Working Canines

I contacted Mick to see if he could help me with my Working Springer Spaniel. She's a good dog but can be very soft and has selective hearing when in the beating line. He responded promptly, taking into consideration my need to get her sorted so we can enjoy our days out during the season. Mick dedicated two sessions to teaching me how to shift the balance from me and my dog being equal to me being her boss. By listening to his advice and following his training strategies I can honestly say there is already a marked difference in my dog and we are both so much happier and more relaxed. She also walks to heel beautifully, on and off the lead. Many thanks to Mick, I highly recommend Working Canines, especially for listening to me and helping iron out those problems we've been having. Thanks.

**Amazing progress with Collie dog - 5 years old - thanks to Mick’s guidance! **. We’ve seen incredible results with our dog, Glen, over the past few weeks and months since Mick helped us with training. Glen is much less anxious overall, and Mick’s training made such a difference. On a recent walk, Glen calmly sat at the side of the road as a car passed – no pulling or rounding up. He’s also stopped hauling on his lead and now walks to heel, which he never did before. Even when we encountered a tractor, he stayed by my side on command. Huge win! At home, we’ve been working on training with visitors in the house, and today, for the first time, Glen stayed calm and quiet when someone was in. We’re making great strides thanks to Mick’s expert advice. Highly recommend!

I've got a black lab and had all sorts of problems with him constantly pulling while on the lead. Nothing seemed to work. Took him to Working Canines and Mick for a days training. What a difference after this. Mick showed me the methods on how to have my dog at heel and how to have good recall as well. Through Mick's one day session and patience I can now confidently take my dog out without him constantly pulling on the lead.

After using a previous local trainer with no change to dog, started looking for help again we thought Mick was local to us, however on speaking with Mick we were sure that he was the guy we needed to help us, although he had moved to Blairgowrie but we were willing to travel. So we went up with caravan and stayed local for a couple of days, met up with Mick and he watched us with the dog pulling us and not listening to commands. Mick took control of the dog and within 2 minutes the dog was under control, spent some time with Mick on dog pulling on lead and behaviour problems also recall. After a few hrs with Mick he is a totally different dog very pleased with amazing results already he is a pleasure to walk as well as his behaviour and recall. Can’t thank this amazing dog trainer enough. Highly recommended by us. Thank you very much Mick. Derek Shirley and Maddie. ,.

I was at my wits end with my beautiful but unmanageable flat coated retriever. He’s my third so I was struggling to understand why he was so hard to manage. The final straw was when he chased down one of my chickens and started jumping the garden wall to get to my lambs! I contacted Mick who instantly made me feel hopeful. I have been trained and I now have a wonderful dog! He is calm, walks to heel and his recall is instant. I spend hours walking him as suddenly it is relaxing and fun again! Even the lambs and chickens can chill! I cannot recommend Mick enough! His straightforward, direct approach left me feeling 100% sure about what to do and his understanding and love of dogs makes you realise and see where you have gone wrong!Moreexpand_more

Yet another excellent experience from Working Canines! This is the second rescue foxhound Mick has helped us with. Very pleased to report after following Stages 1&2 (lead work and house discipline), Stage 3 was a complete success (off lead recall). I cannot recommend Working Canines highly enough, a really good refresher for me as the handler, plenty of sound advice and the proof is in the pudding: Skye (4yr old rescue foxhound) now walking on lead very well (as opposed to pulling while in kennels on a harness) and high recall (as opposed to a known escape artist). Our two rescue foxhounds are near model dogs . Credit where credit is due- thanks again Mick. Thoroughly recommend.

I contacted Mick after a recent addition to my gang of Patterdale Terriers became unmanageable for me, she had been in 5 homes by the time she was 9 months old. When off lead she was ignoring me completely and chasing deer, rabbits, etc with zero recall – I was forced to go looking for her on several occasions. Living in a rural area this was a real concern due to farm stock, etc. Mick has taught me how to make small changes at home, how and when she was fed, how I interacted with her and had been allowing her full access to everywhere in the house. These small changes made a quick and significant difference for us, she also seems more settled now that she understands her place in the home and has clear boundaries. I’m now working on our outside off lead walks using the techniques taught to me by Mick and can already see vast improvements, she very much focusing on me now rather than anything else that moves. I had tried other trainers and other methods and while I seen tiny improvements in controlled environments nothing was making any difference to my real problem areas with this little dog in her prey drive and dominance. I can’t thank Mick enough, he’s made my life with this little Terrier much more manageable and I’m seeing positive changes in how she behaves every day. .

I can highly recommend Working Canines and Mick after a complete transformation of our rescue foxhound with results starting literally within an hour. I found Mick’s no nonsense approach refreshing and glad to have had the information explained so clearly. Personally, we found we were being as educated as much as our dog and by following the total system our dog’s behaviour quickly changed. This is a fantastic success story for Vinnie- as a rescue foxhound he went from pulling us like a train while on lead to now walking perfectly; he went from zero recall to us now being confident we have control. With these new skills, Vinnie’s world has opened and he now enjoys freedoms he never would have. Many thanks to Mick for the instruction and advice.

We took our border collie along to see Mick for some help on walking with a pram since our little girl came along. Within a session we had the correct tools and plan in place to take away and work on. The difference in our dog is amazing, we can now enjoyable walk both dog and baby on leaded walks and enjoy being a family. Highly recommend Mick and his no nonsense ways! The lesson was very much a lesson for me and my husband as well as our dog.

From the minute I stepped out of my car in Mick's yard things started to change for the better for me and my year old Springer. Sadly, Robb was ruling the roost and was not receptive to my attempts at training a recall and as a result I was having to exercise him on a long line all the time. This was no life for an active Springer and no life for me getting pulled about like a sack of tatties! In desperation I searched online for trainers and thankfully found Working Canines. Mick also kindly provided info on self catering accommodation about five minutes drive from him which was ideal as we live four hours away. After assessing the whole situation Mick explained his proven system and set out the changes I would need to make in the home to ensure that I was in charge which is the foundation for successful training. He demonstrated effective lead walking to heel and helped me improve my technique so that I was in charge. Training Robb to recall to the whistle was next and although the changes to the home structure were paying off after only a couple of days implementation he was still very stubborn and not reliably responding. We therefore had a trial with an Ecollar after Mick described how to use it appropriately and it was a total game changer. We spent quite a bit of time at a local park with Mike instructing and allowing me to gain confidence with Robb off lead. I honestly can't recommend Mick and his training at Working Canines highly enough. I am now home and have a different and much happier dog, who has more respect for me and who is able to enjoy off lead time now to run and hunt and just be a Springer but in a safe and controlled way. The sessions with Mick have given me a good foundation to build on and continue Robb's training going forward. Mick's firm, no nonsense approach to training works, it is interesting, informative and peppered with anecdotes from his vast experience working with and training dogs. If you implement his advice totally (no cherry picking allowed!) you will get the results you want!Moreexpand_more

Absolutely brilliant. We were at our wits end about to rehome our beautiful pup as she was running away for up to 4 hours at a time and saw 3 dog trainers which were no help. Then along came mick. He transformed our pup - helping us understand her more, how to treat her inside and outside of the home. We needed up using beep training. She used this for a couple of years then we felt she was good to just respond to whistle. She did regress at times but just needed a reminder with the collar on for a week then she was good again. We also learnt a lot about the history of dogs from mick, such an interesting guy. We were sad when our classes were over with him. Would recommend him in a heart beat as we ended up having our girl for many years.Moreexpand_more

Took my English Mastiff Molly to Working Canines for an assessment after experiencing some behavioural problems. Mick had her walking to heel within a matter of minutes and after a detailed discussion with me diagnosed the problem as fear aggression. After a couple of sessions and a new regime being imposed at home the difference is amazing. Molly now understands that I am in charge and she has nothing to fear, and she and myself are much more relaxed and happy as a result. Many thanks to Mick and Mandy. Highly recommended.

First day off leash in a park with plenty of humans and other dogs. In over a year, due to pandemic pup challenges and aggression to other dogs. I’d love to say her behaviour was all situational but as Mick said within moments of meeting her and I, ‘you know what the problem is don’t you’. Hanging my head in shame, I knew it was me which he had no hesitancy in telling me with a wry smile on his face! Laska spent 3 weeks with Mick and despite having made no guarantees to make her into the perfectly well behaved pup, he has revolutionised her behaviour. Well thought tactics that make complete sense and put owner in charge of their dog. Rather than the other way round! I can’t begin to tell Mick (and Mandy, who was a fantastic host) how much I appreciate the time spent teaching Laska and myself. We are an ongoing work in progress but I’m following his rules rigidly and what a difference. Happy dog (with the correct instruction) definitely means happy owner! Finally I’m going to be top dog in my home - rather than being controlled by a rather beautiful but dominant pint sized furry female! Only negative. Sorry Mick, you’ve done such a good job that we may be back in future for re-inforcement and development of new skills ? Really delighted, and highly recommended. Thank you. .Moreexpand_more

From training a young dog to reaffirming discipline in an older dog Mick’s guidance is invaluable. He trains with knowledge, respect, kindness and patience. If you continue with all he has taught you then you and your dog will not fail to succeed, all problems can be easily resolved with his guidance. The time and money spent on training with Working Canines is 100% invaluable.

A straightforward and common sense approach to dog training that gets instant results. The transformation was incredible - highly recommended.

Our 2 year old working cocker spaniel had poor recall, was excitable around visitors, and fearful of other dogs and traffic. After experiencing some risky situations because of poor recall we became reluctant to let her off the lead. I tried a week's residential course with Mick as a last attempt to sort these issues. Now several weeks on from the training week our spaniel responds well to recall and is less nervous of other dogs. Both owners and dog are getting so much more out of our walks. I can therefore vouch for Mick's training and recommend the residential week as a great way to both get the training and then practise in a beautiful part of the country. .

We have just returned from a week long residential training course with our collie, Seumas, which we extended by a few days just to get things right. We couldn’t walk anywhere easily with Seumas as he pulled on the lead, was terrified of cars, and wanted to chase runners, bikes, prams, etc. By this morning, we were walking him calmly to heel on his lead in Castle Douglas with cars passing by. We know it’s not perfect yet and we have a lot of hard work still to do but we’re confident that by persevering with Mick’s methods, we will get there before too long. Thanks also to Mandy who was very welcoming and helpful throughout our stay.

‘We spent a week with Mick having our two 6 month old Springer Spaniels trained. Not only was it a lovely break in a different part of the country, it meant we could focus on everything we were being taught. If someone had told us both dogs would be walking to heel within the first morning we wouldn’t have believed them, but they were! We all benefited hugely and both of us feel confident with the dogs whether they be walking on a lead in a town, or off lead in the countryside. A Huge Thank you”.

Before we even start about the training, I must thank Mick and Mandy for their fantastic hospitality and friendship. To say that they made us feel like one of the family is an understatement. The residential weeks training was very informative and it showed us exactly why Mac was actually the pack leader! I would recommend that you do this residential as you need to watch and understand your dog and be given the tools to work on all areas. It’s also very enjoyable and you get the best results. Mac is a collie that we thought had the basics. He would recall with no distractions some of the time, walk to what we thought was heel and would sit etc. The problem was that when dogs were around he blew us all out and ran to them. Mick set the base training in. 1+2=3 which he explains really well, but Mac still had issues with recall the day we were due to leave. Mick asked us to stay another day so he could work all day on this area! We all did what he advised and after a few sessions that day we saw a vast improvement in Macs attitude and he was less focused on the dogs. We still have a morning session to go today as I write this review, but we now know that it can be done and we know what to do!We can’t thank him enough and will stay in touch with both Mick and Mandy. I would recommend him to all. Straight talking, no gimmick or food based training which gets results. The bonus is that the cottage is amazing and has everything that you need to enjoy your stay. In hindsight, I think I should have asked for Mac to be placed in the kennel so we could gain control again quicker, but hindsight is a great thing. Thanks again Mick and Mandy, a nicer couple you will never meet and they went out of their way to make our stay amazing. Mick- look forward to hearing you telling the story of Mac the collie with the nearly un breakable desire to chase other dogs! You will not forget him quickly. Kind regards and stay in touch. Iain and Maryjane MacLachlan.Moreexpand_more

Mick really helped me with my young wayward labrador, his structured approach made perfect sense and it works, thanks Mick.