I reached out to Sam as I was looking for a positive reinforcement gundog trainer locally. I was a little worried as my lab is reactive to people and dog’s she doesn’t know, but I shouldn’t have been. Sam was amazing with her and within our first lesson my girl was relaxed and happy to work with her. We are having so much fun learning and look forward to our lessons. Highly recommend.

Classes are very well taught and always fun. My dog and I always learn loads.

Sam’s knowledge and kindness is just what every dog parent needs. She is very thoughtful towards your dog and can easily read the dog’s body language. Sam’s approach is kind and respectful. Can’t recommend Sam enough.

My girlfriend and I got our first dog together just under a year ago. We’d both had numerous family dogs separately, but wanted some added support and guidance to ensure our chocolate lab ‘Goose’ was given the right ingredients for a good start with us as his family! Having researched locally, we came across Sam at Ricochet Gun Dog Training, and although we were not going to ‘work’ our dog – we were keen for him to adopt some of the discipline and behaviour that gun dogs have. Goose is a naturally loving chap, and needs a lot of attention and Sam introduced us to puppy classes and tailored training to our needs, including one-to-one walks and the introduction of other dogs – including her own! Sam’s calm, considered, and relaxed approach meant training was made easier and stress-free. Goose will still need some help as he is going through adolescent years – but we have, and will continue to recommended Sam’s services to friends and family who have all had equally great experiences with her too! All the best!

Sam has been incredible when it comes to training my dog Nellie, and indeed training me! Although Nellie had the basics sorted when we came to Sam, she had no interest in retrieving or walking to heel. Following on from our first course with Sam; Nellie was retrieving and walking to heel while on a lead. Following on from our second course Nellie can now be instructed to retrieve different dummies in order, retrieve dummies which are hidden in foliage, walk to heel on and off lead, understand multiple whistle commands including: recall at a long distance, sit/stop command, and a "keep looking, you are near the dummy" whistle. Nellie has also been introduced to following a scent.

Not only have the outcomes of the training been fantastic, but Nellie (and myself) absolutely love training with Sam. Sam's positive and fun attitude to training means that Saturday morning training has swiftly become an hour of wonderful bonding time between Nellie and myself. As a result Nellie has become brilliant at understanding my body language and what I want outside of specific commands. This means that while we are out and about she is incredibly well behaved and I often get comments on how well she behaves and how well she responds to me.

In short, it doesn't matter if you want to pursue gundog training to go on a shoot or just to improve the relationship between your dog and yourself, Sam/Ricochet should be your first and only stop for all training!

Both Bella and myself absolutely loved learning on this course. I didn’t know what to expect, having a reactive but friendly dog, this course was perfect.
Sam is super knowledgeable, and i cannot recommend this class enough. Tailoring each class to match the dog’s capabilities on their learning journey.

We went to Sam with our 2yr old Working Cocker for some help to understand the breed better and enhance our connection with her. Having used other trainers the big difference with Sam is she asks what you want or are worried about and tailors the training and activities to how she sees you work with the dog (and the dog’s character and personality).
Her approach is all about positive reinforcement and not ‘there is only one way to train a gun dog’
I think we have learned more than our pup and have also started scent training with Sam (which our little girl loves).

If you’re looking for a fun and positive environment and rewarding experience, then Sam will be a perfect choice 🙏🏻