Bristol Dog Days, training and walking

13/10/2026

Another shout out for new puppy owners!

Puppy class is beginning on the 22nd of October

It's held at St Augustines Church - Whitchurch.

The time is 6pm.

There are 2 spaces left and you can book on the website bristoldogdays.co.uk.

Buold the bond between you using force free game based learning.

Learn how to gain focus and engagement.

Sit, Down, wait and Settle

The principles of impulse control

Loose lead and Recall Foundations

Consensual Touch.

Come and join us in this small, friendly and nurturing environment. We'd love to see you there.

Specialising in providing Bespoke, private one to one training packages and classes to assist you with a multitude of training needs.  We know that dog ownership can be frustrating at times and provide a supportive, non judgmental approach to helping you achieve your goals.

11/10/2026

Absolutely love this post from Laura Mars.

If we want our dogs to do human then it is only fair that we also allow them to do dog and have walks full of choice. After all their walks are generally the only place they have any freedom to choose.

06/10/2026

A big welcome to team Bella. This little cutie and her family have signed up to our 1:1 puppy package and on just week 2, she is so much more confident and acing the cues her family have been practicing. They couldn't make puppy class so opted to choose the more flexible package.

Classes and 1:1 packages are both available.

Puppy and adolescent classes are held at St Augustines Church in Whitchurch on Thursday evenings.

1:1 packages begin in your own home and as your puppy grows more confident, sessions are taken into your local environments, building that all important engagement around everyday distractions.

If you'd like to know more do get in touch via WhatsApp or at Bristoldogdays.co.uk

We'd love to have you as part of the Bristol Dog Days - Dog Training Family.

26/09/2026

🐶 **LAST CHANCE — Puppy Training Class Nearly Full!**

Ready to give your puppy the best start possible? Our popular Puppy Class is almost sold out!

📍 Where:St Augustine's Church
📅 When: October 8th, 7:00 PM

Over 6 weeks, you'll discover how to nurture a well-mannered, confident pup using gentle, positive reinforcement techniques. Perfect for new owners who want to build an unbreakable bond and set their puppy up for everyday success.

**Your puppy will master:**

✅ **Sit, Down & Stay** — essential commands for daily life
✅ **Recall** — reliable return every time you call
✅ **Loose Lead Walking** — enjoyable strolls without the tugging
✅ **Socialization Skills** — confidence with people & pups
✅ **Focus & Engagement** — attention on you even with distractions
✅ **Polite Greetings** — greeting guests calmly, not jumping up

These lessons go beyond training—they're the foundation for a happy life together. 🐾💛

**Only a handful of places remain!** Secure your spot before they're gone:
🔗 https://link.bristoldogdays.co.uk/widget/bookings/bristol-puppies

Questions? Contact Marcia at **[email protected]** or call **+44 7759 017672** — we're here for you!

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*Bristol Dog Days — Helping you nurture a wonderful companion, right from the start.*

24/09/2026

Puppy class is generating interest.

If you like to join us please register your interest via email or sign up on the website

📧 [email protected]
Website: bristoldogdays.co.uk

🐶 NEW PUPPY CLASSES IN WHITCHURCH 🐶

I’m gathering interest for a new six-week Puppy Foundations course beginning on Thursday 8th October at St Augustine’s Church, Whitchurch.

These friendly, force-free and game-based classes will cover focus, recall, loose-lead walking, settling and building calm confidence around other dogs.

Classes will be limited to just four puppies, allowing everyone plenty of individual support. This isn’t a puppy free-for-all—it’s about helping you and your puppy learn together and build useful skills for everyday life.

Joining the priority list does not commit you to booking. Full details will be sent before bookings open.

To register your interest, please email [email protected]

Building calm, confident dogs 💚

22/09/2026

🐶 NEW PUPPY CLASSES IN WHITCHURCH 🐶

I’m gathering interest for a new six-week Puppy Foundations course beginning on Thursday 8th October at St Augustine’s Church, Whitchurch.

These friendly, force-free and game-based classes will cover focus, recall, loose-lead walking, settling and building calm confidence around other dogs.

Classes will be limited to just four puppies, allowing everyone plenty of individual support. This isn’t a puppy free-for-all—it’s about helping you and your puppy learn together and build useful skills for everyday life.

Joining the priority list does not commit you to booking. Full details will be sent before bookings open.

To register your interest, please email [email protected]

Building calm, confident dogs 💚

04/09/2026

🐾 Why wait until adolescence to start training?

Something I’ve noticed recently is that I see far fewer people seeking puppy training than I do adolescent training.

And it got me thinking… why is that?

Quite often, our puppies can seem like the absolute dream dog.

They stick to us like Velcro.
They come running back when we call.
They follow us everywhere.
They sleep a lot.
And generally, we think we’ve struck gold! ❤️

But this isn’t necessarily because we have the perfectly trained puppy.

Our puppies are brand new to the world.

Everything is new — the sights, smells, noises, people, dogs and environments around them. For a tiny puppy, that world can sometimes feel pretty overwhelming.

As they grow, puppies move through different developmental stages and periods when they can become more sensitive or unsure about the world around them.

Then adolescence arrives.

Hormones begin kicking in and suddenly our puppy starts discovering what it really means to be a dog!

Those smells become AMAZING.

Other dogs become incredibly exciting.

The environment becomes far more interesting than we are.

Recall that once seemed brilliant can suddenly disappear.

Loose lead walking can turn into being dragged along like a steam train.

Getting their attention becomes harder and frustration starts creeping in — for both dog and owner.

Suddenly that gorgeous little Velcro puppy appears to have turned into a teenage hooligan who has completely misplaced their ears! 😂

And this is often the point at which people seek training.

But what if we started earlier?

Puppy training isn't about fixing a problem.

It's about building the foundations before we need them.

🐾 Engagement with their owner
🐾 Recall foundations
🐾 Loose lead walking skills
🐾 Calmness around other dogs
🐾 Impulse control
🐾 Confidence in different environments
🐾 Appropriate socialisation
🐾 Clear communication between puppy and owner

And socialisation doesn't simply mean meeting and playing with lots of dogs.

Learning that they can see another dog and not have to interact with them is an incredibly valuable life skill too.

Whether training takes place 1:1 or within a well-managed puppy class, we're helping puppies and their owners build a toolbox of skills that they can take with them into adolescence.

Adolescence will still happen.

They'll still explore. They'll still get distracted. They'll still occasionally make us wonder whether they've forgotten everything we've ever taught them! 😆

But instead of starting from scratch when things become difficult, we already have foundations to fall back on.

Puppy training isn't just about the puppy standing in front of us today.

It's about preparing for the dog they are becoming. 🐾

Bristol Dog Days
Building calm, confident dogs.

03/09/2026

Ok.... it seems my work number isn't working and I am missing your calls.....

Please refer to my main number in info if you are attempting to call and I will call you back. Alternatively, you can leave a comment here and I will call you from here

27/08/2026

🐾 HANDS OFF OTHER PEOPLE’S DOGS! 🐾

We’re away on holiday and tonight we decided to head to the pub for dinner.

Scamp was brilliant. He settled beside us, relaxed, curled up and eventually fell into a lovely sleepy slumber. ❤️

Then, on two separate occasions, people decided they wanted to stroke him.

Scamp backed away.

That was his answer.

He didn’t move towards them. He didn’t invite interaction. He quite clearly said, in the only way he could:

“No thank you.”

I even explained that they should let him come to them if he wanted attention.

He didn’t.

Unfortunately, the attempts to touch him continued until eventually Scamp barked.

That startled them.

And afterwards I overheard the comment:

“A woman shouldn’t own a dog like that.”

You can imagine how well that went down with me! 🙈

But this is exactly why I want to talk about this.

Dogs are gorgeous. Of course we want to say hello to them.

But we do not have an automatic right to touch somebody else’s dog.

Backing away.
Turning the head.
Leaning away.
Moving behind their owner.
Avoiding eye contact.
Walking away.

These are all perfectly valid ways for a dog to say:

“Please don’t touch me.”

If those quieter signals are repeatedly ignored, sometimes a dog has to communicate more loudly.

A bark.
A growl.
A snap.

And suddenly the dog is labelled as the problem.

I work with dogs who have become worried or reactive around strangers, and sometimes part of their history is simply that people have repeatedly entered their space and touched them when they were uncomfortable.

We also have a habit of reaching straight over a dog to stroke their head — something many dogs really don’t enjoy, particularly from a stranger.

So please…

🐾 Ask the owner before touching a dog.

🐾 If they say no, don’t take it personally.

🐾 If the dog moves away, respect that answer too.

🐾 Allow the dog to choose whether they want to interact with you.

Owners who say “please don’t touch my dog” aren't necessarily being rude or overprotective.

Sometimes we’re simply listening to what our dogs are telling us.

Respecting a dog’s “no” is one of the best ways we can help prevent that dog ever feeling the need to shout.

Please don’t set dogs up to fail. ❤️

Building calm, confident dogs.
Bristol Dog Days – Dog Training