Puppy Training in Wolverhampton, Telford, Stafford, Shropshire and the West Midlands
Passionate About Puppies
Cosford Dog Training believes that by giving your puppy the very best start in life, you set up a lifetime of companionship. We’ve been doing it successfully for 26 years. But why trust Cosford Dog Training with your puppy's training and development?
Quite simply, we are unique. As the head trainer, I have 45 years of dog training experience as a professional handler/trainer, 40 years of breeding and developing Irish Setter, German Shepherd and Malinois puppies, including setting up and overseeing the Young Military Working Dog Project at the Defence Animal Centre.
Cosford Dog Training has trained puppies through the Royal Kennel Club Good Citizen Dog Scheme for 26 years. Since qualifying as a Canine Behaviourist almost 20 years ago, I have provided behavioural support to thousands of dog owners, of whom 90% would not have developed issues had effective puppy training been undertaken and continued as the dog passed through adolescence into adulthood.
High-quality puppy training effectively protects your dog against most of the problems life will throw his way.
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Positive Puppy Training
Puppy training is an essential part of your new companion’s development. Skip it or skimp on it at your peril. It’s also important to choose the right way to train your puppy. 45 years of experience have taught me that harsh methods and aversive tools have no place in puppy training. If you believe they have…then please go elsewhere.
If you believe that puppies learn best when given direction and boundaries achieved by motivating them through consistent, fair methods rather than through punishment or the fear of punishment, you’ve found the right training school.
Using positive methods doesn’t mean being permissive when your puppy wants to misbehave; it’s about steering him away from the undesirable behaviour and motivating him to do what you want and what he finds attainable and rewarding, so you work together throughout the lifetime of your relationship. These aren’t the words of a tree hugger; in addition to running the programme to train hundreds of puppies for military service in Iraq and Afghanistan, I have trained many champion dogs in sport, military and police working trials, and operational roles. These puppies were trained for a full working life and to be fit and adaptable enough to enjoy a happy retirement after service.
That is real training for life. It’s not a slogan. It’s a proven ethos. Proven over decades of success. We have many programmes to train your puppy, giving you the option that best suits your circumstances.
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Head Start for Puppies
Start your new puppy on the right path with one of our Head Start Packs. Having taken the trouble to find the right puppy for your family, remember that you will be sharing your life with the little fellow for the next 10 to 15 years. Give your puppy the best start by investing in one of our Puppy Packs.
Our service can start with helping you select the right breed of puppy, the right breeder, and the right puppy from the litter. Whilst most reputable breeders are careful to place a puppy in the right family, the sight of a little bundle of fur often lets your judgment go out the window, and the lively little chap you think you want will spend the next few years running you ragged. A quieter littermate might be more appropriate.
If you have already chosen your puppy, the service will begin with a discussion to help you prepare for your new arrival, followed by a home visit to set you on the right path for caring for your puppy and key areas such as toilet training, early socialisation, and habituation. The first discussion will be done via Teams or WhatsApp.
This is followed by a home visit within a day or two of the puppy's arrival, during which we will coach you through the events of the coming weeks and some early training exercises to ensure you and puppy are fully prepared for our Good Citizen Puppy Foundation classes.
Cosford Dog Training is fully committed to you and your puppy, and we are happy to provide you with a bespoke package to meet your needs
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Royal Kennel Club Good Citizen Puppy Foundation Courses
The ideal training class for your puppy is our RKC Puppy Foundation Course. In this class, you will learn about the care of your puppy, how to ensure its continuing health and wellbeing and start the foundations of basic puppy obedience.
In our classes, the focus isn’t on getting your puppy to sit or lie down. It’s about teaching you, the puppy’s owner, how to train your puppy. This is essential. Puppy training is far more than a mechanical process. It’s about communication, motivation, reinforcement of good behaviour and the prevention of bad habits before they develop.
Our puppy classes ensure you are given enough space and individual attention to achieve your training goals. There is also ample opportunity for your puppy to learn controlled, polite interaction with the other puppies, and how to ignore them and focus on you when required.
Socialisation isn’t about having a free-for-all. It’s a learning process, the same as any other.
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One to One Puppy Training
Whilst we always recommend group classes for puppies, we understand that due to your particular circumstances, this may not always be possible, and one-to-one training, either at the training school or at your home, may be the best option.
We are always able and happy to adapt all of our training to meet your needs.
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Puppy Training for People with Additional Needs
Please don’t let any additional needs deter you from training your puppy. We can meet almost all needs at our training school, and if not, we are happy to train at your home. In 2026 and in almost every year, we have successfully trained puppies and older dogs for people with a variety of additional needs.
If you have any questions regarding how we can offer a bespoke package to you and your puppy, please just call. We don’t bite.
Peanut, loose lead walking
Puppy Training Support Videos
Cosford Dog Training provides all our puppy training clients with a catalogue of training clips covering all the essential skills learned in classes. These are designed to serve as a memory aid and a visible way to refresh your skills throughout your training course and beyond. It also means that if you miss a lesson, you have the opportunity to catch up and avoid falling behind in your course.
Educating Alice:
The Essential 4-Step Guide To Training The Perfect Puppy
Cosford Dog Training is the only training school in the UK which has its own best-selling puppy training manual, written by the head trainer who delivers your training classes. It supports all our training and acts as an excellent aide-mémoire for your puppy training period and the rest of your dog’s life. The book, Educating Alice: The Essential 4-Step Guide to Training the Perfect Puppy, is available worldwide from Amazon.
Educating Alice broke new ground as it was, and to the best of my knowledge still is, the only puppy book available in the UK that is based on the real-life training of a real puppy. All the others are based on an invented, composite puppy. Alice was a real puppy, who herself went on to become an outstandingly successful working dog and produce her own puppies who have gone on to compete at national and world championship levels as well as many roles in TV and movies.
The success of raising her was even more evident in her daily life than in the qualifications she earned and the trophies she won. Once again, the statements we make are backed up by real-life success, not idle flannel.
There is no way Cosford Dog Training can train every puppy. But there are hundreds of trainers out there, some excellent, some good, some average, and some downright incompetent. Reading Educating Alice will help you choose the right trainer and training school.
Help with Puppy Biting
All puppies bite and mouth to varying degrees. How we handle puppy biting usually determines whether the problem behaviour decreases in intensity or increases as your puppy goes from puppyhood through teething and into adolescence.
Puppy biting is a serious problem that, in extreme cases, can result in a puppy being rehomed and/or injury to family members. This is particularly true in households with children, who are often the chosen prey of a marauding puppy. Handled incorrectly, it can lead to more serious aggressive behaviour as the puppy goes through adolescence and into adulthood.
At Cosford Dog Training, we offer comprehensive support in minimising the effects of puppy biting through one-to-one tuition, available in person or online, and fully supported by our PDF guide to Puppy Biting. We also address puppy biting prevention in our Puppy Foundation Courses.
Dogs, Sprogs and other Assorted Animals
If you are experiencing any issues with integrating your new puppy into a family with a baby, older dogs, or other animals, please call or email Lydia, our Registered Veterinary Nurse and MSc (Applied Animal Behaviour & Training), for a brief chat or to arrange a more in-depth consultation.
Help with Toilet Training
As with Puppy Biting, toileting issues can make life with a puppy thoroughly miserable and frustrating. Advice on effective toilet training in puppies and older dogs is something we specialise in. Please email or call for a chat without obligation for help with this issue, or indeed any others.