In Person Sighthound Skills Course

Insight to make the Difference

Training a sighthound can feel confusing, especially when generic advice doesn’t quite fit. Many people come to this course knowing their dog is wonderful, but feeling unsure how to support them in a way that actually works in everyday life.

The Sighthound Skills course is designed to help you understand your sighthound better and build practical, real-life skills that fit sighthound life.

This course runs across a mix of in-person sessions and two live online sessions, giving you both hands-on support and a deeper understanding of the why behind what you’re doing.

Ready to join Our In Person Sighthound Skills?

Book here for In Person Sighthound Skills

If any of these sound familiar…

  • You’ve just welcomed your first sighthound and want to get it right

  • You sometimes feel unsure whether you’re doing the right thing

  • Generic training advice hasn’t quite fitted your sighthound.

  • You’ve found yourself thinking “this sighthound feels different to my others, and I’m not quite sure what to do”

  • You want practical skills but also want to understand the why behind them

  • You enjoy learning and want a way to spend quality time with your sighthound.

  • You’re experiencing training challenges that feel inconsistent or unclear

  • Your dog seems to understand sometimes, but things don’t always translate to everyday life

  • You want to feel more confident, more knowledgeable, and more secure in the choices you make

    If any of these sound like you, are not alone. The Sighthounds Skills Course is designed to help.

    I designed the course after experiencing many of these challenges myself with my own sighthounds, and realising how valuable it is to have guidance that fits the dog in front of you.

What this course is really about

Sighthound Skills is about giving you the skills, understanding, and confidence to support your dog properly as an individual.

It’s designed to help training make sense, not just in a session, but in everyday life. Rather than following a fixed set of instructions, the focus is on understanding what’s going on for your sighthound and knowing how to adapt what you’re doing so it fits the dog in front of you.

By the end of the course, the aim is that you feel clearer about what you’re doing and why. You’ll understand your dog’s behaviour, why certain approaches may not have worked before, and how to adjust things so training starts to feel more achievable and more relevant to real life.

This course is about building a toolkit of skills and knowledge you can keep coming back to, so you feel informed, confident, and supported as you live and learn alongside your sighthound.

Two people with black greyhounds in a training room with purple carpet, holding leashes, engaged in activities with their dogs.

Angie, Nigel, Roxy and Duke

“Insight Hounds isn’t just about training—it’s about strengthening your bond and enjoying time with your sighthound in a friendly, supportive space.”

What we’ll cover

Sighthound Skills combines practical, real-life training skills with the understanding needed to use them well.

Core areas we cover include:

  • Settle training and helping your dog switch off

  • Building confidence around novelty objects and new situations

  • Connection and engagement skills, including focus and check-ins

  • Recall foundations, tailored to sighthounds and real-life safety

  • An “off” cue for helping a sighthound get up and ready to go

  • Dog detective games to discover what really motivates your dog

  • Developing good timing and effective reward placement

  • Understanding sighthound body language and subtle signals

  • Breed traits, and how to work with them rather than against them

  • How emotions affect behaviour, thresholds, and learning

  • Setting training up for success through environment, pace, and realistic expectations

These skills are flexible and adaptable. You’ll learn how to scale them up or down depending on your dog, your environment, and what you’re working on at the time.

How it works in Practice

Sighthound Skills is delivered through a combination of in-person sessions and online sessions, each with a clear purpose.

The in-person sessions focus on hands-on practice and real-life skills based at Shustoke Village Hall, B46 2AX.
The online sessions via zoom focus on building understanding, so the practical work feels clearer and easier to apply.

Together, they’re designed to support both you and your dog in a way that feels realistic and supportive

The In Person Sessions
Practical, supportive, and designed for real life.

Across the in-person sessions, we work on practical skills such as:

  • Settling skills

  • Focus and connection games for everyday life and walks

  • Enrichment ideas you can use at home

  • Building confidence around novelty and new objects

  • Dog detective games, helping you understand what motivates your individual dog

  • Ramp training, introduced carefully and at your dog’s pace

  • Foundations of recall

  • The “off” cue, which many people find surprisingly helpful day to day

Group sizes are kept small, and everything is adapted to the dogs in the room. While this is group training, guidance is tailored as much as possible to the individual dogs and people taking part.

We also supply tea, coffee and cakes for you.

The online sessions
Understanding the why

The two online sessions focus on building understanding, so the practical skills are easier to apply and adapt.

During these live, interactive Zoom sessions, we look at:

  • Sighthound body language and communication

  • How emotions affect behaviour and learning

  • How sighthounds learn, and how this can look different from other breeds

  • Breed traits and how to work with them

  • How motivation affects learning

Interested but can’t make all of the dates?

If you can make most of the dates but know there’s one session you can’t attend, please get in touch. Where possible, we’ll look at ways to support you.

Anjella, Tony and Baby

“We joined the Introduction Course for recall help and ended up loving it so much that we now attend weekly—Baby’s training (and our confidence) has grown so much!”

A woman in a black vest and pink sweater with a heart pattern stands next to a greyhound lying on a raised dog bed with a pink cover. The dog is wearing a black harness. They are in a room with a blue carpet and white walls, featuring a crest or emblem on the wall.

Sighthound Skills Course - With Insight to Make the Difference.

Dates and Details

  • Black dog on a leash walking on a path with trees in the background

    Next Sighthound Skills In Person Course Starts Friday 6th February at 6pm

    You’ll have:

    • 4 in person sessions in the Hall
    • 2 Online sessions where we look at understanding to make the difference to your sighthound.

    Next In Person Sighthound Skills course Starts Friday 6th February at 6pm

    The course dates are:

    All Friday sessions are in person at Shustoke Village Hall , B46 1SQ.
    All Thursday sessions are live online via Zoom.

    The course dates are:

    • Friday 6th February 2026 at 6.00pm
    • Friday 13th February 2026 at 6.00pm
    • Thursday 19th February 2026 at 7.15pm
    • Friday 27th February 2026 at 6.00pm
    • Thursday 5th March 2026 at 7.15pm
    • Friday 13th March 2026 at 6.00pm

    The cost is £147 for the course.

    Places are limited to keep group sizes small and support personal.

    Book your place here

Ready to join Our In Person Sighthound Skills?

Book here for In Person Sighthound Skills

  • This course is suitable for sighthounds of all ages, from young dogs to seniors.

    Dogs are never too old to learn, and everything is adapted to suit the individual dog..

  • Get in touch. If we know in advance we can normally make adaptation at the time of booking to make it work for you. clare@insighthounds.co.uk

  • The training hub is an online space where all course materials are stored.

    This includes:

    • Recordings of the live sessions

    • Practical demonstration videos for the skills we cover

    It means you can watch sessions back if you miss one, watch practical demonstration

  • All live sessions are delivered via Zoom.

    You can join using the Zoom app or directly through your desktop browser. You don’t need to be particularly tech-savvy to take part.

    If you do have any questions or concerns about accessing Zoom, you’re very welcome to get in touch and I’ll help you.

    You can contact me at clare@insighthounds.co.uk.

  • If there’s anything you’re unsure about, or if something hasn’t been answered here, you’re very welcome to get in touch.

    You can email me at clare@insighthounds.co.uk, and I’ll be happy to help you decide whether the course is the right fit for you and your dog.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sara, Matty and River

“We were out of ideas with our lurcher’s recall until Clare helped us find the right strategies—now we have a clear plan that works!”

Lurcher / saluki / cross lying on grass with clover flowers, wearing a harness, in a natural outdoor setting.

Hi - I’m Clare

Here at Insight Hounds, we work with all sighthounds, specialising in ex-racing greyhounds. Many of the dogs I work with are adopted, each with their own history, personality, and needs. Whether your sighthound is newly adopted or has been part of your family for years, I’m here to help you build confidence, communication, and connection together.

I started Insight Hounds because I know firsthand how incredible, sensitive, and unique these dogs are. Sighthounds don’t fit into a one-size-fits-all approach to training, they think differently, learn differently, and need training that truly understands them.

My goal is to help families understand, communicate, and connect with their sighthounds using kind, science-based training that builds confidence for both dogs and humans. Whether it’s helping an ex-racer settle into home life, working on recall, loose lead walking, or confidence-building, I tailor training to your dog’s needs and your lifestyle.

No sighthound is ever too old to learn. Whether it’s your first or your fourteenth, every dog is unique, and we’re here to help every step of the way.

📍 Based in Shustoke, UK, with in-person and online training options.

  • Sighthound Skills Course - With Insight to Make a Difference

    Next Sighthound Skills Online course Starts Friday 6th February at 6pm

    The course is:

    • A mix of in person and online
    • Designed specifically for sighthounds
    • Supportive, practical, and science-based

    The cost is £147 for the course.

    Book Here