Puppy school - Meet some of our tutors

"Joining Puppy School provided a neat structure for developing my skills as a trainer....."

Amanda Blatch lives in lives in Reigate, Surrey and has been a Puppy School Tutor since 2016. She runs a successful Dog Training and Dog Walking business called Happy Buddies.

"I love being a Puppy School tutor! I can honestly say the best decision I have ever made was to leave my career in Human Resources and finally follow my dream to work with dogs. It was a scary leap of faith but one I have absolutely no regrets about making! I initially started dog walking but realised that I had so much more to offer and this is when I looked into joining Puppy School . I currently run five Puppy School classes and two SuperPup classes a week plus my own Canine College class too. I run my classes during weekday evenings and at weekends and this allows me to continue with my dog walking services and to offer 121 training with clients as well. I have two wonderful dogs of my own and love spending time walking and training them. I love the way they make me laugh each day with their little quirks and personality traits and how enthusiastic they become when 'mummy's treat training pouch' comes out.

The best thing about being a Puppy School tutor is seeing how far the puppies and owners (they are a team afterall), come within six weeks. It is so rewarding to see how my input, guidance, support and knowledge can help owners and their dogs bond, develop and learn together in such a fun and enjoyable way. I receive some lovely feedback from my clients and this is wonderful positive reinforcement for me! The support team within Puppy School is amazing. It really does feel like a family and one that is great to be a part of. Here's to many many more years of being part of the Puppy School team!"

"From the very start, everyone welcomed me and have been supportive and encouraging"

Samantha Negus joined Puppy School as an associate tutor with Alice Crick in Gloucestershire at Positive Dog Training Company.

After the success of our online run tutor training courses in 2020 when we were no longer able to teach in person face-to-face, we developed our Spring and Autumn 2021 tutor training courses to be a mixture of in-person practical workshops and online ‘live’ lectures. The in-person workshops revolve around everyone meeting and getting to know each other as well as some practice on public speaking and puppy handling. The practical handling side of the course is now hosted with puppy clients and puppies themselves over in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. This new format gives new tutors and associates the chance to work with real-life scenarios that will similar to those that they will experience in their own classes.

The online ‘live’ lectures give attendees the chance to learn from the comfort of their own homes with less travel time and travel expenses. Sam joined in 2021 and comments about her experiences of our tutor training course:

Sam and Callisto "All my life I've wanted to work in dog training, but was scared to jump out and do it alone. Finding out that Puppy School existed was amazing to me.

Doing the Zoom meetings was a first for me but allowed me to fit training in around my personal responsibilities in a way that was easier than if I had had to travel to get take part. I enjoyed starting the training with the two-day face-to-face course so that we all got to meet each other and establish bonds. This worked well going forward on the Zoom calls as we weren't strangers! I really enjoyed that the Zoom calls were live and not recorded as I would not retain or be as engaged if I was sent videos to watch and learn from alone.

For me, the most interesting part was learning skills and techniques/helpful tricks to try and help the puppies succeed in what they are doing. I also really enjoyed the practical at the end and getting to speak to and work with the owners.

Working with dogs in kennels is one thing, but having to establish a rapport with the clients was a new experience and mostly a lovely one. I am super excited to continue my Puppy School journey and look forward to doing my classes as well as learning and developing my skill set every day!”

"The feedback I get from the classes is overwhelmingly positive, and it is lovely to see happy dogs around the local area who I have helped train from a puppy."

Imogen Haley lives in Walton-on-Thames with her two dogs Albert and Rita. She founded her dog training business ‘Lady & the Hound’ in 2017 which is also home to Surrey Puppy Schools in Walton, Sunbury, West Molesey and London Puppy Schools in Richmond and Hampton. Imogen is registered as an Animal Training Instructor with the ABTC and is also registered with the APDT.

"I decided to join the Puppy School family as a tutor after training in classes with one of my own dogs when he was a puppy. I fell in love with the whole ethos of the company, from the emphasis on kind and reward based training to how welcoming our tutor was to me as a novice dog owner at the time. Our classes were warm and friendly and I thought how wonderful it would be to be able to share all of this with other owners but for a living - and I have never looked back!

Lady & the Hound runs a daily schedule of Puppy School classes at five different indoor venues across Surrey and London and has a team of additional Associate and Assistant Tutors, all of whom also love what they do. Our aim is to make what could be a daunting experience for both puppy and owner an easy and enjoyable one and we are delighted that most owners often decide to come on and further their training with us in one of our follow-on Juniors classes too. We particularly welcome families to join us in our classes and love that our junior handlers often end up being the most committed!

Lady & the Hound also offers pre-school classes and private one-to-one tuition as well as a variety of online behaviour consultations including help with separation anxiety and general puppy advice for new and first time owners".

"Having found Puppy School and being fortunate enough to be welcomed into the family as a franchise owner has quite literally been a life changing experience for me and I might be a bit biased but I think it’s fair to say that I really do have the best job in the world!”