Under Threshold
You spot the other dog before your dog does.
A small, closed group for dogs who find other dogs hard, and the owners who are ready to stop managing it on their own.
Six dogs. Two sessions a month. Ongoing, structured practice that builds confidence and self-control at a pace your dog can actually handle.
You’re Already There …
You already know the feeling. The tightening in your chest when a dog appears at the far end of the path. The apologetic smile. The lead shortened without you deciding to shorten it.
You have got good at managing it. You know which routes are safe and which ones are not. You know the times of day nobody else is out. You have turned round mid-walk more times than you would admit to anyone.
And somewhere along the way the walk stopped being the good part of the day and turned into a job.
That management is costing you more than it looks like from the outside. Your world has quietly shrunk. There are places you have stopped going. There are people you have stopped walking with, because it is easier on your own than explaining. There is a version of having a dog you thought you were signing up for, and this is not quite it, and you carry a bit of guilt about that even though none of it is your fault.
Your dog is not bad. You are not doing it wrong. What is missing is the right kind of practice, in the right kind of environment, with other dogs whose owners are working on exactly the same thing.
That is what this is.
What you get every month
• Two one-hour sessions. One in the walking fields, working at a distance your dog can cope with, so confidence gets built rather than tested to breaking point. One out in public, where the real challenges actually happen, so the progress holds in the places that matter.
• A closed group of six dogs, maximum. Every dog in the group is one I have worked with personally, so I know their history and their triggers before they ever set foot in a session. You are not walking into the unknown, and neither is your dog.
• Owners who get it. Nobody in this group is going to tell you to just let them say hello. Everybody there is working through the same thing you are, which for a lot of owners turns out to be the part they did not expect to need.
• A private WhatsApp group. For the questions between sessions, the wins worth sharing, and the is this normal moments. This is where most of the week to week progress actually gets held together.
• A discount code for future workshops. So the longer you stay in the club, the more the rest of what I run is worth to you.
What we are actually working on
Two things. Confidence, and frustration tolerance.
For the dogs who shut down, hide, or freeze when another dog appears, we build their belief that they can cope. Gradually, at a distance they can handle, without ever flooding them.
For the dogs who bark, lunge, or lose the plot entirely, we build their ability to sit with that feeling and come back down from it, so seeing another dog stops meaning a meltdown.
Every session runs on positive reinforcement, at a pace each dog can genuinely manage. No corrections. No pushing a dog past what they can cope with to prove a point. Steady, well managed progress, which is the only kind that lasts.
What Under Threshold is
A monthly training club for dogs who struggle around other dogs, whether that shows up as fear, frustration, overexcitement, or a mix of all three.
It is not a course with an end date, because that is not how this kind of change works. Confidence is built through repetition, in real situations, over time. So this keeps going for as long as you want to keep going, and your dog keeps building on what they did last month rather than starting again.
Why Me?
I have spent over fifteen years working with dogs in scent work, gundog work, mantrailing and search and rescue, alongside my accreditation with the Association of Pet Dog Trainers. That background matters here because working dogs have to hold their heads together in environments that would tip most pet dogs over. Reading what a dog can cope with, and knowing exactly where the line sits before you get anywhere near it, is the whole job.
Why it is closed?
Under Threshold is only open to dogs I have already worked with one to one.
That is deliberate, and it is the thing that makes the group safe enough to be worth joining. I need to know a dog’s history, their triggers and where their threshold actually sits before I put them anywhere near five other dogs. It means every dog in the session is genuinely suitable to be there, and it means I am running the session rather than managing surprises.
If you have worked with me before and you think your dog would get something out of this, you are exactly who it is for.
Proof
“Willow my young rescue Great Dane arrived with a lot of challenging mental ‘baggage’ . She & I attended Callum’s 1:1 ‘Reactivity’ / Socialising sessions followed by several sessions in group ‘’Puppy’ training . This has enabled Willow to become much happier, settled & a more tolerant dog. Attendance of Calum’s workshops & classes was recommended to me and I would have no hesitation in doing the same.”
“
We worked with Calum during a one month 1-1 training program (which included daily contact via WhatsApp, weekly in person sessions and personalized videos) and we couldn’t be happier with the results. When we approached him we were struggling with an anxious dog who was reactive on walks and stressed when being left alone. Coming out of the training we now have the methods and tools to help our dog out of any stressful situation and he’s a much happier and independent dog. Would recommend Woof and Wood to anyone looking for quality dog training.”
“We found Calum on Google and booked an initial Zoom call to discuss our goals: improving Albus’ lead walking and reducing his vocal reactivity to other dogs (he’s very friendly… just not very quiet about it!). After the initial chat, we booked our four sessions with Calum - two at his training centre and two “out and about” walks, which Calum kindly travelled to us for.
Calum provided a lot of practical tips and clear guidance, along with regular support via a 1-to-1 WhatsApp group whenever we needed it. After each session, he sent follow-up videos and notes so we could review and practise between lessons; we found this incredibly helpful.
We’re now much more confident that, with continued consistency from us, Albus (who has already improved hugely) will soon be a perfect walker.
We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Calum to other dog or puppy owners, we only wish we’d found him sooner!”
Dates
Walking Field Sessions
Sunday 6 September 08:00 - 09:00
Sunday 4 October 08:00 - 09:00
Sunday 8 November 08:00 - 09:00
Sunday 6 December 08:00 - 09:00
Public Sessions
Sunday 20 September 08:00 - 09:00
Sunday 18 October 08:00 - 09:00
Sunday 22 November 08:00 - 09:00
Sunday 20 December 08:00 - 09:00
The details
• £89 per month
• Two one-hour sessions monthly, one in the fields and one in public
• Six dogs maximum
• Private WhatsApp group included
• Discount code for future workshops included
• Open to existing clients only
• The public session will switch locations
• Sessions are on Sundays from 08:00 - 09:00
• Rolling monthly, cancel with one month notice
It’s Time To Sign-Up
Six dogs, and that is genuinely all it can be. Any more than that and the sessions stop working for the dogs that are in them.
If you have trained with me before and you want your dog in this group, take the place while it is there.