Puppy and adolescent classes on Heath Park since 2015, recall and lead work on the field, the Good Citizen awards, and home visits for the problems that happen at home. Six dogs a class, food and play not force, and every price on this website.
The problem finder
Each answer says which course or visit fits, what it costs and what happens, with the next date.
Training
01
Six weekly classes for puppies who are eight to eighteen weeks old at the start, six puppies at most with two trainers, in the pavilion on Heath Park: name and focus, sit, down and settle, the start of recall and loose-lead walking, handling for the vet and the groomer, and gentle socialisation with people, puppies and the world. £120 for the six.
£120 for six weekly classes of an hour.
02
Six weekly classes on Heath Park for dogs between five and eighteen months, the age when a good puppy goes deaf, pulls, jumps up and forgets their name. Recall with distractions, loose-lead walking past other dogs, impulse control and settling in public, six dogs at most with two trainers. £130 for the six.
£130 for six weekly classes of an hour on the park.
03
A trainer comes to your house for ninety minutes, watches your dog in their own world, hears the whole story, and leaves a written plan the same week with the steps in order. Follow-up visits or walks are £65 an hour. For problems that happen at home, for dogs who cannot cope with a class, and for owners who want it done around their week.
First visit £95 for ninety minutes with a written plan; follow-ups £65 an hour.
04
Two focused five-week courses on Heath Park for the two things owners most want: recall, with long lines, whistle work and real distractions, and loose-lead walking, with harness choice, the stop-and-go method and walking past the things your dog cannot resist. Six dogs at most, £140 each.
£140 for five classes of an hour on the park, either course.
05
Two longer programmes for the problems that hurt dogs and owners most. Separation: a dog who cannot be left without barking, howling, destroying or soiling. Reactivity: a dog who barks, lunges or growls at other dogs or people on walks. Each is an assessment at home, a written plan, four follow-ups over three months and messaging support throughout, £320.
£320 for the programme: a ninety-minute assessment, a written plan, four follow-ups and three months of messaging support.
06
Eight-week courses towards the Kennel Club Good Citizen Dog Training Scheme awards, Bronze, Silver and Gold, with the test at the end of the course on Heath Park examined by a Kennel Club-listed examiner. The test fee and the rosette are included. £150 a course.
£150 for eight weekly classes and the test, including the Kennel Club fee and the rosette.
Puppies
The puppy course is six weekly classes in the pavilion for puppies of eight to eighteen weeks: the biting, toilet training and sleep first, then sit, down and settle, handling for the vet, the start of recall and lead walking, and gentle socialisation with people, puppies and the world. A puppy can start a week after the first vaccination.
How we train
A dog that sits because it is afraid of what happens if it does not has not learned to sit. We make the right thing the rewarding thing, and the dog chooses it. It is quicker than people expect and it lasts.
Five minutes twice a day, written down, with a video of each exercise sent after the class. Nobody has an hour a day; nobody needs one.
Puppies bite, adolescents go deaf, terriers dig. Half of what owners ring about is a normal dog at a normal age, and knowing that is half the fix. The other half we plan.
A dog that suddenly growls, bites or cannot settle may be in pain. For any new or worsening behaviour problem we ask for a vet check first, and we work with the Heath and Whitchurch practices on referrals.
At home
A ninety-minute visit to watch your dog in their own world and hear the whole story, the first steps before we leave, and a written plan within three working days. Jumping up, guarding, chewing, barking at the window, a new baby; and the start of the separation and reactivity programmes, which run for about three months with a follow-up every few weeks.
Owners
Biscuit bit everything, including us, and Rhian's first-week plan stopped it in a fortnight. Six puppies in the pavilion, never chaotic, and the videos after every class meant we actually did the homework. He sat for the vet at his second jab and the nurse asked where we trained him.
Our springer had not come back since she was seven months old. Five Saturdays on a long line and a whistle, and she now recalls off a squirrel on the north field. Dan was clear that the long line comes back out the moment she slips, and the one time she did, it did. She is off lead on Heath Park every morning now.
We could not leave Luna for two minutes without howling the street down. Rhian watched the video, built a plan that started at five seconds, and checked in every fortnight. It took eleven weeks. Last month we went out for dinner and the camera showed her asleep with her chew. I cried, a bit.
Heath Park
Puppy classes and winter evenings in the pavilion by the King George V Drive gate, park classes on the field by the pitch-and-putt and on the north field. Free parking in the park car park, Heath High Level station seven minutes away.
Puppy course £120 for six weeks, adolescent £130, recall or lead work £140 for five, Good Citizen £150 with the test, a home visit £95 with a written plan, follow-ups £65, and the separation or reactivity programme £320. Nothing added, no membership.
Use the problem finder: pick what is going wrong and it says which course or visit fits, what it costs and what happens. Or book a free ten-minute call and we will tell you.
No. We train with food, toys, play and praise, and we do not use prong, choke or shock collars, spray bottles or physical corrections. Reward-based training is what the evidence supports, and it builds a dog who wants to work with you.
On Heath Park in Cardiff: in the bowls pavilion by the King George V Drive gate and on the park fields. Home visits are at your home within eight miles of Heath.
A week after the first vaccination, between eight and eighteen weeks old on the first class. The next puppy class and the next new puppy course are shown on this page from the timetable.
Start with a home visit or the reactivity programme rather than a group: a class with five other dogs is often too much at first, and setting a reactive dog back is the thing to avoid. Many go on to classes later.
Two minutes on the form: your dog, their age, what is going wrong. We reply the same working day with the course or visit that fits and the next date, or book a free ten-minute call if you would rather talk first. Or ring Ffion in the office.
