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Good Choice Dog Training Accredited Dog Trainer (Puppies & Adult dogs) Puppy Specialist - 121’s - Training Walks - Classes

24/10/2026

Vinnie’s firewood delivery service! 🪵😂

If you’ve followed us for a while, you’ll know that Vinnie LOVES collecting sticks, logs and anything else he considers treasure worthy of bringing home.

And when I say home, I mean ALL the way home. There’s no negotiating an earlier drop-off!

After the storm, he found himself a particularly impressive branch and proudly carried it back.

One of our neighbours has a wood burner, so we’ve now got a little arrangement.

Vinnie delivers his treasures to the pillar outside our building, and our neighbour collects them for his firewood pile. ☺️

Everyone’s a winner!

I get to embrace a behaviour Vinnie absolutely loves, he gets the satisfaction of carrying his treasures home, and our neighbour gets free firewood.

A retriever doing what a retriever loves best. ❤️

Locally sourced. Personally delivered!


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16/10/2026

With Vinnie in for his dental procedure today, we kept ourselves busy with a walk around town, and a visit to a treat shop.

I let Stan & Dexter choose a treat each… so naturally they both picked MASSIVE sows’ ears 😂🐷

Then proudly and casually carried their purchases all the way back to the car, providing plenty of entertainment for passing people and drivers 😂

Straight to the getaway car to eat the evidence!
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Golden retrievers • Dogs carrying treats • Adventures with dogs • Good Choice Dog Training • North Hertfordshire • Central Bedfordshire

10/10/2026

Emergency stop foundations for puppy class today.

We worked on the initial handling skills that will help us build this very useful safety exercise. Giving the humans time to practise their timing and coordination as well as teaching the dogs!

Main focus was ensuring the cue was given during movement towards the handler, and that the handler was not in any way accidentally encouraging or rewarding a recall.

This skill could be used when the danger is between the handler and the dog.

The additional bloopers feature a trainer whose voice was repeatedly interrupted by coughing, whilst trying to project their voice 🫠 *Trainer temporarily out of service*

Plus a “find it” where the missing treat was stuck to the dog’s shoulder fluff 😂

Hard to find your snack when you’re wearing it 🤣


• Emergency stop dog training
• Teaching a dog an emergency stop
• Dog training handling skills
• Positive reinforcement dog training
• Dog training classes in North Hertfordshire and Central Bedfordshire

04/10/2026

Another lovely Club Walk & Train today — taking our training out into a public space and practising the skills that actually matter in everyday life.

Dogs walking calmly with one another, a few polite greetings, and guardians giving their dogs the space and support they need to succeed.

Plenty of opportunities to sniff, explore and simply enjoy the walk.

And today we added two little stop points along the route for some structured training exercises too.

Dexter also came along and helped demonstrate one of the exercises, before everyone had a go with their own dogs or in scenarios.

What I particularly love looking back at the clips and photos is just how relaxed and happy everyone looks.

That’s exactly what I want ☺️

This isn’t a walk where the goal is for all the dogs to play together, and we don’t need dogs constantly performing highly arousing behaviours for the whole walk either.

We’re practising being out in public, around other dogs and everyday distractions, while still being able to engage with our dogs when we need to.

A bit of training.
A lovely walk.
And calm dogs learning that they can simply share space together.

Thanks all a lovely start to the day 🙏🏻

group dog training • walk and train • dog neutrality • calm around dogs • real life dog training • positive reinforcement • calm dog walking • dog training in public • engagement around dogs • dog social skills • neutral around dogs • reward based dog training • group dog walk • Hertfordshire dog trainer • Bedfordshire dog trainer

So happy to have received this recognition for the second year in a row 🙏🏻Thank you to everyone who has taken the time t...
24/09/2026

So happy to have received this recognition for the second year in a row 🙏🏻

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to leave me a Google review. Aside from helping potential customers decide if I am the right fit for them with your feedback, your kind words also mean so much to me, and I’m very grateful for the trust you place in me with your dogs.

The certificate says Luton because that’s where the map pin sits for my classes, which are held in Lilley. But my in-person 1-to-1 training covers North Hertfordshire and Central Bedfordshire, and I’ve also had lovely clients from London, Cambridgeshire and Essex. Your reviews have all helped contribute to this recognition, wherever you’re based.

If you are unsure if I cover your area and would like to train with me please get in touch, I do travel beyond my usual 1-to-1 area, and a small charge for travel time and fuel may apply. Plus there is also an online training option.

Thank you again for supporting my business 🙏🏻



Dog trainer North Hertfordshire · Dog trainer Central Bedfordshire · Puppy classes near Luton · One-to-one dog training · Positive reinforcement dog training

22/09/2026

Making scent work a little harder!

Today was Stan & Vinnie’s first time working with our scent vials.

We’ve been using pieces of red Kong as our target scent, in small scent tins, but the vials allow me to use a much smaller amount inside — so there’s less scent available = they have to work a little harder to locate it.

They also give me WAY more options for hiding places.

Today I could push them into the earth, hide them in trees and cracks in walls, and use the magnetic ones on fences and posts.

I left the boys in the house while I set everything up, then brought them out individually.

One of the things I love about scent work is watching them problem solve. I know where the hide is and I get to watch them work it out.

For their first session with the vials they both did really well ❤️

I was marking the find very quickly to avoid a bite or dig etc at the vial after the initial nose indication, as they are new to them.

As I always say, we are not scent work pros, just a dog mum and her boys having some fun ☺️

Looks like I’m going to have to get more inventive with my hiding places now!

*Kit is from The Sniffer Shop


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17/09/2026

Not every training session needs to be jam packed with training!

Ruby’s mum started a new job today, so to ease the load we converted her 121 to a training walk.

Although most of the training was just part of navigating the environment.

There was time to sniff & explore, build confidence around new things (tractor, horse, bridge, narrow path). A little recall and a little play, but plenty of just being a dog. ❤️

Plus I think I’ve convinced her mum that long lines are in fact very positive 🤞🏻

The message I had after dropping her off was “Thank you so much for today. She is sound asleep and very content”.

I think she enjoyed her afternoon ❤️

puppy training • puppy enrichment • sniffy walks • long line training • puppy recall • training through play • puppy confidence • positive reinforcement • real life dog training • puppy socialisation • dog enrichment • decompression walks • engagement training • reward based dog training • Hertfordshire dog trainer • Bedfordshire dog trainer

12/09/2026

Stan loves up-ups! ✈️

We’ve always called planes “up-ups” and Stanley absolutely LOVES watching them, you may have seen this in previous reels and stories.

On our way home from a few days away today, I spotted signs for air show traffic .… so obviously I had to investigate. 😂

I looked up which planes were flying and realised the Red Arrows were due to arrive, pretty close to the time we’d be passing.

So I checked their flight path and timings and found somewhere near where we were, that crossed their inbound route….

We missed them by ONE MINUTE. 🫠😂

We saw them in the distance, but that wasn’t good enough Stan had no idea they were there! So we headed to another point which crossed their route after the show, and we waited.

And WE SAW THEM! ❤️

Stan watched them fly overhead in formation, and then looked back at me with the happiest little face. If he could speak that face said ‘did you see them’ 🥹❤️

Meanwhile Vinnie and Dexter were completely oblivious and carried on sniffing. 😂

I love jets too, so I suppose this little detour was for us both ☺️

Thanks to Leonie for driving and participating in my random ideas🙏🏻


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06/09/2026

Transferring skills to public spaces and practicing our coexistence.

A lovely Club Walk & Train this morning with a mixture of familiar faces — including Vinnie and Dexter! ❤️

These walks aren’t about dogs playing together or constantly performing exercises. They’re an opportunity to practise simply existing around other dogs while navigating everything the environment throws at us.

And today that included passing dogs, people, children, pushchairs, bikes and even two horses! 🐴

Vinnie was pretty excited when we first arrived too. Dexter was there, along with a few dogs he’s previously had a run around with, so he was excited.

As I said to the group this morning, my dogs aren’t robots either. I still had to help him settle, manage his excitement and get his brain back with me before we got going.

Training doesn’t mean our dogs never get excited, distracted or find things difficult. It gives us the skills to help them through those moments.

One particularly lovely moment came from a dog who recently completed my Adolescent course. She’s enthusiastic around other dogs and has been working hard on calm coexistence.

Today, for the first time, she was able to parallel walk calmly alongside Vinnie 🙌🏼

We still had our short structured training section along the way, but I didn’t actually film it today.

And that’s okay — because there was plenty of learning happening throughout the entire walk.

Watching. Processing. Disengaging. Making good choices. Moving alongside other dogs without needing to interact.

The goal isn’t to ignore the world. It’s learning how to move through it.

I also realised when editing this that we had a few pairs in the group. 2 x cockerpoo, 2 x whippets and 2 times golden retrievers!


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Address

Good Choice Dog Training, The Paddock, Offley Hoo Farm
Hitchin
SG53ED

Opening Hours

Monday 7am - 7pm
Tuesday 7am - 7pm
Wednesday 7am - 7pm
Thursday 7am - 7pm
Friday 7am - 7pm
Saturday 8am - 1pm

Telephone

+447976732722

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