About — Scott McKay
I train dogs the way I'd want mine trained.
Two acres on the Norfolk–Suffolk border, two German Shepherds, and a straight answer about what your dog actually needs.
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Church Cottage · St Cross South Elmham · Norfolk & Suffolk · Residential UK-wide
01 — How this started
It started with my own dogs.
Everything I know about dogs I learned the slow way — with my own, on my own ground, getting things wrong before I got them right.
German Shepherds are not a forgiving breed to learn on. They are clever, they are driven, and they notice every inconsistency you let slide. A Shepherd will find the gap in your training before you have realised you left one.
That is what shaped how I work. Not a method I read about in a book — a set of habits I built because anything softer did not hold up with the dogs standing in front of me.
Most owners I meet have already been given advice. Usually it is one of two kinds: something so gentle it never changes anything, or something so heavy-handed it damages the relationship they were trying to protect. Both leave people stuck, and both leave the dog confused.
What I do instead is simple to describe and harder to do. Look at the dog in front of you. Work out what it actually needs. Be consistent enough, for long enough, that the dog can rely on you. Then teach the owner to do the same, because I am not the one going home with them.
02 — The dogs
Same breed on paper. Two completely different dogs.
If you want to understand how I train, look at what I live with.
Sonny
Working line. Short coat.
Bred to have a job and unhappy without one. Sharp, quick to read a situation, and quick to take the initiative if you leave a decision going spare. Sonny is the dog who taught me that clarity is kinder than leniency.
Puro
Show line. Long coat.
Bigger frame, different temperament, different needs entirely. What motivates Sonny does not automatically move Puro. Same household, same handler, same rules — and two training plans, because they are two dogs.
That is the whole argument for assessing a dog properly before anyone sells you a programme. Two Shepherds under one roof need two approaches. Yours will need its own.
Before Sonny and Puro there was Enzo.
03 — How I work
Ten things I hold to.
01 Assess the dog before recommending anything
02 Train the owner, not just the dog
03 Be clear, so the dog never has to guess
04 Fix the routine at home, not only the behaviour on the field
05 Work at a distance the dog can cope with, then close it
06 Progress beats perfection, every week
07 Say when something is a vet or behaviourist job
08 No guarantees — dogs are not machines
09 Turn up in the rain, because the dog does
10 Tell you the truth, even when it costs me the booking
04 — The ground
Two acres, and why that matters.
Most group training happens in a village hall or a corner of a public park. Ours doesn't.
Space to work at distance
A reactive dog cannot learn at two metres from the thing it is worried about. On two acres we start at forty and close the gap at the dog's pace, not the car park's.
private
No uninvited variables
No loose dogs coming round the corner, no toddler on a scooter, no football landing in the middle of a recall. We add distraction deliberately, when your dog is ready for it.
sessions
All weather, all year
Sessions run in the rain. Dogs live outdoors in it and so does the training. Bring a coat and something to towel off with.
Thu 18:00
Norfolk & Suffolk IGP Club
The long-term plan for the paddock. Anyone can come and train; club membership itself will be by invitation, because it comes with free rein of the ground.
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Church Cottage · Fox Hill · St Cross South Elmham · Harleston IP20 0NX
05 — Straight with you
What I will and won't promise.
You will get
An honest read and a plan you can follow.
✓ A proper look at your dog before anyone talks money
✓ A clear recommendation, in plain English
✓ Homework you can actually fit around a job
✓ Someone who says so when it is not working
You will not get
A guarantee, or a miracle.
✕ No promises about how fast your dog will change
✕ No pretending a training problem is a training problem when it is a health one
✕ No selling you residential when a fortnight of homework would do it
✕ No results without you doing the work between sessions
Results vary by dog, by owner and by how much practice happens at home.
Come and see what your dog does on two acres.
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