Why Chalkie

I'm Ashley White, Chalkie to most people, and I run Chalkie's School for Dogs from Tetbury in Gloucestershire. I've been training dogs for 15 years, mostly loose lead walking, behaviour and puppy training, and more and more gundog training. Most of my week is spent in people's houses and local parks around the Cotswolds, with a group class on Sundays and my own Labradors in the back of the car.

How I got here

I wasn't born a dog trainer. I got here through hundreds of hours of reading, listening, watching and practice, and plenty of getting it wrong with my own dogs. I've got hours of old footage of me trying to teach my dog loose lead walking with food, the way every forum said to. All it gave me was a frustrated dog bouncing on the end of the lead. That's why I teach it the way I do now.

I've been trained by Wickmoor Labradors for the last 7 years, and I train alongside Tom Cantwell Gundogs, who got me competing. I'm still learning every season.

How I train

Every dog is different and so is every house, so I start by watching. Sometimes I've spotted a few of your habits before you've even got the dog out of the car. I'm honest about what needs to change and I explain why, so you know what you're doing when I'm not there. There's always homework, and I love getting the videos back when people do it.

What I'm after is a calm, neutral, balanced dog. To me, a well-behaved dog is better than a well-trained one. A trained dog can do tricks. A well-behaved dog blends in, stays relaxed when things get exciting, and looks to its owner before it makes a decision. Manners come before everything else.

I train for the real world, and in the Cotswolds that means the pub. My dogs come to cafés and pubs with me. They get a fuss from the staff and settle while I get on with some admin. That's what I want for your dog too.

My dogs

Brie is my yellow Labrador. She's a Pets as Therapy dog and a working gundog, and she often helps in sessions, which is great for teaching young dogs to cope with distractions. Hermione is my black Labrador, and she works through the season too. There's also a young black Labrador puppy in training at the moment.

Brie takes the therapy side seriously. She's played frisbee golf with a young autistic lad in his last year of school, listening while he talked through what to do next. A calm dog can help someone through a tough time.

Where I work

I'm based in Tetbury and work across the Cotswolds, including Cirencester, Stroud, Dursley, Malmesbury, Gloucester and Cheltenham, as well as Bristol and North Somerset. I run group walks around Tetbury and Westonbirt, Sunday School at the dog field at Ewen, and the gundog course at Lechlade K9 Centre.

Once I walked six dogs that barely knew each other through Tetbury town centre and into The Tetbury Pet Shop. All six sat and waited for a pup cup from Amelia, the owner. It was a bit mad, but every one of them was brilliant.

I have also never met anyone that understands dogs and people so well!

Sarah Varney-Wiseman, December 2024

If you'd like a chat about your dog, get in touch.