About Us

Pawsitive is a dog training club based in Bournemouth, Dorset. It's run by father and daughter team, Malcolm Hewitt and Katie Spicer. Both Malcolm and Katie are approved Gold Level instructors with the Academy of Dog Training and Behaviour.

Malcolm has owned and trained dogs for well over thirty years, and while his favourite breed is German Shepherds, he is a lover of all dogs, pedigrees and mixed breeds alike. Jade, his five year old German Shepherd is a brilliant dog, and she obtained the Kennel Club Good Citizen's Gold Award some time ago. Koi, his "pup" (being a GSD, he is a big boy!) is a lovely dog and has a keen and affectionate temperament. Malcolm is the Principal of GSD Pawsitive - a dog training club solely for German Shepherds.

Katie grew up with dogs and has always had dogs around her. She has a particular love of Border Collies, but like her Dad, she loves all dogs. Billy, her six year old Border Collie, is primarily a much loved family pet, but he loves to work and exercise (not only his body, but his brain, too). Travis, the most recent addition to her family, is also a Border Collie and is almost two. He's a bundle of love, and the keenest and most affectionate dog anyone could wish for.

Both Malcolm and Katie have an in-depth understanding of what makes dogs tick, and they use this knowledge in the training of all dogs.

Pawsitive is registered with the Kennel Club Good Citizen Dog Scheme, and we run our training classes closely alongside the modules for these courses.

Owning a puppy or dog is tremendous fun and can be very rewarding, and even more so if the puppy knows the basic obedience commands and is a happy, friendly sociable animal. Here at Pawsitive that’s exactly what we aim to achieve, while working together with you and your puppy or dog.

At Pawsitive we not only believe in the need for high quality obedience training, we also know the importance of the socialisation of your dog, not only with other dogs, but with humans, too. We do this through fun and reward methods. If a dog is enjoying themselves and having fun, they are much more willing to work. In fact, they don’t see it as work, much like us humans. We use fair, kind and effective methods with toys and treats to make training fun for both you and your dog!

Children are very welcome to come along to classes, but we must insist that they act in a calm and quiet manner. It almost goes without saying that dogs need to be happy, comfortable and confident in the presence of children, and because of this, Katie's own daughters will often be present at classes. We actively encourage children to take part, so if your child would like to be your dog's handler, then please let us know and we will do all we can to help..

Puppies and dogs of all ages, temperaments and abilities are most welcome to our classes - although if a dog has an aggression problem, it might be more suitable for all if work was done on a one to one basis, in the first instance - please check out the One to One page for more info on this. The only thing we insist on, for puppies and dogs of all ages, is that they are fully vaccinated.

If you have any queries or questions, please feel free to contact either Katie or Malcolm. Their contact details can be found on the Contact Us page.

Billy

Travis

Koi