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Our curated list of the best professionals in the Islington area.
With the open space of Highbury Fields and the scenic Regent's Canal towpath, trainers in Islington can teach valuable skills for navigating both busy park life and urban waterways.
Hackney E8, London E8 3HQ
I’m so incredibly grateful that Vanessa was recommended to me. I’m sure the first 2 months of having my puppy would’ve looked very different without her thoughtful guidance, advice and expertise. I was a first time dog owner, and whilst I had spent a lot of time with an adult whippet, I hadn’t owned my own dog or even been around a puppy before. Anyone who has experienced this knows how different an adult whippet and a puppy whippet are! I started working with Vanessa before I even brought my puppy home (highly recommended this) and she was so helpful in sharing advice on potty training, crate training, toys, sleeping set up and even vet recommendations. This made me feel so much more prepared and I think made for a calm and confident first few days for my puppy. We then started training in person with Vanessa the day after I got my puppy, and again having Vanessa by my side meant that I was equipped with the knowledge to help with the less fun elements (biting, shoelace pulling, crazy zoomies etc) and also already start with proactive settle training, basic commands, fun tricks and most importantly bonding. Over the last 2 months I’ve bought 2 puppy packages and we’re now doing magic matt, home alone training, recall and leave it. Beyond being a great trainer, Vanessa has also introduced me to daycare (House of Hounds in London Fields), dog sitters and a local sighthound WhatsApp group. This is because Vanessa goes above and beyond for her clients and genuinely cares. When my puppy was sick, she kept checking in out of genuine worry and love for her. When I was sending panicked messages (hello puppy blues and lack of sleep) she was non judgemental and didn’t shame me. I don’t think I would have the sweet and calm puppy I have today without Vanessa, so I am incredibly thankful. At not even 4 months, she is able to settle by herself, not bark for food, lets me clean her paws, loves her crate, sits, stay, down and has totally stopped biting. There is lots to still work on as she develops, but I feel confident knowing that I have Vanessa.
We worked with Vanessa with our rescue lurcher cross Fraggle. Vanessa has really helped us understand Fraggle's needs and behaviour and he's now much calmer and happier and we have a lovely bond with him. We worked on mouthing behaviours, his love for prey, and leaving him alone. Couldn't recommend Vanessa enough! 🐶
Vanessa was brilliant with our dog Albie. She taught us some really good new techniques to train our puppy, setting us up to work on his settling on a mat and recall out and about. We really appreciated the time she took to talk us through various approaches and also how enthusiastic and fun she was with our puppy. (Picture of Albie sound asleep after a really stimulating walk with Vanessa)
We’ve just finished our fourth session with Vanessa, and we honestly couldn’t be more grateful for her help! When we first got in touch, we were feeling totally overwhelmed – trying to make sense of all the conflicting advice online, and just not sure if we were doing things right with our 4.5-month-old whippet, Peggy. From the first session, Vanessa made us feel completely at ease. She’s kind, non-judgemental, and really knows her stuff. Peggy also adores her! We’ve been working on things like lead walking, recall, helping keep focus on us, crate training, building up alone time, and settling, and we’re seeing real progress. The sessions have also made us feel so much more confident and in control, which has been a huge relief. If you’re feeling a bit lost or just want some expert, compassionate guidance, we can’t recommend her enough.
We had tried everything to help our Labradoodle, Bella, with her separation anxiety. I mean everything—“Even X?” Yes, X, Y, Z, and the whole alphabet! Nothing seemed to work… until we were found brilliant Vanessa. Vanessa has been a total game-changer—not just for Bella, but for us too. If you’ve ever lived with a dog suffering from separation anxiety, you know how emotionally draining and overwhelming it can be. Vanessa didn’t just help Bella—she supported us through every step of the process. She has an incredible ability to understand dog behaviour from videos, things that we may miss even though we think we know our dog so well. She really listens to all of our concerns, is always available for questions (no matter how small!), and constantly tailors Bella’s plan based on her progress and personality. You can tell she’s not only an expert, but truly passionate about what she does. Thanks to Vanessa, we finally feel hopeful—and Bella is happier and more confident than ever, with real concrete results. Highly, highly recommend her to anyone going through the same struggle. She’s the real deal.
Victoria Park, Sewardstone Rd, London E2 9JW
Could not recommend enough - Holly at Friendly Creatures really helped us understand our puppy better and have seen so much improvement since taking part. We learned so much about our puppy's behaviours and how to get the best out of him and for him. Thank you!
The team is amazing, and our dog is so well adapted to our family after the training. I love how much they care about results and their deep knowledge! We will come back for more. Great job!
We did Lydia’s online puppy training course and it was fantastic! Lydia was super helpful, really friendly, and explained everything in a way that was easy to follow. After each session, she sent a follow-up email with a summary of what we covered, which made it so much easier to practice at home. The course really helped build our puppy’s confidence and ours too. We’d definitely recommend Lydia to anyone looking for puppy training support!
Martina has a wealth of knowledge and is very attentive towards my dogs needs. I am very happy with the training provided. the videos are very helpful as well. would highly recommend!
We attended a six week puppy course, really pleased with the experience. Our trainer Marta was excellent!
45 Circus Rd, London NW8 9JH
Jamie came to us a week ago and was brilliant. I had problems with a few things but the main one was toilet training. He talked me through and we had a training session. Now, one week later my dog is toilet trained. I cannot recommend this person highly enough and will be keeping in touch for any future problems. If you are struggling with Puppy/Dog training then this is for you.
Jamie is phenomenal. He gave me such generous and solid advice, and just hearing his perspective on our dog's behavior has already done so much and brought about such positive change for our dog and for us. I'm really grateful and look forward to working with Jamie in future!
Uptown Dogs become an extension of your family very quickly. Jamie and Ludmila are exceptional. They care for my family pup deeply and go the extra mile to make sure he is well looked after. The walks are just one part of what they do — they are always happy to share advice and tips so that our pup thrives. This is a rare duo. We are grateful to have them in our lives.
More than just a dog trainer! We’ve had so much advice and guidance in such a short period of time, from people who genuinely understand, have huge experience and care. Our 15 week old puppy is calm and listening to our instructions really well. We’ve been taught great techniques. Highly recommend using Up Town dogs.
We have had a super positive experience with Jamie. We had an initial phone call with him soon after our pup came home, several 1 on 1 training sessions and lots of follow ups via WhatsApp. Jamie has been super helpful in all elements of new puppy ownership that extends far beyond skills training, his advice has been invaluable in understanding our pups behaviour too. He gives you genuine honest advice and also prompts you to think about your own actions/role in why your pup might be behaving a certain way. Would highly recommend to anyone! Katherine & Hugh
6 Old Oak Rd, London W3 7HL
Nigel’s bespoke approach totally transformed the way we understand our dog and the easy to follow techniques have led to our dog being much calmer, more content and less anxious. Nigel is clearly an expert at what he does and gave us the tools and language to resolve the issues we were having and we saw almost instant results. Over the weeks the improvements continued and Nigel was there to support us through this process. I would highly recommend Nigel, he was brilliant and the positive impact on our dog has been game changing!
Meeting with Nigel was amazing! He assessed our young puppy and helped us understand the causes of certain undesirable behaviors and how we should address them. His approach is very intelligent, not just one rule for everything, and he considers the nuances of specific situations as well as our puppy’s individual needs. He’s definitely given us the confidence to train our puppy appropriately, and we’ve already seen incredible improvements in our puppy’s behavior! We’re really excited to continue speaking with Nigel, as he’s genuinely knowledgeable, kind, and patient. We’re over the moon that we enlisted him for help, and highly, highly recommend him and his training approach!
Nigel was everything his reviews lived up to and more. We have a 10 week old puppy and wanted to make sure we were making the right decisions and not setting ourselves up for failure further down the line. We’d read all the books, listened to all the podcasts and watched all the YouTube videos. But real life has a funny way of not going the same way, doesn’t it? So we decided to get in touch with Nigel. His approach just immediately felt right. He was professional and nonjudgmental. He knew straight away the things we needed to work on. As he explained his process and guided us through his methods, everything clicked into place. And from that moment on we’ve felt like much better dog owners because of it. Our puppy is calmer, more confident and happier. And honestly it’s all because we are now calmer, more confident and happier. Nigel might have come to teach the puppy. But really he taught us. He is definitely the dog trainer you’re looking for.
When I contacted Nigel I was at the end of myself with Toffee. My Labrador was attacking other dogs and I was scared to leave the house. Nigel came and was a breath of fresh air. He was sensible kind and quite simply his methods work. In 2 lessons toffee was a changed dog and he showed me workable methods to change her behaviour. He transformed our whole life with toffee and we are all just so grateful to him. Our family could not recommend him enough. It was a complete game changer. Thanks so much Nigel.
Our session with Nigel was excellent. We booked him to come and help with our beloved French Bulldogs who have been quite unsettled after a house move and various major shifts in our routine. His approach is smart, straight forward, and based on simple principles which felt intuitive and easy to follow. Beside from all the intriguing theory and animal behaviour psychology, Nigel’s practical approach is excellent. Watching him get our dogs walking at heel, after years of increasingly chaotic lead-pulling, was quite a revelation. And then showing us how to help our dogs stop behaving anxiously and aggressively around noisy appliances was another practical example of how effective his approach is. I would absolutely recommend Dog Training in London with Nigel Reed The Dog Guardian to anybody looking to simply learn more about their animals, or really address serious issues with their pooch(es).
26 Danbury St, London N1 8JU
Best dog walkers around!
Anna, Louise and Ami are fantastic. They adore dogs and importantly understand the nuances of the more difficult breeds. They were so understanding of our tricky English bulldog, Bruce, and were able to train and advise us. As well as been conscientious and passionate, IADL is also an exceptionally professional and well run business. There is clearly a lot of planning and logistics going on behind the scenes to make it run so smoothly. Frankly, their service is priceless and we love them !
Anna and her team are the best. They’ve got real experience in dog behaviour as well as health and safety. Happy that we have a team so trustworthy to care for our dog.
My dog Nelson thinks the IADL team is his real family and I’m just the part time carer. He loves them ; I love them ; we couldn’t live without them.
We’ve been using Anna and her team for around 9 months now. Our dog loves going on walks with them. We like the fact that it’s local, so she doesn’t have to get in transport for long journeys (which is the case for most of the alternatives). The team are professional, reliable and responsive and send lots of photos and updates. Thank you team!
Finding skilled dog trainers in Islington means connecting with professionals who understand the unique demands of inner-city dog ownership in one of London's most vibrant boroughs. From training puppies in Barnsbury's Georgian terraces to managing reactive dogs along the Regent's Canal towpath, our certified trainers deliver personalised obedience training and behaviour modification programmes designed for Islington's urban environment.
Serving all areas including Angel, Highbury, Finsbury Park, and Archway, we've successfully trained over 2,800 dogs across the borough. Our expertise addresses challenges from navigating Upper Street's busy pavements to enjoying off-lead exercise in Highbury Fields and Clissold Park.
Islington's high population density and limited private outdoor space create specific training requirements. Most dogs rely on public parks like Highbury Fields, Gillespie Park, and Barnard Park for exercise, making excellent recall and social skills essential. The borough's excellent transport links mean dogs frequently encounter Victoria line crowds at Highbury & Islington Station and busy pavements throughout Angel and Upper Street.
Our trainers specialise in addressing Islington-specific challenges including flat living adaptations for Victorian conversions, managing reactive behaviour on narrow residential streets, and desensitising dogs to the constant urban stimulation of markets, restaurants, and construction projects. We understand local expectations for responsible dog ownership in this community-focused borough where dogs and owners share limited green spaces with diverse neighbours.
Our puppy programmes focus on the critical 8-16 week period, introducing young dogs to Islington's urban environment including traffic noise, tube rumbles, and diverse crowds. Training covers house training for flats, crate training, and basic commands. Socialisation sessions at Highbury Fields help puppies develop confidence around other dogs and people.
Islington's busy parks and narrow streets often trigger reactivity issues. Our programmes address leash reactivity, barrier frustration, and fear-based responses using positive reinforcement techniques. Progressive training along the Regent's Canal and in Clissold Park builds tolerance gradually.
For dogs ready for advanced training, we develop reliable off-lead control essential for Islington's popular open spaces. Training in Paradise Park and Highbury Fields challenges dogs with maximum distractions, ensuring confident recall despite wildlife, other dogs, and picnickers.
Dog training in Islington typically ranges from £55-85 per hour for private sessions. Group classes cost £18-28 per session, while comprehensive puppy programmes average £250-400. Specialist behaviour consultations range from £75-120 for initial assessments.
Begin training immediately when bringing your puppy home at around 8 weeks old. The critical socialisation window between 8-16 weeks makes early exposure to Islington's urban environment essential. Puppies can join group classes after initial vaccinations at 10-12 weeks.
Yes, dogs can be trained for tube travel from busy Islington stations like Angel and Highbury & Islington. Training involves gradual exposure to escalators, crowds, and train sounds. Most dogs require 5-8 sessions to achieve comfortable Underground travel.
Professional dog training in Islington creates confident, well-mannered dogs perfectly suited to inner-city living. Our proven methods combine evidence-based techniques with deep knowledge of the borough's unique challenges, from navigating Camden Passage to enjoying Highbury Fields. Whether you live in a Canonbury flat or an Archway townhouse, investing in professional training ensures your dog thrives in this vibrant North London community. Contact us today to schedule your initial consultation.