Carrie’s Companions Canine Academy

10/01/2026

My price list ☺️🐶🐾

10/01/2026

Helllloooo!

I’ve not posted here for a fair while and I’ll be honest, 2025 was a rotten year personally and I’m hoping 2026 will do a full 180!

I took a step back from actively training for a number of reasons but my biggest reasons were building my dog walking business back up (and working!) and training my own dog who has been a challenge!

She’s a collie - highly intelligent, driven, eager to please and bonded to me like superglue!

However, this has come with its challenges as we’ve faced various stages of her growth through puppyhood and now adolescence.

I’m hoping to be able to offer my help to people in 2026 who need a little guidance while raising their puppy/adolescent dog.

I understand the challenges and pitfalls, the ‘what have we done?’ moments and ‘when will this stop?’ feelings of despair.

I can help you navigate through this time with kindness, no judgement and lots of knowledge and experience.

I can help give you the tools to go forward confidently, build your bond with the ultimate goal of a well balanced dog when they mature into adulthood.

Trained and certified Puppy Instructor with the IMDT. An array of industry qualifications and certificates plus oodles of experience working with and training dogs.

I am a fear free trainer using positive reinforcement, helping to build the strongest bond and get the very best out of your puppy/young dog.

19/11/2025

😂😂

.secret.dog.walker

08/10/2025

🐾 Impulse Control – The Secret to a Well-Behaved Dog! 🐾

Ever wondered why your dog jumps up at visitors, grabs treats too quickly, or dashes out the door the second it opens?

It’s not bad behaviour — it’s just a lack of impulse control!

Teaching your dog to pause and think before they act is one of the most valuable skills you can give them.

💜 With a little practice, you can help your dog:

✅ Wait politely before meals or walks
✅ Greet people calmly
✅ Ignore distractions on walks
✅ Make better choices in exciting moments

Start simple — ask your dog to “wait” before getting their dinner or “sit” before opening the door.

Reward calm, patient behaviour and you’ll soon see those impulsive moments melt away.

Training impulse control builds trust, strengthens your bond, and makes life calmer for both of you.

Willow’s demonstrating beautifully how we turn training impulse control into a fun game while on a walk - her toy has been thrown out in the distance and she can retrieve it when I say the golden words ‘Go Get’ see the video in the comments 🐶💚

18/06/2025

My #1 training tip in my tool kit is establish good eye contact (also called focus and attention….probably others too!

Here’s why!

🐕 Without good eye contact, focus on you or attention, your dog isn’t listening to you and easier to succumb to distractions.

🐕 Eye contact is the foundation of all dog training - without it, the rest crumbles.

🐕 Helps strengthen your bond with your dog as you both ‘connect’ to one another.

What does it look like?

🧍 looking in the direction of your dog from a seated/standing position - no scowling, staring, glaring or in the dogs face to make them look at you while invading their space.

🐕 looking towards their owners eyes/face. Without fear, with anticipation/excitement about what’s to come next whether that be a new game (sit/lie down etc), a ‘good boy/good girl’ or a tasty treat.

If you’d like some tips on how to teach this, drop me a message. I’d be happy to help at no cost to you!

17/06/2025

What made me get into dog training?

The seed was sown after helping one of my very first walking pups go from a solo walker, lunging at other dogs, to a calm dog who could play beautifully within a group. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was using what’s known as force free training methods.

In 2019 I was seeing a lot of Facebook activity from the Institute of Modern Dog Trainers and after some investigating found that their ethos matched mine. That same year I bought my first dog training book and since then have read numerous publications, began my online learning journey, practiced with oodles of pups and in 2023 attended my very first in person training course to help me hone my skills further. I’ve since completed numerous courses and continually learning - I feel this is very important and one day hope to complete a canine behaviour degree.

I get a real buzz when I see a strained owner/dog relationship flourish into a beautifully strong bond. We work as a team to help get the best results without sacrificing trust.

Training should be fun, engaging and above all worthwhile to both pup and owner and my pledge is to remain current in the dog training world, always learning and adapting as we learn more about our beautifully intelligent canine companions.

16/06/2025

“I wish I had time to take my dog to a training class”

Me too! Seriously, I would love to have the time to take my own dog to a class but right now that isn’t possible. I simply can’t commit to every Saturday or Sunday morning for the next 6-8 weeks.

What’s the solution? 121 training sessions!

I provide a 6 session training course, delivered in a class type structure but just for you and your dog. I come to you (or an area we choose to meet) on a day/time that’s convenient for you!

Sessions offered:
- Puppy/Adolescent/Foundation
- levels 1 - 4
- Bespoke training course.

Key benefits are:
- you get my undivided attention throughout our session and throughout your course.
- class notes and ‘homework’ delivered every week
- flexibility to train when you can
- not as expensive as you might think!

If you’d like more information, please get in touch - absolutely no obligation!

23/05/2025

Just look at George 🥰

What’s so special about these pictures you might ask?

I started working with George who is extremely noise sensitive. He will refuse to walk anywhere unless it’s to a vehicle parked on or outside his driveway to be then driven to a place he feels is ‘safe’. Currently narrowed down to one riverside walk because other local options with his owners are way too scary! Yet he’ll happily go off with his dog walker (has separate issues here!) or for lovely rambles in the dales!

This is only our second session and last week, we managed to cover an area of approx 20-30ft from his home. Between sessions, his owners managed to take him for a walk up into town - a huge win 😍

This week we covered an area approximately 60-70ft from his home and worked by some very noisy (scary to George) roadworks. He got to the point where he was asking for belly rubs.

Love, patience, understanding and finding his crux (hot dogs & belly rubs!) is so far showing George that while the world is noisy, it’s not so scary. In turn we should see a more relaxed George who doesn’t engage his fight/flight (or refuse to move) switch 😂

Once we can get George’s confidence boosted, we can then work on his other niggles 🥰🐶🐾

30/04/2025

2025 has seen a lot of change and I hadn’t realised I’ve neglected this page as I’ve been quite preoccupied!

On 28th March I wrapped up business in Bradford and now no longer offer my pet care services or training in Bradford 😢 a tough decision but a jump I had to make for my own sanity!

While I’m focussing on rebuilding Carrie’s Companions pet care & dog walking, I am also actively looking for premises to be able to offer puppy and dog training classes in and around Ripon (HG4)

As always, 121 training is available either following a class plan or a more bespoke package based on your requirements.

If you need help with training your puppy or dog and live in Ripon or surrounding, feel free to reach out and see how I can help ☺️🐶🐾

Tel: 07904 953391
Email: [email protected]

22/12/2024

We have some exciting news!

An 8 week old, 8.2lbs bundle of Border Collie gorgeousness!

Willow will be my little wing girl at work and expect to see some training videos starring the little lady herself as she grows and learns 🥰🐶🐾

01/11/2024

It’s the time of year when our puppies and dogs can be worried, some severely, by the strange noises coming from the sky.

Thinking about it, how alien must these noises be if our pups haven’t been desensitised to them?

This may be their first experience and if handled correctly, can become part of their socialisation to the real world and some of the events which take place in it. Remember to only comfort your puppy or dog if they ask for it. This is to avoid them associating your own worries/anxieties you may be inadvertently passing down to them through your voice, touch or body language.

Here are a few tips to help get through the next few weeks and remember classic FM is playing their Pet Classics to help calm dogs during this season.