This is a story all about Duke the Labradoodle and his people ‘The Tutteys’!

We brought Duke home at just 8 weeks old, I had never owned a dog before and after researching lots of different breeds we decided on a Labradoodle.

James, our son, is 6 and my husband and I thought it would be good for James and I loved the thought of having a dog in the family.

The first 2 – 3 weeks were so easy as Duke was adjusting to life with us and sleeping a lot! However, after some time, Duke began to nip at us, we put this down to teething. Duke then seemed to be more aggressive and the nips turned into bites.

My husband had dogs for most of his childhood so he knew how to deal with the behaviour but James and I really struggled. When my husband wasn’t around Duke would try to assert himself and James and I became very scared of our lovely puppy and lacked any assertiveness or confidence.

I became very anxious around Duke especially when my husband wasn’t home. James’s behaviour changed drastically too. The last straw was when my son refused to walk freely around the house and broke down in tears telling me ‘Duke made his tummy hurt and his heart didn’t trust him’.

My husband and I decided to contact a dog trainer to come into our home and help us. Duke was a lovely dog however we decided that if the training didn’t work we would have to find him somewhere else to live.

I saw Amanda’s car on Station Road in Long Eaton with Happy Paws Dog Training on it and noted the telephone number.

Amanda was so thoughtful and understanding and came to the house as soon as possible. I have to say having Amanda as our dog trainer changed everything. Amanda instantly bonded with our son James and gave him the confidence to teach Duke tricks and important training.

We had 4 sessions and when Thursday evenings arrived James was so excited and eager to show Amanda how well he and Duke were doing. Amanda made the training fun for James by providing him with flash cards and a reward chart with various tasks on.

Amanda watched how we all interacted with Duke and gave us lots of tips. Basically we had a wonderful puppy, however our behaviour was part/most of the problem! Amanda didn’t tell us off or ever talk to us in a negative manner, she was always positive and steered us all in the right direction without making anyone think they were in the wrong or had dealt with the situation badly.

After only 2 sessions James and I were so confident with Duke and he was a completely different dog.

There was a glitch after the first session and on texting Amanda she arrived at our house to support.

As a family we can not thank Amanda enough for all the information and help she has given us. I would highly recommend her to anyone and feel the best thing we did was to find Amanda.

She was caring, understanding and compassionate and we all took to her calm reassuring nature. I felt so confident after the second session as did James and this had a fantastic effect on Duke.

He is a wonderful obedient dog, we just needed help to see that and Duke needed boundaries and training we would never have thought about until Amanda.

We were never made to feel silly and I’m sure asked some very simple questions, Amanda answered them all and would then print off lots of information for us too. Amanda was and still is very professional, always smiling even when I hassle her for advice on the field. I bet she hates living so close to us!

Money well spent, I would have paid double.

The Tutteys and their well-behaved puppy Duke.