“We moved to the Lake District from arable Oxfordshire in April 2017 during lambing season with our two dogs; it quickly became apparent that our dogs could not be trusted off their lead around livestock and lead walking became a battle of wills.
Before we started training with Ingrid, Pip had not been off her tracking line for weeks as she was intent on chasing anything that moved, bolting down rabbit holes or simply bolting! Their daily exercise was a frustrating chore that none of us enjoyed, and despite much research and a lot of effort spent applying different tactics on training our dogs, nothing was making a difference.
As we were determined to enjoy our beautiful countryside with our dogs, we set out to find a trainer who specialised in livestock training, which led us to Ingrid. Right from the initial phone conversation, Ingrid’s communication was clear and left us in no doubt as to what she could offer and what results we could expect – we chose to enrol ourselves and both of our dogs on the formal 6 week training course, it was one of the most challenging times as to get the results we wanted, it required a daily commitment, several times every day, no matter what the weather, and it was necessary for us to develop our ability to focus single minded on our dogs training whilst living in the middle of a popular tourist area at the height of the summer season.
Ingrid’s clear and simple instruction allowed us to see the progress we were making towards our goal and her unwavering support coupled with our commitment had us complete the 6 week training with both relief and joy and huge gratitude.
A couple of months after completing the training, our lives are transformed! It’s now an absolute pleasure to walk our dogs, they are dependable and trustworthy, sociable yet controlled. We do not have to avoid fields of sheep and they have lost non of their excitement whilst and enjoyment yet their focus has shifted so they are constantly looking to us for direction.
Regular complimentary comments from other dog walkers are very gratifying, we are so proud of our dogs now. Thanks to Ingrid and her professional and thorough training”.
Shane and Lesley, and Pip the Patterdale and Eyelash the Wolfhound.
