Dobercademy

Dobercademy Dobercademy Dog Training School and Behavioural Centre. Wherever you are in the World, we can help We run fun classes to suit all.

We run positive, fun filled Obedience, Scentwork, Agility and Working Trials classes and 121 Behavioural programmes both in person and online. Dobercademy Dog Training and Behavioural Centre offers the original outdoor first class training school for all your dog's needs whether he/she be a puppy, beginner, novice or much more advanced standard. If you have a more difficult or serious problem we w

ill help sort out your behavioural issues with a series of one to one consultations tailored to suit your dog's individual needs. Our 121 sessions will help with a range of problems from excitability to reactive behaviour to other dogs. Call us to arrange a free, no obligation telephone consult to find out more. We operate both in person and online for those who are in need of help but are not in Aberdeenshire. We also offer online training courses & advice so we are able to reach you wherever you are in the UK or the World. Our online academy is available with step by step demo lesson modules and information to help you build your relationship with your dog and train the behaviour you want. You can also work your way through our Dobercademy Good Dog Award Scheme from Bronze to Gold and receive your Certificates and Rosettes.

08/01/2026

It’s been snowing hugely here in Aberdeenshire and we’ve been snowed in twice.

One of the joys of the snowfall has been watching Sassi’s absolute delight exploring the white stuff and watching her utter excitement and zoomies and the freedom she has just to be her. Completely and utterly carefree enjoying the weather & the environment and just being a dog.

For me, the pure pleasure and laughter she brings to my life just being her, uninhibited, unafraid, trusting me to take care of her every need, cheeky sometimes, as she feels confident enough to put a paw on me in play, to stalk me on our walks, to run away with a toy and amuse herself with it instead of bringing it straight back. She knows I will just laugh, there are no consequences to her just being herself, a dog who just wants to be free to be a dog & enjoy her short life on this earth of ours.

Sassi arrived with me at 9 weeks, a well bred puppy, well done from birth. As soon as she arrived her education started, the learning that allows her to have as much freedom as possible in this human dominated world of ours. The important part of her learning is that it was all games based & plenty of fun for her.

I don’t expect her to be a “yes man” dog, I don’t want a robot who can do a down stay in a busy shopping precinct (she can btw do that!) or perform in an army of suppressed dogs wearing various tools around their necks to correct any foot put wrong, with their tails down & their sad haunted eyes, knowing “correction” will come if they show their fear & react at the dog walking too close, mirroring that body language & fear so I, the trainer, can boost my ego or show off my skills!

I want my dog to be joyful, to enjoy being herself, and tbh if I had to change my lifestyle in order to keep her happy I would. And indeed I have for previous dogs Iv owned.

When I take a dog into my home, I take him or her unconditionally and they are top of my list of priorities. They are important to me and I let them know that. They have choices, they enjoy freedoms.

The thing is, when we take a dog into our lives, although we dream of amazing walks on the beach, picnics in the park, visiting friends or having friends to visit us, often this dream may be dashed because the dog we get, for whatever reason, finds it hard to cope in the human world.
He may be a different dog to the one we dreamed of getting. He may be fearful of being alone, of other dogs, of other humans, he may suffer ill health. For me this is where I need to step in and support that dog, to kindly help him or her overcome her fears or health issues and to adjust my life if I have to to facilitate whatever this dog may need.

There are no guarantees when we take a dog into our home.

For me this is true love of my dog and is no more than my dog deserves when Iv chosen to take him or her into my life

Love your dog unconditionally for who they are - it’s never long before they are grey & slow and you will be missing them when they leave.

Video of Sassi living her best life ❤️

Dobercademy Training Through Kindness Knowledge & Understanding

FRUSTRATION TOLERANCE FOR DOBERMANNS Young Dobes often have a complete inability to handle any kind of frustration whats...
07/01/2026

FRUSTRATION TOLERANCE FOR DOBERMANNS

Young Dobes often have a complete inability to handle any kind of frustration whatsoever. In fact, I’m reminded as I write this that it’s not at all uncommon for them to shout at their owners or even mouth & bite at them when they can’t get what they want.

Teaching our dogs the skills they need to enable them to handle frustration is a fundamental & important part of training a Dobermann because of their often low tolerance threshold.

Life of course for everyone including our dogs is often frustrating. We can’t avoid it. So our dogs have to learn how to self regulate & control that huge emotional feeling of frustration.

They can’t have what they want all of the time!
They’re going to have to sometimes wait for things like going for a walk, getting into a car or even getting a treat.
Dogs who can’t tolerate the smallest frustration are the ones we often refer to as “he’s pushing the boundaries” or “he’s wilful” or “rude” or he’s even accused of trying to be “top dog”. None of this is true of course. What’s really happening is he’s feeling frustrated and hasn’t learned to handle that emotion so what we see is just behaviour reflecting his feelings.

As with all training & responsibilities around having a dog the responsibility lies with us to educate him. We need to understand this is just another skill we have to teach young dogs.

The inability to cope with frustration resulting in barking or mouthing & jumping, or however the emotion presents itself in a dog, can often become a learned behaviour too, particularly when the barking receives attention no matter how angry our response! Once it’s become an acquired or learned behaviour over time we may then need more time to re-educate a different response.

I’m going to use car travel here as an example as to how frustration builds & the dog gets what he wants so the behaviour becomes established.

We pop our dog into the car to go for a walk, we go to the same place most days or maybe a few select places. The dog can predict where he’s going and of course excitement starts to build. He starts to bark on the journey at earlier & earlier stages until he’s dragging us out of the front door - into the car and starting his barking immediately. Of course we get more and more wound up ourselves so we can’t wait to let him out of the car and this cycle just keeps repeating itself. The walk can then become a nightmare too because all this behaviour has pushed our dog into a place of complete over arousal so walking nicely on the lead for example is impossible.

Maybe as you arrive at the park there are other dogs playing and by this time your dog is impossible to control safely.

So we end up with a dog who can’t cope with car travel, can’t walk nicely on a lead, won’t recall, and just wants to run wild and do his own thing.

The frustrated dog will shout & bark & pull & jump & mouth & bite. We will see this frustration in all parts of his life.

It’s not such a surprise really to see frustration in Dobermanns, who have been bred for working & guarding. They are high energy, intelligent and have been purposely bred to be with their human 24/7. They are high maintenance and have a specific set of breed needs which we have to meet if we own one.

Starting off with some simple impulse control, such as waiting at the door, waiting to get in & out of the car, learning to be still whilst the lead goes on and off, learning to wait for food to be delivered are all super important and easy exercises to start to teach a puppy and will skill him up to prepare him for more difficult self regulation learning as he grows & develops.

It’s your choice is a fabulous impulse control game which has been around for years and one which I incorporate in all my training, teaching my puppy or dog that making the right choice will ultimately lead to him getting what he wants.

These are just some of the small and simple things I will teach to help my puppy or young dog start to learn how to deal with frustration. Impulse control is always a vital part of any training programme and helps us owners in all aspects of daily life with our dog. Teaching loose lead for example contains a lot of impulse control learning because of course it’s very difficult and so unnatural for our dog. Impulse control will help reactivity and prey drive too. Each individual dog is different and understanding your own dog and then having the necessary knowledge & skills to help him is the key to preventing that frustration from going into overload.

Dobercademy : Training through kindness, knowledge & understanding

Picture of Sassi controlling her urge to chase birds, she’s waiting for my re-direction cue 👌

06/01/2026

HIGH PREY DRIVE DOG?

Having a dog with a High prey drive Can be just as hard as owning a reactive dog for sure.

High prey drive dogs will start hunting the minute they are outside, and will often chase everything that moves and this can include joggers or cyclists even!
Movement can trigger a high prey drive dog into behaviours that get him into trouble and can be dangerousness for us!

They start hunting the moment you leave the house, looking for the cat next door, they may even hunt in your garden, the squirrel on your fence, the fox under your shed! High prey drive dogs are hard! They can’t listen to you or focus on you. Walks can feel horrendous.
You can be pulled over or maybe your dog escapes to chase something

We worry about these things.
We feel vulnerable taking our dog out because of what may happen!

We are often afraid to let our dog off the lead

So just for you : the owner of the high prey drive dog

We present : Our specialist high prey drive programme which starts next week and runs for 8 weeks during which time we will be coaching and supporting our owners to learn more about prey drive and we will be showing you how to work with & train your dog to be more relaxed around prey and more responsive to you.

We will help you take the uncertainty & danger out of your walks

In this full & thorough programme we will help you learn & teach your dog how to improve with

Loose lead walking
Recall
Stillness around prey & distractions
Get that Emergency stop nailed
Turn away from prey

These are just a few examples of what we will be teaching you in our specialist high prey drive programme

Open to all it costs just £250 and includes

8 live coaching sessions - all recorded & dropped into your teaching syllabus so you don’t need to miss anything

A large library of resources containing educational & teaching videos for both you & your dog.

Weekly homework sessions broken into bite size pieces to make them achievable for all

Plus you will have your trainer on “speed dial” for the whole 8 weeks you are working with us with our trainer in your pocket support group. This means we will be available daily to help with any extra support or advice you need to ensure your success!

Plus membership to our fabulous and private community of owners just like you

Starts 13 January 7:30pm

Message me, Sharon to reserve your space or use the link below to reserve your space
We can happily accommodate you with a payment plan too so just get in touch 🙂

MINI COURSE No 2 : Understanding Dog Speak! Body Language in depth We can all recognise the obvious behaviours of react...
06/01/2026

MINI COURSE No 2 :

Understanding Dog Speak!

Body Language in depth

We can all recognise the obvious behaviours of reactivity: barking, lunging and growling. But are you aware of the behaviours that often happen before this?
Learning your dog’s body language will help you see what your dog is telling you well before they have to shout by barking, lunging or growling!
Dogs communicate their discomfort in many subtle ways. Consider what your dog does before they overreact? Does their mouth go from open to closed? Do their ears get tall and forward? Does the tail go high up or is there a change in how they walk?

Body language is like a sentence, specific body parts are words but the whole body tells the story.

Seeing how your dog communicates with their body can be a game changer when it comes to resolving reactivity in particular.

Join us to learn what a game changer understanding body language is whilst managing and training your dog.
Registration link in comments
#20 only

DOBERCADEMY MINI COURSESWe open 2026 with a super mini course with Wendy which will take place on Wednesday 28 January a...
06/01/2026

DOBERCADEMY MINI COURSES

We open 2026 with a super mini course with Wendy which will take place on Wednesday 28 January at 7:30pm and if you have more than one dog you won’t want to miss this:

MANAGING MULTI-DOG HOUSEHOLDS

Living with multiple dogs (more than one) can be wonderful, but sometimes things go wrong and tensions rise between housemates. In order to build a happy home life with your dogs you will want to prevent altercations and generally lower your dogs’ arousal levels, while you work on building new associations and appropriate behaviours.
This mini programme will provide a multitude of information, hints & tips on how to live calmly & peacefully with both or all of your dogs.

For just #20 you will find the link to reserve your space in the comments below

Thank you Adopt a Rescue Dobermann for this great advice 🙂
06/01/2026

Thank you Adopt a Rescue Dobermann for this great advice 🙂

05/01/2026

Just two spaces left so grab them while you can 👍

04/01/2026

We are snowed in and blizzards & winds have ensured we only have small windows to get outside to play and to be honest it’s too cold to be out for long!
Iv been keeping Sassi occupied with indoor activities in between our outdoor “delight” lol. She loves the snow ❤️

04/01/2026

Does your Dog’s Prey drive ruin your walks?

What if your dog is able to be still & turn to you instead of chasing?

What if you had proximity & a reliable recall?

What if you could walk your dog on a loose lead and feel relaxed?

How to teach and achieve all this & more is covered in our Masterclasses in our High Prey Drive programme

Join us on Tuesday 13 January at 7:30pm for our eight week intensive High Prey Drive Master Programme with Sharon Chamberlin and learn a different approach that’s kind to both your dog and you.

Start to feel safe & calm on walks.

Link to join in comments

Below I’m working on Sassi’s obsession with birds. She can now be still & focus in their presence which is awesome given her obsession with their flying & literally running herself into the ground chasing them 💪

What’s your dog’s favourite prey?

04/01/2026

My Dog is Reactive

My dog chases everything

My Dog pulls like a train on the lead

My Dog won’t stop jumping up

My Dog is mouthing & biting me/the lead/everyone

My Dog just won’t listen

My Dog steals & runs off with everything

I can’t leave my dog alone

Car travel with my dog is a nightmare

I could go on listing many more reasons as to why owners contact Dobercademy.

Importantly, whatever behaviour your dog is doing we always need to start by looking at just a few initial things to help you and him change what is going on.

With reactivity in particular for example we need to look at :

1 How safe does your dog feel daily? If he’s reactive and he is facing fight or flight, or over arousal or has frustration is through threshold daily on his walks then his stress responses will be triggered & he will be spending a lot of time in the wrong side of his nervous system!

2 Sleep. Not getting enough sleep or down time has a huge impact on how we feel daily and it’s no different for our dogs

3 Health. Does your dog have any hidden pain? Gut issues? Often health issues such as these again will contribute to how our dog feels on a day to day basis & will impact on & contribute to his behaviour

4 Over arousal/over stimulation :

When working and training with our dogs and puppies the first thing we need to consider is their state of mind generally on a day to day basis. Are they calm and relaxed or are they feeling anxious or over-excited a lot of the time? This will have a huge impact on their behaviour in general.

A lot of pet dogs and puppies spend a fair bit of their lives living in “arousal” without their owners even realising. Arousal in a dog can be caused by lots of different scenarios, environments, events, experiences & circumstances. For example if a dog has the run of the house or garden they will often be overstimulated, constantly needing to guard, particularly a guarding breed, watching the windows, maybe fence running outside, chasing birds, barking at people or cars passing, play fighting with each other if you have more than one dog and even a seemingly innocent repetitive ball throwing game can induce too much stimulation

It’s important to know that if a dog is fearful of something, or really over excited about something, for example strangers too close, friends or family coming to the house, noises outside, a visitor they don’t know this can all be enough to move them up the trigger stacking chart.

Physical exercise, although required for your dog’s health can also be overdone. Overlong free running walks daily, chasing squirrels/rabbits, ott playing with other dogs at the park will all contribute to higher adrenaline & cortisol levels in your dog’s system, and when a dog is living in arousal, often experiencing some or many of the above “candles” daily, this will result in an big increase in the unwanted behaviours we see such as reactivity, barking, jumping up, pulling & lunging on the lead, general uncontrollable excitement, not listening to us and often we will see complete “zoning” out.

Therefore, In order to start being able to get our dogs listening to us and for us to be able to train the new habits and behaviours we want to see in our dogs and puppies first of all we need to look at reducing arousal, managing the practice of unwanted behaviours and introduce calmness. This is always majorly important when we first start to work with our dogs to change what is going on.

We look first at what is going on daily for our dogs at Dobercademy because if we don’t understand our dogs and help their owners to understand too, then we can’t help them. This is where we start and absolutely must be the first step in any Behavioural Modification Programme.

If you have a Reactive Dog starting here is the difference between failure & success. So many clients we see have huge gaps in their knowledge & training plans, even having worked with other trainers first. One cannot listen or learn if one doesn’t feel safe, well, calm & has all their needs taken care of. Our dogs are no different. We need to prepare them to learn and when we do this then training a different way & changing what we are seeing becomes so very much easier.

We have many options available for all your needs and to suit all pockets

Take a look in the comments where we’ve listed just a few & please feel free to message us or email us for more information or to purchase.

You can also book a free 15 minute call to discuss your needs with your dog & to find out how we can help : just book a call on the link in the comments 🙂

Make that change in 2026 and get your dog working with you and not going self employed 😜😂

03/01/2026

My best joy ever is watching my beautiful girl Sassi enjoying freedom to be herself and loving life & openly displaying how happy she is ❤️
That’s what makes my heart sing, helps me feel contented & makes me happy too 🙂

Happy New Year to all our valued clients, past, present & future and to all our fabulous followers. May 2026 bring you l...
31/12/2025

Happy New Year to all our valued clients, past, present & future and to all our fabulous followers.
May 2026 bring you love & joy with all your wonderful dogs ❤️

Address

Turriff
AB535TR

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 6pm
Tuesday 9am - 6pm
Wednesday 9am - 6pm
Thursday 9am - 6pm
Friday 9am - 6pm
Saturday 9am - 4pm
Sunday 9am - 4pm

Telephone

+447885284818

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Dobercademy 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 Dobercademy:

Shortcuts

Share

Category