Prim & Proper Academy for Dogs

02/12/2024

Woody, the best head tilt and modelling the wet look after his very wet and muddy training session… so much improved in confidence and enjoying his walks much more .. Go woody 🐾🐾 🌧️

29/11/2024

Frazer the simply stunning 8 month old flat coat retriever . 1-2-1 in home session for this young adolescent lad. So quick to learn and a pleasure to train with.

22/11/2024

Teddy braved the cold and mucky weather for his training session today ! Who mentioned a bath 🙈 😂❄️🌧️🛁

20/11/2024

So very true 💙🐾

In honour of the common Labrador

I’ll be honest, if you’d asked me a few years ago what I thought of Labradors I’d have said ‘yeah lovely dogs but… kinda boring?’

You know what bit of me was saying that? My ego more than likely! As a dog trainer I should want a Border Collie or a Belgian Malinois. Everyone who is a ‘proper’ dog trainer has one of those.

Then I got a Labrador by accident. A client of mine asked if I could take on their 6 month old working lines Labrador as they’d realised they’d made a mistake in getting her. They loved her deeply, but knew they couldn’t give her what she needed. She is a very intense working lines Labrador who was already at 6 months old starting to go ‘self employed’.

I didn’t want dog number five, and if I did, I wanted a ‘proper dog trainers dog’.

Then I lived with her for 2 years. Then I saw what a good Labrador is.

The Labrador can wear many suits. They can be the docile family pet. They can be a child’s best friend. They can be an adventure partner. They can be a detection dog. They can be a service dog. They can be a guide dog. They can be a working dog. They can be a sports dog. They can be absolutely anything you nurture in them.

In Labradors there’s two ‘types’. Namely show lines and working lines. Both types are bright and biddable, with the working lines being far more energetic and athletic. So there is a certain amount of decision to be made when choosing a Labrador but generally speaking, the above fits most provided they are well bred.

For my girl, I worked to inspire drive, speed and energy in every fibre of her being. She is wickedly intelligent and if she was a colour, she would be bright, sunshine yellow. An optimist every day. I often joke that she wakes up every morning, overjoyed to have survived the night and to get to live another day! She is up for anything. Be it a walk in the woods, trick training, obedience, gundog work, demoing, or her true love, agility.

Someone recently described a good, working lines Labrador as ‘A Malinois with less desire to bite you’ and that couldn’t be more true (though she does enjoy biting me sometimes 😉 )

So, if you want a bright, energetic dog who is up for anything, biddable, fun and the right amount of spicy. Consider the boring Labrador. You may be as surprised as I was how much you’ll love them.

📸 kyte photography

14/11/2024

Beau just 6 months old!
Already the size of a small horse 😂, this young adolescent lad soaking up his clicker and whistle training with ease and enjoying every aspect of learning and training, fun was had by all 🐾

13/11/2024

Little Sky, the sweetest delight of a Staffy puppy you could ever meet. A pleasure to help start the foundations of her training today 🐾

04/11/2024

03/11/2024

Pet gun dog session with Oakley today!

02/11/2024

Great advice for helping your dogs cope with the firework season !

31/10/2024

1 year old Monty the young adolescent boy, working on some focus and engagement with his owners and polishing up his recall. Look forward to seeing him start some fun gun dog sessions soon 🐾

26/10/2024

So true 🐾

I'll let you all into a secret.... if dog training was easy, you wouldn't need dog trainers or behaviourists to help you 😉

And another secret.... REGRESSION HAPPENS!!

There's going to be times your dog starts doing something that you thought you'd finally sorted, or they suddenly start doing something they've not done before.

It's going to happen!

Especially around certain sensitive periods of their life! Never be afraid to retrain or go backwards a bit, you're working with a living animal with their own minds and feelings.

Don't take it personally, have a coffee or a gin, get back up and start again!!

You've got this!! 😁😁

22/10/2024

Alfie, showing us how handsome he is and how much he enjoyed his 1-2-1 training.

17/10/2024

16/10/2024

Looking good girls, rocking the jumpers after another wet training session 🙈💦🐾

12/10/2024

Passed ! All ready to start some new classes 🐾

08/10/2024

Poppy 🥰🐾

06/10/2024

Dexter 🐾 beaut of Sprocker working his nose so well, enjoying his freedom to search and retrieve 🐾

04/10/2024

The best course, thanks IMDT learnt so much…..