Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides · Est. 2023
Bring out the best in your dog with us.
VSA-certified trainer
100% positive methods
15 years' hands-on experience
Who we are
Ann, a Hebridean dog behaviourist with 15 years' hands-on experience and a foundation degree in dog training & behaviour.
What we do
Online 1:1 training, tailored lifestyle plans, and VIP home boarding — all built around understanding your dog, not controlling them.
Why trust us
Victoria Stilwell Academy certified, ethically accredited, and entirely reward-based — never a prong collar or e-collar in sight.
What's different
We treat behaviour as a symptom, not the problem itself. Change the lifestyle behind it, and lasting change follows.
Why owners choose Spogan
Training that treats your dog like family — because they are.
Understand the "why", not just the "what"
Every plan starts with the cause of the behaviour, not a script of commands to drill.
No aversive tools, ever
No e-collars, choke chains, prong collars or tightening leads. Full stop.
A plan built around your dog
Genetics, history and home life all shape the plan — never a generic template.
Support that doesn't stop at the call
Written plans, check-ins and ongoing monthly sessions keep you both on track.
Experience with the "impossible" dogs
Biters, reactors, "untrainable" rescues — Ann has lived with and turned around all of them.
Genuinely good vibes only
A calm, judgement-free space — for you and your dog, however you got here.
Online training
Start with a conversation. Leave with a plan.
Option 1
Advice Call
A focused 40-minute video call to unpick one behaviour issue and get clear, actionable advice — there and then.
£59
Book this callOption 2
Training Plan
Your advice call, plus a full 8-week lifestyle & training plan written for your dog, with two check-in calls to track progress.
£269
Book this planOption 3
Private Intensive
Hands-on 1:1 coaching for you and your dog, 4 hours a week for 8 weeks. For owners who want to go all in.
£2,999
Enquire
VIP dog boarding
Away from home. Never away from care.
Your dog stays in our home on the shore of the Isle of Lewis — one household at a time, never more than two dogs, with four acres and a private paddock to explore. It's boarding the way we'd want it for our own.
- Only one household's dogs at a time — full attention, always
- Run by a certified behaviour-focused trainer, not a kennel hand
- Night-vision monitoring and a calm, settled routine
The Spogan method
Behaviour is never the whole story.
Every "problem" behaviour is a surface symptom of something deeper. Before we talk leads and cues, we look at the whole dog.
Genetics
Anatomy
Past experience
Lifestyle
= Behaviour
Three dials are set the day your dog is born or rehomed — you can't turn them. Lifestyle is the one dial you can turn — and it's where every Spogan plan begins.
Victoria Stilwell Academy
VSA-certified, foundation degree in dog training & behaviour
Ethically accredited
Member of the dog behaviour & training charter for ethical, skilled practice
15 years in the field
From rescue collies to boar pigs and racehorses — real experience, not theory
In their words
Owners who found their way back to enjoying their dog.
"For the first time, someone explained why Fig was reacting, not just how to stop it. Two months on, our walks are unrecognisable."
"We were told Bruce was 'un-trainable.' Ann didn't flinch. He's now the calmest dog on our street."
"Kind, honest, and completely no-nonsense about tools we'd been told to use elsewhere. Exactly what we needed."
From the blog
Straight answers to the questions we hear most.
Behaviour
Why "being the alpha" is doing your dog more harm than good
Reactivity
Lunging on the lead: what's actually happening, and where to start
Settling in
The first fortnight with a rescue dog: what to expect, and what to ignore
Free — always
The Good Dog Club
A free monthly Q&A for dog owners who want kind, up-to-date advice — no strings attached. Submit your question, and we'll answer it in our next monthly round-up, straight to your inbox.
Questions, answered
Frequently asked questions
Your dog is capable of more than you think.
One call is often all it takes to see a way forward. Let's talk about what's really going on — and what to do next.