At Paw by Paw training I know that one size doesn’t fit all for either my human or dog learners so I offer a range of services to help you with your dog’s learning. These include;
- A variety of one to one programmes for in person clients within a 50 mile radius of Dorchester and Weymouth as well as online clients worldwide
- Training walks for clients within a 10 mile radius of Weymouth and Dorchester
- One off events including workshops and webinars ranging from puppy socialisation, general manners (including recall and loose lead walking), tricks, introduction to various sports (including scent detection, tracking, hoopers and rally)
- Specialist Reactive Rovers classes in the Chickerell area of Weymouth, although this class has been attended from clients as far away as London!
- Classes for puppies, scent detection, hoopers and general manners training in the Chickerell area of Weymouth.
My name is Emma Phillips and Paw by Paw Training was born from the experiences I had with my first dogs, Pumba and Timon. As a first time dog owner I made a lot of mistakes with the boys and I paid the price for it with their behaviour.
The boys displayed behaviours like aggression towards other dogs, people, other animals, resource guarding and separation anxiety as well as the normal challenges like focus, recall and loose lead walking.
At their worst, the boys made daily life incredibly difficult and miserable, there were times where I would have preferred to scrub the whole house clean with a toothpick than take them out for a walk!
My experiences with the boys inspired me to set up Paw by Paw Training to help people who felt like I did. If you feel overwhelmed with dog ownership, like you want to bury your head in the ground and avoid the issues you’re experiencing or if you’re questioning whether or not you’re the right home for your dog, I’ve been there.
Feeling like you have a dog who is the best thing since sliced bread in every way except for when they see another dog is a feeling I was familiar with as well. You might even find yourself disliking your dog, it’s a really uncomfortable thought to have but is one that has crossed my mind a few times as well.
Because I’ve lived through the issues that you’re experiencing, I know how it feels and the challenges that come with it.
You cannot be more interesting when out and about on walks in order to get your dog to focus on you more, it is terrifying to walk a reactive dog when you don’t know what you’ll see around each corner and you have to deal with the frustrations of the general public insisting that their dog is friendly – regardless of whether or not yours is!
Paw by Paw Training was born of a desire to help people who feel just like you.
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121 Services
Behaviour 1-2-1 Programmes
One-to-one behaviour programmes are for you if you experience any of the following issues:
- Your dog growling, lunging, barking, snarling at or maybe even trying to bite in any circumstance at anything (if you have a puppy under 6 months old who is biting please see the puppy 1-2-1 programmes)
- Your dog is vocalising, panicking, destroying the house, soiling the house, or trying to escape only when they are left home alone or are unable to access a person
- Your dog is extremely nervous of anyone or anything
- Your dog excessively barking in any context
Training 1-2-1 Programmes
One-to-one training programmes are for you if your dog is over 6 months of age and you experience any of the following issues:
- Your dog not coming back when you call them on walks
- Your dog jumping up at people either at home or out and about
- Your dog barging through doors or jumping out of the car as soon as you open the door
- Your dog jumping up at kitchen counters
- Your dog pestering you when you eat
- Your dog not having any food manners
- You have other issues with your dog’s general manners
- Your dog pulling on lead
The exclusive individual training lessons are perfectly adapted to our needs and encourages so much more confidence in both Maggie Mae and me, plus full support via email/text is a perfect bonus. Maggie Mae is happier, enjoying her walks while still learning.
Our next goal is to join one of your group programmes.
My girl pup Maisie, would be a huge struggle to walk and she became reactive towards, people, pigeons, children and other dogs, I became quite anxious walking her and lost all my confidence. I had 6 one to one sessions, after which I can honestly say I was able to walk her with confidence and enjoyment.
I believe the sessions were as much for me as Maisie, but after just a couple of weeks, and lots of practice, I had developed a brilliant relationship with her.
The training makes sense and is supportive and fun. I didn't feel stupid or useless, it was exactly what I needed to be proud of my girl when we are out walking together!
Maisie has reached her "teenage" years and has become a little stubborn with her recall when off lead. Therefore I have started a few more sessions to help improve this which we are enjoying and I am sure we will be able to crack this issue soon.
Puppy 1-2-1 Programmes
Puppy one-to-one training programmes are for you if your dog is under 6 months of age and you are experiencing any issues or simply just want some guidance on raising a puppy. Some topics you may be struggling with include:
- Guidance on how to appropriately socialise your puppy
- General manners (coming back when called, loose lead walking, jumping up, barking, food manners, etc.)
- Getting your puppy toilet trained
- Getting your puppy to sleep through the night
- Teaching your puppy to be comfortable being home alone
- Surviving puppy biting
- Integrating your new puppy into the existing members of the household (canine, human (especially young children), and other species)
- Surviving evening witching hour!
Once we started these it was immediate the change in our puppy. The training walks helped with her obedience for heel, attention to us while walking and ignoring people and dogs, and the 121 training helped us with foundations for calming her and manners when around people and dogs. These combined with Scent Club has really made a huge difference.
She is now able to ignore people and dogs on walks, she will even sit quietly and watch them pass without lunging at them, she can relax in settle on command and she absolutely loves Scent Club!
I'm so impressed by Emma and how well she knows what will work with your dog - it took her minutes to see that some of the scent work was too easy for our puppy and she needed harder ones. As soon as we made them harder she got right to work and was laser focused.
Paw by Paw offers a great mix of different things to suit what your dog needs and we are so happy with the improvements the training has provided!
Classes
Reactive Rovers
This 6 week course is designed to help dogs who:
- bark at,
- lunge at,
- try to run away from,
- growl at,
- maybe even try to bite
other dogs. If you are unsure about the suitability of your dog for this course, please book a call via the button below, I’m more than happy to provide guidance.
This course is designed to give owners of dogs who struggle around other dogs the skills they need to enjoy their walks again. It is not designed to fix your dog’s reactivity, it is simply the first step in doing so.
Puppy Classes
This 6 week course is designed for puppies from 8 weeks to 6 months old at the time of the course starting.
Topics covered on this course include:
- socialisation
- positions (sit, settle)
- teaching your puppy to do multiple behaviours for one reward
- focus
- loose lead walking
- impulse control
- toy play
- door manners
- polite greetings
- teaching your puppy to be happy to be home alone
- body language
- introductions to other family members (babies, toddlers, children, cats, existing dogs, small animals)
- stay
- preventing jumping up
- recall
- go to bed/crate/mat
- hand touch (loose lead walking, recall, preventing jumping up)
- preventing resource guarding
- preparation for veterinary/grooming visits
- preventing separation anxiety
- crate training
- toilet training
- getting your puppy to sleep through the night
- fear & how to handle it
- diet
- spaying & neutering
- teething & biting
Fast forward another few years to another 4 paws joining the family, again, there was no question she would do the puppy classes. A rescue this time, and therefore a bit older, classes and exercises were adapted by the PbyP team to take this into account. We lent heavily on all advice as we navigated introducing a nervous, inexperienced youngster into the big wide world. We also had a lovely time in the Hoopers classes once we had finished pups.
Paw by Paw will always be a part of our canine support network, highly recommend their classes and services.
We've since attended puppy classes with our second dog, Olive, as well as Canine College with both dogs, and have loved seeing them learn fun new tricks. Thank you Emma!
Scent Club
A rolling course for dogs of any age to learn about scent detection – one of the best ways of tiring your dog out and meeting their most natural canine needs.
This course is suitable for puppies and adult dogs alike, breeds, dogs with physical limitations and dogs who require space from other dogs or people as long as they can see them within 10 metres without reacting.
Once we started these it was immediate the change in our puppy. The training walks helped with her obedience for heel, attention to us while walking and ignoring people and dogs, and the 121 training helped us with foundations for calming her and manners when around people and dogs. These combined with Scent Club has really made a huge difference. She is now able to ignore people and dogs on walks, she will even sit quietly and watch them pass without lunging at them, she can relax in settle on command and she absolutely loves Scent Club! I'm so impressed by Emma and how well she knows what will work with your dog - it took her minutes to see that some of the scent work was too easy for our puppy and she needed harder ones. As soon as we made them harder she got right to work and was laser focused.
Paw by Paw offers a great mix of different things to suit what your dog needs and we are so happy with the improvements the training has provided!
Hoopers Club
A rolling course for dogs of any age to learn about hoopers – a sport like agility but with hoops instead of jumps.
This course is suitable for puppies and adult dogs alike, breeds, and dogs with some physical limitations that may rule out agility as an activity for them.
Canine College
A rolling course aimed at training dogs general manners, topics are dictated by participants in the class but regularly focuses on recall, loose lead walking, not jumping up, not being overexcited, impulse control, go mat, confidence building and trick training.
This course is suitable for dogs who need space from people or other dogs as long as they can see them within 10 metres without reacting.
We've since attended puppy classes with our second dog, Olive, as well as Canine College with both dogs, and have loved seeing them learn fun new tricks. Thank you Emma!
One-Off Events
Escape Rooms
Escape Rooms are run in conjunction with Jack Fenton from The Dorset Dog Trainer. These are open to any dog and handler team who have a basic indication on any scent. We run a league for those who compete in these regularly and there’s the option to compete as part of a team if you and a group of friends want to work together!
Puppy Workshop
This one off workshop covers all of the key skills your puppy needs to know in order to be a well rounded member of society and introduces you and your puppy to the world of appropriate socialisation.
No accidentally under- or over-socialising your puppy (yes it is possible!) These workshops are ideal if you can’t commit to a 6 week training class.
Recall Workshop
This dedicated recall workshop is perfect for any stage of your recall training. You will learn the basics of recall to ensure that the key skills required are functioning, through to how to develop your recall and work through distractions.
Ideal if you simply want to top up your recall, fix a specific issue with distractions or you’ve recently brought a new dog home and want to get the best start for a good recall.
Loose Lead Workshop
This workshop focuses on teaching your dog how to walk nicely on the lead. This is perfect if you’ve just brought a dog home and want to get started on the right foot, or if your dog has a problem with pulling on their lead and you’re looking for the solution to the pulling.
Ditch The Treat Workshop
If you would like to learn how to go from needing treats on you to get your dog to do what you want then this workshop is ideal!
Your dog must have at least one behaviour learnt prior to attending this, it doesn’t matter what behaviour, just one that we can work with in order to teach you how to remove the food to get the behaviour.
General Manners Workshop
This workshop is perfect if you want to improve your dog’s general manners including recall, loose lead walking, jumping up (at people or surfaces) and pestering when you’re preparing or eating food.
Trick Workshop
Trick training is so fun, who doesn’t love showing their dog’s tricks off at BBQs or family events?! This workshop covers a range of tricks from basic paw and nose targets, to bow, roll over and how to build the behaviours as well as all of the theory you need to go home and train whatever tricks you fancy!
You’ll finish this workshop with a load of tricks to show off at your next big event!
Grooming & Handling Workshop
Cooperative care is the process of teaching your dog to participate in their husbandry care, be it veterinary or grooming. No more pinning your dog down to trim their nails or brush their teeth. No having to trick them to take pills.
This course teaches you how to use behaviours in a cooperative setting and how to apply them to your dog’s medical and/or grooming needs.
Introduction To Scentwork Workshop
Scentwork is the quickest way to tire your dog out and is one of the most effective activities for mental stimulation you can provide. If you have 15 minutes to tire your dog out, scentwork is the way to go! It’s incredible how easily your dog can find tiny amounts of scent in huge areas.
This workshop introduces you to the sport and is ideal for dogs of any breed, age and physical build.
Introduction To Tracking Workshop
Tracking is the process of your dog following the path a human (or other animal) has walked to find them. It’s a fabulous activity for dogs of all breeds and ages, especially older and younger dogs as it’s a low-impact activity for them to take part in and safely exercise.
Reactive Rovers Workshop
This is a two-part workshop over two weeks that covers the theory and exercises necessary in order to start changing your dog’s emotional response to other dogs. Suitable for dogs that bark, lunge, growl at, try to hide from or maybe even try to bite other dogs.
Introduction To Hoopers Workshop
This is a one off workshop to introduce you and your dog to the sport of hoopers – brilliant if you’d like to give the sport a go before committing to one of our classes.
This workshop is suitable for puppies and adult dogs alike, breeds, and dogs with some physical limitations that may rule out agility as an activity for them.
Introduction To Rally Workshop
Rally is like obedience but follows a course of signs that tell you which exercises to carry out. It’s a great sport for reactive dogs to take up as there is an active online competition community to ease you and your dog into competitive environments.
This sport will be brilliant if you want better general manners from your dog whilst also having fun with them!
