Testimonial – Virtual and Practical Training with Ralph the Springer Spaniel

We got our new pup back in June and it wasn’t long before we realised we were out of our depth managing him.  We already had a spaniel who is 8, but she didn’t come into the family until she was 12 months old so we didn’t have this puppy stage with her, plus she had done training to be a working dog.

A decision that was supposed to bring pleasure into the family was just becoming stressful

He wouldn’t listen to us, was biting a lot and walking him on the lead was causing a lot of blisters due to how much he was pulling

We thought we were making good decisions and putting boundaries in place, he was crated, he wasn’t allowed upstairs and he wasn’t allowed on the furniture.  However it wasn’t working.

I found Damian through a google search and we agreed the package that consisted of 2 virtual lessons and 2 practical.

We soon realised that there wasn’t enough structure and routine in Ralph’s day.  Plus he is a springer, from working stock and a boy, all factors we had to take into consideration.

We made immediate changes including where his crate was.  He was moved to a much quieter part of the house.  We also had a set routine that fitted into our lives as opposed to letting him having so much control.  He was only allowed in his crate area and the kitchen at this point.  He did protest but we soon saw the benefits of these decisions.

The practical lessons taught us how to walk him on the lead and some sit and wait work.

This training and the guidance from Damian has absolutely changed our lives with Ralph.  He is listening, he is relaxed when out of his create as he has learnt how to be settled, he is so much better on the lead and making progress with off lead training. We are finally able to enjoy having him and through this progress we decided to try him in the lounge for a short time in the evening.  I thought he might push his luck and try and get on the furniture or chew at the curtains like he did before but within 30 seconds he was just lying down in front of the fire and was as good as gold.  And he didn’t protest when he was taken back to his crate.

Because of all this progress we will continue working with Damian as we want a dog that we can take anywhere and be confident he will behave as he has learnt to listen to us and knows that what we say goes.  We are now working on retrieval and teaching him how to behave/listen when other people and dogs are around.

If anyone is having any issues with a dog would highly recommend Damian and his methods.

Posted: November 9, 2020