ABOUT ME
I’m Charlotte Pratt, I’m a 21 year old dog trainer from Harlow, Essex.I think this job came naturally to me as my first ever best friend was Dennis, a little Westie, we shared a beautiful bond right from when I was born up until I was 8 years old.
After Dennis passed away we then decided to get a Rottweiler and since then we never turned back. Due to owning male Rottweilers most of my life I was taught at a young age the basics of how dogs work and how to communicate with them.
During the lockdown is when my love for dogs really blossomed and my knowledge expanded as puppy training classes for my Rottweiler puppy was shut, therefore it was up to me to train him at home.
From there I studied multiple online courses on the basics of dog behaviour and basic training methods.
After working closely and seeing so much progress with my male Rottweiler, I posted on my local Facebook community group offering free puppy training to all the lockdown puppies in my area for free of charge, so I could learn practically and make mistakes without feeling guilty.
After a while of puppy training, clients then started asking if I could walk their dog, so I set up my business social media and got all my insurance and everything sorted, and I then started dog walking. Word of mouth got me a variety of different breeds and sizes all with their own issues and little quirks.
I did dog walking for around 1 and a half years, building up knowledge on different issues dogs have and how to improve them. Then I went on a level 3 dog behaviour course to study in depth how the dogs brain works and how they see the world.
Once I got my certificate I then started taking on dogs purely for training and got some amazing results! I now have worked with many dogs and their owners on a variety of different issues and my knowledge continues to expand everyday.
I take on any breed, any size and any issue.
SERVICES
PUPPY TRAINING
Every puppy is a learning sponge, they have so much to learn about the world and are hungry to learn and please their owners. Although they do want to please, they don’t always understand how.
By translating dog language to our language we can understand our dogs better and learn how to guide them to the best possible start in life. This training can include;-Toilet Training -Lead Training -Obedience Training -Recall Training -Crate Training
DOG OBEDIENCE TRAINING
This is the training that teaches your dog commands for example, sit, down, paw etc…
However, this also helps you build a better relationship with your dog.
DOG REACTIVITY TRAINING
Dog reactivity is definitely the area I have the most experience in. This could be a dog reacting to dogs or people or sometimes both! It may be fear related or it may be aggression, sometimes it’s overexcitement or maybe it’s a behaviour that just hasn’t been corrected. Whatever the issue is i will first find out the cause of why the dog is reacting the way it is, then we can work on ways to resolve the issue.
GROUP TRAINING
I run a dog reactivity training class every Sunday helping the reactive dogs of Harlow and surrounding areas.
My sessions provide a non judgemental environment for you and your dog to learn together and practice calm behaviours around other reactive dogs.
My group is like a little community, everyone is welcoming to new comers and owners build relationships with other dog owner's in similar positions to them.
It’s a pleasure to run this class and it’s amazing to watch the dogs improve every week🐾
PEOPLE REACTIVITY
As previously mentioned in the “Dog Reactivity” section, I do take on dogs who for whatever reason, do not like new people or have people related reactivity issues.
My reason for giving this its own section is that I’ve realised how stressed and worried owners get when starting this type of training.
At K9 Kisses I pride myself on the supportive and non judgmental atmosphere I provide.
If you are an owner of a dog who you know will not let someone they do not know (me) near them please understand that I’m completely expecting this and I will let your dog bond with me on their terms not mine. I have had many dogs who started off not being able to meet new people and this is nothing to be embarrassed nor apologetic about.
If you are at all worried your dog may bite then please feel free to muzzle your furry friend to ensure you are as confident as you can be and to protect everyone from potential injuries. I do not frown upon muzzles and I appreciate when owners take that step to ensure the safety of themselves, their dog, myself and the public.
If you believe it will be too stressful for you and your dog to even approach me at first then please give me a message so we can come up with a plan we are all happy with so we do not stress out your furry family member. This will give me and you a clear plan and expectation on how the session will go and what it will look like. Please remember that it’s important that you are happy with the plan so if you are unhappy at any point please let me know so we can adapt to suit you and your furry friend!
CONFIDENCE TRAINING
This type of training is perfect for nervous or scared dogs. It’s a way of them trying new “scary” things in the company of someone they trust. This helps build a trusting and understanding relationship between you and your dog. You will find the more things they try, the less scared they are in general.
This training includes jumping over things, crawling under things, letting them explore things they are fearful of and randomising sounds that the dog finds scary.
I have practiced this training on many different sizes and breeds and it never fails to impress me the amount the dogs benefit from this unique type of training.
THE NATURE OF MY TRAINING
I like to use treats, toys and praise to train dogs and do not use any techniques that force dogs to surrender or fear for their safety.
Some dogs will need a firmer handling than others and in these cases I will be using different methods to discipline the dog in a way that's effective but not in a way it will scare them.
WHAT TO EXPECT
You should expect a helpful and welcoming response to your message, along with a few quick questions so I have a better understanding of your dog and why they may be displaying certain behaviours. After this I will then start creating a plan on how we can move forward and start working together.
TECHNIQUES I USE AND TECHNIQUES I DON’T USE
When it comes to praise I’m all for using treats, toys and verbal praise.
When it comes to discipline I’m not thinking about taking drastic measures to get my dog to obey me thinking of ways to send signals to the dog to let them know when they got it wrong.
I personally do not agree with:Prong collars, electric collars, any kind of threatening behaviours including kicking, nudging, flicking, cornering or punching. If you are looking for a trainer that uses any of the above methods, please do consider a different trainer as I refuse to watch any dog in working with in pain or scared!
I do however use the below techniques as punishments: Vibrating Bark collars, water sprayer, collar signals, tone of voice.
However, if your furry companion is scared of any of the techniques I do use then this is not my aim and it means something needs changing, the aim is never to scare a dog as a scared dog is a dog who will act out of character!
REVIEWS
IVY
Thought I'd put alittle love out there, just had Charlotte over for ivy first 121 | gotta say we've tried a good few people & l've never felt as confident as I did today that we might finally sort this bag of nerves out with these 121. Sorry Charlotte you've gotta train the both of us
but if you
guys was thinking about 121s definitely do it. Thank you for today
JUICE
Started mine and juices 1-1 training yesterday and come to the group class today and can already see a difference in his behaviour. Would highly recommend Charlotte
X
WILLOW
Thanks for the lesson Charlotte - even that one hour made a difference as I know how to correct the barking and reactivity in a way Willow understands. I'll be back next Sunday. If you have a google page or Facebook page where we can leave reviews please let me know
Another great session with Charlotte this morning, I cannot recommend having a 1-on-1 with Charlotte highly enough, I realise more with each session that my girls behaviour challenges had a lot to do with my lack of direction, which I now know to correct, so thank you Charlotte for training Willow, but more for training me 😆🫣🥰 x
LADY
Just wanna do a little shout out to Charlotte
yesterday Lady & I started
our 121 journey and I must say I was massively impressed! She was calm with my girl going absolutely mental having a stranger in our home. We started training as soon as we left my door... Lady was comfortable with her after a very short period and was happy for her to take the lead! ( not often would lady allow this)
Charlotte could tell straight away what issues were facing ( myself being part of the issue ) which I have fully taken on board - today walking with lady was a very pleasant experience using
techniques she told me to use. Lady has a long way to go and I cannot wait for forthcoming weeks ahead of us. So if anyone is wondering whether 121 would be suited to there fur baby's needs! Def book her up you will not be disappointed
DAISY
Just had our first One to one session with Charlotte. She turned my little Daisy into a good little princess in about 10mins. If anyone is considering trying one to one I would definitely recommend. Amazing thank you x
Daisy and I had our 2nd 1-2-1 with Charlotte this morning.
Taking Daisy up the busy town and walking around and having a quick coffee stop to see how Daisy coped with the sitting there aswell.
Daisy was absolutely amazing thanks to Charlotte.
I haven’t been able to attempt that in 2years of having Daisy.
Simple training for us 🤣as owners makes such a difference.
MORE REVIEWS
The difference so far is amazing! Walks are a lot calmer!
SUCCESS STORIES
MAISIE’S STORY
When I first met Maisie she was a very troubled dog, she was terrified of the outside world. When her lead came out she would run and hide. Getting her out of the house was almost impossible. She would react to other dogs out of fear no matter how far away they were, walking across roads with other dogs was just a terrible experience for all involved. She would also react to any loud noises and even some joggers and motorbikes.
However, after working with Maisie and her amazing family, we have managed to get her to a place where she can now ignore other dogs across roads, she can now walk past 95% of dogs on the same path coming towards her with no problems whatsoever, and is even making new friends along the way. She now doesn’t react to loud noises or joggers.
Although this is brilliant, the best thing about Maisie’s journey is that now she leaves the house happy and excited for her walks and smiles the whole walk and relaxes.
I’d love to take full credit for Maisie’s progress but I’d be lying if I said I could have done it without the hard work and consistency of her amazing family who have supported her journey.
It was difficult as a lot of the time we had to be cruel to be kind, we had to push Maisie out of her comfort zone and unfortunately there were times where she got very stressed and this was a hard watch for me and her family. However we all knew it was best for her to overcome her fears.
Maisie is a very brave and determined dog and I’m so pleased she now has her life back and is enjoying it with her family.
A massive well done to Maisie, and although this is still the beginning of my dog behaviourist journey, Maisie’s story will forever be one of my favourites and one to remember.
OSCAR’S STORY
Oscar - Oscar is my mums dog, he was so badly behaved on walks that not only me but my whole family believed he was “untrainable” and a lost cause, due to Oscar’s age and the fact he was in his ways for so long I genuinely thought he would never change. He would pull on the lead so much and if he saw a dog (no matter how far away it was) he would go mad!! He wasn’t scared he was aggressive, he had no fear he just wanted to kill!!
When I started working on Oscar he would react to other dogs even at 50 metres away and with the other dog paying no attention to him.
However Oscar proved us wrong with lots of training and hard work he has been able to now leave other dogs alone even on the same path as him as long as the other dog doesn’t react. Not only does he leave other dogs alone, he also wants to meet them and make new friends… Oscar is autistic so making new friends is a challenge for him as he doesn’t always understand other dogs body language. But he is now at a point where I can have a dog his never met before in my room and I can confidently open the door and let Oscar in without any hesitation, he goes up to the dog sniffs them and then leaves them alone.
Oscar’s story will always be one of my favourites as he was so terribly behaved at the start (id never seen anything like it) and now his life has completely changed and he can now make new friends and occasionally play with other dogs. Oscar still has work to be done but we are nearly there. Well done my little Oscar, as his big sister I’m so proud of him and what his achieved.
BANNED BREEDS
I don’t believe there’s any “bad” dogs or bad breeds, I believe every dog deserves to have the opportunity to learn and enjoy training.
I love all dogs and am more than happy to take on any band breed with any issue.
All I ask is that you are following the government guidelines for your breed so we can train safely and without any complications.
EDUCATION
I firstly studied on Canine Principles to learn all the basics of dog welfare and behaviour. The course I took is a guaranteed pass for all those who complete all of the tasks.
The second course I took was much more advanced and requires you to complete assignments and hand them back to the tutor. This course was in depth and focused on dog behaviour and welfare. You are not guaranteed a pass on this course and you’re on a time limit.
Although these courses are great, I still believe I learned the most when doing practical work.
CONTACT DETAILS
Phone Number - 07951442543
Facebook - K9 Kisses
Instagram - K9.kissess
Harlow, Essex
07951442543
