I’m the right trainer for them based on how I work with their dogs.

However, I couldn’t let this pass without making it public knowledge.

If you're looking for a dog trainer, please avoid this programme and this man. You have no idea whose techniques he’ll be using week to week, and given that most qualified and accredited trainers want nothing to do with him, the quality of training you’ll receive is questionable at best.

Instead, do your own research and find a local trainer who aligns with your own dog training ethics. Organisations such as The IMDT or APDT - Association of Pet Dog Trainers can help guide you to qualified & accredited trainers in your area.

𝑷𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒐𝒈𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒔!

01/09/2024

Elvis is excited to start puppy classes tomorrow along with getting to know 4 new pals.

And we can’t wait to say “Elvis is now in the building” 😂

31/08/2024

This has literally just made our day. We are really very passionate about what we do and when we receive such positive feedback it really does make us smile.
We love working with you and Luna, it makes our training sessions so much more positive to have owners who are really keen to learn and are fully engaged, so thank you to you too, for showing up and throwing yourself and Luna into it all, making our job that little bit easier. We can’t wait to see you progress through silver (and gold) and are so delighted that Luna is having a wonderful holiday.

🐶❤️🤩🐾🥰

“Just want to say a massive thank you for training me to train Luna. We are on holiday at the moment and she is a pleasure to take out. From recall using hand signals and just coming back sitting by my side and looking up at me. Kids coming up to her stroking her and nuzzeling her head under their chin. (Very cute) she never barks at other dogs. Looks at them and just carries on walking. She’ll settle nicely in pubs unless someone pays attention to her. We are working on stay and getting there slowly. I neither thought I would see the day. Looking forward to the next lot of training. And the dog groomer you recommended is very good. Thanks again!”

27/08/2024

Do you know the signs of a puppy farm? When buying a puppy, don't be afraid to ask lots of questions. If the breeder is responsible then they will be happy to answer any questions about themselves, their dogs or their breeding choices.

Here are 9 questions to ask the breeder to avoid getting caught out! 🐾

- Did you breed the puppy yourself?
- How many pups were in this litter?
- How old are the puppies?
- Can I see where they were bred?
- Can I see the mum and dad?
- How many litters has the mum had?
- Was it a natural birth or c-section? (A dog should have no more than 2 c-sections in their lifetime)
- Are there any health issues within the litter?
- Will the puppies be wormed and vaccinated before coming home with me?

Find out more tips for buying a new puppy: https://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/bepuppywise

25/08/2024

Wowsers, we had such an amazing time in foundation hoopers with this lovely bunch. Ronnie the rocket, Chubbs the tank and precise Posy all absolutely nailed it. Who knew they’d go from never walking through a hoop 6 weeks ago to confident little hoopers stars! It’s been an absolute pleasure working with you guys and your dogs- with their unique approaches to hoopers have filled us with joy and pride! We hope you feel it too! ###

🐾🤩🐶🏵️🥳

24/08/2024

It was the perfect start to Mantrailing today at our new rural venue. We encountered, sun, rain, mud and an angry tractor. The trail layers were amazing dressing in camo gear and hiding on the ground and a wooden wigwam provided a very suitable hiding place for another trail layer.

All the dogs excelled and we worked on indications, hunt trails, split trails, open areas, intensity starts, gates and bringing one particular dogs nose down to the ground more.

Huge well done to all the dogs and their owners who trailed today, we hope your dogs have now assumed the upside down position and are snoring loudly - pour yourself a glass of wine and relax for the evening.

Cae ❤️
Prince 💙
Willow ❤️
Loki 💙
Pepper ❤️
Arlo 💙
Ozzy 💙
Fly ❤️
Dougie 💙

A big shout out to Hereford Mantrailing and the lovely Vic for her time today.

20/08/2024

Here are the Fab Four at their graduation party earlier

🤩❤️🐾🐶🏵️🥳

Congratulations go to Gryff, Mimi, Bailey and Milo and their fab owners

The only way is up 👏👏👏👏👏

19/08/2024

Tonight we said farewell to this lovely little group comprising of Arthur, Pippa and Oscar. They wowed us with their tricks - left paw, right paw and sit pretty.

Happy graduation everyone
🤩❤️🐾🐶🏵️🥳

17/08/2024

13/08/2024

We love to get returning clients and Shirley the Bulldog definitely has a corner of my heart. This is what Shirley’s owner said when she made contact to book her new puppy into class:

“I remember you Jacki, Shirley my bulldog loved you! She passed pet ambassador with your help, although she still goes through the door ahead of me! But is much better behaved, she’s 8 now!”

“I can remember you hiding behind a tree to get out of Shirley’s vision whilst doing the car boot test, as she loved you and wouldn’t concentrate when she saw you 🤣”

(That must have been in my slimmer years 😂)

We look forward to meeting our returning client later this year in puppy classes with her new puppy, Arthur the Border Terrier.

Picture of both of them, just because ☺️❤️🐶🐾💙🐶🐾

12/08/2024

Meet Bear a Welsh Spaniel and he’s just booked himself onto our puppy school at home package.

He rocked his session 1 and mum, dad, nanny and sister all know what exercises to practise in readiness for session 2.

We can’t wait to meet up with him again.
🤩💙🐾🐶

08/08/2024

We met up with siblings Buddy and Bilbo today and what a delightful duo these two are.

We started them on our Puppy School at Home package and their owners are fully on board with the training.

We think these little smashers are going to be perfect together.