You thought you were bringing home a cute puppy.
Instead you’ve got a chaos gremlin who pees all over the house, won’t sleep, and bites your ankles. Your t-shirts have little holes in them.
They pick up anything and everything they can get their teeth on - stones, socks, whatever’s going.
You’ve read a hundred things online and you’re stuck. Half of it contradicts the other half, and none of it seems to be about your puppy.
You’re probably doing better than you think. But a cockapoo, spaniel, Labrador or doodle doesn’t come with a puppy-shaped instruction manual - they come with a busy brain, some gundog hardware and most generic advice wasn’t written with that in mind.
That’s where in-home puppy training comes in: someone to work with your actual puppy, in the place all this is happening, and give you a plan that fits your dog and your life.
Most of what's going on with your puppy is normal. You just haven't been told why.
Here’s the thing nobody says clearly: your puppy isn’t an alien species. They’re a baby mammal - much closer to a very young baby than to the adult dog they’ll become. Same needs. Safety, rest, food, water, warmth, comfort. Once you see them that way, a lot of the chaos starts to make sense.
The witching hour. Your puppy goes berserk - bouncing off the walls, tearing about - and it looks like they’ve got energy to burn. Most likely it’s the opposite: they’re overtired and haven’t had enough sleep during the day.
Up in the night. Puppies don’t sleep through, and they’re not meant to. Dogs sleep in bursts, not one long block like us - and a puppy waking in the night usually just needs the toilet. It’s not a problem to fix. It’s a stage to get through, with the right setup.
Peeing the second they come inside. The garden is exciting. There’s grass and smells and play, and toileting was the last thing on their mind. They come back in, relax, and their bladder gives up. They’re not being naughty - they genuinely didn’t think to go out there.
And underneath all of it: the habits your puppy forms now are the ones your adult dog will keep. As cute as it is when a little puppy jumps up, barges through doors or pulls on the lead, none of that is so charming in a fully grown Labrador or spaniel. The good news is that early intervention is so much easier than unpicking habits that have already formed. That’s why early training matters so much - you’re building the right behaviours from the start, and setting your dog up to succeed, rather than undoing the wrong ones later.
"As a nervous new puppy mum, I booked a 121 with Tash, prior to our puppy classes.
I was so anxious to get everything right, that I didn't fully realise that I just needed to relax and enjoy spending time with Rosie, rather than worrying that everything she was doing seemed dangerous.
I had a list as long as my arm of questions for Tash, and they were all answered during our session.
I had a little emotional moment when I realised I had been overthinking pretty much everything, and my cockapoo Rosie and I are both much happier for having that session."
Claire & Rosie
Under that cute teddybear exterior, there is a gundog.
Here’s the part most advice misses entirely. Underneath that cute exterior, your puppy is a gundog.
A cockapoo is a cocker spaniel crossed with a poodle. A labradoodle is a Labrador crossed with a poodle. Poodle is a retriever, specialising in retrieving ducks and geese. When breeders made some of them smaller, they just focused on size. The working genetics often came along for the ride.
Spaniels, Labradors, Golden Retrievers, Doodles, Vizslas - all bred to work, to hunt, to pick things up and carry them.
So if your puppy exploring the world with their mouth, picking up stones and socks, never quite settling - that’s not naughtiness and it’s not a flaw. It’s hardwired. It’s hardware, and we can’t change it.
What we can do is install the software. We can’t stop your puppy wanting to pick things up, but we can shape what they pick up and what they do with it - bringing things to you, dropping willingly, choosing the right things to carry.
Get that in place early and you avoid the dog who runs off with what they’ve grabbed, swallows it, or guards it from you later on.
That’s the difference a gundog-specialist makes. Not generic puppy advice - someone who understands the breed your puppy actually is.
"Just four days after bringing my cavapoo pup home, I booked a private session with Tash. I wanted to make sure I was setting my dog up for success right from the beginning. As a slightly nervous (and very proactive) dog parent, I knew I wanted to do more than just “wing it”—I wanted to do it right. That initial session was so helpful, it naturally led me to continue with their full training program: Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, (Sarah - incredible dog trainer) various workshops, and puppy socialization classes." Viktoria & Charlie
How 1-2-1 puppy training works.
I come to you:
This isn’t a class. It’s in-home puppy training - because home is where the chaos is actually happening. I look at your setup, your routine, and your puppy in the place they live, and give you something the internet can’t: answers that fit your actual situation.
I cover Reading, Caversham, Pangbourne, Whitchurch, Henley-on-Thames, Goring, Streatley, Thatcham, Tilehurst and the surrounding villages of Berkshire and South Oxfordshire.
I give you as much support as you need:
Sometimes one session could be enough. Maybe you’ve had dogs before and you’re on the ball, but this puppy is a different breed, or your first gundog, or just different to what you’re used to - and you want help with this puppy specifically. One session, and you’ve got what you need to carry on.
One session - £100
For owners who need a bit more support, especially before puppy classes start, I offer a package of three sessions. This is what most first-time owners of cockapoos, Labradors, spaniels and Vizslas choose, and it’s where they get the most out of working with me. Across the three sessions we’ll usually cover:
• Setting up a routine that works for your puppy and your household
• Toilet training and building good habits from the start
• Foundations of recall, loose-lead walking and a reliable drop - or whatever matters most for your puppy and your life
• Socialisation done the right way - which isn’t a tick-list. It’s specific to your dog. We look at what you want your puppy to be comfortable with as an adult, and work on those things now, whether that’s before or after the second vaccination.
Three-session package - £250
Private, in-home support
Some owners want more than a session or a package. They want me alongside them through the whole of the early months - not a fixed number of visits, but ongoing, hands-on support shaped entirely around their puppy, their household and their life.
This is my most involved way of working. We set the pace together, and I’m closely on hand as your puppy grows and the questions change. For the trickier, technical things - recall, lead walking, the parts that are easy to get wrong and harder to undo later - I’ll do some of the hands-on training myself.
Your puppy stays at home with you, where they belong - you still get all the fun of having a puppy, while I take on the bits that are harder to get right.
It’s the kind of support that makes the most difference with a clever working breed - a spaniel, a Labrador, a doodle or a Vizsla with a busy brain and a lot of potential - where getting the early months right sets up everything that follows.
I can only offer it to a small number of clients a year, and every arrangement is shaped around what you and your puppy actually need. Discretion is a given, and I’m happy to sign an NDA where that matters.
If it sounds like what you’re looking for, email me at info@dogsbedogs.co.uk and we’ll take it from there.
If your head’s spinning with conflicting advice and you just want someone to look at your puppy and tell you what actually matters - that’s what I’m here for.
Book a 10 minute call and we’ll have a quick chat about your puppy, where you’re struggling, and how I can help.
Let's get your puppy off to the right start
Puppy Socialisation
You're told to socialise your puppy, but not where, or how, or what's safe - and you've got four weeks until their second vaccination. We take the guesswork out of it. Calm, guided sessions designed for puppies before their second vaccination - a safe first introduction to other puppies, new people and the world, with expert help every step.
Puppy Classes
We’re not going to teach your puppy to sit - you’ve probably already done that. We focus on the skills that make real life easier: coming back when you call, walking without pulling, and giving things up instead of running off with them. The real goal? Becoming the centre of your puppy’s world, so they actually want to listen.
Off-Lead Puppy Recall
Letting your puppy off the lead for the first time can feel terrifying. What if they run off? What if they ignore you and every other dog and smell wins instead?
This is where they learn that coming back is worth it - in a secure 15-acre field in Mapledurham, with real distractions and expert guidance, so the first time off the lead isn’t a leap of faith.