Welcome to Speaking Spaniel one to one training & behaviour support for spaniels, Cockapoos & spaniel mixed breeds. I will work with you, your family & your puppy or dog to help you build a lasting relationship and reach your goals by increasing, confidence & communication. I promise I will listen to & understand the needs of you to both.

 I was nervous admitting we needed help with our 3 yr old cocker spaniel Baxter, it felt as if we'd failed, especially as we'd had a spaniel before. Gill has been brilliant, she is calm and confident and works with you giving the foundations to further build on. We've learnt different ways of handling a difficult situation that we wouldn't have thought of before, and that keeps us in control and not Baxter! Thanks Gill! 

Kim & Baxter

         

 Thank you for all that you did for us gill. we are coming along in leaps and bounds , I can now let Milo of the lead so he can have his head and run, when I call him he will come straight back and get his treat, then of he goes again we still wary of other dogs so tend to go lone places still. Thanks again Geoff and Milo x 

Geoff & Milo

 When I contacted Gill I felt I’d lost total control of our puppy and I felt out of my depth. After our 1st hour with Gill our pup was responding and he’s just got better and better. Gill is calm and explains not only what you need to do but also the reasons behind it and so everything makes sense. 

Emma & Beans

         

 Gill has helped me so much with my adolescent female labrador when things seemed pretty bleak - I came in desperation to several trainers with not much luck, after the description of my dogs behaviour on the free phone call consultation, Gill correctly identified she was having a phantom pregnancy, it got us to the vets within days and corrective action was taken for my dog. Gill was clear with me that the dogs health came first and she would not train her without this OK from the vets. ( a huge green flag for me! ) After my dog had recovered properly we got into the sessions with her and during each session the "normal" environment that my dog is being exposed to work really well for us, just a nice stroll in a town, with confident advice given and useful discussions being had, as well as structured moments. Compared to the other trainers I had where the sessions took place in areas my dog would not really frequent (fields with nothing in them, community halls etc) they are are way better context for the skills being trained, and I have seen a measurable improvement in my dogs behaviour. I have trusted my dog more since spending time with Gill and I can't thank her enough for giving me the confidence to walk my dog off lead again! 

Elaine & Jessie

         

 Amazing trainer, cares so much not only for training the dog but the owner too. Has a real passion and understanding of Spaniels, would highly recommend 

Jo & Hugo

         

 We haven't had a mainly spaniel dog before and Gill is an expert. She gave us lots of information and practical tips for training our lively 7 month old Springer/ Cockapoo cross, and the four one-to-one sessions we had were fun and productive. If we need help with the next set of issues that present, we'll be back! Thank you, Gill. 

Annie & Paddy

         

 At last a dog trainer who did what I wanted. Highly recommend Gill who listened to what I wanted and walked with us and worked on Poppy’s recall and my lack of confidence. We both learnt a lot. It’s a work in progress but nice to know Gill is there for us . Thanks from me and Poppy x 

Jane & Poppy

         

 Our one to one sessions with Gill were invaluable before our puppy started puppy classes. She really helped us with understanding Khushi's behaviour and built our confidence in how to start him on the right path early on. He also throughly enjoyed his time with her! 

Peter, Debbie & Khushi

         

 Gill is patient and helped us and our puppy so much. We signed up for 4 sessions with Gill. The 1st was a house visit to meet puppy and us and understand our needs and some road lead walking Worked wonderfully. The next session was in Gill's field to see puppy off lead then training given for puppy's needs. The last two sessions were with us out on walks and Gill taught us how to read our puppy and be confident dog owners with a happy confident puppy. For me that was very important and I now feel confident and have learned to read my surroundings and situations well. Last week we needed Gill's expert help again as our pupper is now a teenager. Gill came to our rescue again and lead walking has improved so much in a week. You do have to keep to Gill's rules and honestly you will have a confident happy dog and the 1 on 1 is so worth the money. What more can I say really. We have been so lucky to have Gill in our puppy journey. Have some sessions with Gill, stick to her advice and most importantly have a puppy routine and you won't go wrong. I recommend Gill to perfect strangers as I know how much hard work a puppy is. I feel lucky that Gill was recommended to me when I was in the park and had puppy envy. 

Hilary & Qunicey

         

 After trying puppy classes and not really getting anywhere with Raya our Working Cocker we decided to have some one to one training sessions, we choose Gill and very glad we did . Raya is our first dog so we literally had to learn everything , from our 1st session we learned so much, we had terrible issues with Raya not sleeping through the night, barking, recall, jumping up at everything to name just a few of our problems, each session was a complete success and by the time we had our last we had a totally different dog. Would most definitely recommend Gill and thankyou so much ones again for all your help with Raya. 

Andrew, Sharon & Raya

         

 Helpful and constructive guidance and advice. Reliable, flexible and courteous service. Thank you. 

John & Holly

         

 Gill is excellent traîner with a wealth of knowledge and experience and very good communication skills. We have had dogs all our lives but never a spaniel (totally different breed 😳🤔🤣) Gill filled in the gap’s in our knowledge and gave sound sensible training tips and exercises throughly recommend Gill for your training needs. 

Mike & Ollie

         

 Gill @ Speaking Spaniels is a miracle worker! We were having enormous difficulty with our 20 month old male spaniel’s recall, but Gill explained in really clear terms how to achieve a great recall and it works! Gill has helped us to feel confident in our ability and we now have a much happier dog! I can’t recommend Gill highly enough …. she’s a superstar! 😊 

Clare & Ezra

         

 Gill has helped me improve my confidence as a first time puppy owner and provided me with the skills for great recall, lead walking and sharing hints & tips to build the foundations of a great relationship with my dog. Thank you! 

Rebecca &Poppy

         

 The Pet Gundog course is brilliant! Florence is a busy, sniffy, pheasant-mad working cocker and I can’t praise Gill enough for her knowledge, observation and understanding in helping me learn more about her. This is the second programme we’ve done with Speaking Spaniels - I like the way Gill structures her programmes as there’s flexibility around content, learning styles and she is good at adapting and finding different approaches for owners and their dogs. Plus it’s all geared towards the skills needed for gundog handling, great for people like me who don’t want to work or trial their dogs. Florence is becoming more and more focused and attentive (in spite of the distractions in the field!) and is lapping up all the activities, tips and tricks that Gill offers, which have really helped make our walks out in the countryside even more enjoyable. We will be booking a follow-on after this to soak up more of Gill’s expertise. She’s skilled, insightful and observant about spaniels and has improved my confidence in handling skills no end. Highly recommended!! 

Jane & Florence

 I just wanted to say it's been a real pleasure to work with you too and you have been so great with Scout and with helping us learn how to try and understand her and train her. It's lovely to feel confident now when we take her out - we even had a lovely dog walk yesterday at Petworth Park with extended family and were able to let her completely off the lead. She was so good and had a great time. 

Wendy & Scout

 We would recommend Gill and her Speaking Spaniel dog training sessions. We have learnt so much from our lessons. Previously, training had been undertaken in a very sterile indoor environment. Our cocker spaniel Stan, would behave and perform as asked whilst at training BUT once outside would forget everything and become deaf! Since attending Gill’s sessions we have learnt how to ‘read’ Stan’s actions and walks are much more enjoyable for all of us. Many thanks for all your help. 

Claire & Stan

 An excellent training day and Gill is an experience trainer who personalises the training to the individual dogs. Highly recommended. 

Sue & Penny

         

 Excellent Knowledge Of Puppies/Adult Dogs. I contacted Gill in the hope she would assist me in training my new Puppy the basic skills of obedience. We initially had an introduction session for 1 1/2 hours so she could become familiar with my puppy and assess him. Talking to her she appeared to be very knowledgeable of dogs so I agreed to continue with Puppy training. I am very pleased with his training and the success we have achieved together I can now get him to respond to my commands. He was very quick to learn but with Gills help he is now ready to go onto Gun Dog Training. I would thoroughly recommend her, to have an obedient dog is both beneficial to you and your dog. 

Roger & Finley

 We would highly recommend Gill, she has been super helpful with both of our cockapoos, one that is particularly nervous and barks a lot. She has a gentle approach and has given us some useful tips to help walks be more stress free! Thanks Gill 

Jess. Mike & Jet

 Enjoyed the Gun Dog Training Course and learnt a few things about whistle recall which we have put to use since then! Thanks Gill! 

Katy & Wren

 Hi Gill just wanted to share with you the excellent walk i had with Solo today. We went to the ranges...he met 5 dogs off lead before we went in and was a great boy (the owners were fab as well) had a little play then followed me into the ranges. Was off the lead nearly whole way round (apart from last 10 mins where mud was awful and he does love mud)...it was the type of walk I'd always imagined...you've given me the confidence to try it in the appropriate settings x 

Natasha & Solo

 I have a four and a half year old dog who finds it hard to focus at times. She's very clever and always wants to be doing something; I already do agility with her and her basic training and our relationship is good. On occasion she goes through a phase where she's much more interested in the environment than me. I'd worked with Gill in the past when she was a puppy and decided to book a course with Gill to see if she could help. After our initial assessment Gill felt her confidence could do with a top up as she sometimes felt a bit pressured. We met at various different places and I quickly realised, with Gill's gentle guidance, that I wasn't always watching and listening to what my dog was telling me with her body language. I was doing too much thinking that I knew what she was thinking (if that makes sense) rather than watching and understanding what she was actually telling me. I'm now much more aware of her behaviour when we are out and about and am able to recognise what she is communicating to me and what to do if a problem arises. Gill does real life dog training. She is very calm, patient and knowledgeable and I love her dog training ethos. It is more about building your relationship with your dog, enjoying time spent with them, letting them do dog stuff and learning their language. 'Be more dog' I think Gill would say. 

Jayne & Nellie

 Valuable Insights Into Canine Behaviour We were nervous about raising a puppy for the first time in 27 years, so decided to book some sessions with Gill. She taught us how to read our puppy's body language, when to intervene and when to let him have time to assimilate a new experience. After a very few sessions, our pup was sitting and lying down on command and happily walking off the lead beside us. He comes when called and best of all, he does this cheerfully, thinking it is all a wonderful game. We feel much more confident in handling him now. 

Jane, Wayne & Rusty

 Had our first session so helpful. Managed to fit us in as soon as possible. Highly recommend so calm and patient 

Archie & Otis

 Gill is amazing! I can already see the difference in Coco (working cocker spaniel) and it's only been a couple of weeks. 

Jose & Coco

 We rescued a dog from #lasthoperescue best thing we did she came with huge anxiety about the world to the point where we could not walk her due to her fearful aggression of people and dogs thanks to Gill we can walk some days with no reaction some days a little we are a work in progress we are staying with Gill possibly for a year to get our big girl the helps we all need. But thanks to Gill we have come along way her methods are loving and allows dogs to make choices which suits or large girl well thank u Gill xxx 

Anna & Trixie

 Hi Gill, just to say a huge thank you, Usha's harness has proved to be a real game changer already! It is incredible how much she has responded to it! Onward and upward! See you in the New Year x 

Su & Usha

 You may remember us from over a year ago - Hudson and Anna. Just a quick note to say thank you for those initial sessions. Hudson lunged and barked at cars and you gave us some advice. Pleased to say that after a year he is miles better. We can do a walk up to Westbourne on quieter roads and a bit by the busy road. He ignores most cars and looks to me when there is a noisy one for a treat. He’s still scared of vans but he is even better with those. We’ve become a real partnership. 

Anna & Hudson

 Attended the 2nd chance rescue dog talk tonight! It was very informative and valuable for anyone thinking of rescuing a dog from UK or abroad. Lots and lots of info and things to consider. Everyone planning to adopt a dog should attend this talk. 

Janet Bentley & Lottie

 Brilliant talk by Gill this evening about 2nd chance dogs. A thought-provoking and insightful talk, plus some helpful tips for those considering re-homing a dog. Thank you so much - I really enjoyed it! 

Anna & Leo

 I have just done The Rehoming a Second Chance Dog with Gill. I would throughly recommend it to any one thinking of getting a rescue dog/ maybe in the process of..... or even already has one. Lots of great information to help you make this life changing decision. Thank you very much 

Carla

 Thank you Gill Buddy is such a lovely boy the best thing we ever did was get your help you gave me the confidence to to be in control which made me love him so much ❤️ 

Emma & Buddy

 A Good Start For Our Puppy Despite being dog owners it's been a long time since we last had a puppy and we felt that we needed some help. Gill has been great for guiding us down the right path to give our puppy a happy, confident and obedient start to life. Gill has been a great help in getting our puppy off to a good start in life. 

Carole Twiggy