Barking Mad Dog Training School

When we first took Loki ( a 6 month old GSD) to Barking Mad, approx 6 months ago, he had become uncertain about many things. Joggers were a big concern for him, along with bicycles, scooters , small dogs with coats on and people walking directly towards him. Basically Loki didn’t know how to cope with the world outside of his home and we weren’t giving him the right support that he needed, despite our best efforts. Chloe started by helping us understand Loki’s thoughts and feelings and taught us the skills that we needed to give Loki the confidence in us, as his leaders. Chloe showed us various methods for getting and keeping Loki’s attention and making him feel safe. We have had one to one lessons with Chloe, but in truth they have been one Loki, but three handlers. Chloe makes sure that we all have the opportunity to handle Loki during our, 1 hour weekly, lessons so that we all fully understand the various methods so that we can effectively practice them during the week. Chloe has always been happy to answer the many questions that I had in the early weeks and explain anything we have been unsure about. Loki is always her priority, allowing and suggesting lessons are cancelled when the weather has been too hot or too wet, for Loki to have effect and comfortable training or shortening the lesson if Loki is feeling it is all a bit much! I really look forward to the lessons each week and Loki looks like he enjoys them too. He is doing really well now. We are so proud of him. It hasn’t happened over night and there is still work to be done. Lessons continue and we are happy as Loki is exposed to different situations and experiences by Chloe that we cannot comfortably create ourselves and continues to build his confidence. Thanks to Chloe and our out of lesson practice Loki now enjoys his walks and he knows we look out for him so he doesn’t have to worry. If you are finding that your dog lacks confidence and is more vocal than they should be, or any other issue that you may be experiencing with your dog, I highly recommend having a chat with Chloe. We are so happy we did and so is Loki!

Our trainer Gareth has been an absolute godsend! All of the staff at Barking Mad are friendly, welcoming and extremely knowledgable. We’ve been bringing our Cocker Spaniel pup here since he was about 12 weeks to do the puppy course and we loved it so much we continued going and he has recently achieved his bronze award. We would be absolutely lost without this place, our dog is well behaved and engaged and this is all down to the classes at barking mad. Gareth has also been super helpful in answering all of our questions and his advice has always had excellent results. We intend to keep him in training as long as possible as not only do we love it but our dog loves it too, he pulls my arm off to get through the gate! Thanks Gareth & Barking Mad team!

Teddy is now 2 years old, and we've been coming to weekly classes, from the 10 week puppy course through to regular weekly obedience classes since he was 3.5 months old.As first time dog owners, we've learned so much about our dog and have also had a couple of one-to-one sessions to help with particular issues. All the instructors are friendly and supportive, and our Teddy loves coming here every week. This is a purely positive reinforcement training environment.We've also taken part in the 4-week Search course which Teddy really loved, and the 6 week Tricks class has given us loads of fun party tricks to show off, and to work on on those rainy days where he doesn't want to go for a walk!One of my favourite things is the 30 minutes after class where you sit and have a drink with your instructor and classmates to help teach the dogs to settle, but also to have a chat about dog life. It's a real community at Barking Mad.

We joined Michele’s puppy class 7 months ago when our border terrier, Maggie was 12 weeks old. Michele is so friendly, welcoming and knowledgeable - the progress Maggie has made is incredible and we have learned so much along the way. Michele’s classes are always fun, positive and interesting - she has lots of strategies ready to help you adapt training exercises if you’re finding it a bit tricky or if you’re ready to make it more challenging. We really appreciate spending quality time with Maggie in our classes and it has been lovely getting to know our classmates too - especially as we can sit and have a coffee together after class. We couldn’t recommend Michele or Barking Mad more highly to anyone looking for dog training classes - the atmosphere is very welcoming, and all of the owners and staff we have met have been so kind and friendly to us.

I don't know where we'd be without Barking Mad and their trainers! Caring, down to earth, helpful and amazingly patient with our pretty large, bouncy young dog! Its made training her at home so much easier!They also have a really useful shop on site with everything from leads, snuffle mats, and treats.

Choe has been a godsend to us! Having got out first dog, we needed guidance and support and we got that and so much more. Nala has come on so much and that’s thanks to choe! I would highly recommend to anyone with a pup to come to BMDTS

Fantastic venue with a range of activities and training for your dog with friendly and caring staff. Can’t recommend enough

Shadow, 2 years 3 months old and I who are not new to dog training classes have been attending obedience classes with Jo for a few months now and I have to say she's like a breath of fresh air, always positive, happy and very knowledgeable. Our classes are fun and I always come away feeling like we've achieved something. I also like that once the session has finished we sit with our dogs at a table having a drink discussing the lesson and any other issues we may be having outside the class.

Have been coming for years, has really helped with training our lovely dog. Paul the instructor has been fantastic