Training

Faithful Friends provides Dog Training in Malmesbury, Foxley, Sherston, Tetbury, Minety, Charlton, Crudwell and the surrounding areas.

We use a proven innovative, ethical approach to dog training that is both rewarding and fun for dog and owner. Simultaneously strengthening the relationship between dog and owner as well as training the dog to offer appropriate behaviours naturally.

We offer 1-2-1 Training and Coaching in the safety of your own home or garden or Online Training Consultations using Zoom. AND a range of Online Courses suitable for Puppies and Dogs of any age.

Some in-person Classes and Workshops are also available through the year. Follow our FaceBook page to be the first to hear about these.

HOW DO WE DO IT?

We teach you to play short games with your dog! – Every game has a purpose, but the dog has fun playing with you and doesn’t realise they are developing essential life skills!

THE POWER OF GAMES

The Games teach and practice concepts that enable your dog to make good choices every time. Concepts such as Calmness, Focus and Self-control set you up for a happy peaceful dog ownership experience.

Games are FUN for you and your dog

Games only take 3 minutes to play so training can be fitted in around your day.

Games give your relationship a boost and keep both dog and owner motivated and connected.

THE SCIENCE OF GAMES

Studies show that dogs (and humans) have a lot more brain than they actually use. There are whole areas of our brain that are shut off because we just aren’t using them. The games we play with the dogs open neural pathways, waking up shut off parts of their brain and creating positive connections that enable the dog to have more choices available within their behaviour. 

The desirable choice of behaviours are practiced through the games and become so rewarding that the dog will naturally make these choices... No aversive methods or punishments necessary. 

“Good Behaviour” generally flows from a Good Relationship between dog and owner so the whole training process becomes a circle of success, each part impacts another part of the learning.

Owner learns how to play simple training games with their dog, Dog enjoys playing with owner, Dog and owner learn each other’s micro signals in body language / tone of voice. Dog starts to respond quicker to owner, dog has value for being near owner and enjoys getting it right, owner has a more pleasant experience of owning the dog… etc

Many of the Games we teach are from AbsoluteDogs - They have been devised by a Vet Behaviourist and a Dog Agility Champion.

Achieve real life results with A Happy Dog who is A Faithful Friend.

One to One dog training:

PUPPY FOUNDATIONS - for a pleasant puppy

Private, safe 1 to 1 training

A series of 4 -6 consultations to lay a firm foundation for a lifetime of happy dog ownership.

I will give you the training tools to lay a foundation for growing a calm, confident, delightful puppy who develops an excellent and trusting relationship with you. I will show you how to help your puppy develop the characteristics that make for a happy and harmonious life long relationship between dog and owner.

Training tips will be designed around individual needs but might include:

Recall, Calmness, self-control, thinking in excitement, making good choices, healthy play, confidence, optimism, focus, crate training, toilet training, pleasant behaviour on walks and developing a good relationship with leash and harness, barking, biting, and dealing with attention seeking behaviours.

I am happy to offer a free 30-minute face to face consultation to discuss your needs either in person if you are based in the Malmesbury area – otherwise we can chat about your needs over the phone.

I recommend a series of no less than 4 training sessions to really get going with training and cover all the puppy basics.

However, Most clients find six sessions over three months is ideal - giving the best balance between providing the training and advice you need and giving you enough time to put each lesson into practice. Three months gives you the best coverage of training and troubleshooting new behaviours that come up too.

The Puppy Foundations package has been designed to provide the best start for puppy and support you in being the best owner for pup.

When you book the Pleasant Puppy Package, the cost can be spread over the three months

Each hour long training consultation includes detailed follow up notes by email and PDF handouts or ebooks relevant to the lesson.

The Pleasant Puppy 3 month training programme includes:

• Six * 60 minute training sessions delivered safely in your home or garden or out and about as appropriate (two per month for three months)

• Detailed emailed notes after each consultation to remind you and direct your training

• My Puppy Package online course bundle of three courses

• Puppy ebooks

• Lifetime membership to the Faithful Friends Tribe private facebook group

• An invitation to an in person socialisation meet-up with up to 5 other pups and their owner

Get started now by booking your free initial 30 minute consultation

ADULT DOG training and TROUBLESHOOTING

Private, safe 1 to 1 training

It’s never too late to start training your dog with our games based approach - and old dogs can certainly learn new tricks!

It’s not a “PROBLEM DOG” – it’s an “OPPORTUNITY” – many behaviours we think of as “wrong” are just wrongly applied – they can be good opportunities to get to know your dog better and work through the issues towards solutions that suit you all.

I specialise in bringing solutions to: Walking on lead issues, Recalling your dog, Barking issues, teaching a dog to relax in a cafe / pub and general life skills

I do not offer one off consults as you are likely to need to develop several things to solve a problem behaviour and there is a process in building these things up.

BUT I do offer a free 30-minute consultation to discuss your needs either in person if you are based in the Malmesbury area – otherwise we can chat over the phone or zoom.

If you and I agree that my approach will be good for you and your dog I ask you to book a series of consultations in order to fully achieve real life results.

Therefore I offer a series of no less than 3 sessions to get the training going both in yours and the dog’s brain.

Sessions can be at weekly or bi-weekly intervals as preferred and ongoing email support is available throughout the duration of the training period.

Each hour long training consultation includes detailed follow up notes by email and PDF handouts or ebooks relevant to the lesson.

The Adult Dog Training includes:

• Three or Four * 60 minute training sessions delivered safely in your home or garden or out and about as and when appropriate.

• Bespoke training to tackle your dog’s particular difficulties

• Detailed emailed notes sent after each training session to remind you of the learning

• Access to helpful ebooks to support your learning

• Free access to an online course to be most helpful for your situation

• Lifetime membership of the Faithful friends training community in the Faithful Friends Tribe private Facebook group

• An invitation to join us for a free group walk with up to 5 other dogs and their owners

“It’s the small foxes that spoil the vine”– Don’t “put up with”difficult dog behaviour as it can be just the start of bigger problems ... Like good gardeners – Let’s nip it in the bud together!!

Upcoming dog training classes

This SPRING come on one or two of our THREE WEEK CLASSES.

Pick 1 or 2 sets of 3 week classes to SUPERCHARGE YOUR TRAINING.

These “IN THE PARK” classes are all taught in small groups out and about in PUBLIC SPACES. Both of our spring classes are on Wednesdays in April and May

Just £45 for a set of 3 weekly classes… DATES: April = 12th, 19th and 26th AND May = 10th, 17th and 24th

PUPPY IN THE PARK, (Weds at 5pm) will cover ALL essential Puppy skills plus giving plenty of practice of out and about puppy skills too. For puppies aged ups 10 months old … A GREAT START to life with your puppy

ADOLESCENT IN THE PARK (Weds at 6pm) will help DOGS aged 10 months - 2 YEARS old with keeping their FOCUS and better manners with indoor and outdoor skills.

Not sure which is right for you? Feel free to contact me to discuss your needs: lydiafaithfull@gmail.com

Online - One to One help

Available for Puppy training or adult dog training and troubleshooting

Private, safe and online 1 to 1 training delivered over zoom

A series of online consultations delivered over zoom to teach you strategies for a lifetime of happy dog ownership.

ONLINE training is most appropriate for those with dogs that are sensitive to visitors in the house, for dogs that are distracted by or fearful of new people and for clients who live outside my immediate training catchment area.

ZOOM 121 dog training is incredibly successful and yields as good a result as one to one training visits in the home.

Training is bespoke and will be designed around individual client needs but might include:

Recall, Calmness, self-control, thinking in excitement, making good choices, healthy play, confidence, optimism, focus, lead walking skills, barking, biting, crate training and toilet training.

I am happy to offer a free 15 - 30 minute “Discovery session” to see whether this style of training suits you over zoom.

Dog Training is not a one off type thing whether we are troubleshooting a single problem or starting a puppy out from scratch you will have several things to learn and implement and you will require support as you get going. Therefore I offer my zoom training in packages of no less than 4 consults.

Each 45 minute long online training consultation includes detailed follow up notes by email and PDF handouts or ebooks if relevant to the lesson.

The zoom Online training programme includes:

• Four or Six * 45 minute training sessions delivered over zoom

• Detailed emailed notes after each training session

• Bespoke training sessions designed around your specific needs

• Access to appropriate free ebooks and PDFs

• Free access to an appropriate online course for continued self-directed learning

• Lifetime membership to the Faithful Friends Tribe private facebook group

Get started now by booking your free initial 15 minute online consultation

Online Video Courses for self-directed dog training.

Bring Faithful Friends dog and puppy training to your own home, laptop or phone. Our courses are fun, easy to use and you can follow them at your own speed - returning as often as you like.

Purchasing any of our online courses comes with the invitation to join our private Facebook group the Faithful Friends Tribe to help you be accountable and share your training journey with a community of others.

Don’t forget I also offer Online One to One Consultations and training - learn more.

Recent Blog posts