Vislor Dog Training - Salisbury, Wiltshire
Craig and his team are based in Salisbury, with plenty of space for your dog. Easily accessible from Southampton, Andover, and only an hour from Bournemouth and Reading, if you are based in the south of England then Vislor Salisbury is the ideal destination for your residential dog training needs.
Meet Team Vislor - Salisbury
Craig - Vislor Dog Trainer
Craig was raised in the New Forest where his parents bred German Shepherds. From an early age he has been surrounded by animals. Craig developed a passion for looking after the dogs which inspired him to become a breeder himself and now has over 30 years’ experience.
After graduating from Agricultural College, Craig spent several years farming livestock. During the early 90s he founded his own security business. Craig trained and bred security dogs and supplied general security solutions to businesses across the UK.
In 2000 Craig returned to farming and breeding German Shepherds on his own smallholding. Following an introduction to Vislor, he developed a passion for IGP and quickly fell in love with Dog Sport. Craig runs his training facilities at a dedicated site in Salisbury, Wiltshire.
Kate - Vislor Dog Trainer
Kate has been involved with dogs her whole life. Her father was a security dog handler and there were always plenty of dogs around the family home in Hampshire. Kate’s passion for animals inspired her to run a smallholding in Scotland while raising her family.
Kate married Craig in 1991 and together they ran a security business as well as breeding German Shepherds and Rottweilers. They now live on a farm in Wiltshire together with their family.
Kate utilises her extensive experience and knowledge to ensure Vislor achieve the best possible outcomes with even the most challenging of dog behaviour.
Together Craig and Kate have gained many 5-star reviews from happy clients across the U.K.
Darrel - Assistant Trainer
Darrel was brought up on a farm with his parents breeding German Shepherds and from a young age helped out with taking care of the animals.
Darrel finished school and joined the army. After his time in the army Darrel then returned to helping run the family kennels and training dogs.
He has found a love for dog sport and enjoys working alongside dad Craig to train his dog in IGP dog sport.
Lucy - Assistant Trainer
Lucy grew up around animals and they have always been a big part of her childhood. Having successfully completed three years at Sparsholt College studying animal management where she gained valuable knowledge and experience in kennel management, training and behaviours of animals.
Lucy continued her studies and qualified as a dog groomer and now has her own dog grooming business.
Danny - Assistant Trainer
Danny has always had an interest in animals and had many small mammals as pets growing up. This led him into studying 3 years at Sparsholt college completing his level 2 and level 3 Diplomas in animal management where he met his partner, Lucy.
During his time at collage Danny gained knowledge in kennel management as well as animal behaviour and training. Alongside the course he also done some work with the RSPCA and enjoyed a study trip to South Africa where he worked in animal rehabilitation centres.
Amie - Administration
Amie grew up on her parents' farm with animals. Always keen to help take care of the puppies and horses.
She developed her career in childcare, Spending over 10 years working in various roles such as a safeguarding office and a deputy manager.
Since having her own family Amie decided to start a new venture of working alongside her family managing the organisation and communication side of Vislor Wiltshire.
Location & opening hours
- Address:The Nook, Stockbridge Road, Salisbury SP5 1BW
- Hours:Monday 8:30am-6:00pm
Tuesday 8:30am-6:00pm
Wednesday 8:30am-6:00pm
Thursday 8:30am-6:00pm
Friday 8:30am-6:00pm
Saturday 9:00am-2:00pm
Sunday 11:00am-2:00pm - Phone: +44 7973 320413
ALL VISITS BY APPOINTMENT ONLY
For the best possible outcome for you, your dog and the trainer, we kindly ask that you do not bring children to meetings and lessons.
Salisbury Training Reviews
Leah Hill, Daisy (Collie Cross) & August (Lab/GSD)
Craig & the team did the impossible job of training our terrors Daisy & August back in November.
Our lives consisted off stress and worry as to what would happen on todays walk, as Daisy being highly reactive especially to bikes and lone walkers, & August being really excitable and hard to control as he’s a big boy.
Now just over 2 months on we can happily let them off a lead as their recall is brilliant, Daisys pulling on the lead is practically gone and her reactivity to bikes and people has gone! She’s a different dog thanks to these guys.
Augusts pulling is better but we continue to work on this and we have the tools a knowledge now. He’s such an excitable oaf 😅 We now look forward to taking the dogs new places to explore.
We tried lots of different types of training before finding Vislor and definitely recommend to anyone who feels there’s no more hope because there is!
Thank you again 😁
Jules Poincot & Kobe (German Shepherd)
Thank you so much to Craig and his wonderful family!
We gave them our Kobe a 10 months gsd that had anxiety which led to being reactive to people on the street. Walk were very unpleasant and difficult to handle.
Kobe went for 4 weeks with Craig and they manage to teach him what a “correction” is and he proved to us that we could have very peaceful walks. This is not a quick fix because Craig had to educate us aswell and we had to continue the training but it is definitely an amazing solution if you are willing to make thing better.
It isn’t too much to say that Craig changed our life and to off our anxiety to walk our big boy.
A massive thank you to all your family!
Not to forget that even after the training program Craig is always available to give us advice on training but also in care.
I would recommend Craig a million time!
Thank you
Medha Vishwanath & Kobe (German Shepherd)
Two months ago, my husband and I called Craig for help with our GSD Kobe. Kobe was about 10 months old and a nightmare to walk. He pulled like crazy on the lead, was anxious, and was extremely reactive to people and kids and slightly reactive to dogs even though he had been well socialised. Since we live in a busy area of London, it was very stressful to even leave our flat and so we were desperate to find a solution.
After weeks of research, we first tried a training session in our home with another trainer. That got us no where and made us even more stressed. Against much of the advice on the internet, I started looking into residential training programs but couldn't find places with good enough reviews until I stumbled upon Vislor.
Kobe is our baby and so we were initially so scared to send him away for a month, especially to go live with people who were strangers. However, our concerns were quickly eased by Craig on our first phone call and then again when we met Craig and Kate who both have such a wealth of knowledge about dogs and GSDs in particular.
On our first meeting, they explained the whole process to us in detail and subsequently set up a whatsapp group for us to get updates of Kobe. Since Kobe spent Christmas with them, they also sent us a super cute photo of Kobe in a Santa hat which made us feel like our baby was being well taken care of.
After spending 4 weeks with Craig and his family, we had a detailed handover session in our neighbourhood. By taking Kobe for a walk around the park, Craig taught my husband and I how to use the equipment they had been using properly and also how to correct Kobe's behaviour. My husband and I were not prepared for the amount of progress that had been made.
Kobe really came back a different and confident dog. He now walks so well on the lead, does not pull, and rarely reacts to people/kids (if he does react, the reaction is so small that it is very easy to correct but also prevent). He also is able to sit quietly and calmly in a pub/cafe without reacting much. We still have to put in a lot more work until Kobe is not anxious and reactive at all anymore. But, we can confidently say that with Craig and his family's training and with the tools and knowledge they provided us to continue the training, our lives have completely changed for the better.
We are so thankful to Craig and his family for helping us and our Kobe. If you are reading this review and are hesitant about the cost or sending your baby away, I would say look no further. Vislor is worth every penny and we cannot recommend them enough.
One final thing I'd like to add is that the support from Craig doesn't end after the program. We still regularly contact Craig for advice and we also recently sent Kobe back for boarding with Craig and his family while we were away.
They really are the best!
Zara Ryan & Mabel (Old English Sheepdog)
Please accept my apologies for the lateness of this post. I cannot believe how amazing and effective the training from Craig and his team has been.
We have an Old English Sheepdog and although lovely, simply wasn’t “wired right”. We’ve had an OES previously and never had any issues. Although they can be stubborn as a breed, we were able to communicate well with her and not allow her to get out of control and she would always do as we asked, hence the reason why we wanted another OES. Oh dear.
Everything we tried with Mabel wouldn’t work. She pulled on the lead, she barked incessantly in the car, grumbled at us in The house and the final straw was when she aggressively attached my brother’s dog. We just had no control over her and her behaviour and had unfortunately come to the end of our tether with her. We seriously didn’t know what to do.
We then discovered Vislor and met with Craig and his team and they reassured us that although it may be difficult, they didn’t think Mabel was a lost cause.
We dropped her off hoping that she may improve a little, but were not really expecting very much.
How wrong we were.
Mabel needed to stay a week extra than expected however the results were phenomenal. Mabel no longer pulls on the lead, barks in the car or shows any type of aggression at all.
To say thank you to Craig and his amazing team just isn’t enough. Vislor have changed our lives and our relationship with our fabulous Mabel.
We would recommend you give this a go for your dogs too. Very professional, posting regular reviews, videos and photos to show progress.
Jodie Wincer & Odin (German Shepherd)
Highly recommend these guys.
Amazing support through the whole process. Lucy explained everything perfectly and made me feel very relieved after talking with her before booking Odin my GSD in with them for 3 weeks boarding training.
The whole team are very good at what they do and down to earth. Thanks to Amie keeping me updated. Danny and Carl for going through everything in handover helping me feel confident in what I was doing!
I really can’t believe and shocked at the difference in Odin in 3 weeks. We now don’t pull on lead a lot calmer less reactive and car journeys no longer barking the whole way, there is none at all now. Now able to walk both my GSD calmly with no stress!
Can’t thank you guys enough.
Jodie and Odin
Fiona Franklin & Frida (German Shepherd)
We took Frida our German Shepherd to Craig for a residential boot camp, as we were at our wits end with her reactive behaviours, particularly around cars and people.
Frida became so unmanageable that I was no longer able to walk her, I was unable to control her.
After three weeks with Craig and Danny we are now in a place where Frida is much less reactive, obedient and responsive to us. Its amazing that I can now take Frida out for walks.
We are so grateful to Craig and Danny and the rest of the Vislor team not just for the three week training but also for the ongoing support. Thank you so much!
I would recommend these guys to anyone looking for dog training.
Mary & Groot (Great Dane)
We took an out of control very large bully teenager great dane who controlled everything in our lives, to the point where we had no life!
What we got back is, a calm, happy controllable dog. There is still lots of training to do but we now have the confidence and the basics are now in place.
You need to trust Craig and his family, they are professional dog people! I was able to speak to another family who had similar experiences which was very comforting.
I am more than happy to talk to anyone who has reservations about undertaking the residential course :)
Jordon Pope & Elsa (German Shepherd)
We sent our reactive German Shepherd to Craig and his team for the residential for 3 weeks.
The dog we got back was a completely different dog and a breath of fresh air All the techniques they have taught has made walking her more enjoyable and the fear of her reacting to things has disappeared.
We will keep following the advice given by them and will keep them updated in regards to Elsa's progress.
Jade Powell & Toby (Cockapoo)
We sent our (nearly) 1 year old cockapoo to Craig and the team. He is our world but sadly had developed resource guarding and was reactive to pretty much everything on and off the lead.
We had spent hundreds of pounds on positive training techniques which did not address the problems for us and we were recommending the miracle workers, Vislor and sent him on his residential stay.
Overall our cockapoo stayed with the team for 4 weeks we felt guilt, failure and every emotion you can think of when we agreed to send him away… Well our dog has been back well over a month now and my gosh they’ve worked miracles.
He is a delight around the house, respects and listens to us now and we have had numerous comments about how amazing his walking is on the lead. Craig and the team are honestly amazing.
Our biggest worry was him coming home and going back into ‘old habits’ but with the guidance and in depth handover from Craig and Kate we have continued his training and we do not stress anymore taking him anywhere.
Thank you so much guys! Highly recommend!
Suzanne Bullock & Zeus (German Shepherd)
We got our German Shepherd Zeus aged 7 weeks in lockdown. Due to the several weeks we had to wait for him to be fully vaccinated and the lack of social interaction during lockdown when we finally got to take him out it was like a baptism of fire. He reacted badly to other dogs and strangers and walking him was a nightmare. As he grew bigger and stronger the struggles with him intensified to the extent that walks were planned in remote places and at times when it was less likely we would encounter other dogs and humans and he was less likely therefore to pull us over in an attempt to reach another dog.
It became obvious to us that we had to find a long term solution to stand a chance of being able to enjoy him and after much research found Craig at Vislor in Salisbury. Our meeting with Craig was so productive and encouraging that we dropped him off for 3 weeks the following Monday. Our commitment to Craig was that at the end of Zeus’ stay we would follow his instructions and continue with the same leads and commands that were found to be the right thing for him.
A WhatsApp group was quickly established between us and Craig’s team - all of whom would play an active part in his training. Videos followed and from the initial video after a couple of days which showed Zeus to be unsure and nervous to the next couple of videos where Zeus had literally transformed into a happy, relaxed, confident dog - alert and watching those walking him and reacting immediately to the prompts being given to him was like watching a totally different dog.
The last video before his return he was taken into a busy shopping centre where there were crowds of people, small children running around and other dogs passing within inches of him - all of which Zeus took totally in his stride. We met Craig and his daughter Amie for handover in a park in Salisbury and we watched from a distance as Craig walked Zeus around the park. We were literally blown away at how calmly he walked and constantly looked at Craig for his instructions.
Craig then walked with us walking Zeus both in the park and in the shopping centre to show us exactly what we had to do and what commands to use. Since we have taken him home loose lead walking has been a given and therefore a real pleasure and understanding triggers that might cause Zeus to change his behaviour has meant that he now has his focus on us and he is much happier and very pleased with himself when he gets positive reinforcement.
Being out with him now is a real pleasure instead of a stressful experience. A relative asked me the other day if Zeus had slipped back into his old ways since coming home and I could honestly answer that he most definitely had not. Craig and his team stay in touch and if I have had any queries they have been answered promptly. I went for a one on one session last week and Zeus was walking by my side, with his focus on me and with no lead on - not something I would ever have anticipated being possible.
I can’t thank Craig and his team enough for transforming or life with Zeus.
If anyone has a dog with real issues, especially if other things have been tried and failed then going to Craig and his team is a no brainer - as Zeus is now nearly 2 I just wish we’d done this for him sooner.