Julie Smith Dog Training and Behaviour

“I just want to thank Julie from Jim and I for all she has done for both us and our dog Finn over the last few months. We were at a loss as to how to handle him, walk him and be anywhere near other people and dogs until we met her. Fast forward a few months and with Julies help, we can now happily walk Finn and more importantly, relax and enjoy our walks with him too. We know so much more now about his body language, signals, what he's communicating to us and, how to be aware of and understand other dogs and owners body language too! This alone has been the cincher in helping Finn relax and know he has nothing to fear and that WE have things under control. We honestly cannot recommend Julie highly enough and hope to stay in touch in the years head”

- Elaine & Jim Forbes

“We couldn’t recommend Julie highly enough. We recently had a baby & stupidly assumed our Wheaten Terrier would just accept him as part of the pack. We were stressed & so was our dog. Julie gave us a step by step plan & lots of helpful tips on how to help Vinnie adjust to new life with the baby. Less than 2 weeks later I can now walk Vinnie myself with the pram with no hassle & Vinnie can also relax with myself & Michael & the baby in the living room with no drama. If you’d told me this was possible 2 weeks ago I wouldn’t have believed it. It’s still a work in progress for us all to completely trust each other but I’m sure that will come. Can’t thank Julie enough for helping us. She goes above & beyond & always has the dogs best interests at heart. Thanks Julie!”

- Vicki Forbes

“We have been receiving guidance and training from Julie for approximately 2 years. Her training methods are excellent! Julie is a very likable person who immediately puts you at ease. She is very knowledgeable and passionate about dog training, is always supportive and most importantly our dog loves her. Our dog Eve is a determined 2 1/2 year old German Shepherd, that doesn't always like strangers, human or dog. She is a regular attendee at Julie's Confidence Building Walks which has helped immensely in developing her into a calmer dog, and also allowed her to mix with other dogs and make new friends. We would highly recommend Julie and if you are thinking of training, building yours and your dogs confidence definitely contact Julie. ”

- Anna

“Our 6month old GSD pup was very excitable around cars , and people. She had a high herding drive and we found it quite a handful. Julie was recommended to us by acquaintances and her advice and assistance was fantastic. She is so calm and knowledgable . She immediately put our minds at rest and showed us how to re direct our girl’s energy. Julie helped us to realise that we needed to understand a dog’s communication . I cannot stress enough how she helped us work together to give us the big bouncy loving bundle of GSD we now have. Julie’s love for dogs shines through all her work and I cannot recommend her highly enough. ”

- Doreen Grainger

“Where to begin with Julie?! We contacted Julie after adding two littermates to our family and panicking when we saw our two puppies play fighting. We had read online that littermates can at times be problematic and that getting two puppies from the same litter is not advised. We contacted Julie for some help and advice and she has been nothing short of fantastic. Working with Julie has allowed us to understand our puppies’ behaviour, how best to approach training and has given us the confidence to believe we know what is best for our two boys. Julie has given us an excellent foundation to build on our puppies behaviour and is very realistic in terms of targets and expectations. When the puppies see her, their tails don’t stop wagging from start till end of the training session. She is an absolute natural around the dogs and her love of them SHINES when she’s in their company. We have used Julie’s services for 1-1 sessions and have attended puppy play classes and I would highly recommend both. Our 1-1 sessions are very tailored to our specific dogs and their needs and the puppy classes have been amazing for boosting our dogs’ confidence and promoting positive interactions with other dogs. I would absolutely recommend Julie to anyone looking for a dog behaviour expert and hope to keep in touch with her even after our course has finished, in fact I’m a little reluctant to give her up! ”

- Jordyn

“I’ve been attending Julie’s confidence dog walks for 18 months now with my dog reactive dog Taylor. The improvements In her over this time have been amazing. I used to dread walks as Taylor would react to every dog and some people we walked past. Julie has guided me through steps to do when walking past dogs and built up Taylor’s confidence that not all dogs are out to get her. I really enjoy the walks, Julie is a really pleasant and patient trainer. I highly recommend these walks for nervous/fearful dogs, it does work! I actually look forward to walking Taylor now as she now doesn’t react to every passing dog and has even made some friends along the way! ”

- Zoe

“The best thing we ever did was find Julie, her knowledge and understanding is out of this world. Not only is she excellent with dogs but also with the owners who might just need that bit of help understanding their dogs behaviour. I never thought I could get to a place where I could walk my wee girl on my own and during the day and thanks to Julie I now can. We have learned so much and still learning now. Julie is only to happy to help. Friendly, professional and 100% committed from the heart. Thank you. ”

- Hazel

“Julie was an absolute life-saver for us. We were really struggling with our pups, misreading their behaviour and basically scared to leave the house with them unless it was really late at night and/or we went somewhere that nobody was around. We misread nerves as aggression and Julie helped us realise that we actually had pretty well-behaved, polite dogs who just needed some help with building their confidence. This gave us a whole new lease on life. We have had group sessions with our brood as well as 1-2-1 sessions with our dogs who needed a bit more attention and have also taken them along to the confidence-building classes. She’s also been there for us whenever we have needed a bit of advice…about getting a new puppy etc. I couldn’t speak higher of Julie and the work she does. Her understanding of dogs behaviour is amazing and she has really helped us gain an understanding of our guys which has been fantastic and now we all enjoy a much happier quality of life…in fact, we are never in :) ”

- Laura

“We attended Julie's Puppy training group class in 2020 and again for her intermediate class in 2021. Both which we loved and thoroughly enjoyed. They're well thought out and easy to follow, she's helpful throughout and attends to each person and their dog for some 121 time too as much as possible. Granted its a class, so you maybe don;t get as much info as you would had we paid for 121 private lessons but it was fun and cheap to attend so can't complain at all. We felt we learnt a lot We found the classes great for helping train our puppy especially outwith the house and learning to listen even when there are other things going on! Plus it was a good way to help socialise too. We'd recommend Julie's classes to anyone looking for a group training setting”

- Rebecca Hardy

“Thank you so much to Julie for her amazing help, advice and support throughout our time together in training sunny (and us). Not only did Julie really take time to ensure Sunnys training was spot on, she made 100% sure we knew what she meant, what to do and importantly ... why!! Understanding more of how Sunny learns compared to how we learn was a real eye opener and hugely beneficial! The issues we also had with his barking and jumping were resolved and although not overnight, we continue to see improvement in this and know as long as we remain consistent we will get there! Excellent trainer and highly recommend”

- John McRae

“My husband and I hired Julie to help with our two young rescue dogs. We needed help with basic training which had never been done and also a few behavioural issues including excessive barking, nervousness around strangers and some separation anxiety. Julie has been a godsend and I'm so glad we contacted her. Her help in getting us to be able to read our dogs better, understand them and their actions and see what 'we' had to do to help them change this has been invaluable!!! Honestly we feel so much more knowledgeable and able to handle things ongoing now too! We can't praise her enough and highly recommend her services”

- Liz McIntyre

“We used Julie for our GSD pup. Julie's knowledge of dog behaviour is excellent. She talked us through behaviours to praise and those to ignore. She helped us with our girl's high drive which showed when runners and cyclists passed us. I cannot recommend her manner with both humans and dogs highly enough. ”

- Doreen Grainger

“We are so grateful to have found Julie to help us with Mollys training issues. We were at a loss as to how to fix her and had even contemplated re-homing her which was so upsetting to even consider. Upon meeting Julie she was so lovely and really patient in asking us lots of questions and helping us see and understand why the issues were issues at all! She took time to ensure we understood and even helped us see some of what we were doing was letting Molly think her behaviour was OK!!!! From session one we learned a lot but by the end of a few weeks the changes were just wonderful and we have our little Molly just as she used to be now and can't imagine life without her Highly recommend”

- Mrs Grieve

“Julie was just fantastic!!!! She was extremely patient with both my husband and I, took time to explain things (and explain things again) until we 'got it' and knew what we were doing. As it turned out a lot of what WE were doing affected what Buddy was doing and quite simply when we changed our behaviours,we managed to change his also! Julie helped make it so simple and easy to understand and we really feel like we understand Buddy more now and can even communicate with our own little dog!! She was a godsend and we can't speak highly enough of her ”

- Irene Milligan

“We worked with Julie several years ago with our GSD bitch pup. Our girl was very excitable and desperate to chase every car she saw. AfterJulie’s advice and several sessions we felt more able to cope. Our dog is now just over 3, we have relocated to the Western Isles and lorries, vans, tractors, motor homes etc can all pass us as we walk on single track roads with no pavements and not a peep out of our girl. Thanks Julie.....we couldn’t have done it without you. ”

- Doreen Grainger

“Can’t thank Julie enough for helping us with Shug our Airedale terrier puppy. Julie has great patience and uses her vast experience to train the dogs. Shug came on leaps and bounds with every visit from Julie. Due to injury we had to cut training short but planning on getting Julie back to carry on where she left it off. Shug will be pleased he loves her to bits! ”

- Linda Duffy

“I had Julie out to help with my dog Bellas training and behavioural issues over a period of 3 months. Julie gave us such great advice, help & support throughout this time and was always on hand whenever we messaged to help with questions we had. She helped us understand how Bella thinks and why she was doing certain behaviours! And in the nicest possible way, let us see a lot of this was down to what WE were doing!!!!! Together with her help we now have a thoroughly well trained little dog who has a great daily routine and gets lots of walks and 'mental' interaction to make her much happier and settled. WE can't thank Julie enough for all her help!”

- Karen

“Julie was amazing helping me with Molly. I hadn't had a dog since I was a child and needed help to have the confidence to let Molly off the lead and know she would come back to me. Julie made it so easy and fun also giving lots of useful tips along the way. We now have another puppy Bailey and I can use what Julie has taught me to benefit us all. Highly recommended. Thanks Julie ”

- Linda Boyle

“I am thrilled with Julie's help the last few months and could not be happier with the change in Dizzys behaviour. We were at a loss on how to move forward and had even considered re-homing!!!! Who knew it would all be explained so simply to us so that WE could understand what WE had to do! Not poor Dizzy! Now that we understand our own dog better we can help train her with better behaviours and she now gets rewarded and reinforced for doing GOOD and not yelled at for being naughty! Thank you so SO much Julie you are amazing! ”

- Margaret Good

“I'm absolutely thrilled with the help,advice and 121 training Julie from Pawsitive Approach has provided is with for our new puppy. I don't know where we would currently be without having her help but at the minute we now have the best trained 6 month old puppy you'll ever meet! Fantastic knowledge and so helpful and patient with both us and the dog. Can't recommend highly enough ”

- Lisa

“One of the nicest patient people I've met. My two boys and I have become good friends with Julie since she began helping us with their training and cannot thank her enough for all her help and support. So grateful for all she's done and to have two well behaved obedient young dogs. ”

- Kath Malloy

“Can't thank Julie enough for the advice, time and patience she has put into myself and my rescue collie. I've watched him come on leaps and bounds both in training and in confidence. Highly recommend her to anyone needing help with their dogs. ”

- Ann Borland

“Julie has worked with our two dogs over the last few months and initially to help with car chasing issues. As well as resolving this she has taught them and us fantastic obedience and we now have 2 very well behaved boys who are a pleasure to walk. We can't thank Julie enough for all her help.”

- Gillian

“Helped train our two German Shepherd dogs who both had different issues at the time. Very good at what she does and was always happy to help as and when we needed her. Definitely recommend Julie @ Pawsitive Approach to anyone ”

- Douglas

“Julie spent a few months visiting me and my two king Charles spaniel puppies to help with their puppy training and ongoing obedience. She was wonderful with both myself and the dogs and really has a lovely way with dogs. It's really something to watch. ”

- Kath Maloy

“Absolutely fantastic. Really knew her stuff and was so helpful and patient in teaching 'me' how to train my dog. Highly recommend ”

- Catherine Boyle