Something a little different from the monkey today but I thought I would upload anyways as it might help out anyone searching for Brighton and Hove dog trainers.

The whole reason we had to start looking for a puppy trainer is because Mrs Monkey got a Beagle puppy for her 30th birthday (If you are looking for a Beagle pup in the UK I would highly recommend Moonjoon Beagles ? which is where we got our best friend from… Well worth the 9 hour round trip!). After a long Google and search throughout the social networks we were highly recommended from a few people that have used Rainbow dogs.

The very next day Mike got back to me from my email asking him if he could help with a very enthusiastic response putting my concerns at rest.

first time of meeting our dog trainer

We signed up for the 3 lessons at a discounted rate but Mike said that if the first lesson doesn’t go as planned or how we would want then he is more than happy just to take the money for that lesson and call it quits. The first lesson was 2 hours long (1 hour lessons after that) at our flat and Mike wanted to see how we were with the new addition to the Monkey household. How we acted/reacted and spoke to our pup. After 30 mins of seeing and watching, Mike literally told us all of the places that we were going wrong… mostly all of it! I had a lot to learn! I would like to share with you a few knowledge bombs that I picked up from our puppy training lessons in Brighton. 

Learning puppy training in the home

So me being a bit old school when a dog does something that I don’t want it to do, the first thing in my mind is to tell that dog NO. The thing is, that poor pup hasn’t got a clue on what I am saying and when he is doing the thing that I don’t want him to do, all he knows is that I’m giving him attention! No means no… unless when you don’t speak human English! ?? so the first thing that we had to learn was not teaching the dog but how we reacted to the pooch. I needed to learn how to turn my back on him and not show him any attention when he is not being how we want him or  to move him along… as soon as he is being good, treat him… he will learn pretty quickly that if he wants treats he is to act/do what we want.

2nd puppy training session down on the seafront – The long training lead!

The second lesson was finally going outside and walking the boy down to the seafront. We did have one of these retractable leads but was advised not to use it. Either the short lead or the long lead, that way our Puppy would know whether he could go that little bit further or would have to keep to our side. So the short blue lead meant he should be by our side at all times and the high-vis orange meant he had 25ft of play area. The whole idea of the long training lead is so that you can keep your pup close to you whilst giving him some freedom. It also helps with recall as you can gently encourage the coming back to you when calling their name, it’s also pretty amazing to play skip with other dog walkers ?

This is the lightweight long dog training lead that we got and Mike recommended to us. We did have another one that wasn’t rubber and made from nylon but as soon as it got wet, our poor pup looked like it was the only husky pulling a sled. I’m not going to lie, walking down on the lawns with a little puppy on a ridiculously long lead does feel a bit stupid but being right next to the main road, it’s amazing!! It gives the pup the freedom to have a good run around whilst we can still control him. Being an aluminous colour it always helps other dog owners not to get trippped up by the lead. 

final training session in a nice big field – off lead training (well, kind of)

A week or so after the 2nd lesson we took him to Hove park which is a lovely nice big area where we could work on recall a little more. By this time Mike was very  confident in our beagle pup to just put the training lead on the floor trailing behind him. We would walk off and the little man would follow! Something would grab his attention for a bit (especially feathers!) and he would have a little look up to see where we had got to, by this point he would know if he came back to us he would get a treat. 

Thinking of buying a beagle puppy?

First of all think about your time! I knew that he would change our world but the amount of time that they do take up is nuts! No more just popping out up the road to get some food or a nice stroll on the beach when the weather is nice unless the dog has been fed/walked and ready for nap. With many months at the beginning there’s going to be a lot of accidents that will have to be cleaned up until toilet training has been mastered. I’m not trying to put you off because we had A LOT of people turning into ‘devil vets’ as soon as we said that we was getting a Beagle pup! “oh really?!? all they do is bark!” or “They’re not very good for recall, I wouldn’t get one of those”… Mike has put our beagle pup on a strict regime of knowing what he can do and what he can’t. I wouldn’t change our little beagle for the world! BTW… if you do get one, expect a 10 min walk to last you an hour with the amount of people that want to stop and stroke your new pup. If I only had a quid for everytime I get asked how old? or he’s so soft 🙂

What’s it like owning a Beagle puppy?

It’s not that I thought it would be easy but in the beginning I thought a little Google and of course checking channels on YouTube such as Zak George’s puppy training was going to make my job of being a puppy father a piece of cake. Although they did help a bit, there really is nothing like having a dog behavior specialist in your own house with you for that full hands-on experience.

Would we recommend Rainbow dog training?

Most definetely! Mike has been a massive help and is amazing with dogs. Our three  lessons were enough for us to grab a great building structure on how to treat and train our puppy. We are going to give it a couple more months and then have another couple of lessons for a refresh and a few more tricks! 

Cheers Mike, we owe you a drink!