My name is Richard and I've always had dogs in my life, as a child in the 1970's I watched my Father training dogs spending time with him in the countryside with various Lurchers, Labradors and Spaniels. I went on with my own dogs, competing in working competitions. From this young age my passion and experience have continued to grow. 

In the early 1990s, I joined the Police with the intention of becoming a Police Dog Handler, I soon achieved this goal and completed my initial dog handlers course with my wonderful young German Shepherd, Jed. There then followed a successful and rewarding career, handling German Shepherds, Labradors and Spaniels, across various disciplines, catching hundreds of criminal suspects and missing persons.  I have searched venues, vehicles and routes for Royal visits, Political conferences and summits plus sporting events including the London Olympics. The last 12 years of my career were spent as an instructor, training, assessing and licensing dogs and their handlers all over the UK.

As an Instructor, I was responsible for sourcing and training potential Police Dogs and also assessing and training would-be Dog Handlers, these would become our future Police Dog teams. Many of our Police Dogs were donated as unwanted pets or sourced from dog rescue centres around the country.

Will's Story.

Will was a feisty young Springer Spaniel who displayed a number of undesirable behaviours, as a result he'd spent months in a South Yorkshire dogs home and was facing destruction.  I arranged to visit and carry out an assessment of Will, who had been described to me as disobedient and untrainable.  I carried out a series of tests with him and saw something I liked, he was tenacious and spirited, very spirited.  He was soon in my van and on his way back to our kennels, lined up for an Explosives Search course I was planning.  Three weeks later Will started an eight week initial Explosives Search Detection Dog course, along with three other new dogs and their handlers.  Will and his new handler worked hard throughout the course, they passed their licensing assessment with flying colours and formed a lifelong bond. They became a very accomplished and decorated team.  Will gave his all to provide the highest level of assurance when tasked to search against explosives threats. He retired at 10 years of age along with his handler, and now spends most of his time in front of the fire. 

This may sound a country mile away from teaching your dog to recall or walk to heel, but over the years I have rescued, trained and turned round several dogs like Will. Dogs who were once pets and usually, through no fault of their own, had found themselves being given up or left languishing in dogs homes up and down the country.  Many of these dogs were tough to train and had trust issues, some had been abused.  Training these dogs required lots of understanding, creativity and most of all patience.  

Outside of my police work, I have continued to train my own dogs and others throughout the past 30+ years and there are few dog training challenges I haven't faced.  I look forward to assisting you and your dog in overcoming any issues you may have, or if you would simply like to learn something new .    

                      There is no such thing as a bad dog, only a dog who lacks good guidance, understanding and care.

                                                                            What our clients say

Hi Rich, just some feedback for you.

WOW! What an amazing course even though we’re only halfway through I’ve already learnt so much about my dog and the endless possibilities of such amazing creatures. Richard and Sally are very lovely people and they know their stuff. Both myself and my partner were very sceptical to start off with but now we want to progress with our dog and look at joining Search and Rescue once Paddington is more experienced. If you have a working dog you should see results, we did on the first day with our springer. And a great way to exercise your 4 legged friend (and yourself).

Tom, Colyford

We engaged with Richard as we needed assistance with some behavioural issues with our rescue lurcher.  He suggested an initial meeting to observe our dog's behaviour with us and took it from there.  Richard gave us some great advice on how to improve our dog's response to situations that were clearly stressful for her (and us!), and after putting them into practice we are delighted that his advice has worked.  He was very reassuring and his calm approach and extensive knowledge has helped both us and our dog.  Richard's method was very hands-on and he kept things simple and practical.  We would thoroughly recommend Richard to anyone needing help with their dog."
Peter,  
Kilmington.

 I extend my gratitude to Richard for his exceptional expertise and unwavering commitment to canine training,not only did he successfully train my previously unruly 15- month-old German pointer,but he also instilled in me the confidence and provided invaluable advice for a more enjoyable dog ownership experience.Luca is now 24 months old,is thriving remarkably.I wholeheartedly recommend Richard services.
Alan. Culmstock


Hi Richard, We just wanted to thank you again for helping us to sort out Barney's issues, It has transformed our lives, we can now walk him near other dogs on and off his lead, and get him back on his whistle too. We are enjoying our dog walks again, thank you so much.  Jacqui and Barney :)


Richard is the trainer who volunteered to help my rescue dog Rocky . He is one of the best trainers you will find with a wealth of experience. 

I would like to start by saying I have had 2 previous trainers with no results so what an absolutely amazing experience it was to have found Richard from LYME BAY DOG TRAINING. I truly cannot Recommend him highly enough, so patient with not only my dog but also with me who as a rather nervous dog owner needed my confidence building. He spent several hours with us in all kinds of environments helping to show me the right way to allow my dog to socialise with other dogs that sadly due to my fear I had not been allowing. He definitely went the extra mile and now as a result for the very first time I felt able to let my beautiful dog run and play as he should and the confidence I now feel has definitely had an impact on the way my dog is behaving. My dog was also very afraid of water to the extent that he would do anything to avoid a puddle, Richard actually got into a stream encouraging my dog to get in and have fun with him I was amazed. Wonderful.
Terri, Lyme Regis
 

I have really enjoyed the beginners tracking course. Richard is a great instructor, very positive and always happy to answer questions. It was great value for money and my dog loved every second of it. I can’t wait to try the improvers course in the new year. Ruth & Otto
 

I really enjoyed the tracking courses. My dog loved it and was quickly engaged and keen to learn. She previously had struggled to concentrate on any training but she was totally engrossed in tracking and it has provided us with a stimulating and challenging hobby that we where we can work together. Richard is a very experienced and knowledgeable trainer and was able to adapt the sessions to the individual dogs and the whole thing was a great challenge and lots of fun. Would highly recommend and can’t wait to do more! 😊







 

 

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