Yorkshire Canine Academy Reviews

Lucy Baker 2026.10.07

     

Absolute best decision and best investment I’ve ever made. If you’re in any doubt about whether or not to choose YCA or whether you can justify spending the money I can wholeheartedly reassure you it will be the best thing you could do for your dog. It will open up the world to you and improve your dogs life massively! We can all be guilty of spending money on things that we could live without….that holiday, new phone, new car etc and if you just miss one holiday and do this you won’t regret it. The instructors are so knowledgeable, the support and care from all the staff is incredible. I literally cannot recommend YCA highly enough. If you’re in any doubt JUST DO IT!! Thank you so much YCA

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B 2026.10.05

     

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JP Clarke 2026.10.05

     

Not sure where to start with this.. As most dog reactive owners, I was of course slightly sceptical that YCA would be able to me; not because of their skills/knowledge, i just wasn't sure my dog (Pepper) was fixable due to her being scared of everything. How wrong i was - the training was absolutely fantastic. It's not just about training dogs, it's also training us so we know how to pay/reward, correct, notice things, what is and isn't allowed and so on. The team were amazing - in particular to shout out Lee, Toni and Ian (and Alex), but they immediately put you at ease, and can answer every single question you throw at them, with reasons why backing up the answers. I didn't believe i'd be sat in a pub by the end of the week - but i was. Pepper wasn't comfortable still, but she was calm, and reacted amazingly to the environment, considering it's one she has never, ever been in before. And, Pepper also won me a prize for 'most improved dog', and i've not had the hoodie off since. I honestly can't recommend YCA enough, and the Bootcamp. It's a super well structured and well organised week, and all your issues/questions are addressed, even personal goals for each client (i.e. window/car barking, livestock reactivity, leash walking etc etc). I'm genuinely sad to be back at home this week - i wish I could take Pepper everyday and work with the team, go on the group walks etc Massive thanks to the team for changing my life for the better - i've gone from dreading walking the dogs, to actually looking forward to it now, and that has massively improved my life and mental health already! 10/10 would recommend to anyone

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Kim Tyreman 2026.10.04

     

It’s been one week and one day since Hedgehog (our extremely reactive Lurcher) graduated from YCA. I was very sceptical when booking and even on first two days days of Bootcamp. What I can now is “WOW”, I won’t say he’s a different dog but me and my husband have been out on walks, a trip to the pub and today was his biggest achievement so far. We went to Stretford Makers Market which was very very busy with so so many dogs which he handled like a champ. When we adopted Hedgehog last year we didn’t think something like this would be possible so I want to say a massive and heartfelt thank you to all the team at YCA.

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Simon Law 2026.10.04

     

The results from the Boot camp were way better than we even hoped. Before training we couldn’t walk Bear down the road. He’d react to any large dog, child, jogger, bike, scooter, motorbike etc. etc. Walking him was relentlessly stressful and it impacted our lives in so many ways. By the end of the week we walked down a canal path past bikes, dogs, joggers and had lunch in the pub with 14 other ‘reactive’ dogs. After a week home he’s just as good. It has really changed our (and Bear’s) lives.

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Gill Peake 2026.10.03

     

I don’t know where to start!! We have just returned from Bootcamp with our 2 German Shepherds. One of them had already bitten 2 people and they were both reactive to other dogs I never thought that after a mere 5 days, my dogs would be safely off lead, walking with other dogs nearby and sitting in a pub without barking If you have any doubts about whether this will work, don’t! The staff are all so friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. They work incredibly hard to make sure that you get as much as you want and need out of their expertise. Nothing is too much trouble! Before I came I didn’t believe that anything could be done for our dogs, especially not in 5 days. I’d read the reviews but didn’t believe them. How wrong was I? I know people often say if it looks too good to be true, then it probably is. However as far as Yorkshire Canine Academy is concerned, it most certainly isn’t!!!

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Kat Carpenter 2026.10.03

     

If you have a high drive reactive dog YCA will get you there to a much better relationship and life with your dog! I am in the states and was hesitant to do their online program, but they held my hand every step of the way and were incredibly patient as I developed my knowledge and skills, asked a million questions, and worked through all of my own fears and anxieties. I did work my butt off for a few months, but a year later I am continuing to reap the rewards and am completely relaxed and confident in 99% of situations and still growing. My dog went from being reactive, sensitive, nervy, and unreliable to being locked in on me with rock solid recall. She is so much happier, calmer, and more confident. She now has full freedom on her ecollar to roam, sniff, and track to her heart's content (beagle/husky mix). I trust her almost completely and can instantly call her off chasing a deer, critters, another dog, anything we have encountered so far with no ecollar stim at all! Thank-you YCA! Please franchise in the USA!

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Caroline Swanson 2026.10.03

     

YCA changed my dog's life and mine from the other side of the world. If you don't live near one of their locations, they have a fully online program so you can still work with these exceptional trainers. Every other trainer told me my Jack Russell Chihuahua mix Winnie was always going to bark at everyone and everything and the only solutions they could give for her reactivity were to strictly manage her at all times. The idea of ever having a JRT mix off-leash was dismissed by everyone I spoke to as impossible. Cut to 3 weeks post-Training With Instinct and Winnie gets off-leash time to run around everyday. She has a completely reliable recall and can heel off-leash. My friends are begging me to train their dogs. If it sounds too good to be true, just look at my before and after videos taken just 6 weeks apart. I've had many dogs that were decently well behaved, but this is on another level and I can't imagine ever going back. It was the best money I've maybe ever spent. Not only do I have a dog I can take anywhere, but I've also developed handling skills I'll have for the rest of my life. I can't thank everyone at YCA enough. If your dog is at all reactive, this is the only place to go. They will solve all your problems and more.

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Julie Young 2026.10.02

     

I would recommend YCA wholeheartedly. This is not just about addressing reactivity, but giving us humans the tools and skills to move forward with our dogs. All the trainers are brilliant. Amazing with the dogs, but also good with us humans. Their patient and ready to answer any and all of your questions. Their calmness helps you to move forward with difficult situations and doing this in real life situations. I can't wait to get out with my dog and have full and fun life with him. Thank you YCA

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Lynne Chalk 2026.10.01

     

Ragnar, our Long-haired German Shepherd, had always been very reactive towards dogs, pulling against his slip lead, quite happy to choke himself to get to another dog, at times showing aggression with hackles up, a nightmare on walks and definitely a no-go when it comes to taking him into bars or cafes, always having to scout ahead to check for other dogs. And then YCA Bootcamp... Thoughts prior to booking? Will it work? All previous training methods never. Some training methods work in the very short term but 24 hours later back to the same reactivity. Also, to be honest, sounded expensive, but with the reassurance of money back if it didn't work - fair enough - we booked in. Bootcamp was great and straight away worth the money, great facilities, plenty YCA trainers at hand to answer all questions - not quite one to one dog to YCA Trainer ratio but at times it felt like it was. And the point of it was that they were there to train us how to train our dog. Which they did very well - very informative, with the training method (and phycology behind it) explained very well. Training was tailored to suit our dog. Equipment supplied fantastic. We deliberately left it a few weeks before leaving a review just to be sure the methods taught worked - they do! Weekend after the Bootcamp we were staying in a dog friendly hotel sitting having dinner with Ragnar lying at our feet. Off lead walks round our local Golf course with the reassurance that the recall will work. Taking trips through to village markets and walking with Ragnar - other dogs kicking off barking at him and Ragnar just looks at them as if to say 'what's your problem?' then looks up at us and we walk on by.. amazing!!! The training will of course continue, never stops I guess, but the promise of 100% turnaround of Ragnar's reactivity in 5 day Bootcamp was real.

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Karen Bonnar 2026.09.30

     

Excellent so far, currently on day 3 and me and my GSD have learnt a lot 😁

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Jamie Hardwick 2026.09.28

     

Was skeptical about this after been to a previous trainer, but we're left speechless after 5 days hugo our 18month old cane corso was asleep in the pub while we ate !!! With plenty of other dogs and people around. Hugo was reactive to other dogs and passers by. Walking him just wasn't enjoyable at all heading out scanning the street the path ahead just looking for triggers, that another trainer had basically told us to avoid ie ( crossing the road, switching hugo to different sides and changing direction ). Fast forward 5 days and hes walking nicely on a loose lead no pulling and no reacting. Carnt thank the amazing team at yca enough for helping him and also kicking my ass when I wasn't firm enough with him. 🤣 Been a good boy must be hard work here he his fast asleep !!!

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Vicki Bird 2026.09.27

     

Well we were off to Hever Castle for the weekend but my birthday plans were changed to spend time at YCA instead. And booking in for 2 one day courses over the weekend worked out to be an excellent decision! After a brilliant bootcamp back in February, we were loving life with Codie, our 2 year old GSD as we could now enjoy relaxed, social walks and visits to pubs etc. This was all impossible as well as a huge strain before the Feb.bootcamp because he was so excitable and strong. Now we all love his fulfilled life off lead and able to pass dogs happily. So why did we go back? Firstly, we loved the instructors and got so much from the bootcamp we wanted to just do more with them. And there were a couple of things that niggled which we wanted to address with YCA direction so Codie got clear messages. No matter how well things might seem to be going, we can easily slip into bad or lazy habits and consistency between Tim and myself was beginning to deteriorate. Anyway, long story short .... it happened that we got amazing one to one time, first with Kirkey then with Elisha. They were so helpful and I can't describe how much we learnt, appreciated and enjoyed that time. The following day we were in a small group working on re-socialisation with Owain and Lee - who both gave us so much close support and time to get us working clearly and effectively with Codie. We continue to practise their instructions (which as ever make so much sense) and hope Owain will be pleased that we've found a dog group and Codie is a perfect gent. Also we will get our heel work video to Lee very soon! All I can say is, it is invaluable to revisit past learning - we have come away with loads more than we could have imagined. Huge buckets of thanks again to YCA and we'll be up your way again when we can!

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Tim S 2026.09.27

     

We went to Bootcamp late August so we are now about one month on. Our lab/collie cross became dog reactive at about one year old. After three years of counter conditioning and positive reinforcement, we made great progress but we'd hit a ceiling. Having struggled to see any dog without reacting, he could be around dogs and pass most dogs without incident, but he was always at high arousal and struggled with head on passes and any dogs coming too close. He had particular challenges with GSDs, other large breeds, or dogs that stared at him. The Mon and Tues of Bootcamp builds the base that helps you better communicate with your dog. This adds to the pre-work in building food and play drive, and conditioning a strong 'yes' terminal marker. The team then helped us condition a solid negative marker. This really moved the needle for us, as for the first time we were able to interrupt his unwanted behaviour successfully, and communicate that it wasn't acceptable or necessary. E-collar was layered on his recall (which was always very strong), so that is now completely bombproof. The Weds-Fri of the week, we took it off-site and practiced in the real world. These are great experiences. Our first off-site venture, we turned a corner in the face of an off-lead GSD that was not with the group. Our dog sniffed him and carried on. This would have been lunges with teeth just a few days before. Post-Bootcamp, his threshold is way higher. He has had a couple of small reactions - two to dogs reacting to him first, one very rude dog that ran straight into his face, one on our street (which trainers said would be the most challenging area). All were proportionate, but the difference now is we know exactly what to do and each repetition of the 'bad' protocol makes a future reaction less likely. The larger caveat on this is we are putting him in way more challenging situations that we would previously, such as walking on the canal we had avoided for a long time due to the lack of options to create space. We are now confident to take him anywhere, and his world is far bigger because we're confident in ourselves and the tools provided. We've also attended the Saturday socialisation sessions and have done a further Mastery day class just to reinforce new behaviours around more dogs. These are a great resource to top up your training. Many thanks to Owain, Mel, Alex, Lee, Elisha, Kirky, and Toni - everyone we worked with at YCA was super supportive throughout and told us exactly what we needed to do in every situtaion. Highly recommended to anyone struggling with a reactive dog. Worth the money 5 times over.

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Steph Adams 2026.09.26

     

We’ve just finished our 5 day bootcamp with YCA, and I honestly can’t recommend them enough. Obi was reactive to other dogs, and after trying multiple local trainers with very little success, we were starting to feel completely at a dead end. I’ll admit, I had reservations about the use of e-collars and more so prong collars, but I went in with an open mind and I’m so glad I did!! Each member of the YCA team take the time to educate you on both the theory and practical reasons behind the tools and methods they use, while making sure you understand how to use them safely and correctly. They’re all incredibly friendly and supportive, but most importantly, they genuinely have the dogs best interests at heart. They make sure you’re doing the right thing, at the right time, for the right reasons. The cost can seem like a lot initially, but seeing the difference in Obi already, alongside the difference in me as an owner and the knowledge and confidence I now have is genuinely priceless. We still have work to do in maintaining this at home, but we finally feel like we have the tools and understanding to help Obi moving forward. I honestly don’t believe anyone would ever regret choosing YCA! ❤️🐾

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Sharon Bradbury 2026.09.26

     

We graduated Bootcamp yesterday and I honestly can’t believe the difference in our dog. We went into the week nervous about what to expect. We were unsure about some of the training tools, including e-collars, but decided to go with an open mind because everything else we had tried had failed. Our goal was actually quite simple: we wanted a happier, more confident dog who could relax around other dogs and enjoy a walk without constantly scanning his surroundings and becoming anxious. We didn’t even dare imagine we might one day have him safely off lead around other dogs. I’ll admit, during the first couple of days I wondered how we were possibly going to see a significant change. There’s a lot of theory, foundation work and some waiting around watching others, and at first it can feel like you aren’t doing enough hands-on training with your dog. Then day three arrives. You get out into the real world and suddenly everything from those first two days starts clicking into place. You realise why those foundations were so important. By days four and five, we had a completely different dog. We went from having a dog who couldn’t be walked outside without an uncontrollable and dangerous reaction to another dog (near or far), to a dog who loose-lead walks and is an absolute pleasure to take out. We walked around the lake at Roundhay Park past dogs in close proximity with ZERO reaction. He settled and relaxed in a pub with another dog lying next to him. And, unbelievably, the week culminated with him enjoying complete freedom off lead with around other dogs surrounding him. He now has a fantastic recall too, which feels like an incredible bonus because we genuinely never went to bootcamp expecting that. We went to Yorkshire Canine Academy simply hoping they could improve his dog reactivity enough for us to enjoy walking him. What we came away with was so much more and, most importantly, so much more freedom and enjoyment for him. I can’t thank every single member of the team enough for their care, attention and patience. These guys clearly love dogs deeply. You see it not just in the training, but in the way they interact with the dogs and bring their own dogs to work with them. If you’re nervous because of things you’ve heard about some of the training tools they use, I’d say go and see it for yourself with an open mind. From our experience, the tools are used minimally and as part of a much bigger training approach. For us, the result has been a dog with more freedom, more confidence and a family who can finally confidently enjoy taking him out. We honestly never thought we’d get here. 💛🐾

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Keith Carruthers 2026.09.25

     

Our German shepherd has always been fairly reactive, we thought we were getting somewhere but he started to become aggressive towards dogs in particular but then this carried on to people, and it was getting worse. We had been following YCA and watching the videos of the changes in the boot camp. I have to admit we were somewhat sceptical it was a big statement they make. However we had got to the stage were we were not walking our dog at busy times, dreading meeting other dogs and then just worried about passing people. So we took the plunge. What could we loose if it worked, fantastic, if it didn’t at least we tried to do something. Even after day two I was still sceptical, some good guidance but off lead I couldn’t see that happening. We have finished today where our German Shepherd was off lead with others all around, we did have lunch in a pub and it was fine and can see us continuing to do it. The training team are extremely knowledgeable and down to earth, Tailor the training to each dogs specific needs. I now have a dog I am confident I can take out and control on/off the lead. Still work to do to ensure he stays there, but 100% well worth a week of your time if you want to enjoy your dog Thanks YCA

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PC Electrical 2026.09.23

     

Our dog charlie was a nightmare which has impacted our lives as we couldnt take him in public places or meet other dogs and people on walks as he would be so aggresive towards other dogs, cyclists, cars and some people. We discovered this after seeing some of the results and we signed up. Rhe guys at YCA have been fantastic and worked with us to train charlie to be a sociable dog. In just 5 days with them at boot camp has made an absolute difference to our lives and charlies allowing us to go into public places with our dog without a scene and be with other dogs.as the teaching they give really works. Thank you YCA you have changed our lives

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Aly Guy 2026.09.23

     

I did boot camp with Clemmie. The change in both of us in 5 days is astonishing. We were lucky to have great people and dogs in the group and consistent excellent training from the staff. Your method works and we will continue to work with it. This makes a massive difference to Clemmie’s quality of life and by extension ours. Cannot offer any more praise than that!

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Jan Moss 2026.09.23

     

We have just finished bootcamp and have nothing but praise for the YCA team. Our Romanian rescue had serious reactivity issues to dogs, people approaching him (or us), runners, cars, bikes and pretty much anything else you could think of. It soon became apparent that he wasn't going to fit into the usual training pattern with everyone else as he was having serious meltdowns and needed a bit of 1:1 work with the trainers. By the end of day 2 after trying to annihilate them all single pawedly, he was chilling out in the meeting room almost fast asleep with seven of them. Day 3 he was allowed back into the fold and by the end of the week he achieved the heretofore impossible feat of chilling out in a pub without even wearing a muzzle, something we'd not managed since he was a puppy. He's only been out for one day in the real world so early days to see if we are following the plan well enough by ourselves but we have the ongoing lifetime support of the YCS team and will take him back to the Saturday meetings on a regular basis to help us all keep those skills honed. However, we took him to Fountains Abbey today and he walked straight past lots of dogs with no incidents and queued with us for some lunch and settled at the table so we could eat our lunch with no stress. All the trainers really carefully watched what he (and we) were doing and gave us detailed feedback and coaching and all really seemed to care about the dogs and our progress. Thanks guys, we really appreciate all of you and your caring. It was a lot of money for us but as long as we keep up the training it will have completely changed our lives for the better so well worth it. We will report back again with our progress.

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