Pet Star Academy UK

11/11/2024

I have been accused of not valuing my services or being under hand trying to under cut the competition (some of whom set up after me).
I keep my prices low because I value my clients and what I offer but understand we are in a cost of living crisis and want to be accessible to as many dog families as possible .

02/11/2024

From now to 29th Nov get 20% off all trick titles and warrant awards.

www.petstaracademy.co.uk

28/10/2024

Halloween mantrailing take 2 inconjunction with Chloe Ding of Ascent K9.
Started off fine but then the weather definitely turned tricky! And graveyard definitely died a 2nd time.
Best ghost catcher definitely goes to Jude. She was having none of our silly antics.
It went darker much faster than the night before despite starting an hr earlier to accommodate the clock changing.
Date for your diary is 26th Oct 2025. We'll be getting together again for another collaborative Halloween.
Keep an eye on your emails tonight for your certificates (also check your junk mail folder).

Thanks again for the pumpkins go to our friends at Scurry Dog . They mostly found another home again spreading more joy.

27/10/2024

Pumpkin tracking the phantom pumpkin snatcher wearing a pumpkin!

26/10/2024

Brilliant 1st night of Halloween mantrailing joint event with Ascent K9.
We started with a warm-up tracking the phantom pumpkin snatchers, they were nowhere to be seen but we did recover the pumpkins. (It's important not to abandon your pumpkins in woodland as they are good for wildlife).
Then there was a murder and ghostly goings on out on the fairway. Taking scent from a murder weapon and a hovering (walking) find.
Concluding with a scent ID in a graveyard of the waking dead.
Lots of 1sts for most of the dogs but they were all brilliant. Special mention to Amber who has doe a lot of training and Rhi told me she had been quite frightened of things this week but she trailed like a trouper and I think ever challenge was a new one for her!
The spooky bingo was won by Megan and prize for best fancy dress awarded to Julie and Dill.
Bet you all wish you had braved the dark now. We will be getting together again next year.

Thank you to our friends at Scurry Dog for the donation of the pumpkins 🎃

Oh and I saw Paddington on the way there.

26/10/2024

Halloween mantrailing is underway...

19/10/2024

last chance to get in on the last spots on the 1st intensive introduction course for Trail Hunt International Starting this monday! Haddocks playing fields runcorn.
Book here asap: https://bookwhen.com/petstaracademy/e/ev-sw1s-20241021100000

13/10/2024

Everything you need to know about Trail Hunt International
I am now able to bring to you Trail Hunt International which is a brand new scent work sport - it’s a blend of tracking and trailing and accessible to all dogs.

The best bit is you can practice on your own in-between sessions. But don’t worry there will still be progression/club sessions to come to as well.
Instead of following human scent we teach the dogs to follow an aniseed odour trail to find their pod. Just as with mantrailing, the dogs are permitted to follow odour drifts and do not have to be as regimented as tracking. Don’t worry if you already have a mantrailing dog, Trail hunting will not affect their mantrailing ability. If anything it will only enhance it, giving them extra opportunity to practice their trailing super skills.

The dogs are taught to do the sport through a series of progressive exercises during an introduction course. This is 2 full days worth of teaching (with an hour lunch break each day). The foundations course costs £100 per dog. This also includes a number of introductory bonuses.

Goodie bag - including dog treats and food voucher, pin badge and pen.

Trail Pod starter kit (worth £16)

Dog registration with ID card (worth £30)

Log book

Certificate of completion

The foundations course is taught in small groups. Space can be allowed for reactive dogs.

After the foundations course you can join ad hoc club sessions (like mantrailing progression sessions) where you can meet up with other Trail Hunters and I will coach you on your trails, practicing what you learnt on the foundations course. Club sessions will be £20 per dog (same as my mantrailing sessions).

After the 1st foundations course, when you are ready, there is another full day foundations plus course. Here you will learn even more exercises to practice. These are concentrating on eliminating Human scent. On completing this course you will receive a 2nd certificate and rosette. At this point you will then be able to go onto complete achievement tests.

Once your dog is registered with Trail Hunt International you can work towards achievement tests and from later in 2025 grade tests will also be available.

There is also a dedicated facebook group for registered members with weekly tips and podcasts from the founder of Trail Hunt International, Alex Butler. And of course a community of supportive fellow trail hunters.

Don’t forget during this introductory period I am giving you your dog registration as part of your foundations course fee.

See Trail Hunt International in action in the video below
https://youtu.be/VZyz0_1cjGI?si=ID3DdYwIg-UFkoNK

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

30/09/2024

If you want to start Trail Hunt International on a 1:1 basis here is the booking link: https://bookwhen.com/petstaracademy/e/ev-smp2-20241007000000

I can run sessions in South Cumbria and once a month in Runcorn area. Locations outside 10 miles of Ulverton, Cumbria and Runcorn, Cheshire will be subject to additional mileage fees.

Dates, times and locations arranged at mutually times between client and instructor.
To the maximum of 6 x 1hr sessions. Further sessions if needed to complete foundations can be arranged on individual progression basis.
As well as the 1:1 tuition for the foundations of Trail Hunt International participants will receive a starter pack worth £15, dog registration worth £30 with reg card and record book, goodie bag with treats and food voucher for the dog and badge for the handler and a certificate of completion.

Group workshops also available

30/09/2024

right well the original event sold out in about 30mins so we've agreed to put on a 2nd one on Sat 26th Oct....

Due to popular demand a 2nd action packed progression session not for the faint hearted. Participant will need to have a few progression sessions under their belt for this one.

You will get to trail with both Claire from Pet Star Academy and Chloe from Ascent K9 (2 trails with each so 4 trails in total).

Prizes to be earnt along the way. Prize for best Halloween costume. Some Halloween snacks will be provided but please feel free to bring some of your own.

https://bookwhen.com/petstaracademy/e/ev-spdl-20241026163000

30/09/2024

An action packed progression session not for the faint hearted. Participant will need to have a few progression sessions under their belt for this one.

You will get to trail with both Claire from Pet Star Academy and Chloe from Ascent K9 (2 trails with each so 4 trails in total).

Prizes to be earnt along the way. Prize for best Halloween costume.

Some Halloween snacks will be provided but please feel free to bring some of your own.

Book now - tickets are going to go FAST https://bookwhen.com/petstaracademy/e/ev-sc19-20241027150000

30/09/2024

Foundation workshops coming very soon... Watch this space

30/09/2024

It's Here!!! Trail Hunt International comes to Cumbria & Runcorn area! Look out for introduction workshops starting VERY soon

22/09/2024

Oh my goodness the dogs were on form this afternoon despite the break! The dogs all showed some excellent clear on off trail body language for the handlers to learn from.
After the warm up we did longer trails sorry I forgot to map Gizzy's, hers was to a raised TL with some interesting air movement across the other parking area but she worked it like a pro. The others worked more junctions using teamwork to problem solve.
Finally we finished with trails directly across open ground. This gave the dogs a whole different scent picture to solve and more body language for the handlers to observe.

20/09/2024

Space now available due to dog illness....

https://bookwhen.com/petstaracademy/e/ev-s69a-20240922130000

13/09/2024

OK who's up for some FREE yes FREE training?
I need 3 volunteers from my regular trailers to be filmed for my instructor assessment. This will be taught as a group. It is a sport for all dogs but just for the practicality of getting everyone in the shot will need to be dogs happy to work around others in this instance. Monday 23rd Sept 4pm just for a couple of hrs. Be around Haddocks playing fields from the Norton Priory side (probably park in the layby there).

Trail Hunt International

06/09/2024

Just in case any of you need telling

⚠️ 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!

01/11/2023

When participating in workshops you can get some awesome shots of the dogs finding you when you are trail laying. Also accepted are action shots during a session.

FREE ENTRY!!!

Rules:-
* Post your pictures in the comment to the post in the group page.
* You may enter as many times as you want with different pictures.
* By entering you agree to your pictures being used for my marketing purposes.
* The Judge’s (me) decision is final.
* Bonus point for getting a picture of Wally in focus!

Prize: Antler for your dog & The Natural Dog Hub food sample & voucher. And a piece of fudge for you.