'Play & Train' Playgroup
'Play & Train' Playgroups
 What is this service? 
Our play and train service operates similarly to that of a dog walker. We collect your dog within a specified timeframe, bring them to our private Dog Park for play, training and fun, before dropping them back content and happy a few hours later. Your dog will be matched with a select few friends, who will all be learning and playing together during that time. Dogs are supervised by qualified and experienced trainers throughout their session.


What days and times are available? 
At the moment we only offer Monday and Friday morning sessions. Your dog will be collected from your home between 9:00am and 10:00am, and returned to your home between 12:00pm and 1pm. As this is a new service, a more accurate time will be given once we get the service established and can plan the most efficient and shortest routes for collection and drop off.
Is my dog eligible to attend?
As there will be other dogs present in the Dog Park, it is essential that your dog gets on well with other dogs. We understand that dogs cannot like everyone (just like humans!), but generally being comfortable around other dogs is a must. Your dog must also be comfortable with people, although we can accommodate multiple meet and greets over a period of time in order to make friends and build up some trust before taking them on their playdate. Please get in touch if you are unsure and we can advise. It is also important to let us know if your dog enjoys car trips and gets into and out of the car comfortably.

We also really enjoy teenage dogs attending, so dogs aged between 5 months and 3 years are the most welcome. Adolescence can be a tricky time, and supervised carefully, small play groups may help a teenagers social skills, with managing their arousal and developing confidence and resilience.  


Do owners attend? 
As this service operates similarly to a dog walker, owners do not accompany their dog for this service. This service aims to provide dogs with a bit more than their daily walk, and to support owners who are already working on specific behaviours with their dogs. If you are looking for support and wish to learn how to train your dog, a private consultation can be booked with us. Please visit this page if you would like more information about what our training consults involve.

What training do you do?

At our playgroups, it is not a free for all. We support appropriate play, encourage nice interactions, allowing dogs to take breaks and interrupting where we see fit in order to help maintain nice soft body language and play. Dogs do not get to play rough or inappropriately with each other. We also provide further support with recall training (and calling dogs out of play!). Loose lead, scentwork, auto-sits, handling & gear comfort and even crate training are just some of the other activities we do. Every dog is an individual, feel free to let us know what your biggest challenges are at home and we can provide some feedback.


The biggest ‘training’ support we give is with helping dogs manage their arousal (excitement), particularly adolescents, and this work is carried out as part of this playgroup. Dogs are often excellent at getting all jazzed up; we want to focus on giving them skills to bring themselves down again!

Please be aware that we use food rewards during play group. This may include a variety of foodstuffs from dry dog kibble (nuts), to more salient foods like chicken, ham, peas and sausages. Pizzle, peanut butter and pate may also be included depending on the activities that day. It is important that you let us know in the booking form if your dog has allergies, intolerances or if you would prefer certain foods not to be given.



Will my dog get dirty?

Part of playgroup involves allowing dogs to be dogs (within reason…). This means over the course of the session your dog may dig, roll, scratch, splash, chase, jump, bark, get grass-stained etc etc. Dogs may get mucky and fur may get tangled. It’s all part and parcel of play! We endeavour to dry down dogs as much as is feasible before dropping them home but please be aware that they may not arrive home as clean as they were leaving, so might be best not getting them groomed the night before playgroup!

How will I know if my dog is having a good time?

Each dog will have pictures and/or videos taken of them at play, engaged in training or doing other dog-things whilst out with us. You will be able to see photos and videos of your dog on our social media pages, or sent directly to your phone (via WhatsApp) or email at the end of the day.


We will also let you know how your dog is doing, again via WhatsApp, email or face-to-face at drop-off. We will keep you fully informed on how your dog is coping and if they are enjoying themselves. If we feel that for whatever reason they are unsuited to play group, we will advise further and give you all of the information so you can make the best decisions for your dogs care. We don’t want to keep dogs attending a service that they don’t enjoy; what’s the point?!

It is also incredibly important that you inform us of any behavioural changes, physical issues or other problem that you observe about your dog that is sudden, unusual or different. Changes to sleep patterns, general behaviour and mood, physical mobility or sociability can indicate that your dog may need further veterinary or training support. A dog who isn’t feeling their 100% best may act differently and find it harder to be around their dog and human pals. Just like we keep children out of school when they aren’t feeling great, we may need to keep your dog at home if they aren’t well.


Behaviour changes may also indicate how challenging your dog finds play group. If your dog seems excessively exhausted after attending play group, sleeping for hours upon hours, we may need to assess whether or not they are finding play group too much. Whilst they should need a good sleep after attending, they shouldn’t be so tired that they take themselves off for the rest of the day, sleeping constantly until the next morning. This level of intense rest may indicate that they are trying to recover after a day that they deemed too challenging. This is why it is so important to keep an eye on their behaviour.

Do you accept all breeds?

Yes! We love and accept all breeds of dogs from the biggest to the smallest, provided they fulfill the above criteria. We don't discriminate based on their looks, type or size. (We might need to check if your dog fits in our van if they are giant sized!)


How do dogs travel with you?

We have a fully kitted out dog van, with secure crates so each dog gets their own space. It is safe, secure and with it's two installed fans, will keep dogs cool even on warm summer days.


What are 'meet and greets'?

We offer a free meet and greet in the days prior to your dog coming with us to playgroup. This takes place at your home (or garden) and is to ensure we all get to say hello, swap further information if necessary and to cover what you need ready on their first day for them as they head out the door with us.


How much does play group cost?

Play group costs €30.00 per dog. This is reduced to €50.00 if your dog attends both Monday and Friday mornings. If you have two dogs, please ask us about multi-dog discounts.

We do not operate on bank holiday Mondays or other national holidays such as Christmas Day, St. Patricks Day and Easter.


I think my dog might like play group! How do I book them in?

All you need to do is fill in the booking form and one of the team will give you a call or email to discuss!


Booking form
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