Dog Training Services

School For Paws is part of the Victoria Stilwell Positively organisation, which prides itself on creating healthier, more balanced relationships between dogs and their owners and only trains using positive reinforcement methods.  

Voctoria Stilwell and Emma Collings

Diary Events can be seen at http://www.schoolforpaws.blogspot.com/

Contact Emma on info@schoolforpaws.co.uk

Why use a Victoria Stilwell Positively dog trainer?

  • All Victoria Stilwell dog trainers are hand-selected by Victoria.
  • Train dogs using positive reinforcement
  • Avoid force & outdated dominance-based methods.
  • Work personally with Victoria and have direct access to her and the VSP team.
  • Share Victoria's uncanny ability to talk and think dog positively
  • Practice the highest level of courtesy and professionalism.
  • Are fully insured
  • Respect you and your dog at all times.
  • Ensure that a portion of all Victoria Stilwell Positively Dog Training proceeds benefit The Victoria Stilwell Foundation to help canine assistance organisations.  (www.positively.com)


What School For Paws Offers

  • 1-2-1 training in your home that is tailored to your dogs needs.  Suitable for puppies, adults dogs and those dogs exhibiting behavioural problems.
  • Specialised workshops for Preparing for your puppy, Recall training and Walking on a loose lead.
  • Agility training.
  • Training classes for puppies, adult dogs and (coming soon) Rally Obedience.

Click the links above to jump to more information, or scroll down to browse.

Sheltie Dog

1-2-1 Training in the home

This is a popular method of training for most people who lead busy lives and cannot keep up with weekly training classes.   If you are looking for simple dog training, Emma will cover all the essential commands that would be shown in a class but with the benefit that you receive individual attention and overcome obstacles associated with the dog's own environment.  This is also a suitable option for puppies with the bonus that you are able to begin training as soon as your new pup arrives home, rather than waiting for your puppy to be fully vaccinated.

Sometimes a 1-2-1 is necessary for certain behavioural issues; the dog needs to be seen in the home to help assess and correct the problem.  Some dogs find a class environment too stressful or fail to maintain concentration adequately.

Whatever your reason, a 1-2-1 training session can beneficial and enjoyable!

Fees: A 1-2-1 training session in your home will cost £40 per hour and you may incur fuel costs if located further than 10 miles from postal code SY10 8DT.  This is calculated using Multimap  and the mileage will be 0.35p per mile to and from. A written report will be provided after the training session as a aid-memoir for the training covered.  

Puppy Training Package: A special package for £60 is available, which includes an hour and a half of training to cover all essential commands for puppies.  In addition, we will discuss prevention of possible behavioural problems including; mouthing, jumping up, chewing and toilet training.  You will also receive a Long Line for outdoor recall training, a House Line for basic puppy training, training treats and a Puppy Kong that can help reduce boredom.  You will also receive the School For Paws puppy training literature as a reminder to the methods covered.  All puppies can begin training from 8 weeks of age.

All training literature provided by School For Paws is copyright protected and is not to be copied or produced by any other person or organisation.

TLC Training

The TLC Technique was developed by Barbara Sykes at Mainline Border Collie Centre (www.bordercollies.co.uk).  Emma has completed her training at Mainline Border Collie Centre for her basic and intermediate Thinking Like Canines course and incorporates the technique in her training.   Suitable for all breeds of dogs, the technique follows the principle of understanding the canines mind and communicating effectively with them using body language and simple training techniques.  

There are four non-negotiable commands that every dog should learn - to walk behind, stop, stay and come back. They are essential to teaching good manners, and good manners are the foundation needed for further training.   TLC is holistic, does not impede any other form of training and it teaches a dog the basic principles of being a good dog.  


Workshops & Classes

At School For Paws all classes and workshops are designed to incorporate real-life situations and provide training tools for you and your dog that you would use in an everyday situation.  Therefore, the course content in classes would cover essential commands, TLC training and problem solving.  Workshops held will be run for a period of 2 hours and will be concentrating on that particular subject; Recall training; walking on the lead, TLC and on occasions a talk and demonstration on Preparing for a puppy (great for new dog owners).  

Please note at present School For Paws are having a re-vamp and setting a permanent training base in Shrewsbury for all classes; workshops and agility.  Therefore all enquiries will be put on a list and kept up to date with the progress.  Thank you for being patient.

Workshop and class dates and times can be seen at http://www.schoolforpaws.blogspot.com/


Talking Dogs Rally

Coming soon to Shrewsbury is Talking Dogs Rally. This is a new dog sport being launched in the UK in 2010. Based on Rally-Obedience, created by Charles Kramer in USA ten years ago, this UK version brings new, fun challenges to pet dog owners. Aiming to lose as few points as they can, teams perform user-friendly obedience-style exercises (stations) set out in a numbered course. TD Rally is fun for all, welcoming handlers of all ages and abilities, and dogs both mongrel and pedigree. Uniquely, TD Rally encourages teams to compete against their own previous scores rather than just against each other. With 75 different exercises, three levels of difficulty and an infinite combination of stations, Talking Dogs Rally will keep you and your dog busy for years to come.

For more information visit www.talkingdogsrally.co.uk

One to one dog training

AGILITY

Emma is a fully Agility Club Approved Instructor with the Agility Club (www.agilityclub.co.uk), part of The Kennel Club Group.  She has also completed the Kim Hunt Agility Instructors Course.  

Emma enjoys agility as part of her sport as well as her career, taking part in training and competition with her own Border Collies.  Emma trains with one of the UK's best trainers, Lee Gibson in the Shropshire Hills and gains much insightful knowledge from him.

As above, School For Paws are setting a permanent indoor training facility for agility within Shrewsbury, where classes will begin.  There will also be opportunities to work with Lee Gibson from that same area.  We will endeavor to keep you informed on this progress.

For those in the Oswestry and surrounding areas, School For Paws highly recommends Touch Agility Group (TAG), a club in which Emma attends and classes run for all levels.   Touch Agility Group is run by Lisa Adams and Rachel Rogers, who are both Agility Club Approved Instructors and have been teaching and competing in agility for many years.

The club is run at Owestry Showground on Saturday's during winter months and in the evenings during the summer months.  For information contact Lisa on 07963 332763 or Rachel on 07596 088455.  Email train@touchagility.co.uk or website www.touchagility.co.uk

Please note booking is essential and that TAG ask that all people attending the first and last classes of the day to please arrive early/stay behind to help with the equipment.  Thank you.  


TALKS AND SEMINARS - GUEST TRAINERS

School For Paws also offer opportunities to attend talks and seminars with top Trainers on a variety of dog related subjects.

Barbara Sykes MBIPDT

We are proud to have been involved with Barbara Sykes MBIPDT from Mainline Border Collie Centre. Barbara is well known for her successful training method, Thinking Like Canines, and is continually in demand as a trainer and her unique Sheepdog Experience training. Barbara has had many TV appearance and has published six books and edits a magazine, Freedom of Spirit, which is subscribed to in all corners of the globe. For more details on Barbara, her courses, books, magazines and charity for Border Collies visit her website www.bordercollies.co.uk.

Victoria Stilwell

We were extremely honored to have had the company of Victoria Stilwell, Dog Trainer and star from Channel 4's popular TV series 'It's Me or the Dog'.  Victoria visited School For Paws and gave some very insightful talks on behaviour and the body language of dogs.  We are now very lucky to have the opportunity to work with Victoria on a professional basis and be part of the new and exciting project, Victoria Stilwell Positively.  We are hoping that dog training is going to improve for the better with the help of organisations such as this.

Emma Collings reports; "Victoria is an inspiring and knowledgeable trainer, I am proud to have worked with her and am feel it is an honor to be invited to join VSP and become a trainer under her name.  I am looking forward to the future of dog training!"

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Testimonials:

 

 

'I had tried 3 other trainers in the past and was just about to give up, when I found Emma.  Dog to dog aggression, to the point of not being able to take our dogs for a walk and dog barking to the point of neighbourhood complaints, were our main concerns. 

She evaluated our dogs, acknowledged that they did have some serious behaviour issues and in time, showed us how to deal with them.  Emma makes it look so easy, but it's not, if you are like I was and unable to fix your dogs' problems.  We can't thank you enough and we all miss you, so please move back to Surrey! 

The Engelhardtsens and our dogs, Tigger & Pal

 

 

'Rudy is our very large and lovely black lab. We got him from a friend of ours who owns his Dad and she was the person who organised for us to do puppy training together through School for Paws.

Right from the beginning I could see that Emma is a very focussed person who is passionate about the dogs in her care. She taught us invaluable lessons on keeping dogs calm and from getting the best from them. This was crucial for us as we have two small children and have many youngsters visiting the house.

We completed basic and advanced puppy training and then Rudy and I went on to achieve our bronze and silver good citizen awards from the Kennel Club, through the courses run by School for Paws.

Rudy went through a stage of being very protective of me at home and out walking and I was concerned about the potential for aggression in him. I called Emma and she came and did some very useful training sessions with us on a one to one basis. It made me realise that Rudy was only reacting to my nervousness which had built up over time.

Today, Rudy is a pleasure to have around. He's a lovely, very well trained dog who also has that reputation in our village!  He is also still the best dog at being left lying down and told to stay and staying until released - which is great unless I forget that he's there and he's still waiting 15 minutes later!

I cannot thank Emma and School for Paws for the exceptional training Rudy and I received - many thanks for the wonderful relationship we now share.
Dogs are such amazing parts of our lives and I am just so happy that ours is a successful one." 

Rebecca Brookes and Rudy the Lab

Dog training in Shrewsbury, Shropshire.

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