Walk & Train Edinburgh

We can't thank amy and river enough for all their help with our dog jura, an 18 month old lurcher. we re-homed him a few months ago and realised quickly that he was really struggling when we left him - mainly barking/howling and started to show some destructive behaviours. we got in touch with edinburgh dog behaviour pretty quickly and are so glad we did! in a few months, we have gone from not being able to leave him alone at all to leaving him for an hour and a half, with the time constantly increasing as we train. amy was amazing with us and was very reassuring - as we were so stressed when we started the process. when we finished our separation anxiety block, she sent us a really thorough personalised guide for jura which has given us the tools to continue training long-term and go from strength to strength. now jura is such a happy care-free dog 🐶 cannot recommend enough!

We have a two year old mixed breed (springer spaniel x border collie x australian kelpie) dog angus, who we have had since he was 9 weeks old. as well as being super active, at the age of about 5 / 6 months we noticed that he started to struggle with interactions with unfamiliar dogs, occasionally resorting to aggression when overwhelmed or really frustrated (particularly walking on a lead). we also noticed he was struggling at meeting new people, often barking when strangers entered the house or if we spoke to people he didn’t know when out and about. we were very active with angus’s training from the get go - having taken him to a couple of puppy and training classes and groups, as well as some 1-1 sessions with some other really excellent trainers in edinburgh. he knew loads of party tricks, and his recall was really good (especially if there was a ball involved). however, we still felt useless at handling situations where he became overstimulated or overwhelmed and we were struggling to build his confidence in such situations in a controlled way. we first approached linnea at walk & train after a recommendation from one of her other clients. after an initial zoom consultation, where we talked through our situation, linnea helped us come up with a new structure / routine to help angus change his mindset - creating a foundation to better prepare him for these challenging situations out on walks. from here we have had several 1-2-1 lessons to work on our leash handling, general communication and long line work. we have also attended weekly group walks directed by linnea, with other owners going through a similar process. through this process, we have been given loads of feedback on how to handle angus around other dogs in different environments and get a weekly opportunity to practice our skills and see how angus copes with both the dogs in the classes, and all the other dogs we see out and about. this exposure has been invaluable to angus, but also to us, to build on our own confidence week on week. getting to meet and work with a group of dogs and owners who are having similar experiences to us, and learning and discussing experiences has also been a massive positive for us. in little under a year of working with linnea and walk and train, we can now confidently take angus to busy places in city centres, bars, cafes, hikes with other dogs, all activities which we found unmanageable before walk & train. we are partaking in the level 2 sunday classes, and have recently just started grc training with linnea, and cannot wait for angus' confidence (and ours) continue to grow. we could not recommend walk & train more highly.

Having a highly dog reactive gsd, i got in touch with linnea seeking help and i'm extremely glad i did. while we're not at that stage where he doesn't react at all, linnea has helped me tremendously with management and things i can work on to counter condition my best friend when there are other dogs around. you're not alone when you take linnea on as your trainer as she is very accessible and communicates her thoughts and ideas clearly and in language anyone can understand. you and your dog couldn't ask for a better trainer and friend. thank you linnea, gregor and ida.

Max, a cockapoo, came to join us when he was 5 months old. he was a lockdown pup and i soon realised he had lots of issues. inside the house he would bark at myself or my husband if max deemed we were doing something "out of the ordinary". he would bark at the tv, a hat (i had put it in a different place), if we moved quickly, anything he saw when he looked out the windows. outside on walks he would react to just about everything. he would lunge and bark at anything fast and or noisy, especially cars and other dogs. it was a stressful time for me and i actually wondered if i had done the right thing in getting him. luckily walk & train was mentioned to me and linnea was a godsend! we had our first on-line meeting and she advised us how to tackle the issues inside the house and then we worked on the outside issues. i've had 1-1 sessions with linnea and with her support my handling has improved and i'm now able to identify max's triggers and deal with them. linnea gives you confidence and the "tools" to work with. i've seen a huge difference in max and i'm hopeful with linnea's support he will continue to improve. we also attend the weekly group classes and max is now on level 2 and he walks, off-leash with a group of various dogs! it's also great to walk with people who know what it's like to have a reactive dog. i would have no hesitation in recommending linnea and walk and train services. debbie

Our 2.5 year old dog charlie is a lurcher (saluki x) who has been struggling with dog interactions from about 7months old, when his social over-excitement and intensity turned into reactivity towards stranger dogs. he gets quickly overwhelmed and unsure in new social interactions. we had charlie on a chemical castration implant to assess whether hormones were a factor. while we had made good progress with training charlie in that time, when we initially approached walk & train, we were missing opportunities to regularly practice dog neutrality, get feedback on our handling and be supported in real-life scenarios. in all the intense dog reactivity training work we no longer enjoyed walking our dog and walks were a source of dread. we were frustrated, and he was frustrated! after a year with linnea, charlie is more balanced, our bond and communication has improved, and we both get over set backs much quicker. going for walks is fun! now, we were even able to go travelling with him for 6 weeks to norway and back and everyone had a great time! 😊through linnea’s training we have gained a deeper understanding of our dog and can meet him where he’s at, rather than projecting our own feelings onto him. being part of a group of people who ‘get it’ has also been really beneficial - walk & train is such a supportive community! i would highly recommend linnea and walk & train ❤️