Ben Randall: Ask Country Life’s canine agony uncle a question about your dog

Over the past two years our award-winning dog trainer Ben Randall has been sharing his advice with Country Life readers.

Ben has been working with dogs for decades, honing his BG (Beggarbush) techniques to help people teach their dogs with kindness and understanding. Our own Paula Lester has long been a convert to Ben’s ideas, and her black labrador Nimrod has taken huge strides since they started working together. You can read more about Ben’s dog training philosophy (and Nimrod, too) in this article.

It was back in early 2022 that Ben started sharing his expertise with readers of the Country Life website. Since then he’s covered topics from things many new dog owners encounter right at the start — how to teach a dog to sit, the leave command, how to stop a new puppy crying at night, for example — to things that even seasoned dog people can struggle with. Getting a dog to walk to heel, for example, can be tricky, as can getting a dog to stop barking at the doorbell, or stopping a dog going crazy when delivery people or visitors approach the house.

We’re hugely grateful to the readers who have sent in their queries — and if you have one of your own, please email paws-for-thought@futurenet.com.

Below for reference and inspiration you can find some of Ben’s previous columns; we look forward to hearing more from you.


For more detailed advice about Ben Randall’s positive, reward-based and proven BG training methods, one-to-one training sessions, residential training or five-star dog-boarding at his BGHQ in Herefordshire, telephone 01531 670960 or visit www.ledburylodgekennels.co.uk. For a free seven-day trial of the Gundog app, which costs £24.99 a month or £249.99 a year, visit www.gundog.app/trial 

Ben also has a book, ‘How to Train Your Gundog’, out now. You can order it here at £40.


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