Initial training with Rachael was great. She listened to the dogs needs and I felt like she instantly made a connection with them. She was constantly talking me through things and making it clear and simple. She allowed me to take notes and worked on a plan with me for after she left. After just one hour with Rachael, I noticed an immediate improvement in my dogs behaviour, and have continued to do so. Will definitely be using her again to ensure the behaviour with my dogs improves.

A well run and very helpful training session for our rescue cockapoo. Rachael made the session both informative and enjoyable for both dog and owners.

We got a rescue puppy last year, and he was still awaiting his second vaccination when we got him. For this reason, we chose Rachel because she advertised at-home 1-2-1 sessions. We had 3 sessions, and the first helped us to establish the basics (i.e., sleep, eat, toilet). It was nothing we hadn’t found out online, but it was good to hear it confirmed by an actual dog trainer. However, we were disappointed with where Rachel’s training methods went from there. A lot of what she did was, at best, performative. At worst, it was prescriptive and, at times, unnecessarily physical. Whilst we wanted to make sure our dog was fully trained and well-behaved, we had been clear that he was a rescue who had experienced neglect. We needed to build his confidence, as well as set good routines and behaviours. We never felt like Rachel took this onboard, in fact she became quite dismissive towards it. If her methods didn’t work for us, she’d restate that we needed to better assert ourselves as ‘alphas’ over the dog. When we showed affection towards him it was often labelled as ‘elevating’ him. Our puppy was also doing lots of teething. Several times, Rachel would take his chews and say quite crossly ‘why are these *always* here?’ And start rudely chucking them to one side. Rachel’s first visit was the first time our puppy had had a stranger come to the house. He had a little bark and was dashing in and out of the room, curious but unsure. Rachel’s tactic was to say ‘HEY!’ and do a loud CLAP! in his face. It got his attention by startling him, so much so that he skidded into the door. We were taken aback, but at that age, his attention span was minuscule, so at the time it seemed somewhat effective. Looking back, it was a cheap gimmicky tactic, that was unkind and had the short term effect of essentially frightening the dog into being less frantic. From there on in, he wasn’t so much obedient towards Rachel, but cowed. Other training tactics from Rachel, included: repeatedly lifting him off our laps and onto the floor (because apparently him calmly sitting with us sent the wrong message), blocking him from jumping up onto the sofa by sticking an arm out (which when she demonstrated it, caused our puppy to absolutely hit the deck by whacking his neck on her outstretched arm), teaching him not to rush out of his crate by slamming the door in his face (which resulted in him cowering in the corner of it, not wanting to come out), and teaching him not to push past in doorways by using your foot to block him and push him away. Unsurprisingly, by the end of each session, our dog would be absolutely done in. We’d booked onto Rachel’s group puppy classes at our first 1-2-1 because we were worried about spaces running out and were keen to work on lead skills etc. Having been shut in a crate for the first 2-months of his life, then in a rescue centre, then at home with us and unable to go out, our puppy hadn’t spent much time around other dogs. When we turned up to the class, we knew he’d be nervous and he started barking. It wasn’t ideal, but we knew he’d settle in time. Rachel told us to stand away from the rest of the group whilst she began the session. After about 5-10 mins, our puppy was still unsure but had calmed down considerably. Rachel then came over and just said ‘ok, so, what are we thinking?’ The implication was clear that she didn’t want us to take part, but wanted us to offer to leave, which we did. We thought at the time, and our new trainer has since also pointed out to us, Rachel had done 1-2-1 sessions with our puppy and said that she thought he’d be a welcome addition to her daycare service. She’d never expressed an opinion that he was reactive before, and didn’t make any effort or seem to have any advice that would allow him to take part in the group session. Thankfully we were refunded for the group classes. We couldn’t recommend Rachel for rescue dogs, but those with breeder puppies might have more luck.

Can’t recommend Rachael enough. Our little Shih Tzu puppy (Pepper) benefited greatly from Rachael’s training, which in turn gave myself and my husband the confidence to deal with our spicy little Pepper!. We were finding puppy training quite stressful. No one tells you how hard it actually is! Even if they did, I wouldn’t have believed it! I’m so glad we found Rachael. We had a course of 1-2-1 sessions in our home. Rachael was always on time, made great use of the time given and we always felt positive after she had been. We will be keeping up with our training for the foreseeable. Our puppy benefits from it greatly and we can see light at the end of the mental puppy training tunnel!

I’ve used Rachael for both training and boarding for over 7 years and I cannot recommend her highly enough. In fact - I have to several friends that needed help or care with their dogs. You can completely trust that your dog is going to be in safe hands as Rachael’s extremely knowledgable about dog behaviour and care, always putting the welfare of the animal first. My dog needed an operation last year and I was very nervous about leaving him after he recovered - even some family members, but not with Rachael. I knew she’d exercise him correctly and follow our/ the vets advice to the letter. It helped she already knew him as she was able to advise if she noticed any change in his recovery and he’s very happy rushing up the path when he goes for his visits. I love to see the photos of the dogs having a great time. It’s a huge plus that she has a safe space to be able to let the dogs play and exercise but recognises they also need rest. My dog is a happier dog after his days with Rachael and his furry friends.

We booked training sessions with Rachael when first got our puppy. She was so helpful, immediately put us at ease and gave us the tools we needed to build a great base. Our Mack was so comfortable with her too. So much so, we also chose to send him to Rachael for day care and when needed boarding. Our pup always comes home, happy and tired from a full day of play and fun. Can't recommend highly enough!

We asked Rachael for guidance and training for our 15 month old Cockapoo. He had always been a lead puller but this had become a lot worse and he had started barking madly at other dogs, aeroplanes and squirrels etc In our first meeting with Rachael we discussed his history and various events that had happened and their effect on him. Rachael began with improving his lead pulling, just this small change calmed him down generally. Over the next 3 sessions we worked on various behaviours and training techniques. It is still a work in progress but he is a different dog now, a lot calmer and content. Thank you Rachael. We would certainly recommend Rachael as she has improved all our lives.

We have completed the 5 week puppy training course with Rachael which we thoroughly enjoyed and have since had a course of 121 training sessions with our puppy, Tank. We have now booked onto the follow on course, basic canine manners. This is a testament to Rachael’s approach to training (for both the pups & parents!) it’s fun, exciting and you learn a lot during the sessions. Rachael is extremely knowledgeable, friendly and caring. She really puts the dog first and works with them from the inside out, for the best results. In both the classes and 121s, her help and advice is practical, and easy to implement in daily life. We’ve seen quick results and it’s so motivating to see our pup pick it up so quickly. We can’t thank Rachael enough for all the help and training she has given us over the last few months. 5 stars ⭐️ from the 3 of us!! We highly recommend Rachael for all of your dog training needs! Thank you again Rachael & see you soon ☺️ Lauren, Jack & Tank 🐾

Our Pomsky, Tsuki, has been at doggy day care at Rachaels now for over 3 years (since she was 1) and she always enjoys herself and comes home happy and tired from being with her dog pals. Rachael is really friendly, knowledgeable and helpful (she helped us in choosing the right food for Tsuki, as well as helped in dog training when tsuki was younger). On top of that the prices are really competitive too!

We can't recommend Rachael enough! We recently got a new puppy and were feeling overwhelmed with the training process. Rachael came to our house and was patient, knowledgeable, and tailored the training to our specific needs.Working with Rachael gave us a really good benchmark to start training our puppy and we feel more confident in our ability to continue training him. Thanks so much Rachael! Leela & Nathaniel