Vislor Dog Training - Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire

Nicola Allen & Milo (Whippet/Staffy)

Can't recommend Tom and Sharne, highly enough.

We had tried one to one training with our dog Milo,with 2 different training companies, to no effect. Milo was pulling on the lead, he also jumped and nipped visitors. He would not listen to us at all.

We did take a while to decide on the 3 week course ,we looked at the prices and were worried in case it didn't work, we needn't have worried. Tom and Sharne worked wonders with him,he is still our boy but better behaved. He settles when we have visitors and walks by my side.

We couldn't have asked for more. He is also very good in his crate now,he no longer chews his bedding.

We can't thank Tom and Sharne enough.

Alek Dokic & Nell (Border Terrier)

Before discovering Vislor, we were on the verge of returning our six month old Border Terrier to the breeder.

She was uncontrollable for us with numerous issues. She constantly pulled heavily on lead,constantly lunging to pick up stones,tarmac,litter or tearing the heads from plants. She was also, though not aggressive, was starting to react to people and dogs by barking and growling.

We tried normal training classes which were, frankly, a disaster as they were three hours of chaos.

We found Sharne and Tom with a Google search and decided to give it a try as a last throw of the dice. After an initial meeting we felt reassured that it was worth a try. We dropped Nell off and crossed our fingers. All through the three week session we were constantly updated with messages, photos, and videos, and quite frankly, we were very impressed.

All the misbehaviour was under control. When we met up to have Nell returned to us, we met at a country park where there were lots of people,dogs,bikes, and we were given a run through on how to carry on the good work. To be honest, it couldn't have gone better. Nell was well behaved on lead, not trying to pick everything up, and ignored all the activity going on. RESULT!

On returning home, over the next week Nell tried to revert to some of her old ways. A message to Sharne and a quick meet up later, we found out what we were doing wrong. We've put these things right and Nell is making progress again. Much praise to Sharne and Tom as they've given us something to work with.

We've no hesitation in recommending Vislor for training.

Thanks so much for your wonderful help.

Pippa Cole & Vinnie (Vizsla)

Vinnie stayed with Tom and Sharne on a 3-week residential course. It was really important to us that we'd had enough time post-training to fully comment on our experience at Vislor Dog Training - Burton. Today is 4 days post-training.

We came to Tom and Sharne because we were out of ideas with how to train Vinnie - our beloved Hungarian Vizsla. We've had 3 dog trainers over the last 18 months with no to "some" success. However, at the age of 2 years old, we decided we had to take a different approach with Vinnie.

Fortunately, Vinnie loves people, dogs and balls and is a happy-go-lucky 31kg bundle of ginger energy. However, his constant pulling on a lead and jumping up anyone who showed any interest in him has caused us some challenges. After a final incident - we decided we needed to try something else.

We met Tom and Sharne on the Sunday before the training as an introduction and Vinnie was at his best (worst!) pulling and lunging in the paddock behind their house. At this point in time, i wasn't sure that I could be without him for 3 weeks. Tom & Sharne were kind enough to remain totally open as to whether we'd use the residential training or just a week's boarding as we were due to go on holiday the following week. (Vinnie was already booked in kennels). Tom & Sharne were immediately reassuring and inspired us with lots of confidence that they could help. (They also offered us options of inhouse or outside accommodation for Vin-dog.)

Following a couple of days where we had adhoc conversations with Tom - who was brilliantly supportive and didn't pressure me either way - we decided to go for the 3 weeks residential although we did so with heavy hearts. Leading up to the stay we had lots of fears including being (1) terrified that Vinnie wouldn't remember us and (2) he'd "change" in some way.

We kept in contact with Tom & Sharne over the 3 weeks. The first week was easiest as we were on holiday - the 2nd was the worst as we returned to a very empty home and it still felt like ages before we would see him again.

The handover with Tom and Sharne couldn't have been better. I don't know what I expected but they couldn't have tried harder to help us learn the techniques they'd taught Vinnie and spent as much time as we needed familiarising us with their methods - which were simple, straight-forward and they encouraged us to practise in front of them so they could help us course-correct as needed.

Day 4 post-training. Vinnie has seriously been a dream to walk - any minor mishaps we've had have been because WE need more training, not Vinnie. I walked him today in the sunshine and it was pure joy. I came back so relaxed and confident in him, and not stressed as was often the case. I actually looked at other people who had dogs on harnesses who were still pulling whilst I almost had Vinnie's lead on one finger (I hope I didn't laugh ...!). We've had a couple of squirrel incidents which we managed - not yet seen a cat yet, but we have techniques. We had an incident last night where Vinnie jumped all over a friend of ours whilst out walking, but we KNOW what we need to do and we'll continue to practise. Vinnie didn't get into these habits overnight and won't change completely overnight.

Even though all the reviews here are 5*, I'm a worrier and prayed I was putting my trust in the right people. I needn't have worried and I'd like to offer reassurance to anyone whose heart is breaking about leaving their fur-friend for this amount of time. If you want to have a conversation with me, I'm happy to talk to anyone who wants confirmation from someone that this can make all of their lives better. Tom and Sharne have my permission to pass on my contact details.

So, so far so good, we'll continue to practise. Keep your fingers and paws crossed for us. Thanks so very much Tom and Sharne. From Pip, Tony and Vinnie xx Please post any photos if you'd like to do so xx