CUSTOMER COMMENTS

Just wanted to drop you a short note to say thank you for doing such a good job looking after Lucy while we were away.  She seems much more calm than she had been before I left her with you and she responds well to the commands that you showed me.  In short, while it was a long drive to drop her with you and pick her up again, it was most definitely worth the trip.  Thank you.

Hi Graham,
First of all thank you for the miracle you performed on Oscar. I know you say you trained me, I honestly don't know what you did in under a hour but it is a miracle. I arrived with a ten month old Labradoodle, off his head - never knew what his name was. A nightmare to take out as he thought his role in life was to play with every dog in sight and go home with them for more fun. Because of this i could not take him out in fear of losing my arm as his strength was too much for me to control. I saw your advert and thought it impossible but I wondered -Well whats to lose? I will take Oscar and of course you won't be able to train me to control him so I will not pay and what's the harm it's only petrol money and a day out. Wrong. I paid you with a smile on my face and the difference to Oscar is phenomenal. That's maybe an understatment as he is now the dog I always wanted: he walks to heel, sits, lies down all on command. It helps in so many other situations in the house now as well as I call him for dinner, I sit him, Itell him to stay, which he does with ease, then i tell him to eat. He's the dog and I'm his owner and he loves it. the respect the dog now shows to me IS second to none.
I Dont know how to thank you, but you are worth your weight in gold!
Thank you very, very much. I can not sing your praises enough - and all in under an hour !

Hi Graham!

Just wanted to let you know how Dawson is doing now he has settled back in at home.  Firstly, to let you know he is booked in for x-rays next week so we'll let you know how that goes.

But wow!  He is like a different dog!  He is absolutely trying to push the boundaries, just like you said he would, however it is now possible to control him in situations I never would have been able to before, I even felt confident enough to take him walking where all the farms are and we meet plenty of sheep, horses etc along the way and we did brilliantly.  Dawson now has the ability to follow instruction if it is given the proper way - and more importantly, we are now clear on how to let him know what we want from him in a way he can understand.  I absolutey realise that he is a work in progress, but you have given us a massive head start and now I wholeheartedly believe that with consistency and plenty of practise, Dawson will be a fantastic dog. 

You have made it possible for him to be a part of our family again, whereas before, he was too out of control to be trusted.  I have had moments this week, when we're out walking, that people have actually approached me and complimented me on Dawson!  I have actually felt proud of him which is something I haven't felt in months. 

But my biggest thank you has to be that you made John realise that Dawson is not a big cuddly teddy bear, he is a dog that has needs that have to be met.  Also that a dog is too intelligent not to manipulate the fact that his owner is a big softie and will assume the dominant position in the household unless we make it absolutely clear that WE hold that position.  Finally, I feel like John will actually back me up and handle Dawson in the same way I do, instead of spoiling him rotten and letting him behave however he wants when I'm not around.

I am so happy to say, that my house no longer functions around a dog.  Dawson does what I say, when I say it.
Thank you from all of us
Jo Wassell and family

Just to give you an update.
Megan has become a more balanced and happy dog since her stay with you. She walks to heel perfectly and is staying
and waiting when told. I have her on the fields on a long lead asking her to come back to me, which she does, she
actually looks at me which she has never done before. I am enforcing all you taught me and I am looking forward to
letting her off the lead in the New Year. I cannot thank you enough. I will keep you updated. Have a lovely Christmas and a prosperous New Year. Keep Up The Good Work.
From a Happy and Grateful owner of a Very Happy Irish Red & White Setter.

Graham

I just wanted to thank you for the great improvement you have achieved with Hector.

As you know, he was a nightmare both on and off the lead. He now walks to heel, sits and stays all on command. I can let him off the lead with confidence that there will no longer be a 20 to 25 minute wait for him to come back from chasing birds, cows, sheep or anything else that took his fancy. Now, as soon as I recall him, he happily comes back. He will walk to heel both with and without the lead and will sit, down and stay at a distance as well as at heel.

The command to sit and stay, has made a huge difference, even for simple things, such as now he will sit down while you put his collar and lead on, instead of him getting over excited, leaping around everywhere and my having to chase him and hold him down to get them on.

What has pleased me most though, is that you have managed to achieve this without affecting his personality. Yes he is now much better behaved, but you have achieved the good behaviour without changing Hector's personality and he is still the same social, happy, cheeky chap - but a whole lot easier to live with and to take out.

If anyone requires a recommendation for a trainer, I will be more than happy to recommend you and also of course the excellent faclities that the dogs enjoy during their stay with you.

Again, many thanks.

Tina Craib

Customer Comment from Russ Kaye (Manchester)

First of all, a little background into why we decided to have Zak professionally trained, and how we came to choose Lamington.

In September 2005 we lost our 10 year old Border Collie to a sudden heart attack. We were very upset at this, and decided not to buy another dog for a few years.

In March 2006 I was diagnosed with Colonic Cancer, Gallstones and a few other “bits and pieces” that required quite a severe, emergency operation. After being released from hospital the following month, I was at a low point and needed something to get me focused again. We decided to buy another dog. As I shoot quite regularly, we decided on a gundog in general, and a Large Munsterlander in particular. On finding a pup, and buying it, the new pup (Zak) was my constant companion for the next five months.

This caused us some problems when I eventually went back to work. As Zak had had constant companionship all his life when I left him to go to work he became very upset, and very vocal and destructive. An added problem was his behaviour both on and off the lead. We had taken him to puppy classes, but after a few lessons we realised that the woman who ran the classes was only used to “sit, stay” type teaching, and had not got the first idea of how to handle a HPR breed (despite her assurances she was qualified). We then started to have Zak trained one a one-to-one basis with a local “gundog expert”. At first this went quite well, but it soon became clear that he was more interested in letting us know all about the psychology behind training than actually doing the training himself.

I started to research on the internet into putting Zak into a residential training environment. Most training centres were very keen on either training for obedience (and specialising in what I would call “pet breeds”) or were “full-on” working gundog centres. None of these seemed suitable. That’s when I stumbled upon Lamington Gundogs. This seemed the ideal place to start Zak’s training. Not only was Graham (the owner) running a working kennels, but he offered basic obedience courses as well as working gundog training. A bonus was that there was a real timescale. All other training centres were noncommittal on how long they would take to train a dog. Graham’s courses were 3 weeks long and he guaranteed results! This also gave us the opportunity to get away ourselves for a well needed break. Leaving Zak would be hard, but he was with a professional.

We took Zak to Graham in September 2006. Nothing was needed, everything was provided by Graham. No bedding, lead, collar, food or anything. Graham immediately put us at ease. His professional, laidback attitude gave us a massive confidence boost, and a quick look around his premises shows just how well all the dogs are looked after. Graham even came out and met us when we got lost!

After 3 weeks I went back to Lamington to pick up Zak. A chat with Graham revealed that Zak had been a bit upset when we first left him, but he had eventually settled down. Zak had also been very stubborn with the training but Graham had persevered and he was keen to show me the results. I was given instructions on how to follow them to the field without Zak seeing me and not to come out of the car until Graham called me.

Graham went into the kennels and reappeared with Zak walking perfectly at his side, with no lead on! Zak walked at heel all the way to the field, and then Graham put him through his paces. Sit, stay, down, recall, all were done perfectly. Graham then called me from the car and, after a couple of minutes of hello’s to Zak, I was shown how to handle Zak properly. We returned to Grahams home for a full de-brief and a relaxed chat about Zak, dogs and life in general. Graham's wife was also involved in the conversation, and they both really make you feel part of the process rather than just a client.

We have followed Graham's instructions over the last few months and Zak has come on in leaps and bounds. I would heartily recommend Lamington Gundogs to anyone who needs to get the basics right with their dog. Graham's attitude to dogs is a revelation. He is strict without being in any way overbearing or cruel, and he shows great empathy without coming across overly PC or as a softy. We are so impressed that we are going to book Zak in for another stay very soon just to give him (and us!) a reminder of how things should be done. I will also, if Graham allows, be taking Zak up for some basic working gundog training.

The best recommendation I can give is this. Graham is over 200 miles from us, and a 9 hour round trip. I would never consider another kennels to look after Zak. If it's kennelling, obedience training or just a chat with someone who knows what they are doing, it will always be Graham and Lamington Gundogs for us.

I just wanted to drop you a note to let you know how pleased we are with Meg since her return from her training. It is only now that I realise just how much of a handfull she was prior to her stay with you - a full blown lab puppy boistrous, destructive and full of mischief!

She is walking beautifully on the lead and will even walk past barking dogs now without straining to get to them, fields of sheep are no problem as is stopping to chat to a neighbour - she just settles to the down command and waits for us to finish talking (without jumping up!).

The amazing thing is her behaviour in the house, since her return she hasn't chewed a thing, accepts that she gets no food from the table and doesn't attempt to jump on us or the furniture or visitors she knows her place and is happy with it. She is much better with the girls now, no mouthing or knocking over and is very gentle regardless of the attention that she gets.

We would recommend you to anyone!

Kind regards

Jane

I've been buying dogs from Graham Gibson since 2001 and have consistently found him to deliver second-to-none quality. I have also found his evaluation of a dog's abilities and confirmation to be impeccable. Graham conscientiously applies his own high standards when searching for my dogs, and I trust him to be a man of his word.

Besides his personal integrity and knowledge of the business, Graham has developed a strong network of some of the best British Lab contacts in the U.K. Because he is an excellent dog trainer, he knows a well-trained dog and has the ability to find young dogs and train them up to my standards.
Bedford Haynes Floyd

We would highly recommend Lamington Gun Dogs, we took our Labrador Molly to Graham for obedience training when she was only 9 months old, when she returned to us she was trained the basic commands which made our life much easier.
We also use Lamington Gun Dogs for kennelling Molly, we can go on holiday knowing she is well looked after and gets plenty of exercise in a secure professional environment, this makes a big difference to our family to know she is safe and secure.
Mr & Mrs Vanhegan
Wallyford

Graham Gibson has now trained four dogs for me over a period of about sixteen years. My dogs are well behaved, obedient and settled dogs. They are steady and keen in the field but are as happy in the house playing with our children (aged 2 and 4).
The dogs Graham has produced for me have been first class, a great shooting companion, a fun dog to work in the field and a great family pet.