Durham Dog Care

Mar 11th, 2020

I contacted Jamie after my dog Bailey began to show increased nervous behavior in particular when meeting strangers and new dogs while out walking. He was reacting to strangers coming to the house even some who he had met previously and I didn't want this to become an aggressive habit. Jamie's response was quick. Not only did he give us advice on behaviour he also advised on nutrition, vaccinations and harnesses. On his follow up visit he joined me on a dog walk so that he could give advice in action. Bailey is responding to the new techniques and walks have become a less stressful time for all. I would recommend Jamie to any other dog owner.
Jan 31st, 2020

Positive: Punctuality, Quality, Responsiveness, Value
May 15th, 2019

We contacted Jamie for help training our 6 month old puppy and I would highly recommend his service. Jamie has helped me implement different techniques to combat training issues, all of which have worked brilliantly with our dog. He has helped me understand and counteract my dogs troublesome behaviours in simple steps, which certainly seems to be working well. Jamie has been excellent to work with and I would not hesitate to contact him should we need further assistance training our dog in the future! It is overall, a very worthwhile and helpful service!
May 4th, 2019

I hesitated to leave this review as the handful of previous reviewers have left 5 stars (though perhaps many of those are for the food). But, as a rescue-dog owner who was coping with (what I now know are) pretty common issues, I would have liked to hear from people who didn't have such a positive experience. Ultimately, we felt hopeful before the appointment and completely helpless after it. The opposite of how it should be. Dolly is protective and territorial in the home. Jamie knew this before arriving. He also knew we had success introducing her to people by first meeting outside and going for a walk together. Yet he insisted on coming into the house and us keeping her in another room before leading her to him. We trusted he knew what he was doing, but of course dolly just barked and barked, and Jamie looked terrified. He also said 'She would definitely have bitten me'. To clarfiy, she has never bitten anyone. Only barked and on one occasion nipped. Threw lots of treats at her while she barked, got us to hand her treats while she barked (basically, rewarding aggressive behaviour) - specifically, while she was on the lead and barking at him, I was told to say "yes" and hand her a treat every time she looked my way. The most basic psychology and training says this is effectively her asking for my approval and me giving it, and I regret trusting him on this. He then suggested we take her outside while he walked on the other side of the street. Since then, we've dealt with a new problem of her barking at people on walks (she didn't do this before). There were also disturbing comments about rescue dogs that would be better off put down and that we should be glad she isn't a "complete psycho", and a lot of time banging on about raw food and vaccinations. We didn't ask for this and it should only have been a follow up. It is also incredibly subjective and goes against official guidelines. Thankfully we have found a great trainer since and Dolly improved after one session. (A qualified behviourist, the trainer also was able to realise that Dolly is not an aggressive dog, and assured us rescue dogs often form intense bonds with their owners and therefore tend to be overprotective. He was able to gain her trust very quickly.) Perhaps Jamie is great with dogs who are easy, placid, timid etc, but I think fear aggression and territorial behaviour are probably common reasons people look to call in a trainer. And he really didn't seem to care about what happened to Dolly or to us, which to me is extremely odd for someone in this line of work. He didn't even follow up with an email or call, for example, and seemed only interested in getting us to book another appointment or to sell us a random treat pouch he had in his pocket. We wanted reassurance, help, advice on how to manage situations. We only felt more lost afterwards, and I hope no one else has to feel like that. EDITED TO ADD: There are only 4 reviews for dog training on here (one of which is mine). A little concerning if he is as busy as he suggests. I recommend seeking out someone who cares about dogs and their owners, who has methods other than throwing treats around the house, and isn't just looking to make cash by flogging average (at best) advice, raw food, and treat pouches ("it's yours for a tenner" - perhaps the most inappropriate words I've ever heard, given the context.)
Jan 19th, 2020