Highwood Kennels has teamed up with Hooligan Hounds to offer the very best in dog training services.
Val O’Keeffe, a canine behaviourist and dog trainer has over 35 years experience in all aspects of training dogs. Over the years Val has trained dogs for the police and the Army dog society, also judged dogs at Championship show level for the Kennel Club and been an assessor of trainee judges. Val has worked as a Kennel Club Field Trial Judge and organised and run training days, nationally for dogs over the last 25 years.
Val set up Hooligan Hounds in the year 2000 combining her vast experience with modern methods of dog training. Since then Hooligan Hounds has gone from strength to strength and Val has welcomed the services of Jenny Gregory, also a canine behaviourist qualified in advanced canine psychology and canine behaviour counselling.
Highwood Kennels has warm indoor facilities and fully secure outdoor paddocks to cater perfectly for dog training classes and puppy socialisation courses. Our state of the art facilities coupled with the vast experience and knowledge of Val at Hooligan Hounds make us ‘the place’ to train your dog.
Course 1 – Puppy Socialisation & Management
This 6 week course covers the basics all dog owners need to know about puppy development, key training areas and essential skills in puppy management, including all aspects of socialization, house rules, alone training, behavioural problems such as jumping up, mouthing and biting, jumping up and chewing.
Also the beginnings of basic training, walking on the lead the sit and down positions and the recall.
Course 2 – Puppy Foundation Certificate
This is a Kennel Club accredited course and covers the following areas:
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1 Responsibility and Care
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2 Cleanliness and Identification
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3 Attentive Response to Name
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4 Puppy Play
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5 Socialization
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6 Handling and Inspection
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7 Puppy Recall
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8 Basic Puppy Positions
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9 Walking in a Controlled Manner
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10 Stay for 10 seconds.
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11 Take articles away from puppy
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12 Food Manners
Upon completion of this course dogs and their trainers will be awarded a rosette and the all important and recognised “Kennel Club Puppy Foundation Assessment Certificate”.
Course 3 – Obedience. The Kennel Club Good Citizens Dog Scheme
After completion of the puppy foundation course, dogs and handlers can go on to train for the Bronze, Silver and Gold awards of the Kennel Club Good Citizen Award Scheme. The classes will be ongoing and the tests will be arranged at regular intervals during the year. Dogs are awarded a rosette and a Kennel Club certificate for passing the test.
Course 4 – Ring Craft
This course covers all the relevant training required to professionally show your dog. Our Ring Craft classes teach you how to prepare and present your dog so that it looks its best for the judge in the show ring. Puppies and adult dogs welcome and also junior handlers.
Training Services While Boarding
Highwood Kennels can offer obedience and specific problem behaviour training in conjunction with your dogs stay with us. For more information, pricing and availability please get in touch on 01889 592823 or using our contact page.
If you are unable to attend our classes due to commitments we offer a day care training package for busy owners. Have a look at our day care page or call us for more information.
Dates & Times
Monday 5pm - 6pm Ring Craft
Monday 6pm-7pm Puppy Socialisation & Management, Puppy Foundation Certificate, Obedience and Kennel Club Good Citizens Scheme. ( Classes run simultaneously)
Wednesday 9.30am-10.30am Puppy Socialisation & Management, Puppy Foundation Certificate
Wednesday 11.00am-12.00pm Obedience & Kennel Club Good Citizens Award Scheme
Refreshments are available. As each course is progressional there are no beginning and end dates. You can join the class at your convenience. All dogs are welcome at any level; please contact Highwood Kennels direct to discuss which course is best for you and your dog.
Signing Up & Pricing
If you are interested in joining any of our training classes please give Vanessa a call at Highwood Kennels on 01889 592823. Each lesson is 1 hour and our maximum class size is 8 dogs. 2 classes run simultaneously.
Important Information: All dogs attending training classes must be fully vaccinated including the Kennel Cough vaccination.
