There's a type of dog that most trainers won't touch. The ones with high prey drive - the ones who will chase a squirrel, a rabbit, a crisp packet blowing across the road, completely ignoring everything you're saying. Most people with these dogs are told, in not so many words, to just accept it. Don't let them off the lead. This is just how they are.
Tracey McLennan disagrees.
Based in Scotland and running Best Dog Learning and Stuff Ltd, Tracey has built her whole business around these dogs - and the owners who haven't given up on them. A couple of years ago she turned that work into a membership, and she now has 74 members working with her for twelve months at a time.
"I love to work with people over a longer period of time," she says. "The work I do benefits from spending time on it. It allows me to really get to know the owners and their dogs."
This isn't a course you buy and forget about. It's proper, ongoing training, help and support with someone who genuinely knows her stuff.
What's inside the club
The High Prey Drive Club has two versions. The VIP membership includes a monthly masterclass with a downloadable worksheet, personalised advice through a private members' area, video feedback, and two live coaching calls a month. There's also a lower cost version with the masterclass, the worksheet, and a monthly Q&A session.
Getting the practical stuff right
Early on, keeping track of everything was tricky. Members were sending videos by email, via Facebook Messenger, in the Facebook group - all over the place. Tracey made a decision to consolidate everything into the members' area, mentioned it consistently before and after people joined, and now checks it twice a day Monday to Friday. She also lets members know when she's away so nobody is left wondering where she's got to.
It sounds simple, but having that kind of clear system underneath a membership makes a real difference when you're managing 74 people.
One thing she'd do differently
Offering discounted rates to early joiners. She tried it and wouldn't do it again.
"I feel like it devalued my membership," she says, "and because it lasts for a year, the effects of doing that continue for a long time." Worth knowing before you go down that road.
The moment that says it all
At a recent live event, a former member came back to tell Tracey that the results she'd got during her year in the club were still there - long after she'd left. That's what Tracey is most proud of, and honestly it's not hard to see why.
"My members are working on something that many people believe is impossible," she says. "And they are getting great results."
The membership brings in around £2,000 a month, and Tracey would love to grow the VIP version to 100 members and the lower cost version to 900. She's growing through a free course and email funnel, regular Zoom events, and showing up more on social and email.
🔗 Learn More or Join Tracey’s Membership
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🌐 Website: bestdoglearningandstuff.co.uk
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🐾 Membership: Join The High Prey Drive Club
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📘 Facebook: High Prey Drive Dogs
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📸 Instagram: @train_high_prey_drive_dogs
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