House of Herders

11/08/2024

Cooper had great fun showing everyone at his Hoopers skills. Lovely to have a couple of dogs have a go 💖

If you'd like any information on our hoopers classes - drop us a message 😊

11/06/2024

Chloe ✨
Recently the fam moved house and Chloe was taking her role as land guardian very seriously.
As we had the opportunity to make some changes with the fresh canvas of a new home, we pounced on it!

We helped Chloe ‘meet’ her guests in a non confrontational manner, with their intentions clear from the offset following a predictable pattern.

Like me, this gal also loves shoes, so once she settles on her mat she gets to investigate the visitors shoes as she wants to know all about her guests, but doesn’t actually want to share her personal space with them.

She’s been absolutely smashing her training, I’m so proud! 🥲

07/06/2024

Intro to Hoopers 🐾

Our beginners Hoopers class is open for registration again 🎉

Hoopers is a fun activity for you and your dog, come and give it a try!

Get in touch now for more details and to book your spot.

12/04/2024

If your dog seeks to fixate; 𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙚 🦋

Mist is a car chaser, who has a very active brain that is always working and seeking the next hit. So, we used that to our advantage. We give her what she wants and that allows us to reach our goals ✨

25/03/2024

Our books are now closed to new 121 clients 📚 ✅

The first year at House of Herders has been crazy! We have been totally ran of our feet busy and appreciate every single pup and human we have worked with.

We have ran workshops, classes, demoed at events and carried out 121 training. Every aspect we have absolutely loved 🥰

Looking back over the year though, it’s very clear where we should focus our attention. And that is in building our community and increasing our clubs on offer. We are super excited for the launch of hoopers, obedience in conjunction with and making our scentwork and herders clubs the best they can be. Plus, the return of podcasts!
Community is our focus for this year 🫶🏽

This does mean that 121 training spaces will be limited, and will namely take place at our field in Kirkintilloch at select dates through the month.

Thank you to everyone that has been part of year one: and here’s to year two where we build what we have laid the foundations for.

To make sure you don’t miss the release of 121 slots and our clubs, make sure you are a member of our mailing list where we release them first! Link is in the bio 🤩

24/03/2024

Today, we had our first scentwork trial! So so proud of every pup and guardian that participated, and took everything in their stride. Thank you all for practising so well & coming along making today a success 🥰

Special thanks goes too:

Our trials judge :
Helping with set up : .onyx
Helping with tidy up :

20/03/2024

The face of a boy who absolutely SMASHED his training session 👏🏼❤️

I am so proud of Chester and his lovely family.

I love helping dogs and their humans build the skills they need to make walks enjoyable and less stressful.

We enjoyed a walk round a local park where we could do some work at a distance from other dogs and show Chester how to manage his emotions and behaviour better when he sees other dogs.

He's such a clever boy and it's so nice to see him looking happy and relaxed out and about 🐾

18/03/2024

🐣 Scentwork trial incoming 🐣

How lush are our most recent graduates?! They absolutely smashed class.

Which leads us to our first ever T R I A L ⚡️

Trial is this Sunday at Burnbrae - make sure you don’t miss out! Sign up using the link below and we will send you a time slot between 1&2:30 to come along and compete 🥰

🔗 https://calendly.com/houseofherders/level-1-scentwork-trial

14/03/2024

⚡️ G O N E ⚡️

Training availability ✨
On Saturday, we have a slot left late morning for training with us at our field in Kirkintilloch.
This slot costs £65 and can be used urban herding, recall, leash work, car reactivity, dog people reactivity.

You can book in using this link, with payment due within 24 hours 🙂

⚡️ https://calendly.com/houseofherders/collie-clinic

09/03/2024

Daisy 🌼
This spicy lil gal started training with us for not only car chasing, but a real intolerance to frustration.

We have made some tweaks to add in more active behaviours to give an outlet when she’s super frustrated which she is absolutely thriving with!

07/03/2024

🎉 Puppy Class 🎉

This adorable bunch completed their puppy class 💖

A big well done to the pups and their humans, what a lovely gang to work with and how lucky these pups are to have such dedicated families.

We hope to see you all again soon 🐾

If you're looking to sign up to our next block of puppy classes then get in touch 😊

22/02/2024

Last weekend we took Cooper for a walk with Tara. Tara is young and impressionable, so we used that to our advantage and let Cooper lead the way on how to deal with dogs in the local nature reserve.
Tara really paid attention to Cooper, and tried out what he was doing to get the same success 😅
As always with pups we put a huge emphasis on rewarding her for all the things she done that we loved so attention wasn’t only given in conjunction with the behaviour we want to decrease.
Tara and her human are absolutely smashing their training ♥️

19/02/2024

Meet Blaze ⚡️
Lhanna started working with him last year, and it’s been amazing to see him & his human conquer so many major obstacles.
Diet played a huge part in the puzzle, and now we are working hard on repairing the fractures caused by that.
Quite often when dogs behaviour is due to pain, lots of other experiences become ‘poisoned’. Things like
🍎 wearing a harness
🍎 going a walk
🍎 car travel
🍎 repetitive movements

I can’t wait to see this pair continue to progress, and it’s been a total joy seeing them every week 🥰

31/01/2024

Not quite a herder, but meet Tara 🥰
Tara is working with us to improve her leash skills and recall. We started to work on some fun concepts to help her make better choices when stealing food seems like a good idea 😅

She’s a great fun little puppy, and we are having the best time working with her & her family ✨

30/01/2024

One half of our scent work intake ✨ the rest were too speedy for photos!

28/01/2024

Lil cutie pups 😍

17/01/2024

Storm coming on a dream, working with stooge dog Cooper💓
He can be VERY reactive on walks. It’s super easy to think this means your dogs reactive to dogs, and we need to work on dogs with your dog.

However, more often than not these outbursts can actually be tracked back to how you leave your house! Is your dog BUZZING to get out? Are they dragging you down the driveway and after scents on the street? Do you become entirely irrelevant to your dog as they seek out dogs to loose their s**t at?!

If the answer is yes to that it’s highly likely your dog isn’t actually *that* reactive but instead, entirely over aroused and pent up with frustration and excitement!

The training for this doesn’t actually start around dogs . . .
Watch out for our reel and blog post explaining more this week ✨

15/01/2024

Last scentwork class is 2023 graduated yesterday 🥹
Our last Sunday scentclub block starts this Sunday! Get in touch if you would like on of the remaining two spaces left!

08/01/2024

That’s us back! We had a super busy time off, but are so excited to get back on the wagon and get cracking with our plans 💪
‼️ January 121 slots are filling up incredibly fast, so please get in touch to snap up the remaining availability we have.
‼️ We still have a few remaining slots at our Sunday scentwork class launching this month too 🥰 we can’t promise that this won’t be the last block at this location. . .

🌟 This month we will be introducing a few changes to improve the service we offer, and to streamline the booking process.

🌟 If there’s anything you really want to see us do over the rest of winter, please drop it in the comments!

🌟 We cannot wait to share our 2024 calendar with you all; it’s very exciting, and fills us with so much joy!

17/12/2023

And just like that, classes are finished for 2023 🥹

However, we need your help . . .

We are looking for a new venue for our 2024 classes. We have some super exciting plans, and need your help finding somewhere to execute them!

Our requirements:
🌟 indoors (or at least sheltered)
🌟 reliable for regular bookings
🌟 evening availability
🌟 accessible for all
🌟 reasonabley priced (so we can reduce your costs to join us!)

If you send us a suggestion that we book, you will win a free class block of your choice!

If you know of a venue that may suit us within Glasgow or East Dunbartonshire ( Kirkintilloch/ Lenzie / Bishopbriggs ) please drop your suggestion or pop us a pm! ➡️ 📧

15/12/2023

🌟 walk & train 🌟

Bailey is absolutely smashing her walk and trains. Yesterday we went on an adventure to find some dogs and entirely lost track of time as she was the absolute best company. Only one kick off; and about a hundred check ins & good decisions too 🥰

09/12/2023

‘My dog doesn’t see me as the boss’
I spent so many years laughing this comment off & explaining dominance theory’s been debunked.
But recently, I’ve been viewing it a little differently. If we change the word ‘boss’ to another synonym such as leader, it’s not really anything to do with dominance is it?
Words aside, how we make our dog see us as a leader really matters.

Think about this 💁‍♀️
You have a boss in work & they are always nagging at you. They only engage with you when you are not doing what they *think* you should be doing despite giving little guidance & are never happy with the results: you’re going to do the bare minimum. You won’t want to do more than what you have to do, because they are miserable AF. You know if you offer something different, it’s going to be shut down as it’s not what they want - whatever that even is! You’re going to do what is safe & gives you the resources you need to survive 🤯

Then you get a new boss. As you are going about your day, they call out things they like you doing, praising you. They look at what you are offering & reward it. They set clear boundaries for breaks and targets, reward you for hitting them, but also working towards them. When they want something from you, they look at how you work & piggy back it of a current skill to save you time, raising your morale.
That’s going to give you the confidence & motivation to push to those targets & make it worth it 🙌🏼

When it comes to dogs, I actually do agree that many guardians need to learn to be a better leader.

That bond & value in leadership isn’t created by eye contact in exchange for a bit of chicken in a car park - it’s built through smart use of motivation, play, reward and freedom.

As dog trainers it’s our job to help you create this relationship. It can be hard when all you’ve learned is to exchange a static piece of chicken for a whole moving picture of motivation & reward. We’re here to show you a better way 🥹

So, the next time you think ‘I just need my dog to see me as the boss’ think about what kind of boss you currently are & what kind of boss you need to be to get that relationship you seek ✨

08/12/2023

Last week we started work in person with Chino and his super dedicated humans. We have been working online, laying strong foundations which are starting to pay off 🥰

When he gets a fright he goes straight into fight or flight and has quite a set response to this feeling.
Alongside this, he needs regular bloods taken for health and we are starting him on a road where he can have a level of control over these tests.

I am super excited to continue our journey together, and it warms my heart to be working as part of such an amazing team, all cheering this lad on 🥰

04/12/2023

Lhanna really enjoyed chatting with Ellen on why we went breed specific and how our experience as general dog trainers prepared us to specialise in our herders 🥰

Episode 4: Why a breed specific approach is important with House of Herders

Ever wondered why using someone who truly understands your dog and their heritage is important? Then this episode is for you!

02/12/2023

Go on then - who's got snow? ❄️

Let's see your snow dog photos / videos in the comments please 🤩

Travis' favourite thing to do is stick his face in it 😂

19/11/2023

Aren’t these little faces just scrumptious 🥰 can’t believe they are the final scent class of 2023 😳

14/11/2023

Oscar got a clean bill of health at the vets today 🥰 He’s definitely not very deaf, but his response to the noise test was pretty chill. Oscar would usually have jumped and been extremely confronted by it, but he was just like 👍 which was quite surprising!

So, nothing that we need to worry about but taking these signs into account:

🌸 lack of reaction to some insane fireworks
🌸 increase in dog reactivity
🌸 increase in barking (it’s LOUD)
🌸 sleeping ‘deeper’
🌸 hanging closer with me off lead

Just like with Holly’s dementia, we noticed it early and made changes early which has lead to less bumps in the road. Being slightly obsessed with your dogs definitely pays off 😅

Things I’ll be doing to help things go smoothly:

⭐️ ensuring we have hand signals alongside verbal cues
⭐️ adding in a few tactile cues now, so they don’t come as a surprise later.
⭐️ Paying a lot more for check ins and focus at home and on walks
⭐️ creating an auto check in on sight of people / dogs on walks

Thankfully Oscar really loves seeing the vet. I wish I could take credit for it, but he has always really enjoyed seeing our vet, being handled and lots of sweets 😆

13/11/2023

Yesterday I started working with the very handsome Storm.
Currently, he’s shouting at other dogs & dragging his humans at the end of the leash.
So, we have started at the start, laid some foundations and then we can re-assess the problematic behaviours. Sometimes the problem behaviour we see, isn’t actually the problem we need to work on - at least not right away 🥰
Super excited to see how this lad progresses. He reminds me so much of baby Bear with his nose stripe! 🥹

08/11/2023

Would you like to join our last beginners scentwork class for 2023?!
We cannot believe it’s almost the end of the year… but that it’s also almost time for our first trial following this block
🥳
Sundays at 1pm just outside of Lenzie
6 week block beginning 12th November.
All breeds welcomed and this is our beginners class so no prior experience required.
Message us now to book your spot ✨