About Focus and Follow Dog Training Behaviour in Essex.
Focus and Follow Dog Training 3 Step Process for Adult Dogs:
How Focus and Follow Dog Training with Rewards and Balance works.
Focus – The Dog Behaviourist. A clear evaluation of your dog’s behaviour, breed-specific characteristics, overall health, and general well-being. Carefully addressing any areas of concern in order to enhance training effectiveness and achieve better long-term outcomes.
Follow – The Dog Training. By employing a hybrid rewards and balanced training approach, I combine positive reinforcement with purposeful, intentional action to create an effective learning experience. Together, we tap deeply into your dog’s natural instincts and drives, making the entire training process not only engaging but also easy for your dog to understand and enjoy.
Flourish – The Dog Owner. Engaging and interactive hands-on demonstrations, combined with clear, detailed explanations and continuous motivation, all thoughtfully designed to help participants achieve meaningful and lasting results that extend far beyond the initial training session.
“Thank you Kelly it was a great session. Oak slept the whole afternoon” Oak- Jack Russell
What is the difference between Dog Trainer and Dog Behaviourist?
A dog trainer focuses on teaching owners how to train their dogs in core obedience skills such as sit, down, recall, and settle. Training primarily centres on practical instruction, clear communication, and building reliable responses to cues.
A dog behaviourist, by contrast, concentrates on understanding why a dog may be exhibiting certain behaviours — such as excessive barking, nipping, reactivity, fearfulness, or anxiety. Behaviour work explores the underlying emotional, environmental, or developmental factors influencing a dog’s actions, allowing for tailored and effective intervention strategies.
Focus & Follow Dog Training based in Essex combines both behavioural assessment and structured training to provide a comprehensive approach. By addressing the root cause of behavioural concerns while also implementing practical training solutions, we offer dog owners across Essex an effective and affordable alternative for achieving lasting, positive results.
Positive Rewards Based Training, with Balance.
Focus, Follow & Flourish is a hybrid positive rewards based training with balance conditioning that fits real life. Whether you’re starting with a puppy or struggling with reactivity, We give you clear steps you can actually follow at home.
Puppy Training
Whether your interested in Puppy classes and or private training. You can be assured that training is grounded in positive, rewards based principles. We focus on teaching essential life skills, basic obedience, leash walking, recall, engagement, and conceptual learning—skills that can be applied to everyday life. Developing neutrality is a crucial skill we nurture, especially given the increasing number of referrals for reactive dogs.
Rewards in Dog Training
The foundation of positive reinforcement training, is to find what your dog finds valuable and increases the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated. Ultimately the dog decides what they find rewarding, no two dogs are motivated in the same way. So find a Dog Trainer like Focus & Follow Dog Training can adapt in their techniques and rewards.
We reward with the dog performing the desired behaviour. To build the association that the desired behaviour is rewarding. Over time food rewards are faded out and replaced by praise, physical affection or real life rewards.
Types of Rewards used in Focus & Follow Training
Food Rewards
Treats (small, soft, high-value)
Pieces of kibble
Real meat or cheese
Praise
Verbal markers like “Good!”
Happy tone of voice
Physical Affection
Petting
Soft Belly rubs
Gentle scratching (if your dog enjoys it)
Toys
Tug toys
Balls
Squeaky toys
Life Rewards or Functional Rewards
Going outside
Sniffing on a walk
Greeting people
“Kelly worked wonders with my French Bulldog Darcie this morning. My girl is very reactive to dogs/people on walks and Kelly explained she’s actually more scared than anything, so now we can work on some tips Kelly gave me. Thank you so much. You did more than we’ve managed in 3 years!”
Mrs Oliphant – Facebook review
Focus and Follow Training with Balance Training
Shaping behaviour modification refers to the process where actions that receive rewards are gradually strengthened and reinforced, while behaviours that are either consequence or ignored tend to diminish and eventually fade away over time. In simpler terms, during training, we utilize your dog’s favourite treats, praise, or toys as positive reinforcement to encourage and promote desirable behaviours. At the same time, we use the least intrusive and most gentle methods possible to discourage any unwanted or problematic behaviorus. It is important to emphasize that pain, fear, or intimidation have absolutely no role in effective training because they activate your dog’s nervous system into a heightened survival mode, which significantly hinders their ability to learn and absorb new information.
Services
Puppy training
Lead walking
Recall
Manners
Confidence building
Reactivity support (dogs, people, cars, bikes, barking, pulling)
Obedience training (loose lead, stay, recall, focus around distractions)
