I’d like to take a few minutes to discuss the current COVID19 situation and my Puppy and Dog Training services.

Current advise for England, which came into force from 1 June, is that small dog training classes are now allowed.

However, these training classes must utilize a secure, private and outside area. At present, no indoor training is permitted. Indoor training may soon be allowed, but I suspect it will be under strict social distancing rules. Once my indoor venues open-up, I will conduct a full risk assessment before considering starting up training classes within them.

So, I just wanted to talk about socially distanced face to face classes, whether they be outdoors or indoors and why I feel that my online classes offer a far superior alternative to socially distant face to face classes.

The guidance at the moment is that during these classes, the trainer cannot come into physical contact with any clients or their puppies or dogs and social distance should be maintained at all times. Owners should only touch their own dog and none of the dogs should come into contact with each other either.

The current rules for socially distant face to face classes also state that you can only have 6 people in the class (me included), this means that you cannot attend with your family so only you receive the training and it is then up to you to relate this back to family members when you get home. No children can attend or take part in the class, which I think is a real disadvantage.

With outdoor classes, the weather will play a big part in whether classes can go ahead. Classes would need to be cancelled if it got too hot, too wet, too cold, too windy etc and what would happen if there was a sudden adverse weather condition during class? Where would we take shelter and still be able to socially distance?

I will not be allowed to handle or get close to owners or their dogs and will therefore, not be able to give the hands-on training that I usually offer. I will not be allowed to demonstrate with your puppy or dog as I cannot get close enough to do so – it is not quite the same trying to explain exercises without practical demonstrations. I could use a stuffed dog or pretend I have an invisible dog, but how realistic is this and will you really be able to see what I am doing from 2 metres away? If you didn’t see what I was doing effectively or you were struggling with the exercise, how do I best explain and show you when I cannot touch your dog or come near to you?

There is always a risk that an owner may drop a lead (yes it does happen in class) and then how do we safely prevent that dog from running up to another dog or owner without breaking social distancing rules? Can we guarantee a loose dog won’t touch another dog? No!

There would be no access to seating or toilets as there is to be no shared equipment.

Puppy play and socialisation exercises cannot be offered at all as people and puppies will be required to remain 2 metres apart.

So, even if my halls do open again soon and some other trainers go back to face to face classes, there are still risks associated with them. I have a lot to consider before returning to my venues and my priority will always be the safety of clients, safety of puppies, my safety and the ability to give you the best quality service possible without reducing my high standards of training that I am very proud of.

As many of you know, I have been running my classes and 121’s online for the last 3 months and these have been exceptionally successful! They are done in the safety of your own home and at a cheaper cost to you as I don’t need to factor in travel or venue hire costs.

Yes, the disadvantage of online training is that there is little socialisation opportunity but don’t forget, this is only one part of your puppy’s socialisation. Attending a puppy class in a hall for 1 hour a week does not produce a fully socialised puppy. Socialisation is about introducing your puppy to different people, animals, noises, smells and sights in the real world and making sure that all these experiences are positive ones. Our online classes still cover exercises around socialisation and habituation and include advice about how this can be achieved successfully within COVID19 restrictions.

So, at this moment in time I will be remaining online for all my current training. I appreciate that this is frustrating for those who want to ‘return to normal’ but I will not compromise on the health and safety of my clients, myself or my family, especially as the last few weeks have shown me that I can run training classes, coach people and conduct 121’s extremely successfully online. Just check out all the wonderful reviews I have had from my online clients – they really have enjoyed them and benefited from them!

I will of course be reviewing the situation regularly and will keep you all posted as and when things change.

Finally, thank you for your patience, understanding and support during this time.