We have just completed the 6 week Puppy Starters training classes at Joyful dogs. The classes were small and extremely well run by knowledgeable and professional leaders. I have learnt how to walk my pup on the lead and as this was a priority for us as a family it makes me very happy to recommend the style of training and support provided by joyful dogs , thank you from Murphy the puppy and Linda the owner
Joy helped me really enjoy training Ottilie. She's knowledgeable and straight forward with her advice using kindness and fun in training sessions. I loved her lessons as did Ottilie. One of my favourites being when we just sat on a blanket training Ottilie to be calm and not react in a park situation. I had 7 private lessons and it was such good value. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Joy. She's fab.
The Puppy Starters course was a brilliant introduction to training our puppy with long lasting results. The instruction was clear and fully explained and the first lesson gave a great overview, full of useful tips that the course then built upon. The course was also interesting in that it made us consider the dog's perspective! We really enjoyed the lead walking exercises especially. Great techniques that we found helpful when out and about and lots of fun!
We can’t thank Joy enough for helping us with 4 fantastically illuminating training sessions, aiding our understanding of our beautiful puppy Wookie. The 3 of us gained so much - we are a much happier and well-behaved unit because of the training! Thank you Jenny, Nick and Wookie
"We are firm believers in positive reinforcement training - after a quick chat with Joy we knew we'd be in good hands - and we absolutely were! In just 3 sessions Joy showed us lots of fantastic techniques and games to help us and our pup Ivie with her ability to be on her own and recall - especially when distracted. Joy's knowledge is fantastic and her kind and fun approach meant Ivie was a fan from the off. Ivie has come on leaps and bounds and we have new skills to help her grow and enjoy her time both... Read more
We all really enjoyed the course and appreciated Joy’s approach. It gave us confidence as owners to carry on training at home and helped us understand how dogs think and the best way to interact with our puppy. There were many simple techniques or ways of training that were a revelation and have stuck with us as our puppy grows. We love the “Find it” game and play it almost everyday. We also found our one to one session incredibly helpful as we were able to discuss specific behaviours or challenges. We quite often say now “What would Joy do?" Tulip... Read more
Our training experience on the Puppy Starters course was excellent - the staff were very friendly and patient and we loved the agility games! All the training exercises were delivered clearly and the progression of the course was very good. 'Lead walking' and 'Leave It' were very useful.
We were recommended Joy from the breeder we got River from, he spoke very highly of her working with his Portuguese Water Dog so we looked her up online. We found the training very useful, her knowledge and incite was priceless to us being new to having a puppy. Particularly helpful with re-call and lead training, and the use of positive reinforcement using treats. Joy was also brilliant with our two young boys, involving them perfectly when they attended the sessions. River has come on a lot, even after just 3 1:1 sessions ... as has our understanding of him... Read more
Puppy Starters course: We really enjoyed learning about dog behaviour and interactions. Joyful Dogs gave us good practical information on this and effective training techniques.
Following the Puppy Starters course, Florrie is doing brilliantly she is excellent on her daily walks & now enjoying being let off her lead, she comes back once she is called & doesn't venture too far from us which is good. She also is so good when she meets & greets other dogs which I'm sure is down to tips you gave us & what she learnt at puppy classes. All three of us thoroughly enjoyed your classes & will definitely look forward to seeing you again!
I was recommended to Joy by a friend and was immediately impressed by her friendliness, responsiveness and flexibility. I signed up our 6-month old Cockapoo, Ruby, for a series of four 1:1 sessions at our family home and within the course of a month have witnessed dramatic changes in her behaviour. Joy spent some time before the sessions gathering information about Ruby so that she was prepared and focused when it came to training. Initially we worked on various games and exercises to improve Ruby’s recall, along with stimulating her mentally. Over time we moved to working on various other... Read more
We did a couple of ‘one to ones’ with Joy - dealing with our puppy’s fear of walking outside and were so impressed with her we decided to do the Puppy Starters training course. We were very pleased with all the training and help she gave us, but, most of all, it was the confidence that the training has given us in moving forward with our dog; We have also booked onto Joy's Puppy Improvers Course.
Wally is adorable but needed training quickly. A whippet's characteristic is to see and run..... I needed Wally to respond to recall and stay at heel before I could dare let him off lead. At 4 months he comes when I call him and walks beautifully (mostly). Joy was clear and concise in her teaching and helped me understand how my dog's brain works. Once I grasped this, I understood how to give instructions so he could respond in the right way. It's ongoing and practice is key, but I am confident that with Joy's help I'm going to have a well... Read more
"Joyful Dogs has exceeded my expectations and I highly recommend them. The puppy classes were small, so Helen was able to cover things which were important to each of us, making it fun and boosting our confidence with lots of reassurance and encouragement; completely approachable and making time to help us individually. Queenie quickly learnt how to relax and be polite around other dogs. We have now been doing one to one training with Joy and benefitted from her calm, kind, professional approach and wealth of knowledge - the training activities and specific techniques have been so useful in helping... Read more
We contacted Joy because our 2 year old Working Cocker "Bo" was really pulling on the lead. Up until this point we had done no formal training with her. Joy didn’t judge at all but from the very start gave us strategies which worked well and worked quickly. After 3 sessions, there was a real improvement and Joy was the one to suggest that we were more than capable of now going alone. Joy made us realise what a clever and capable dog we have. Our dog now walks much better on the lead but also the bond with her... Read more
I wanted to say thank you for your help and advice with training Noodle. We have much more confidence with handling her unwanted behaviours and she is making progress. It's up to us to continue with the positive reinforcement but you definitely helped us to speak her language! She will miss you :)
We've just completed our Puppy Starters course with Joy and had a wonderful few weeks. Things have moved on since I trained up my last dog so I was eager to learn the current techniques. I chose Joy based upon her positive reward based training. Teddy Lola loved every minute and the classes have given us a great foundation to build on. I found Joy to be relaxed, friendly and welcoming and would definitely recommend.
We came across Joyful Dogs via an internet search whilst looking for a local Trainer to help us with some issues with our rescue puppy being fearful of strangers in our home. We were recommended the expertise of Danyelle to come and work with us on this problem. She was great, very experienced and amazing at explaining Finn's body language and why he reacts the way he does. Over a few sessions we built up from Finn being uncomfortable with Danyelle in the house to not reacting, learning to relax and eventually gaining the confidence to interact in a positive... Read more
Joyful Dogs popped up when I was searching for positive dog trainers for my reactive dog. The individualised attention that Bailey and I received through our four 1:1 training sessions with Dannyelle allowed us to really focus on our needs. Dannyelle taught me how to reinforce Bailey at the right time, slowly build up the criteria for rewards and, more importantly, when to step back if the situation was proving to be too challenging for Bailey. Bailey has made great gains and we will continue practising what we have learned. I will sign up for more classes with Dannyelle (the... Read more
Puppy Training at Joyful Dogs: We liked that all the exercises were small, direct and easy to understand. The team were friendly, helpful and happy to answer any questions. Here's Haru playing in the Giant Snuffle Bowl!
We looked forward to the Puppy Starters training classes every week and found the sessions so fun and helpful. Our family grew in confidence with Luna and, having never owned a dog before, that was a big deal for us. Helen is warm, funny and knowledgeable and this came across in the sessions. I’d recommend Joyful Dogs to anyone!
I was having trouble with Coco's recall: Joy explained the importance of maintaining a bond with Coco whilst we were out walking and taught me lots of activities to do just that which Coco found interesting and exciting. Coco absolutely loved her hour with Joy and I found it inspiring; Since adopting Joy's philosophy we have all seen a major improvement in Coco's behaviour – she is far quicker to respond to us and also 'checks in' with us constantly. Joy was a pleasure to work with and managed to inspire my teenagers as well as my dog - no mean feat!
Thank you for such an enjoyable experience over the past 2 months at Puppy School; we have learnt so much, and I know Pippin has enjoyed himself and learnt a lot of important life skills! Looking forward to the Puppy Improvers course.
Highly recommend for anyone with a puppy. We did the 6week Starters course with our (then) 3 mos German Shorthaired Pointer, Betty. Joy & the team were so welcoming and knowledgeable, our hour long sessions always flew by. We and Betty learnt so much and we have taken away lots of hints and tips which we're still using now.
We have just finished Puppy Life Skills Starters and it’s been great seeing Ramsey’s confidence and focus improve week on week. Such a great opportunity for Ramsey to socialise with other puppies and for us to chat to other owners about shared experiences. As first time dog owners Joy’s 1;1 training was invaluable and she always addresses our concerns during each session. Ramsey loves his “find it” game and we use to either get him in from the garden or to calm him down when he’s anxious about a new situation such as lead walking on busy roads. A big thank you... Read more
Remember Nala the Vizsler? We had individual training sessions with Joy 5yrs ago; I’m grateful for the ‘human’ training you gave is every single day. We get compliments constantly on how well trained Nala is, and its down to the things you taught us: Respect, time ... and sausages! Thank you – because we are so proud and lucky to have Nala. Our dog daycare provider – Tim at Forest Dogs – insists Nala is the best trained and most adaptable dog; and welcome in his home any time.
Joyful Dogs were recommended to us; the training classes were a mix of fun, "a-ha!" moments - and stress as our puppy is full of beans and every session she took a long time to settle down but Joy and her assistants were infinitely patient in helping us ground our dog into our space. Besides the standard puppy training exercises (recall, loose lead, sit etc) - Joy helped us understand the ‘psychology’ of our puppy. It became clear to us — myself, my wife and two daughters — that our puppy was doing her best to understand us based on... Read more
We thought the Puppy Improvers course was excellent! Our dog Sherlock loved it! The course was really informative and helps build a base to work on at home; the 'Behaviour 101' exercises were particularly useful.
George’s recall was non-existent! Consequently, I never let him off the lead. Then I had some 1:1 training with Joy; she gave me confidence and loads of useful ideas to keep George focused on me. George loved the different activities and I can now take him to the park - even in daylight when other dogs are around! He doesn't tend to jump up and comes back when called. I highly recommend Joy for any behaviour problems you have with your dog. She's so patient and kind, and she just makes you feel good!
"Joy was absolutely fantastic helping us with our whippet Indy. He was getting nervous/unsure in some situations and on walks would reactive bark towards other dogs. We didn’t know how to help him but Joy showed us how to better read his body language, understand situational awareness which could trigger him and apply positive reinforcement to help him. Indy is now so much better and a more confident happy dog- which makes our walks much more enjoyable and less stressful! A sincere pleasure working with Joy who is very patient and clearly a real dog expert! Thanks from Matt, Ems... Read more
I contacted Joyful Dogs because I wished to train Belle as a therapy dog and I needed some help in reducing unacceptable behaviours such as jumping up. Joy helped me understand the process with easy, step-by-step methods and responded to all my requests and queries. The training was fun and Belle is learning new behaviours fast ... including some cute tricks! I would recommend Joy, she is friendly, fun and knowledgeable.
I had an amazing experience with Joyful dogs. I’m a new dog owner and started with puppy classes which gave a very useful base and taught me how to understand and train my pup. All the techniques I learned in class really helped to bond with my dog, and made it so much easier to manage him. I have also took additional one-to-one sessions later on once we hit the teenage phase with my pup. The one-to-one sessions were a great investment - very effective as it’s tailored specifically to my dog, and to our environment. The one-to-one sessions helped... Read more
Using positive reinforcement gave me confidence to work with Pepper. I loved our puppy training experience and would definitely recommend Joyful Dogs. Calm and happy dog and owner!
Joy is very calm and has a great nature. Joy taught patience, to allow the dog time to absorb and think about what is happening. We worked on what was needed but we had a lot of fun doing it too! We've now put in the ground work but I will continue lessons with Joy on an ad hoc basis. Thank you for everything, we have learnt a lot and had great fun doing it :)
We really enjoyed the interactive encounters with other puppies in the "Puppy Starters" group training course at Joyful Dogs. Rocky's recall has massively improved. We found the course to be very informative and helpful.
We recently worked with Joy to help our 2yr old rescue dog, Leia settle in a new environment. Joy taught us techniques to help Leia with reactivity when people come to the door and confidence in the outdoor word. We've already seen our dog become much more comfortable, and I can't wait to see how she continues to grow now that we're working on these skills. Thanks Joy!!
"We had a couple of 1:1 puppy sessions with Joy which we have really enjoyed and found super useful. We had some specific areas that we wanted to work on and Joy showed us how to deal with these with positive reinforcement methods and the results have been amazing. We have learnt so much and gained lots of confidence in each 1:1 training session, would highly recommend :)"
Our Vet recommended Joyful Dogs. We had 7 sessions with Dannyelle for our cockapoo puppy. Dannyelle was very helpful and inventive with games and techniques for training Lottie. She showed us a number of reasons for a dogs behaviour which helped us understand how dogs learn. Lottie particularly likes the licking mat - Dannyelle recommended freezing it, which makes it last longer & keeps her busy! Dannyelle is very patient and caring, we would not hesitate to recommend her.
We needed help to get our gorgeous, friendly and crazy rescue dog 'Aloy' to be the best she can be as we had allowed her to get into some bad habits. We discovered Joy and booked four sessions where Joy taught us training games and tactics to improve recall and how to avoid the embarrassment of Aloy jumping up excitedly at strangers on walks. We all loved the training - Joy was patient, super knowledgable and fun. The games have been easy to implement at home too so we have been able to practice and the improvement has been really... Read more
We chose Joyful Dogs on personal recommendations, availability, location - and a positive experience when arranging classes with Joy. The course helped us to ‘read’ Bramble's doggy cues and change our approach accordingly; focussing on the smallest positive steps has been really helpful, as is understanding that puppy’s get tired sometimes! Bramble is now a much more relaxed puppy and more confident in the wider world. I would recommend Joy without a doubt - the classes were great fun and well managed.
I don't often write reviews, but feel compelled to do so about Joyful dogs as we have gained so much from it. We recently finished the Puppy Starters group course with our puppy, and also 1;1 training sessions and have had such a brilliant experience - its made having a puppy infinitely more fun and enjoyable! It wasn't the chaos I was expecting in a puppy class instead it was structured and a calm environment for the puppies (even if our dog did try his hardest to create havoc), learning many skills that we will continue to develop- far more... Read more
Thank you again for the classes, I have really enjoyed the training. You made Mabel and I feel so welcome and were very patient and tolerant. I valued your positive feedback and the way in which you engaged with every member of the class. You certainly made me feel as if we were achieving.
"With Joy we learned fantastic, mentally challenging games for our puppy 'Nala' which were really successful. We also learnt how to use our body language to get Nala in to position and how to ‘leave’ ‘drop’ and 'fetch'. We particularly found ‘bowl and recall’ useful. We would absolutely recommend Joy."
Joy has a lovely gentle way with both people and dogs. She put things across in a sensitive but straightforward manner and Pepper's behaviour has definitely improved. Joy restored my faith in puppy training.
I contacted Joy to train my dog Ludo not to chase our cats! Over four sessions with Joy we had enormous fun learning techniques to distract and discourage him from chasing them, as well as learning a few new tricks. I now have a much better understanding of my dog, and he's already far less interested in chasing. I'm delighted, and really enjoying using the techniques Joy taught us. I would recommend Joy to anyone. She has a very lovely manner and is never, ever stumped. Thanks Joy!
We found Joy online through her website and her experienced background in dog-training & helpful blogs convinced us to book 3 x 1;1 sessions with her. These were perfectly tailored for Luther & his temperament and Joy ensured that we covered enough techniques & exercises to progress Luther's training in our own time. We saw immediate improvement in Luther's behaviour, we went from only lead walking him to having the confidence to go off lead in public parks within 3 days. We continue to use what we learnt in our sessions on a daily basis & Luther's behaviour continues to improve. ... Read more
We really enjoyed the Puppy Improvers training course with Joyful Dogs. We use the knowledge we learned every day both at home and out on walks, thank you so much!
The Puppy Starters course was brilliant and gave us confidence in how to deal with most situations we have faced using positive reinforcement and encouragement. I really liked the social interactions between the pups. Ziggy started off nervous but ended up very happy to mix with the other puppies. Helen is a brilliant trainer - thank you!
"Joy came highly recommended as a gentle and rewards-based Dog Trainer. Our 1;1 training sessions have been a wonderful experience. Joy is highly knowledgeable and was able to meet our exact needs for helping our puppy gain confidence around other people. We learnt lots of games to increase her pride and sense of wellbeing and unlearned lots of rubbish we had previously read on the internet! Would absolutely recommend Joy"
Joy and the 'Puppy Starters Course' team have been absolutely amazing! They gave such clear instructions and were very supportive even if things went wrong. Pippin has learned a lot - as have I - and I would definitely recommend the Puppy Starters course to any new puppy-parent.
"Joy has been an amazing help with my nervous rescue dog, Pie; he's a different dog now. When I first contacted Joy I was really struggling and wasn't sure I could cope. Pie was reacting badly to everything, and I was particularly concerned about his fear of strange men. I used to dread walking him because it was so stressful. Joy gave me lots of brilliant advice and was really supportive. I can't thank her enough"
Really enjoyable and useful course. We found the information about Dog Body Language invaluable – really helped us in the early stages. As did the Enrichment Games (snuffle bowl) and the agility course was lots of fun too! Thank you
I just wanted to say a big thank you for the puppy training classes. Daisy has really flourished since attending classes and we couldn’t imagine our lives without her. We both had Dogs growing up, but she is our first together as a couple. We always came away from classes feeling that both Daisy and we had learnt something that would benefit us moving forward and we still use exercises and tips we picked up from Joy – who was a very patient and understanding teacher.
The Puppy Starters course has been really useful for understanding what Coco is thinking and to communicate with her more effectively. The exercises all help to bed in the behaviours really well. Particularly enjoyed the 'Vet' games, Q&A sessions and the mini agility course in Week 6.
I chose Joyful dogs because there was link with our dog walker Muddy Buddies. The 121 sessions with Joyful Dogs have made a huge difference to Skye who is a reactive dog. We learned games and strategies to keep her calm when out walking, meeting people and when visitors arrive at the house. Katie taught me a lot about counter conditioning and that if prepared I can help Skye to see things positively rather than as a threat- we can now walk past individual men and she doesn’t lunge or bark which is great. Skye is better on lead walks no... Read more
Joyful dogs were recommended to us by a family member who had also used their services! Would recommend in a heartbeat! Massive thank you to Dannyelle, we thoroughly enjoyed all the one to one training sessions, we definitely learned lots of new skills to help us through puppy life :)"
Our rescue dog Blue was pulling on lead, jumping at people and could be destructive when left alone. Joy showed us many useful training techniques to make the training fun for our dog. The important thing I have learnt from Joy is 'timing' - ie treating Blue at the right time. Joy showed us Blue’s potential - and she is a different dog now. Joy is a very good trainer and it has been a pleasure to work with her.
“Where do I start.....Joys puppy training was simply brilliant. Although we have an older dog and I have had dogs my whole life I thought this time I would do things properly! From lesson 1 we got stuck straight in with the basics, we went away learning new things every lesson (some we have used with our older dog too!) Joy has such a caring & friendly nature and has such a calming gentle way when working with both puppies and owners. I think even the craziest of puppies would respond to her positive training techniques. Joy was so informative and... Read more
Since our first lesson with Joy we have been practising hard all that we were taught, and whilst still not perfect, we have enjoyed some of the best walks we have ever had with Twiglet (who is nearly 4 years old)! Joy is calm with Twiglet and very clear and informative about what I need to do to achieve the best results. We are both looking forward to our next lesson and can’t recommend her highly enough.
We found Joyful Dogs through a Google search, luckily we picked the best one! Joy's 1:1 sessions were extremely helpful, especially as we haven’t been able to attend puppy classes due to COVID. We did our first sessions not long after bringing Rupert home, so it was great to start when he was young, and also importantly to train us too. We worked on all sorts of techniques based around game playing, recall, dog socialising, walking on and off lead, distractions from prey chasing etc. Joy was happy to help us with anything that we needed or had questions about.... Read more
A fun course - Joy was fantastic! Our puppy Dylan really enjoyed it and it was good for us to learn the background behind training. We particularly enjoyed the scent games and outside games!
We found Joy through personal recommendation. We have learned so much about how our rescue dog’s reactive behaviour can be helped through the stimulus of training. We’ve learned basic commands like down and stand as well as search and retrieve techniques. We’ve also learned to use positive reinforcement to help her not be overly concerned when people visit the house. Nellie is now calmer and has learned behaviours that help her cope when people visit the house ... she has also become more playful!
Our anxious Labrador puppy really struggles with the chaos of walking on a lead in our neighbourhood... so many people and vehicles and loud airplanes and unexpected things. Her anxiety just stacks and she becomes unmanageable, which is tough when a 25kg dog is dragging you down the pavement. Katie has really been amazing. She is so calm and gentle and definitely understands dogs (and our specific puppy) so well. She's helping her learn how to manage and teaching us, too, how to best support and guide her. She's really connected so well with our girl, and whereas we initially... Read more
Our puppy, Bubble, is now 2yrs old and she is 'adorabubble'. The training we did with Joyful Dogs was priceless and I continue to look to Joy's "Dog Blog!" for ideas and inspiration, thank you.
I had used a Dog Trainer before with my rescue dog but something wasn’t clicking, so I decided to try Joyful Dogs. They had come highly recommended on local dog forums. Dannyelle was our Trainer and she was attentive, understanding and incredibly knowledgeable. She has helped my rescue dog grow in confidence in only 4 sessions! I can see a visible difference in my dog and taking her for walks is now a pleasure, not a chore. I would highly recommend Dannyelle to anyone who is looking for a kind and attentive trainer who understands and loves dogs completely. Thank... Read more
Joy introduced us to a large number of techniques to develop Hudson’s training. To Hudson, they were just games with a treat at the end of it (eg games for ‘find it’, ‘leave it’, ‘fetch’, ‘come here/recall’) but they created a personality that is just right. The best part is seeing how it all fits together – ie from Hudson being obedient at feeding times (not going for his food unless told), to leaving or dropping items on cue, to just being very friendly around other dogs and people. I would absolutely recommend Joy.
With so many great reviews, a detailed website and the option of an in-home visit as well as training out and about, Joyful Dogs was the obvious choice. As well as being quick on communication, Joy was lovely in person and immediately put us at ease. One-to-one training was not only super helpful for Rocky but for us owners too! Games like ‘Find It’ are so good at engaging Rocky’s brain and making him work for his reward. We also learned the importance of body language and tone which has made us much more confident when giving cues. After our one-to-one sessions... Read more
After searching google and reading the positive testimonials on Joyful Dogs, we decided to book 1;1 training to help with walking Freddie. Joy taught us techniques to encourage Freddie to focus on us when out walking. This has really helped build his confidence as he used to be very timid and refuse to walk. The sessions have also really helped us understand Freddie better and made us realise how important mental stimulation is for dogs. We’ve learnt some great games like ‘hide it’ which Freddie loves to play. Would definitely recommend Joyful Dogs. Thank you for your help Joy x
The "Puppy Starters" socialisation & training classes were very well organised and Helen progressed the skills at an appropriate speed for the puppies in class. Phoenix has come a long way! We particularly enjoyed the outdoor skills, especially focus work around other dogs.
Lilah and Bonnie are super-bright Collie/Springer crossbreeds. What Joy brings to our house is a calm, patient attitude that has rubbed off on us all. We watch the way Joy interacts with our dogs and listen to her advice. It works. We have made extraordinary progress in a short time and we feel so encouraged by Joy. Lilah and Bonnie, who are generally nervous of people outside the family, love her!
I had 121 training sessions with Joy when I got my new puppy. We covered basic training, lead walking and recall. I found the training really helpful as there were no distractions for either Jarvis or myself and we covered a lot during each session. Joy also helped with the bonding process with my pup and older dog and he attended one of the sessions as well. Joy uses a variety of locations depending on what you are working on. I would fully recommend 121 sessions with Joy!
"Amazing Puppy Starters course. Its our first time training a puppy and Joy was so helpful and knowledgeable. Just wanted to say thank you or your help over the last 6 weeks. Indy can be a real handful but you have really helped us with training him better."
We booked 1:1 sessions with Joy after seeing good reviews online. She has been nothing but lovely and helpful from the moment we met and takes a very holistic and positive approach to training. We got our rescue dog, Ollie, 10 weeks ago and there have been huge improvements with a whole range of things. This is all thanks to Joy’s knowledge and the skills that she has shared. Ollie has come on leaps and bounds and continues to improve by practicing everything Joy has taught us. She has always been so supportive and is easily available for advice and... Read more
The Solo Training Walks with Katie have been wonderful with our anxious Bosnian rescue "Clifford". He really struggles to trust people, but absolutely adores Katie and is so excited when she comes to the door. There is nobody else outside of me and my partner who has even come close to achieving this with him and we really value the bond she's built with him and appreciate the time and effort that this has taken. Clifford isn't an easy dog to walk - having lived on the streets he is always on high alert and is reactive to other dogs.... Read more
We are so grateful to have found Joy when we got our Cairn Terrier puppy Bonnie. Our one to one training sessions during Covid totally put our minds at rest about missing group puppy classes. We met in secure and private spaces to start with and progressed to public parks where Bonnie became more and more confident, as did we! Joy gave us so many helpful tips and strategies and Bonnie, at six months, this morning raced around Pittville Park with us all and her recall in all situations was faultless. Joy now says ‘my job is done’, we shall... Read more
Training with Joy has been terrific and it’s been great to be able to tailor the sessions to what we wanted to learn or practice – both at home and out walking – and Murphy has loved it and soaked it up like a sponge! Joy has made it so easy for us to understand what we need to do to train Murphy, and taught us loads of tricks and games to make it fun for him and us! We would definitely recommend Joy to everyone, she is so lovely, calm and patient (with Murphy and us!) and has a wealth... Read more
We chose Joyful after receiving a very helpful phone call in response to our initial enquiry. Since then we have been working with Dannyelle 1:1 and have found it really useful. At the beginning, tips such as buying our puppy 'coffee-wood' have helped us to get him into really good chewing habits and explaining how to crate train him have supported us in getting him comfortable sleeping in his crate all night. As he has got older, advice around how to help him behave calmly around new people and other dogs has helped us immensely when we are out on... Read more
Joyful Dogs - and the training lives up to the name! Joy was recommended to us by a colleague who'd trained their puppy as a family and therapy dog. We booked 7 sessions with Joy. There are specific techniques and activities that have made a big difference to Rafferty’s development and our learning - such as scentwork "Find it” games; loose lead walking, putting on his harness, coping with distractions, and meeting and greeting other dogs and people in our local park. It has been great to have Joy with us on these outings to learn in situ. Most of all, we... Read more
I signed up for puppy training including a home visit and I have to say that it exceeded my expectations. Helen was so helpful and also extended the service to several phone calls and messages regarding some issues with our puppy. Highly recommend Joyful dogs for puppy classes and especially Helen - also for 1-1 training sessions. I chose Joyful Dogs because they use only positive reinforcement methods. I wasn’t disappointed and I think that the exercises we did in the classes increased the engagement between my puppy and I. I definitely saw improvement in her behavior especially with the... Read more
Joy has really helped us with our French Bulldog puppy Sybil. Walks used to be our biggest challenge - Sybil would sit and refuse to move but with Joy’s help she is now clearly engaged and walks happily next to us. Joy also helped us with road crossing skills, dropping items Sybil shouldn’t be chewing, understanding her cues and generally communicating with her more effectively. Sybil’s mealtimes are more interesting now too, Joy showed us how to put kibble in/on cartons & containers so Sybil has to work to get it, which she clearly enjoys. Our training experience with Joy... Read more
I chose Joyful Dogs 1:1 sessions as these were convenient for me. I was having trouble with Lexi travelling in the car. The training sessions wit Dannyelle helped me to strengthen communication with my puppy. I learned a lot through a couple of sessions - it was a big eye opener. It will definitely affect how I am with my dog in the future. I had heard about Kongs and Enrichment games but I had no idea how important they were. I have definitely seen a calmer side to my pup in just a few weeks. I am impressed with... Read more
Having spent six weeks on Joy's Puppy Starters course, my Jack Russell - Buddy - has definitely improved his obedience, along with his ability to zone out distractions and concentrate on me a lot more. Buddy is a very active puppy and has bags of energy and is into everything; the variety of games and exercises Joy taught gave him lots of new skills that I can continue to work on. I would recommend Joy highly! I will be signing up for her Puppy Improvers course soon!
We took our puppy Indie to the Joyful Dogs puppy classes, Helen was our trainer, the classes were recommended to me by a friend. From the beginning we liked everything about the classes, they were small which enabled everyone to have time with Helen and get to know each other and all the pups. Helen was extremely patient and always had time to explain or show the exercise a second time if required. I felt the sessions taught us how to build a connection with our pup which has made our bond with her really strong. I can’t recommend these... Read more
A huge thank you to Joy for all of her help and support training our golden retriever, Barley. After 3 very informative sessions, Barley is already showing amazing progress with his lead walking. Most importantly, Joy’s sessions taught us how to have more fun on our walks. We can tell how much Barley has changed in so many ways. He loves training on our walks and we are enjoying walking with a calmer dog too. We still have a bit more work to do on recall, but all of Joy’s advice and support is helping tremendously with this. Joy’s professional, calm and fun... Read more
We contacted Joy about 1:1 training with Rudi after a really enjoyable 6 wk Puppy Course last year. We found Joy’s approach clear and straightforward. The 121 training focussed on lead walking and recall; using treats and their placement to reduce pulling on lead along with the bowling game, flirt pole, and squeezy cheese game to reinforce Recall. Rudi is not that food orientated so Joy highlighted exactly how to reinforce her using play and chase games! We found the sessions extremely useful and whilst we would have liked more before moving away, we have been practising daily with what... Read more
Baxter is our Romanian rescue puppy. Although he has settled well, we noticed that he was very nervous around visitors to our house and towards other dogs when we walked him. (barking and lunging at other dogs when they came too close.) I heard about Joy via recommendation and I am so glad she has been able to help Baxter. Joy explained Baxter’s behaviour really clearly and worked with us on distraction techniques whilst we are out with him (recall, finding treats and the ‘flirt pole’-he loves this!), as well as how to welcome guests into our home with minimal... Read more
Many thanks for your fab doggy training. Lauren noodle and I have really loved it! And, it’s been very helpful in guiding us with our new family member too.
"We chose Joyful dogs after extensive search via Google; many schools didn’t cater for our then, crazy Lurcher’s reactive tendencies. Joy answered our emails and questions promptly, unlike a couple of other places we have contacted, and provided us with a solution to our misbehaving canine! From the start, Joy was able to help. She listened to the problems we were having, and gave us solutions to counter them. Joy understood our dog and taught us how he learns and what would benefit him. We started with recall exercises and then “Find- it” to help our dog keep his nose to... Read more
"A well planned course. We learned new exercises and techniques and Mylo loved it. When I got our 'training bag' out at home Mylo got very excited! I recommend Joyful Dogs to all puppy owners"
