Question 1

Where are you based?

Accepted Answer

We offer our home visit dog training services in the following areas and surrounding villages:

Barnsley: Cawthorne, Darton, Dodworth, Tankersley, Hemingfield, Hoyland, Elsecar, Jump, Royston, Cudworth, Hemsworth, North Elmsall, South Elmsall, South Kirkby, Grimethorpe, Worsborough, Great Houghton, Darfield, Wombwell, Goldthorpe, Bolton Upon Dearne.

Doncaster: Hooton Pagnell, Barnburgh, Brodsworth, Skellow, Carcroft, Adwick Upon Dearne, Woodlands, Highfields, Bentley, Arksey, Toll Bar, Cusworth, Cadeby, Sprotbrough, Warmsworth, Scawsby, New Edlington, Old Edlinton, Conisbrough, Mexborough, High Melton.

Rotherham: Swinton, Wath Upon Dearne, Brampton Bierlow, Manvers, Hooton Roberts, Ravenfield, Bramley, Thrybergh, Rawmarsh, Parkgate, Nether Haugh, Wentworth, Thorpe Hesley, Herringthorpe, Wickersley.

Full service area map (https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=10oGhxoa-UG3Vseot5oSFsqVse9bXzm8&ll=53.53119575666508%2C-1.3303913500000064&z=11)

If you live outside the areas listed, please contact us (www.pawsitive-pooches.co.uk/contact)to discuss your needs.

Our outdoor one to one training is available in Wombwell, Grimethorpe, Bentley and Rawmarsh areas.

Pack Walks (www.pawsitive-pooches.co.uk/packwalk)take place in Grimethorpe and Bentley

Indoor classes (www.pawsitive-pooches.co.uk/classes-and-courses)take place in Brampton Bierlow, Mexborough & Sprotbrough.

Outdoor classes (www.pawsitive-pooches.co.uk/classes-and-courses)are held at Cundy Cross, Hemsworth or Wombwell.

Question 2

What are your opening hours?

Accepted Answer

As we don't work from a single location, we don't have traditional opening hours. For home visits and outdoor one-to-one training sessions, we have a wide range of options throughout the week and when you book with us we will usually ask for your availability and tell you what we can offer based on this. We offer daytime, evening and weekend options. Contact Us (www.pawsitive-pooches.co.uk/contact)to find out more.

Classes take place at weekends as well as some evenings. We also run morning classes at some of our locations. Visit our Classes and Courses p(www.pawsitive-pooches.co.uk/classes-and-courses)age for more information.

Question 3

Which of your services is right for me?

Accepted Answer

We offer a wide range of services covering a range of training types and, as such, we know it can be difficult to understand which services best suit your needs.

There is no single correct answer to this question as it is very dependent on your personal requirements and the needs and temperament of your dog. For example, a reactive dog who barks at others is better suited to private training ()than a group class;(www.pawsitive-pooches.co.uk/classes-and-courses) a dog who is experiencing some difficulties within the home will benefit more from a home visit ()than an outdoor one to one ()session.

Our classes a(https://www.pawsitive-pooches.co.uk/classes-and-courses)re catered for all ages and stages of training and cover both general and specific training. Indoor training classes (https://www.pawsitive-pooches.co.uk/classes-and-courses)are perfect for general training and we offer outdoor workshops f(https://www.pawsitive-pooches.co.uk/workshops)or adolescent dogs, recall training and loose lead walking.

We are more than happy to discuss your needs and make a suggestion to help you decide, so feel free to contact us ()for advice. 
Here are a few tips that may help you choose:
 • Consider what you want to achieve. If it is a single skill, such as walking on lead, look at our workshops and classes (https://www.pawsitive-pooches.co.uk/classes-and-courses)for something related.
 • Thinking about getting a puppy? Start early with our puppy services.() We can offer pre-puppy appointments to help you plan, or training from the day your puppy comes home - no waiting for vaccinations to be completed.
 • If your dog is a puppy an adult dog who hasn't had much training and needs some basic obedience skills, our indoor classes ()are ideal and the choice of class will be guided by your dog's current age.
 • Looking for a regular hobby to learn and do with your dog to give them a job or activity to keep them busy, check out our Dog Sports & Hobbies s()ection.
 • For dogs with a one or more specific issues that you'd like to work on privately, home visits ()or one to one ()sessions are best depending on whereabouts the more common issues occur. These can be mixed if necessary.

Question 4

Is my pet too young to start training?

Accepted Answer

Puppies are never too young to start training. Meaningful training can begin at around 5 weeks and even before this there is a lot that can be done to help prepare puppies for life with a human. Genetically predisposed to rapid learning at a very young age, puppies are like sponges and soak up everything we show them quickly.

However, with youth and inexperience come some challenges. Training a very young puppy can be difficult if you are not clear and consistent with your expectations and rewards. Our Puppy Training (www.pawsitive-pooches.co.uk/puppy-training)services have options that can start from the moment your puppy arrives home, and even before with our Preparing for Puppy visits. Starting your life with your dog off the right way can save a lot of trouble later on. Instead of having to unteach bad habits that have been practised and rehearsed by an older dog, we can teach puppy the correct behaviours right from the start.

Question 5

Is my pet too old to start training?

Accepted Answer

For the most part, our answer to this question will always be no. It is never too late to start training your dog, however there are some considerations to take into account with older dogs. If we are dealing with an undesirable behaviour, the amount of time that the dog has been 'rehearsing' the behaviour may mean that changing that behaviour will require more steps and lots of consistency. As an example. an 8 year old dog who has pulled on the lead for many years will take a little longer to train than a 1 year old who hasn't pulled for more than a couple of months. Similarly, when working with elderly dogs, training strategies may need to be changed to account for reduced senses and lower tolerance. However, these are only challenges to consider, and not total barriers to training your dog.

Question 6

What training methods do you use?

Accepted Answer

Our approach to training is based on methods that are tried and tested, based on modern scientific studies and designed to give you results that are both effective and long-term, and most importantly safer for you and your dog.

We use kind, but practical, training techniques that include positive reinforcers such as food, toys and access to things your dog enjoys as both motivational tools and rewards to get the desired behaviours. This is how we make long lasting changes to your dog's behaviour and teach them how to make good decisions. We will also help you to understand the underlying cause of your dog's behaviour, and help you learn how to manage and adjust your training so that your dog's wellbeing is at the centre of everything we do.

Our aim is to give you and your dog lifelong skills that will make your time together easier and happier. Knowing the 'why?' for your dog's behaviour is key to changing it in the long term, rather than simply suppressing it temporarily with punishment based methods, so our focus is on helping you and your dog work together as a team and to understand each other.

We won't encourage or recommend any tools, equipment or methods that will cause your dog fear or pain, or cause any psychological problems, either now or later on in life. Regardless of your dog's breed or size, we can offer you effective training for any number of problematic behaviours using our proven methods.

Question 7

What will you do if my dog gets something wrong during training?

Accepted Answer

We will assess the situation to find out WHY your dog is getting it wrong and adjust the training and the current situation to help them to get it right. We will also help you to understand what is going on so that you can continue the training at home. Dogs of all breeds and sizes can be trained effectively without punishment if there is enough understanding of the underlying causes of their behaviour.

Question 8

My dog is too aggressive or too big to train with rewards. What can I do instead?

Accepted Answer

We've successfully trained hundreds of large dogs that have been labelled as 'aggressive' or 'reactive' using only rewards. We firmly believe that all dogs can be trained with rewards. The secret is in understanding what rewards are required in any given moment to help the dog to get it right. This is what we specialise in. Studies over the years have shown that punishment based training gives only short term results and can lead to unsafe outcomes such as dogs becoming defensive and lashing out.

We won't just ask you to feed your dog treats, or offer other reinforcement, without explaining how to use rewards and how to motivate your dog effectively and we won't give you solutions that only suppress behaviour temporarily. We will teach you and your dog how to make lifelong behavioural changes and how to maintain them by learning what motivates your dog into good behaviour and what stresses them into bad behaviour. Don't be fooled into thinking you need to punish your dog's behaviour because they are a certain type of dog - this simply isn't true. Positive training is safer, longer lasting and more effective regardless of breed.

For large, powerful dogs we can also help you to learn how to stay safe with your large breed whilst training them.

Question 9

Do you offer board and train, daycare or home boarding services?

Accepted Answer

We are not licensed for home boarding and do not offer board and train. For training, we prefer to work alongside owners as training is more effective when owners are actively involved and building reinforcement history with the dog throughout. We no longer offer daycare services as we now focus solely on training and behaviour.

Question 10

Do you work with [insert breed here]?

Accepted Answer

We work with dogs of all breeds, mixed breeds, rescues and restricted breeds. If your dog is on the restricted breed register, the requirements of the restriction must be met (eg muzzled and on-lead at all times, being handled by a person over 18) and your exemption certificate must be provided to us on booking.

Question 11

I live outside your service area. Can I still book with you.

Accepted Answer

Published prices and services are offered with our service area in mind, but we are happy to discuss your needs if you live outside of this area to see if we can help. Please get in touch.(www.pawsitive-pooches.co.uk/contact)

Question 12

My female dog is in season/heat. Can she still attend class?

Accepted Answer

We do ask that you let us know if you have a female in season so that we can reschedule your session. Females can struggle with unfamiliar experiences and can generally be a bit off their food or lack enthusiasm for training when in season, so you will not get as much out of the session as you would have done on a normal day. In addition to this, the scent of a female in season is usually extremely distracting for any male dogs in the class, meaning that they will find it difficult and their owners will find it harder to train them. As these two factors can lead to overall disruption to the class session, we ask that females in season don't attend classes.  Please get in touch as soon as you know that your dog is in season.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS