The Gypton Dog School

The Gypton Dog School – Dog training classes and puppy training courses – Coney Hall, West Wickham

***Puppy courses run all year round. Please contact us to book a place on a course, available on Monday evenings or Friday afternoons.***

With highly experienced and qualified instructors, our classes have been running in Coney Hall since 2004. Our courses include basic skills such as lead walking and recalls, as well as confidence-building life skills, fun tricks and body awareness exercises to help your young dog grow into a well-socialised and happy adult.

Coming to a class each week is a valuable experience for a young puppy as it teaches them to focus on their owner while in a distracting environment. You can’t replicate that at home. It is also a fun activity for your puppy and will tire them out very effectively. It usually involves a car ride, meeting new people and new environments. Hands-on training for owners is also vital, and we show you how to develop your handling skills and your effectiveness in training your puppy, while also helping your pup to gain confidence in new situations.

Head trainer Jenny Harknett, KCAI (Cd. Ob), is a Kennel Club accredited instructor in dog training and canine behaviour, accredited in 2007. The KCAI gold badge was awarded to instructors who passed the Kennel Club accreditation, which was run on similar lines to an NVQ and accredited by City & Guilds. Only instructors who had been teaching classes for a minimum of five years could apply, with a rigorous assessment process. This provides a guarantee of good quality teaching and assurance that up-to-date techniques are taught in accordance with Kennel Club best practice and their Code of Conduct for Instructors. Jenny was also a volunteer assistance dog trainer with the charity Dog AID for over five years.

We occasionally hold Bronze, Silver or Gold Kennel Club Good Citizen Award tests. 

Our structured puppy courses concentrate on life skills for puppies as they grow up, including advice on food and nutrition, the law relating to dog owners, handling and grooming, nuisance behaviours and how to avoid them, and all basic obedience exercises such as sit, lie down and come when called. The courses also include fun elements such as body awareness and tricks, and can be followed by ongoing training for young dogs in our adolescent and intermediate classes.

The training methods we teach are positive and motivational, using reward-based techniques within a framework of fair discipline and effective leadership. Adolescent and Intermediate classes are open to any dogs of any age who need refresher training or whose owners want to entertain their dogs and expand their range of abilities.