We first came to Lyndon and Kelford at the end of 2022 to help us with our German Wirehaired Pointer x Vizsla, Satch. Despite knowing what we were getting ourselves in for with the breed, we struggled to create any sort of relationship with Satch to the point where he would not listen to us and do his own thing most of the time. He was reactive to people and dogs, whilst being destructive at home. We found him very stressful around the house and even more so on walks. We tried a lot of treat training and general Gundog sessions with Satch, but nothing seemed to work!
We were never really fans of treat training from the beginning as Satch only cared about us when we were holding a treat, but we were unsure of alternatives. Lyndon’s expertise in communication-based training, combined with his knowledge of GWPs and Vizslas, has allowed him to train us on how to build a bond with Satch. From the first session, Lyndon could already handle Satch and get him to do most of what he was asking so we know it was us who needed the training!
Our training sessions with Lyndon have consisted of training in a variety of locations, the Kelford site and further afield such as secure fields, town environments and at our home. One of the most helpful parts of these sessions was simply observing how Lyndon handled Satch and also the opportunity to be critiqued on our handling. Things like tone of voice, lead pressure and whistle use all played a part. Throughout our training sessions, Lyndon really got to know Satch and his personality traits, so being able to bring our problems to him meant that the advice was tailored to our specific situation. These one-on-one sessions, along with the comprehensive guide Lyndon gave us in our first session, has allowed us to build progress from an unruly dog to a relatively well behaved one!
We still have occasional training sessions with Lyndon which have become something to really look forward to. Thanks to the hours we have spent with Lyndon, we now have an ever-improving bond with Satch which has allowed us to do so much more. He is calm and settled at home and is getting better every time on walks. He is no longer reactive to people and dogs, just the occasional squirrel! We can now take him into pubs and cafes which we had never even considered before and recently enjoyed a camping trip in Snowdonia.
We have a lot to thank Lyndon, Kelly and Kelford for!
Alex Brogan with Satch
