Train with the Flo

24/04/2025

So proud of this dog and his mum

Rowdy Rupert was barking at everything until his owner sought advice from trainer Shelina Duke, who suggested a radical solution...

19/04/2025

‘Using food will cause your dog to bark more. It reinforces the barking.’

Let’s bust this myth!

You absolutely can use food when you’re training your dog to stop barking.

Because barking comes from an emotion.

And you can’t reinforce an emotion.

But you can change the emotion with training.

Which stops the need to bark.

Want some of that? DM me and let’s start get started

28/03/2025

3 things I’ve learned…

An award-winning dog trainer who quit a career in teaching to follow her passion has revealed the biggest surprises she has encountered since working with man's best friend.

04/03/2025

Dog Trainer of the Year for 2 years in a row 🥳🥳

Former teacher Shelina Duke has won Dog Trainer of the Year for London and the South East. Her business, Go With The Flo, is recognized for…

26/02/2025

Today the fabulous Flo is 7 😱🎁🎂🥳

Happy birthday beautiful girly xx

14/02/2025

For all the doodles out there… this will help your training

Tag your doodle friends and share - help me get the message out there

Could your super cute canine be hiding a secret? Discover why this popular breed might not be as straightforward as you think and what to do about it.

13/02/2025

Well hey, I’m back!

It has been a long time since I’ve posted on here.

Life has been, well, very complicated.

So what’s new…

For those of you that knew I also taught in school, I’m now a full time dog trainer 🥳

I’ve been busy building , part of my business and mainly working online with poodles all over the world.

I’ve also introduced puppy number 10, although it takes my numbers back to 9.

Edith, toy poodle, is settling in wonderfully. Tonight we start her showing journey with her first ringcraft class. Watch this space for an update.

How have things been for you? Give me updates hehe

So many of you have been emailing and asking for training, so I thought it was time to make a comeback.

Group classes for the moment are on hold. If there is enough interest I could run some during the day week days. Let me know if you’d like this.

1 to 1s I have opened 2 spaces after a little jiggle around with the poodle training. Suitable for puppies and adults. DM me to be 1 of the 2.

Reactivity 1 to 1 Programme - I run these with poodles regularly, but I have opened 3 spaces for local dogs.

I say local dogs, if you are further away, online works perfectly, just ask my poodlers in the states.

I’m excited to be back and see some of you again.

And if you’re new to me, come say hi 👋 let’s sort your training!

Pic of me, Arthur, Albert and Edith

12/09/2024

Happy 4th Birthday to us! ❤️😍🥰🥳🐕🦮🐩🐕‍🦺🐾

30/08/2024

However, there’s more to this . Not in terms of where my ethics lie. That’s very clear. I’m 100% force free and believe that there is no need for methods which cause dogs fear, pain or purposeful discomfort.

However, as a school teacher, I feel that there is a calling for us, the force free advocates, to do more. For us to listen. To empathise. To educate.

Because if we only ever stay routed in the ‘I’m
Force free I won’t speak to anyone that uses aversive methods’ camp, we never help the transformation that could happen within the dog world.

We can apply empathy, kindness and compassion to dogs.
Then why, when it comes to humans can we not do the same?

Don’t get me wrong, the person on the other end needs to be just as open to this, to listen and to understand.

But if we only ever stay in the same 2 camps, we never progress.

And the dogs deserve for us to all progress. To be better. And to do better.

Now before you jump on me, this doesn’t mean I’m going to be best friends with an aversive trainer, or train alongside them or start recommending them.

But what it does mean is that I’m open to helping the dog training world to grow and to progress into something better. Because the dogs of the world deserve something better.

And ultimately, just because there are 4 quadrants doesn’t mean we should use all 4. I (and all teachers), would never dream of using them to teach children in a classroom, yet it seems okay for animals. Despite there being massive similarities between children and dogs (but that’s a conversation for another time).

So for those that are a little intrigued about the force free world, welcome that. Strike up that conversation, share how you train, why and what it can do. Be the teacher. But do it with empathy. Understand where they are, because when you begin at their starting point, you have more chance of them leaning into growth.

And if they’re not open, then move on. Don’t waste your energy getting into an arguement which will just show you in a bad light. Move on, do your thing, but be ready to listen to those that are interested in why we do what we do. Because they’re the ones that can held change the outlook of the dog world.

21/08/2024

The lovely scottyscartoons has featured us in their newsletter!
Thank you for such a lovely write up 🥰

18/08/2024

Spending a Sunday at Poodle Fest. Poodles of all shapes and sizes, what more could a girl want?! 🐩❤️🐩

13/08/2024

So lucky to be apart of the PPN 🥰 Pet Professional Network

19 DAYS UNTIL OUR BIRTHDAY - CELEBRATING OUR MEMBERS AND THEIR SUCCESS STORIES 🎉🎉🎉

Meet Shelina Carpenter, our incredible Member who's dedicated to poodles! Passionate about training and animal welfare from Train with the Flo.

Hi, I’m Shelina, a dog trainer, poodle enthusiast and lucky enough to spend my life with my 8 dogs.

My business is Go with The Flo, named after my first dog Florence. This is split into 2 parts; the first being in person training. This includes group classes, 1 to 1 training sessions, behaviour coaching and agility training and is what Go with The Flo is most known for. Then there is the second part, which focuses on poodles and poodle mixes.

Comprising of online training memberships and programmes, The Poodle Training School is accessed all over the world, with majority of members being in the USA. This is ever growing thanks to the support of PPN.

PPN has helped me learn how to engage my audience and grow my free group. I started at around 200 members and now have 14K and counting! It’s helped me sequence my thoughts and create a membership that works for me. With support on pricing, emails, conversations and set up, PPN has been invaluable to me and my business.

🐾🐾🐾

Thanks to Shelina for taking part in our birthday celebrations!

You can join Shelina in our kind and safe community towards the end of August or at one of our birthday meet ups.

Keep your eyes peeled for opening and meet up announcements.

'Together we are stronger'