Welcome to Hamble Hounds

It’s a JOYFUL dog’s life !

We’ve worked with families and their dogs for many years (Hamble Hound started in 1998) and we love it!

We teach families how to educate their pups and dogs calmly and kindly, aiming for dogs who are polite, happy, and relaxed around humans while also having a rich, fulfilled, social doggy life.

We’ve years of experience and knowledge to share, and we keep learning! Our Accreditation Bodies make sure we keep up to date too, with a requirement for CPD (continued professional development) to keep us on our toes!

What We Do

Whether we are working with brand new pups, rowdy adolescents or dogs with problem behaviours, we will always address the fundamentals - building a strong bond of mutual communication and understanding within the dog/human family.

Individual history, circumstances, health and so on, will all contribute to a dog’s responses, behaviour and ability to cope/learn, so an individual approach is important. Even in group courses, we recognise and respond to individual needs.

Personal 121 sessions, various group courses, enrichment sessions and social activities are used to meet a range of needs.

A Bit More Info

Once there is calmness, confidence and enjoyment, puppy training, dog training and avoiding/eliminating problem dog behaviours becomes much more straightforward and achievable !

By teaching the foundations - how dogs learn and process information, how they communicate and how to help them de-stress - we help families understand and connect clearly with their canine companion.

This in turn helps to overcome any barriers to learning (such as over-excitement/not listening) allowing teaching and relationship building to be straightforward and pleasurable.

All of our work is positive/force-free. We never use raised voices, physical control or punishment (its not needed when the learning process is understood!) Time, thought, and practice - and enjoyment - are key and we guide families through what is needed.

We have a variety of options to meet individual dogs’ needs; personal 121 sessions, the Behavioural Package and a variety of courses offering pup and dog training, socialisation and a range of experiential and learning opportunities. Click through to find more details.

Who are we?

We are a professional business with accredited educators.

My name is Annette Bowcott. I set up Hamble Hounds in 1998. I’m a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers no. 00840 (APDT), an Animal Behaviour & Training Council Registered Animal Training Instructor and a Tellington TTouch Practitioner. Our black lab Talisker appears frequently on our Facebook page, most often covered in mud! He often helps out in the puppy training sessions.

My colleague Gracie Ray is an Institute of Modern Dog Trainers (IMDT) member, very interested in helping “reactive” dogs. She lives with 2 dogs, Tia and Willow.

We have Work Experience assistants who join us at various times as part of their personal training.

What Else We Do

We have always had great fun organising or joining in various community dog events. 2023 found us at the Alresford Agriculture Show and Sturminster Newton’s Family Show, sadly the RVCP show was rained off.

Over the years, we have raised thousands of pounds for some very wonderful charities some who train dogs to support humans in various ways (including Canine Partners, Medical Detection Dogs and Hounds for Heroes), and animal welfare and other charities like Hamble Lifeboats and Hampshire and IOW Air Ambulance.

Our social "Talky Walky" walks, the CIGAR Club and pub visits are good fun, and open to those who have achieved "Hamble Hounders" status!

Our Venues

Our indoor sessions take place in Hamble Village Memorial Hall, a very well maintained and accessible venue. We use a secure, private location in Bursledon for courses and personal sessions as well as outdoor venues for ‘real-world’ training scenarios.

Puppy training course uses both the indoor and outdoor venues to give a range of training and socialisation experiences.