Puppy School Great Witley

Welcome to Puppy School

Puppy School is a set of six puppy training classes lasting one hour. The comprehensive programme has been carefully designed to take you through all the obedience basics giving you a good foundation for life with your new puppy.

The puppy training exercises gradually progress from easy to more complex, building on your puppy’s understanding and reliability each week.

We want to give your puppy the best start possible so we educate puppies to have good manners, to be friendly with adults, children and other puppies and to respond to basic commands.

Your experienced Puppy School Tutor will be on hand throughout the course to help you with any behavioural problems you may be experiencing.

At the end of the six-week course, your puppy will graduate and receive a very special Puppy School rosette and certificate for completing the course.

I have been training and working with dogs since 1996. I’ve trained a variety of breeds including German Shephers (GSD), Husky/GSD cross, Rottie/GSD cross, Spaniels, a Sproker and a Westie in obedience, tracking and searching.

My Westie, Mollie, is trained as a Pets as Therapy dog. Inheriting a previous dog with major issues was the reason I became involved with Puppy School. Had he had proper socialisation with people, dogs and environmental stimuli, I’m sure he would not have suffered the trauma of everyday life as he got older.

Dogs can be the best friends in the world especially when “educated” properly. Puppy School is all about educating dogs and owners and the result is a happy, socialised family pet that the whole family can enjoy.

Sandie is your Puppy School tutor in Kidderminster, Great Witley and now Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire and has been a Puppy School tutor since 2012. Sandie has just retired from the Police after 30 years front line service.  She has been a Police Dog handler since 1996 and when she “inherited a dog with major issues” she became involved with Puppy School.

Puppy school is all about educating dogs and their owners and the result is a happy socialised family pet that the whole family can enjoy.

Sandie runs classes alongside her husband Bill who has been a Puppy School tutor since 2015.

Sandie and Bill have five pet dogs at home, Sandie”s 10 year old retired police dog, German Shepherd called Ziva, a 8 year old Schnoodle called Bumble, a 6 year old Schnoodle called Libertie, Sandie’s recently retired (due to health reasons) search dog, 4 year old Springer Spaniel Toby and new addition 11 month old Springer Spaniel called River.

Sandie and Bill spend a lot of time walking with the dogs and when we go on holiday generally our dogs come too. Bumble and Libertie have also been abroad.  Sandie has recently taken up Stand Up Paddle Boarding and Bumble, Libbie and River all go SUP too

Both Sandie and Bill have also completed the Puppy University Tutors course and run classes for older dogs too. Both are Pet First Aid trained and continue to learn new skills to pass onto their pet owners.

Sandie has recently undertaken and successfully passed a City & Guilds Scent Detection Handler Course with Libbie and are now qualified to hold Scent Detection Courses. Sandie is also part of the UKCSD  team.

Puppy School tutors come from a wide variety of backgrounds. Many have thriving careers in rescue shelters and some work as veterinary nurses, dog walkers, dog groomers, dog training professionals or behaviourists. What they all have in common is a passion for training puppies and a keen interest in animal welfare and behaviour.

Our Puppy School tutors and associate tutors must undergo extensive training before teaching Puppy School classes. This includes an application and interview process, six days of comprehensive theory covering a range of topics from animal learning to lesson plans (taught by founder and director, Gwen Bailey, APBC registered behaviourist), as well as three days of supervised practical work and a comprehensive correspondence course.

Tutors are carefully overseen by Regional Managers to make sure they are using all the skills necessary to become excellent, positive, reward-based puppy trainers. Puppy School Tutors uphold a Code of Conduct at all times and must complete a sufficient amount of Continued Professional Development each year.

Puppy School is delighted to have been recognised as a Practitioner Organisation for the Animal Behaviour and Training Council (ABTC). The ABTC is the regulatory body that represents animal trainers and animal behaviour therapists to both the public and to legislative bodies. It is the only animal welfare charity that is primarily concerned with protecting the psychological welfare of animals undergoing training and behaviour activities.