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Fresh start dog training and agility club, Northampton (2026)

23/10/2026

Well, it’s supposed to be my day off today, but as seems to be happening quite a lot lately, I’ve managed to squeeze a client in! 😂

I’ve been doing this rather a lot recently, mainly because I’ve got my holiday coming up, and I know I’m going to have ten glorious days where I won’t be doing any work whatsoever. Well, that’s the plan anyway! Other than potentially responding to the odd urgent email or social media message, I’m intending to switch off completely. So I don’t mind sacrificing a few days off in the run-up to it.

Thankfully, I’ve only got one client today, at midday, so I’ve been able to have a lovely slow start to the morning. No rushing around, no mad dash to get out of the house. Just me, sitting at my computer, listening to the rain pattering away on the conservatory roof.

And do you know what? I absolutely love that sound. There’s something incredibly relaxing and soothing about listening to the rain, particularly when you’re tucked up somewhere warm and cosy.

Had I not needed to go out today, I think I would have been quite happy to spend the entire day indoors, fire roaring away, dogs curled up around me, listening to the rain and enjoying not having to be anywhere.

Unfortunately, the reality is that I do have to venture out into it, and looking at the forecast, it seems to have every intention of raining for the entire day! 🙄

Funny, isn’t it, how the very same weather can be absolutely wonderful when you’re sitting inside listening to it, but considerably less appealing when you know you’re going to have to stand outside working in it! 😂

Anyway, I thought I’d share this rather lovely photo of Trixie from our recent visit to Chester House. I couldn’t resist getting a few pictures of her amongst the pumpkins. 🎃🐾

Hope you’re all having a lovely Friday, and if you’re lucky enough to be staying indoors today, enjoy listening to that rain for me! ❤️

21/10/2026

I’m really sorry I’ve been a bit quiet on here lately! It’s been a rather busy few days, with a very full weekend of clients and classes, taking Mum to her hospital appointments, and a few other things going on behind the scenes that I’ll probably talk a little more about later in the week.

But I wanted to take a moment today to share this photo of a very handsome young man, because behind this lovely picture is a story of just how far a dog and his owner can come with patience, consistency and an awful lot of hard work. ❤️

This gorgeous boy has been on quite a journey since the beginning of the year, and I genuinely couldn’t be prouder of him and his mum.

When they first came to me, things were incredibly difficult. In fact, his mum couldn’t even walk him outside their front door. They live on a relatively quiet housing estate, but even the traffic there was enough to trigger such an intense desire to chase that his mum physically struggled to hold him. Trains were another huge trigger, and the world outside was a pretty challenging place for them both.

Since then, his mum has put in an enormous amount of work. We’ve had one-to-one sessions, they’ve attended classes, and perhaps most importantly, she’s taken everything we’ve worked on and continued practising in her own time.

And today, we got to see just how much all that hard work has paid off.

We visited a country house situated just off a major dual carriageway, with a railway running behind it. Not exactly the sort of environment you would have imagined this boy being able to cope with at the beginning of the year!

But not only did he manage the journey and the environment, he was able to come inside, settle himself reasonably well and spend well over an hour while his mum and I sat chatting and enjoying some refreshments.

Now, to some people, that might not sound like a particularly remarkable achievement. After all, plenty of dogs can sit quietly while their owners have a cup of tea and a chat.

But when you understand where this boy started, you realise just how enormous an achievement this actually is.

Was he perfectly settled every second? No, of course not. But that’s not what we’re looking for. We’re looking for a dog who is learning to manage his emotions, make better choices and cope with situations that previously would have been completely overwhelming.

And that’s exactly what he did today.

I think sometimes we get so caught up in wanting our dogs to be better at things that we forget to look back and recognise just how far they’ve already come.

Behavioural training isn’t always a quick fix. Sometimes it’s a long journey, with plenty of challenges along the way. But when owners are prepared to put in the work, remain consistent and give their dogs the time they need to learn, the results can be absolutely wonderful.

I’m incredibly proud of this gorgeous boy, but I’m equally proud of his mum. She’s worked so hard to help him, and today was a lovely reminder of just what they’ve achieved together.

This is why I absolutely love what I do. ❤️🐾

17/10/2026

Seriously, who turned the fridge on?! 🥶😂

I don’t know about anyone else, but blimey, it’s suddenly got cold! I think autumn has well and truly arrived, and I’m not entirely sure I’m ready for it!

Anyway, despite the rather chilly weather, it’s been another fantastic day of dog training, and I’ve had some absolutely brilliant dogs and handlers to work with today.

We started the morning with agility, followed by our Sport Puppy class, which is currently focusing on scent work. Everyone did amazingly well, but I have to say, one of my favourite things about teaching scent work is watching that moment when the penny finally drops.

Today, you could actually see the puppies beginning to realise that it was the scent they were supposed to be finding, and that finding it was what earned them their reward. I absolutely LOVE watching that little lightbulb moment! 💡🐾

It’s fascinating watching dogs work things out for themselves, especially when they all approach the same problem in completely different ways. And there’s something incredibly rewarding about seeing a dog go from simply following the food to actually understanding the task. They were all brilliant today, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how they progress over the coming weeks.

After classes, I had just one 1-1 session today, which meant a rather unusual early finish for me!

And my final client of the day was this absolutely gorgeous little treasure. ❤️

His mum is keen to give him the very best start in life, which is always lovely to see. We’ve now had two sessions together, and he’s already learning so much.

We’ve been introducing boundary games, and today we worked on sits, downs, loose lead walking, turn-taking and, importantly, learning to settle and relax between his turns.

I think sometimes people underestimate just how much there is for a young puppy to learn. It’s not simply about teaching them to sit or lie down. It’s about helping them develop the skills they’ll need to navigate everyday life, learning that they don’t have to be involved in absolutely everything, that being calm is a valuable skill, and that sometimes the best thing they can do is simply relax and watch the world go by.

And this little chap did incredibly well. He’s such a lovely puppy, and rather gorgeous too, which certainly doesn’t hurt! 🥰

So, with an unexpectedly early finish, I’ve decided that’s quite enough of the world for one day!

I’ve come home, shut the gates, locked the doors and taken myself and my girls upstairs to bed, where we intend to spend the rest of the evening watching television and doing absolutely nothing productive whatsoever.

I’m absolutely shattered, and with another busy day of classes tomorrow, I think a quiet evening tucked up in the warm is exactly what’s needed.

Sometimes it’s rather nice to just shut the world out for a few hours, isn’t it?

Hope you’re all having a lovely Saturday, and keeping warm! ❤️🐾

16/10/2026

I know, I know, we're only in October and nobody really wants to be thinking about Christmas just yet! But believe it or not, it's going to be here before we know it, and if you've got a dog who finds certain aspects of Christmas a bit challenging, now is actually a really good time to start doing something about it.

Because whilst Christmas can be a lovely time of year for us, it isn't necessarily quite so enjoyable for our dogs.

Think about it for a moment. We suddenly have people coming and going, visitors arriving who our dogs might not have seen for months, deliveries turning up at the door, food appearing in places it wouldn't normally be, decorations everywhere and, quite often, a complete change to our usual routines.

For some dogs, all that excitement is just too much. They might jump all over visitors, bark every time the doorbell rings, struggle to settle when people are around or become rather too interested in what's happening in the kitchen!

For others, it can be genuinely overwhelming, particularly if they're not comfortable around unfamiliar people or find changes to their normal routine difficult.
And whilst we might find some of these behaviours frustrating, it's worth remembering that our dogs aren't deliberately trying to make life difficult. They're simply responding to what's happening around them, often without having been taught what we'd actually like them to do instead.

So, what if we started preparing them now, rather than waiting until Christmas arrives?

🎄 INTRODUCING CHRISTMAS CALM! 🎄
This year, I'm introducing something a little different at Fresh Start Dog Training.
An eight-week, personalised, one-to-one training programme designed to help you and your dog feel better prepared for the festive season.
Over the eight weeks, we'll look at the things that are particularly relevant to you and your dog.
That might include:
🐾 Boundary games and learning to settle, helping your dog understand that just because something exciting is happening, they don't necessarily need to be involved!
🐾 Greeting visitors calmly, rather than launching themselves at everyone who walks through the door.
🐾 Doorbell and knocking training, helping your dog learn that someone arriving doesn't automatically mean they need to rush towards the front door barking.
🐾 Making better choices around food and other temptations, particularly useful when Christmas dinner is being prepared and there's food everywhere!
🐾 Managing excitement and frustration, helping your dog develop the skills to switch off and relax when there's lots happening around them.
🐾 Building confidence, particularly for dogs who find unfamiliar people, busy environments or changes to their normal routine difficult.
🐾 Keeping your dog happy and fulfilled when life gets busy. Let's face it, Christmas can be hectic! Between shopping, cooking, entertaining and visiting family, our normal routines sometimes go completely out of the window.

We'll explore simple, practical ways to provide mental stimulation and enrichment at home, including scentwork, problem-solving games and other activities that can help meet your dog's needs when their usual walking routine isn't possible.
Of course, we won't necessarily cover every one of these things. Every dog and every household is different, so we'll focus on the areas that will make the biggest difference to you.

But there's another really important part of this programme, and that's helping you understand your dog.

Because sometimes, making life easier for our dogs isn't just about teaching them something new.

It's about recognising when they're struggling, understanding what they're trying to communicate and knowing how we can support them.

It's also about teaching our dogs the skills they need to make good choices, rather than constantly having to tell them what not to do.

We'll start with an assessment so that I can get to know you and your dog, understand what you're finding difficult and establish what you'd like to achieve.
From there, we'll put together a training plan that focuses on the things that will make the biggest difference to your everyday life.

You'll also receive a personalised Christmas management plan, so that when the festive season arrives, you've got practical strategies in place to help things run a little more smoothly.

💜 AND HERE'S SOMETHING I THINK IS PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT.
Although we're calling this Christmas Calm, we're not really just training for Christmas.

We're working on life skills.

Being able to welcome friends into your home, enjoy having family round, prepare dinner without your dog constantly under your feet or simply sit down and relax while your dog settles comfortably nearby are things that matter throughout the year.
And that's really what I want people to think about when they're considering training.
It's an investment in your dog, but it's also an investment in your lifestyle and the relationship you have together.

It's about helping your dog understand what's expected of them, giving them the confidence and skills to make good choices, and helping you enjoy the time you spend together without some of those everyday frustrations.

Because ultimately, we all want to enjoy living with our dogs, and we want them to enjoy living with us too!

📍 WHERE DOES THE TRAINING TAKE PLACE?

Fresh Start Dog Training is based at Fresh Start HQ in Blisworth, Northamptonshire.
However, because Christmas Calm focuses on the challenges you experience in your own home, that's where the training takes place.

Whether we're working on greeting visitors, settling when the house is busy or learning to make better choices around everyday distractions, we'll be working in the environment where these situations actually happen.

Home visits are included for clients living within approximately 30 minutes' travelling distance of Fresh Start HQ in Blisworth.

🎁 SO, WHAT'S INCLUDED?
Your Christmas Calm programme includes:
🐾 Eight personalised, one-hour training sessions.
🐾 An initial behavioural assessment as part of your first session.
🐾 An individual training programme tailored to you and your dog.
🐾 A personalised Christmas management plan to help you prepare for the festive season.

💜 YOUR INVESTMENT: £350 FOR THE COMPLETE PROGRAMME.
I'll only be taking on a limited number of dogs for this programme, simply because I want to make sure everyone receives the individual attention they need, and we have enough time to make meaningful progress before Christmas.

Now, I'm certainly not suggesting that eight weeks of training will magically resolve every behavioural difficulty your dog might have.

Behaviour change takes time, consistency and commitment, and every dog is different.

But eight weeks gives us a really good opportunity to start developing new skills, establish better habits and help you understand how to continue making progress.
And who knows? Perhaps this Christmas could be the beginning of a much calmer, more enjoyable life together.
Christmas might be the motivation to get started, but the benefits can last a lifetime. ❤️

📩 If you'd like to find out more about Christmas Calm, or you'd like to reserve one of the available places, just drop me a message here at Fresh Start Dog Training.
I'd love to help you and your dog get started. 🐾

15/10/2026

I genuinely cannot help myself. ❤️🐾

I must have hundreds, if not thousands, of photographs of my gorgeous little baby fast asleep. And yet, every time I look over and see her looking all peaceful and adorable, I find myself reaching for my phone to take another one. 🥰

I mean, just look at that little face. How could I possibly resist?

But then I got thinking this evening… If I behaved like this around another human being, constantly photographing them while they were fast asleep, it would probably be considered extremely dodgy, if not downright creepy! 😂

And yet, when it’s your dog, it’s apparently perfectly acceptable behaviour.

I’m not entirely sure what that says about me, but I suspect I’m not the only one with a camera roll full of sleeping dogs, all looking virtually identical, that I absolutely refuse to delete because every single one is precious. 🤣❤️

Please tell me I’m not alone in this! 🐾💕

15/10/2026

Well, that’s another very, very long working day done! 🐾💜

My final session of the day was a lovely one, working with a client and her gorgeous boy on something that I think is incredibly valuable for all dogs to learn, turn-taking!

He already attends my classes, but his owner wanted to spend a little bit of extra time working on his ability to wait patiently whilst another dog is doing something exciting.

And as it happens, this was the perfect opportunity for little Trixie to come along and do some work on her boundary games too!

Now, I will freely admit that Trixie’s boundary training is something I really haven’t spent enough time on. She’s a very enthusiastic little dog who absolutely loves being involved in everything, and sometimes the idea that she might have to sit something out doesn’t go down particularly well! 😂

But that’s entirely down to me needing to put more time into teaching her that being on her bed, relaxing and watching the world go by is just as important as being the dog that’s actually doing the activity.

One of the things I love about turn-taking exercises is that we’re not simply teaching dogs to stay on a bed. We’re teaching them that they don’t always have to be involved, that watching another dog work doesn’t mean they’re missing out, and that being able to switch off around exciting things is a really useful life skill.

It’s also something that needs practice. We can’t expect our dogs to suddenly become brilliant at waiting patiently if we haven’t actually spent time teaching them how!

So this evening was a really lovely opportunity to help two dogs with their training at the same time, each working on their own individual challenges.

And I think it’s fair to say that Trixie and I have got some homework to do! 😂💜

14/10/2026

🐾 When your best friend’s bedroom becomes out of bounds! 🐾

Another busy, full day of work ahead today, but at least the weather is absolutely beautiful! ☀️ I’m just hoping it stays that way for a little while. My only frustration is that the nicest weather always seems to arrive when I’m working all day! Still, I suppose I shouldn’t complain! 😂

Anyway, I thought I’d share this lovely photo of a very handsome boy with his best friend, because it’s a nice opportunity to talk about a problem that quite a few dog owners experience.

This gorgeous boy has recently found himself banned from his best friend’s bedroom because he’s started weeing upstairs!

Now, he’s an entire male, so marking behaviour is certainly something we need to consider. However, according to his owners, nothing has changed within the household or upstairs that might explain why this behaviour has suddenly started.

So, how do we tackle something like this?

The first thing is to make sure we’re not overlooking a medical reason, particularly when a dog suddenly starts toileting somewhere they haven’t previously.

Once we’ve ruled that out, we need to look at managing the environment and, most importantly, preventing the behaviour from being rehearsed.

Every time a dog practises a behaviour, there’s the potential for it to become more established, and we certainly don’t want that happening here!

So, firstly, the areas where he’s been weeing need to be thoroughly cleaned with an appropriate enzymatic cleaner. Dogs have an incredible sense of smell, and just because we can’t smell urine any longer doesn’t mean they can’t!

Secondly, we’re going to stop giving him unlimited access to upstairs. That doesn’t mean he’s banned forever, but for now, any time he goes upstairs, he needs to be supervised.

And this is where being able to read your dog’s body language becomes really important.

If he starts investigating an area, sniffing intently or showing the sort of behaviour that might precede marking, we need to be ready to intervene before he actually lifts his leg.

That might mean asking him to do something else, such as settling on a bed, or simply taking him back downstairs and giving him an opportunity to toilet outside.

The important thing is that we’re not waiting for him to make the mistake and then telling him off. We’re setting him up to make better choices in the first place.

Over time, as we establish more appropriate behaviour upstairs, we can gradually start giving him a little more freedom again.

And that’s something I think is really important to remember about dog training. So often, the solution isn’t about correcting a dog for doing something we don’t like. It’s about understanding what’s happening, managing the situation and teaching them what we’d rather they did instead.

Hopefully, it won’t be too long before this lovely boy is allowed back upstairs for cuddles with his best friend! ❤️🐾

Have you ever had a dog suddenly start weeing somewhere they shouldn’t?

13/10/2026

Grief is a funny thing, isn’t it?

Over the last few days, I’ve found myself thinking quite a lot about grief, what it means to lose someone you love and how we learn to live with that loss.

One of my closest friends has just lost a very special dog, who was only five years old. Far too young, with so much life that should have been ahead of him. My heart absolutely breaks for her, and in feeling that sadness and heartbreak for someone I care about so much, it’s brought back a lot of thoughts and feelings about losing my own soulmate, Izzy.

As the first anniversary of losing Izzy approaches, I’ve also noticed something over the last couple of weeks. Whilst I’m still very much grieving for her, something has changed.

Grief is something that every single one of us will experience at some point in our lives, yet it’s such an individual experience. No two people will grieve in quite the same way, and there’s certainly no rulebook telling us how we’re supposed to feel or how long we’re supposed to feel it for.

One of the things I’ve become very aware of over the last year is that society doesn’t seem particularly comfortable with grief. People are sympathetic initially, but there seems to be an unspoken expectation that, after a certain amount of time, you should have moved on. That you should be feeling better, getting back to normal and putting the sadness behind you.

And I think what happens instead is that we become very good at masking it. We carry on with our lives, we work, we laugh, we enjoy things, and from the outside everything probably looks absolutely fine. But that doesn’t mean the grief has gone anywhere.

I haven’t got over losing Izzy, and I genuinely don’t know whether I ever will. She was my soulmate, my partner in so many things, and such an enormous part of my life. I still miss her every single day.

But what I’ve realised recently is that perhaps grief isn’t something we necessarily get over. Perhaps it’s something we gradually learn to live alongside.

And over the last couple of weeks, I’ve noticed a little change in myself.

One of the things Izzy and I absolutely loved doing together was tracking. It was very much our thing. Whilst I’d done bits of tracking with other dogs over the years, it was something that I predominantly did with Izzy, and after losing her, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it anymore.

Until recently.

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve started teaching Lilly and Trixie how to track, and I’ve actually found myself really enjoying it again.

It might not sound like a particularly big thing, but to me it feels enormous. For the first time in almost a year, I’ve been able to return to something that holds so many memories of Izzy, without feeling that overwhelming sadness that has stopped me from doing it before.

And I think, for me, that’s a little turning point.

It doesn’t mean I miss her any less. It doesn’t mean I’ve moved on from her, and it certainly doesn’t mean that the grief has disappeared. But perhaps it means I’m beginning to find a way of enjoying some of the things we loved doing together, whilst still carrying her with me.

Tracking is just the first of those things, and I hope, in time, there will be others.

I suppose the reason I’m sharing this is because I know so many people who follow this page have experienced the heartbreak of losing a dog, or indeed someone else they love.

And I just want to say, please don’t feel that you have to grieve according to anyone else’s expectations.

Whether it’s been a year, two years, five years or longer, if you’re still grieving, that’s absolutely fine. You don’t need to justify it, apologise for it or pretend that you’re feeling better simply because someone else thinks enough time has passed.

Equally, if you find yourself laughing, enjoying life or doing something you once shared with the one you’ve lost, that doesn’t mean you’ve forgotten them or that they meant any less to you.

I think I’m beginning to understand that grief and happiness can exist alongside one another.

I’ll always wish Izzy was still here. I’ll always miss the things we did together, and I suspect there will always be moments when losing her feels as raw as it did at the beginning.

But I’m starting to find some enjoyment in those things again, and for now, that’s enough.

There really isn’t a timetable for grief, and I think we could all do with being a little kinder to ourselves, and to each other, about that.

And if you’ve lost a special dog, whether that was recently or many years ago, I’d really love you to share a little memory of them in the comments, if you feel comfortable doing so. Tell me their name, what made them special, or perhaps something they used to do that still makes you smile.

Because whilst they may no longer be here with us, I think there’s something rather lovely about being able to talk about them, remember them and celebrate the enormous part they played in our lives. ❤️🐾

12/10/2026

🐾 A lovely day of scentwork yesterday! 🐾

Yesterday was an incredibly busy day, but I really enjoyed our scentwork sessions, and I thought I’d share a little footage of the final pipe searches from one of my Sport Puppy groups.

None of these dogs had ever worked with Kong as a target scent before, yet by the end of their very first session, every single one was successfully searching the pipes and identifying the scent. I was really pleased with how they all got on!

One of the things I absolutely love about scentwork is that, as handlers, we can’t really do the job for our dogs. Our noses simply don’t work in the same way as theirs, so we have to learn to trust them, watch them carefully and recognise the little changes in body language that tell us they’re working something out. It’s such a valuable skill, not just for scentwork, but for understanding our dogs in everyday life too.

The other thing I find fascinating is how differently individual dogs approach exactly the same task. Some are methodical, some are enthusiastic, some take their time and others throw themselves into it, but they can all arrive at the same answer. There isn’t just one way to work a search, and I love watching each dog figure things out in their own way.

I’m really proud of everyone and how much they achieved in just one session. I’m looking forward to seeing how they develop over the coming weeks. 💜🐾

11/10/2026

🐾 A manic day at Fresh Start, and Trixie has been up to mischief! 😂

What an absolutely manic but fantastic day! We’ve had some brilliant scentwork classes this morning, and I’ll share more about what everyone got up to over the next few days. But tonight, I thought I’d tell you about Trixie’s little adventure!

Trixie is just starting her career as one of my demonstration dogs, and anyone who knows her will know she’s a vivacious little character who does everything at a thousand miles an hour! Unfortunately, patience and self-control aren’t necessarily her strongest qualities.

She started beautifully this morning, demonstrating some boundary games for the class. In fact, the photograph is proof that she CAN stay on her bed and behave herself!

Unfortunately, whilst my back was turned getting equipment ready, the naughty little minx decided to abandon her boundary and go and say hello to another dog! 😂

So that was the end of her demonstration career for the morning, and off she went to the sin bin, otherwise known as her crate in the van, whilst her mum, Lily, got to do all the exciting demonstrations instead!

Now, some might think that’s harsh, but I’m a great believer in FOMO (fear of missing out) when training dogs who absolutely love working.

For Trixie, the opportunity to work with me is incredibly rewarding. By removing that opportunity when she breaks her boundary, I’m helping her learn that her choices have consequences.

Stay on your bed, and you get to play with mummy. Wander off on your own little adventure, and the fun stops!

Of course, we’ll keep practising and rewarding those boundaries, but sometimes learning to wait patiently is just as important as learning the exciting stuff.

Better luck next time, Trixie! If you want to be mummy’s demonstration dog, the rules apply to you too, you cheeky little monkey! 😂🐾

Fresh start dog training and agility club

23/10/2026

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