Pawcentric dog training

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Dover
Pawcentric dog training

Reward-based, force-free training based in Great Mongeham near Deal. Covering Deal, Dover, Folkestone, Thanet and all surrounding areas.

Offering groups & 1:1 training options. Qualified, science-based, professional & up-to-date 🐾. 1st class degree in animal science. My dissertation focused on repetitive stress behaviours in captive red squirrels, I went on to present my findings to the zoo itself at there own conference. After completing my degree I then went on to work in rescue kennels for 4 years. Currently working towards bein

g an accredited behaviourist with IMDT. Certified SA (Separation Anxiety) Pro Trainer. Agility competitor at grade 7 (championship level). Won YKC (Young Kennel Club) obedience finals at Crufts 3 years in a row. (As far as I’m aware we are the only competitors in YKC obedience to have achieved this!)
This was all achieved with my anxious, ‘reactive’ dog Kez that I rehomed when she was 18 months old. Passionate about up-to-date science based training. My dog training journey started when I took on a highly people and dog reactive Springer spaniel at the age of 14. Since then I have been on a journey learning as much as I can about the world of dog training and behaviour. I have a particular interest in reactivity and fear-based behaviours as a result of this. When I started out I couldn’t find any trainers or behaviourists that would help me (things have changed since then!) and so I make sure to always be there for all my clients as someone to turn to when things do get tricky. I love my job, and I am always striving to be the best I can be. As a result I have lots of courses and further education ongoing at the moment so that I can always offer the best to my clients.

02/01/2026

2nd Jan - here’s all that’s coming up!!

January puppy classes & puppy ‘Reconnect’ walks!

Friday 9th Jan - Walmer Parish Hall at 6.30pm- FULL

Saturday 10th Jan - Lydden Village Hall at 9.15am - 3 SPACES LEFT!

Sunday 11th Jan - Dover puppy social walk (Reconnect walk just for puppies below 6 months!)

Sunday 25th Jan - Beach puppy social walk (Reconnect walk for puppies below 6 months!)

We also have our life skills class for dogs of any age starting Saturday 10th January at 10.30am. This is our follow-on class for puppies also suitable for any dog who wants to work on important life skills.

All are available to book via: https://bookwhen.com/pawcentricdogtraining.

We have now got our own Pawcentric dog walker! 🙌 This means that we will have availability for walks & pop-ins that are in line with our Pawcentric ethos from mid- January onwards. All walks are solo walks (there will be occasions when we will walk dogs with other dogs if in the best interests of that dog) and will be tailored specifically to each dog based on any training programmes your dog is currently on. Shelley will be starting to shadow our sessions from next week onwards and then taking on her own clients in 2-4 weeks time. This is a really exciting step for Pawcentric as it means for those dogs that rely on a dog walker - we can now all work together and make sure everything we are doing is working towards the same goal 🙌.

Any questions at all please get in touch! If you’d like to join the world of Pawcentric we would love to have you 🐶🐾.

31/12/2025

We ended 2025 with the final ‘Reconnect’ of the year. It was a big (rather mental at times) group - we were blessed with sunshine ☀️.

What a year 2025 has been. What a year indeed 😅.

We are ending the year in a much better place to how we started. I am immensely excited for what 2026 will bring for Pawcentric. More Reconnects, more positivity, an abundance of support & always a lot of fun 💜.

Apparently - I’ve now agreed to do a skydive 🪂 for charity in 2026 too 🤣. Yes… really.

If you’d like to be a part of our Pawcentric world in 2026 do join us, we’d love to have you 💜🐾.

31/12/2025

Pawcentric Christmas Day walk 2025 with Charlie & Pepper cockapoo’s, Lily the Husky x Shepherd & Capo the Frenchie.

29/12/2025

The world of dog training is constantly evolving…

Dog training courses are always talking about ‘the four quadrants’, ‘counter conditioning’ & ‘desensitisation’. They are the basis of dog training. A dog reacting at another dog? Positive reinforcement, counter conditioning (pairing something scary with good stuff - usually food) and desensitisation (gradual exposure to the trigger whilst feeding the dog).

These days - I very rarely use counter conditioning & desensitisation. This came up in the recent conferences I attended this year too. Maybe - just maybe - this is becoming out of date 🤔.

What if - we are actually just teaching our dogs to tolerate?

Yep our dog is near another dog. Eating the food - great 🙌. They are stood right next to the dog - no reactions. Yay! Problem solved.

Or is it?

Is the dog genuinely okay? Genuinely feeling safe? Or are they just tolerating being near the dog, eating the food because it’s there… but actually counting down the minutes until they can get as far away from there as possible?

I have seen far too many examples of counter conditioning & desensitisation training programmes failing. Yes - it looks like the dog is fine and doing amazing. But actually, underneath the dog is tolerating. So, as soon as that dog comes out of that environment… they are straight back to reacting.

I am way more interested in helping a dog feel truly safe within themselves. Be able to fully relax so that they are not so worried about the triggers in the first place. Only then can we get closer to the triggers because the dog is genuinely comfortable to - not because they feel they have to.

And I WANT to see reactions. Because often - ‘reactive’ dogs react because it’s all they know. The further into training we go - a dog may (and actually should) react out of habit. If we’ve done things right, chances are there isn’t any real emotion behind the reaction anymore. But they need to do that reaction, to see that actually they are safe and don’t need to do it anymore.

This isn’t something that should be done without a trained eye. My job is to tell you when something is genuinely too much for your dog. Or if I think they are okay and we can push them just a bit further. Often - this is the bit standard dog training courses do not teach.

If they are reacting - they are not suppressing & therefore comfortable enough to tell us how they feel. I want them to do that!! It tells me they feel safe enough to tell me how they feel.

If a dog is tolerating, suppressing & not reacting because they don’t feel safe enough to do so… that’s a problem. That’s not progress.

Training a ‘reactive’ dog is not simple. It isn’t easy. It’s complex - each dog is completely unique. The dog training world is changing and we are understanding this more. Thank goodness. But as with everything - it takes time for that understanding to grow. Always be careful with the trainer you choose to help you with your dog. Sometimes, far too many times actually, they may be causing more damage than good 🐾.

26/12/2025

Happy Boxing Day - did we all survive 😅.

I hope you’ve all been enjoying your Boxing Day walk - Hux & Winnie certainly did 💜.

Now we can go - phew that’s over - and 2025 is nearly over too.

What training plans do you have for 2026? Maybe a New Year’s resolution is to dedicate more time to your dog(s) & dog training…

The world of Pawcentric is focused on one thing - supporting you to give your dog the best life possible 🙌.

Whatever your training goals for 2026 - if you’d like our help to achieve them please do get in touch. We would love to help you 💜.

We now only have 1 space remaining in our Friday evening Deal puppy class at Walmer Parish Hall starting 9th January.

4 spaces in our Dover Saturday morning puppy class held at Lydden village hall starting 10th January.

5 spaces in our Dover Saturday morning life skills class at Lydden village hall starting 10th January.

Available to book via: https://bookwhen.com/pawcentricdogtraining

We have limited 1:1 availability for Jan/ Feb.

Now’s the time to start making those 2026 plans and getting ready for a fresh new year full of exciting opportunities 🙌💜.

24/12/2025

A huge happy Christmas from all of us here at Pawcentric - but especially me & my dogs🎄.

Thank you for supporting me this year - wow what a year. This year has thrown everything at me and the business that it possibly could. Somehow, someway I’m still standing and the business is in a better place than it ever has been. The future looks & feels exciting 🙌.

This time last year I was doubting if the business was even going to survive…

Now there are 4 of us in team Pawcentric and we’ve just finished interviewing for our new dog walker position who will start in January… exciting times ahead! 🙌

Life is hard & tough. Christmas has a way of shining a light on the toughest parts of our lives. But it also gives us the opportunity to reflect on how far we’ve come.

Whilst interviewing for our dog walker position I was explaining the Pawcentric story multiple times over and oh my god - I’m so proud of all that Pawcentric has achieved and the hurdles I have overcome.

We are here, we have so many clients that rely on us & trust us. We are authentic - we do not copy anyone, all the ideas are mine and mine alone. I am always open & honest - sharing what’s really going on. That’s what we do with dogs right? Encourage them to tell us how they really feel - so I encourage all of us and everyone to do the same.

One of the proudest things to come from this year is the sense of community that Pawcentric has developed. We have a huge community and have now raised just under £1500 for charities this year as a result of this. The power of this community has been incredible to see.

Thank you to all the clients that have supported me. The other trainers who offered support & guidance during my toughest times. The friends I’ve made during the 5.5 years I’ve been doing this. This world is incredible. This time last year things were insanely tough and about to get tougher. But here I am - here we all are! Thank you all.

A huge happy Christmas - I look forward to seeing some of you on our first ever (completely free) Christmas Day walk on Deal seafront at 3.30pm 💜🐾.

24/12/2025

Christmas Eve playtime on the beach for Buzz & Lily 💜. ❤️

23/12/2025

Bertie - black Labrador - one of our regular Reconnect dogs. He’s been coming since we started them at the beginning of the year. This is what his mum says about the Reconnects… 🥰🥰🥰.

The reconnects have been a game changer and I am probably the biggest advocate for the sessions I cannot praise them enough 🥰
Bertie has probably had a growl or lunged at every dog in this group he has ever met in the beginning.
We once had a short lead with “give me space”and I was miles away from anyone 😢.
Now he is very much in the group with all breeds on a long line. He even allows kisses from some dogs!
I am still astounded every walk we do with Gunner (long-haired GSD) that he can walk alongside beautifully ,before he would not have tolerated him… an entire hairy bigger male but somehow he seems to want to be near him.
If anyone hasn’t tried them please do a game changer if you have a worried dog!

Bertie is like a different dog these days - it is incredible to see 💜💜🐾.

22/12/2025

Today’s Reconnect fun 💜.

22/12/2025

Today I met Bernese mountain dog Bailey for an initial assessment session to assess his reactivity on walks. Bless him, he’s a very anxious boy. It took him a good 45 mins before he was brave enough to fully relax with me and I was able to give cuddles… but by the end we got this happy face & soft, waggy tail🥰.

Our aim with Bailey is going to be to help him relax & feel safe, take the pressure off him so he doesn’t feel he has to go up to every other dog and help him make better choices in all areas of life. He did so well today making some brilliant choices already… we just need to set up the right situations to encourage him to do that as much as possible moving forwards.

I’m so looking forward to working with Bailey further and seeing him progress - I know he’ll smash this 💪🙌.

Such a positive session to start off the chaos that is Christmas week 😆💜🐾.

21/12/2025

Recalls… forget the ‘sit’ when they come back to you. It’s up to us to convince them coming back is worth it… so convince them 🙌💜.

20/12/2025

Another fab Reconnect walk today. Buzz (springer) ended the walk by taking full advantage of the muddiest puddle he could find 🤣🙈.

We had Kirsty from kirsty's pawsative experiences shadowing today’s Reconnect walk to see how we do things. Trainers working together, supporting each other - I’m fully up for that and think it’s so important.

I’m less okay with other trainers stealing my ideas and passing them off as their own… but I suppose when you are onto something and it works so well… it’s bound to happen! 🙃

My Reconnect walks & memberships have been over a year in the making. Lots of trying things, ditching what doesn’t work… and making them into something that benefits all. They are completely unique. They are not about ‘socialisation’ - they are about building positive connections. Whatever those positive connections may look like!

And they are about ‘Reconnecting’ dogs & their humans who once felt isolated due to their dogs reactivity.

They work so well. We now have over 20 dogs who regularly join our Reconnect walks - either on one of our memberships or on an ad-hoc basis. Every single group/ walk is completely different - and my job is to tailor what we do to each individual group so it’s beneficial for all.

Sometimes I will tell clients ‘not today, they are not feeling it today’ or ‘it’s too soon, we need to do more 1:1’s first’. We actually had a dog trial the Reconnect today for the first time - one of my 1:1 clients - and he found a couple of the other dogs too challenging for where he is on his training journey. So I said, okay let’s not push him further than he’s ready for, let’s pick a smaller group for next time. At least now we know where he’s at and what he can do. He came, he made friends with a couple of dogs, and then he left - ending on a positive. The rest of the group then carried on.

My focus is on building the relationship with the dogs and their humans. Understanding their needs. And always putting those needs above all else.

They are so valuable & so loved by all who attend we are running a completely FREE one on Christmas Day. A day that can be tough for so many and can emphasise loneliness/ loss. Seeing familiar faces and doing something safe & familiar is so important. So that’s exactly what we are doing 🙌🎄.

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Dover
Dover

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https://www.pawcentricpathways.co.uk/

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