Canine Coaching Programme

ESSENTIAL

Understanding your dog is where EVERYTHING STARTS

Expert led skill drill classes and online education sessions for your reactive, anxious, over excited or frustrated dog. Build your knowledge, develop your skills and become the person your dog needs to be, without the commitment of full training programme.

£75 per month

Classes run on weekday evenings and Saturdays – No long-term contract

What is included

Two practical "skill drill" sessions and two online session per month.

Essential combines practical group training with owner education, because lasting change for a reactive dog requires both hands on skill building and a genuine understanding of what's driving the behaviour.

Skill Drill

Skill drills are 1 hour sessions which combine the best of legacy Great Paws classes including Reactive Social Walks, Progress Paws and Scent Detection training. 

Each class will be tailored to those attending and focus on helping both reactive and non reactive dogs work with their handler around real world challenges. Using a blended method of structured walks, social skill protocols, teaching core life skills (e.g. lead work, recall, settle etc.) along with scent detection skills, you will have a safe and varied environment to help you and your dog learn. 

The classes mostly take place in public settings, ensuring we continue to learn where it matters the most under the guidance of your expert trainer. 

These are ideal for learning new skills whilst also enhancing and developing existing ones, all in a safe, judgement free group of like minded passionate people. 

Classes run on both weekday evenings and weekends. Class locations vary and are grouped into geographical areas, allowing you to mix it up and get variety in your training. Click the buttons below to learn more about the locations.

Online Sessions

The online sessions are where the theory lives. Each session covers a particular topic crucial to your learning journey. These are designed to target particular aspects of life with your dog as understanding why your dog behaves the way they do changes everything. 

It can change how your dog and also you feel when working together, out on your walks, how you respond in the moment, what to do when things go wrong and more. 

Sessions are live and combine Q&A and educational talks. Each one is recorded so if you cant make it live, you will be able to watch a replay.

These are also fantastic for building our community and support you in what can often feel like a lonely experience. 

You will be invited to join a special area of the Great Paws CLICK platform, this is where the online sessions will take place. You can join direct on your phone via the app or on your laptop/tablet. 

The online sessions are where the theory lives. Each session covers a particular topic crucial to your learning journey. These are designed to target particular aspects of life with your dog as understanding why your dog behaves the way they do changes everything. 

It can change how your dog and also you feel when working together, out on your walks, how you respond in the moment, what to do when things go wrong and more. 

Sessions are live and combine Q&A and educational talks. Each one is recorded so if you cant make it live, you will be able to watch a replay.

These are also fantastic for building our community and support you in what can often feel like a lonely experience. 

You will be invited to join a special area of the Great Paws CLICK platform, this is where the online sessions will take place. You can join direct on your phone via the app or on your laptop/tablet. 

Programme Content

What you’ll learn and practise

The Essential programme is built around the skills and knowledge that make the biggest difference to reactive dog owners in real life. Here is an example of what is covered across the Skill Drill and online sessions.

Focus
Building the habit of checking in with you, even in distracting environments. A dog who can orient to their owner in the presence of a trigger is a dog who is learning to manage their reactivity.
Social Skills
Creating safe yet challenging social learning opportunities for every dog including reactive dogs
Body Language
Most owners are responding to their dog's behaviour after the reaction has started. Learning to read earlier, subtler signals means you can intervene before things escalate — consistently.
Threshold & Impulse Control
Understanding and working with your dog's threshold — the point at which they tip from aware to reactive. Skills for keeping your dog under threshold and what to do when they go over.
Scent Detection
Learning how to use your dogs most powerful sense to promote calm, meet genetic needs, challenge them, enhance bond and have fun!!

Is ESSENTIAL right for you?

Who the ESSENTIAL programme works best for

We want to be straightforward about this — because the right fit matters more to us than filling a space.

ESSENTIAL IS A STRONG FIT IF....

CONSIDER PLUS OR COMPLETE IF...

How we work

Why owner education changes everything

Most reactive dog training focuses entirely on the dog. That makes sense, but it misses half the equation. Your dog spends the majority of their life with you, not with a trainer. What you know, how you respond, and how you manage your dog's environment between sessions determines whether progress holds or falls apart.

The Essential programme is built on the belief that owner education isn't a nice add on, it's the foundation. When you understand your dog more, you stop inadvertently setting up your dog to fail on a Tuesday because they had a hard Monday. When you can read signals accurately, you intervene ten seconds earlier and those ten seconds change the outcome of the walk.

The skill drill classes give you supervised practice. The online talks give you the understanding. Together, they build the competence and confidence to handle your dog better in real life not just in a controlled class environment.

I work with proven methods throughout. technique and knowledge that drive learning, bond, fun and partnership, not ones that rely on fear or discomfort to suppress behaviour. We work with your dog's biology and emotional state, not against it.

JOIN THE ESSENTIAL PROGRAMME

Tell me about you and your dog

Fill in the form below and I can send you details of how the subscription works and get you signed up.

If i have any questions about whether Essential is the right fit for your dog, I will be in touch before confirming.