calm & Connected
For gundog guardians building the foundations they actually want.
Nina Fotara KCAI (WG)
Kennel Club Accredited Instructor, Working Gundogs.
15 years working alongside spaniels, retrievers, pointers, setters, HPRs, and rarer gundog breeds and crosses.
🏆 Award Winner 2026 Holistic Gundog Training Specialist of the Year & Canine Behaviour Excellence Award | Pet Products & Services Awards
KCAI (WG) qualified | Currently completing Level 6 Certified Clinical Canine Behaviourist | Creator of the Regulation First Model™
A programme for guardians who want the foundations of calm, connection, and clear communication with their gundog. Built on the Regulation First Model™.
When the foundations underneath everything aren’t quite what you want them to be.
Here is where you learn the foundations of calm, connection, and relationship-based training.
Sometimes the thing that needs work isn’t a specific behaviour at all.
It’s the foundations underneath the relationship. The calm that lets your gundog rest properly at home. The connection that means they actually notice when you speak. The clear communication that helps you understand each other rather than guess at each other. These are the foundations that make everything else possible, and when they’re not yet built, daily life with a gundog feels harder than it should.
You might be here for any of these reasons.
Maybe you’ve brought home a rescue and you’re building the relationship from the start. Maybe your gundog is your first one and you’ve realised, somewhere along the way, that you’ve been working on training without first building the things that make training actually land. Maybe you’ve worked with trainers before and the foundations they taught weren’t quite the foundations you wanted, more obedience than connection, more cues than communication. Maybe your gundog is wonderful, you love each other, and something still feels unsettled underneath it that you can’t quite name.
Whatever brought you here, the situation is the same. The foundations of calm, connection, and clear communication aren’t yet what you want them to be, and you’re ready to build them properly.
Calm & Connected is for exactly that.
If you’re not sure where to begin, that’s exactly the right time to get in touch.
if any of this feels familiar, you’re in the right place.
- Your gundog is wonderful, and something still feels unsettled. You love each other. The bond is there. But there’s a quality of flow between you that isn’t quite present yet, and you can feel its absence even if you couldn’t name it before reading this sentence.
- Your dog struggles to settle. Home life feels busy in a way that doesn’t quieten down. Your gundog finds it hard to switch off, hard to rest properly, hard to be in the same room as you without needing something.
- You’re not sure your dog is really hearing you. Cues seem to bounce off rather than land. Not because your dog is ignoring you, but because the channel of communication between you hasn’t been built in the way it needs to be.
- You’ve brought home a rescue and you’re building from scratch. A dog with a history you don’t fully know, a relationship that’s still forming, and a sense that you want to do this properly this time rather than just train through the issues.
- Previous training didn’t give you what you hoped for. You did the classes. You followed the advice. Your dog learned the cues. But what you got was a dog who responded to commands, not a dog who felt like a partner. That distinction matters, and you’ve felt it ever since.
- You’re aware your gundog has needs you don’t fully understand yet. Their breed, their nervous system, their instincts. You want to learn to read them properly rather than guess.
- You want the relationship to feel different. Not better-behaved, not more obedient. Different. More connected. More understood. More like the partnership you imagined when you brought your dog home.
None of these things mean you’ve done something wrong. They mean you’re ready to build something deeper than most training is designed to give you.
“When a dog feels calm enough to think, learning becomes possible.”
What’s actually happening between you and your gundog
Most training advice starts with the behaviour you want and works backwards. Want a reliable recall? Practise the recall. Want a loose lead? Practise loose lead work. Want a calm dog? Reward calmness when you see it.
That approach can work, in the right circumstances, with the right dog, when the foundations underneath are already in place.
The foundations are where most things actually break down.
When your gundog can’t settle at home, can’t fully hear you, can’t quite engage with the world without becoming overwhelmed by it, the issue isn’t the specific behaviour. It’s the state your dog is in before any behaviour appears. And that state is shaped by something deeper than training. It’s shaped by their nervous system, by their sense of safety, by whether they’ve learned that being with you is a regulating experience rather than a stimulating one.
The same is true for you.
Connection between a guardian and a gundog isn’t built by repeating cues. It’s built in the small everyday moments where your dog learns to look to you, where you learn to read your dog, where the two of you develop a shared rhythm that doesn’t depend on commands. When those moments aren’t yet happening reliably, training feels like work because the foundation underneath it hasn’t been built yet.
Calm & Connected starts where most training programmes assume you’ve already started. It builds the regulation, the trust, the felt sense of partnership that allows everything else to work. The cues, the behaviours, the everyday training, all of it becomes easier when what’s underneath has been built properly.
The Regulation First Model™ is named for exactly this reason. Regulation first. Everything else, after.
Your dog has been communicating all along.
They’re just waiting for you to hear it.
What calm & connected actually does
Calm & Connected is six one-to-one sessions over six weeks, designed to build the foundations of calm, connection, and clear communication between you and your gundog.
The aim isn’t to fix a specific behaviour. It’s to build the regulatory and relational foundations that make every behaviour easier to work with afterwards. The cues you eventually want, the reliability you eventually want, the partnership you eventually want, all of them rest on what we build in these six weeks.
The work moves in three layers, often woven together rather than taught in sequence.
Regulation. We help your gundog learn how to settle, how to switch off, how to find calm in their own body before any cue or behaviour is asked of them. This is the foundation underneath everything else. A dog who can’t regulate can’t learn. A dog who can, can learn anything.
Connection. We build the felt sense of partnership between you and your dog. The small moments of checking in, the natural looking-back-at-you, the shared rhythm that doesn’t depend on commands. This isn’t taught through drills. It’s built through how we are with each other in the work.
Communication. We develop a clear, calm, two-way conversation. Your gundog learns to listen because they want to, not because they have to. You learn to read your dog so you understand what they’re telling you rather than guessing. Cues become part of a dialogue, not a one-way set of instructions.
Within these three layers we bring in the parts of my methodology that match what your specific gundog needs, whether that’s Soft Speak™ for arousal, PAWS™ for impulse, Flow Walking for outdoor connection, or whichever combination of tools works for the dog in front of me.
Six sessions over six weeks gives us enough time to build these foundations properly. Not in a rush. Not as a checklist. As a real shift in how you and your gundog are together.
If you’re not sure where to begin, that’s exactly the right time to get in touch.
What begins to change
The shift in Calm & Connected isn’t usually dramatic. It’s quieter than that, and more meaningful for being quiet.
Things begin to flow between you in ways they didn’t before. You notice your dog noticing you. The walks that used to feel like a series of small negotiations start to feel like time you’re spending together rather than time you’re managing. There’s a softness that wasn’t there before, and once you feel it you realise how much its absence was costing you.
Your gundog begins to settle properly. The constant low-level need for stimulation eases. They can be in a room with you without needing something. Rest happens. Real rest, not the half-attention pause that isn’t really rest.
The communication between you starts to feel like a conversation. You say something and your dog hears you, not because you’ve trained the response but because the channel between you has been built. You watch your dog and you understand what you’re seeing rather than guessing. Misreads happen less. The small moments of shared understanding happen more.
Cues stop feeling like commands. They become part of how you and your dog talk to each other. Sit is no longer a thing you make happen. It’s a thing your dog offers because it makes sense in the moment. The same is true for everything else you teach from this foundation onwards.
Daily life with your gundog starts to feel like the relationship you imagined when you brought them home. Not perfect. Not without difficult days. But connected in a way that holds when difficult days arrive, because the foundations underneath are now built.
“Real training starts with the nervous system, not the cue.”
What’s included
Six one-to-one sessions over six weeks, paced to suit you and your dog Private sessions held at my fully fenced venue in Purleigh or in real-world locations, depending on what your gundog is ready for and where the work needs to happen. The pace is set by what your dog is showing me, not by a fixed weekly schedule.
Written guidance after every session A clear write-up after each session covering what we worked on and what to focus on between sessions. No relying on memory, no trying to remember what I said three days later.
Access to the Calm & Connected library A library of videos and PDFs covering the foundations work, available to you to refer back to whenever you need it. The work doesn’t stop when our session ends, and neither does your access to the material.
Between-session support throughout the live programme Phone, email, or WhatsApp support during the six weeks, so you’re not stuck waiting for the next session when something comes up. If you’ve had a difficult walk, a confusing moment, or a question that can’t wait, you can reach me.
Two months of follow-on support after the live sessions end The work doesn’t stop when our six weeks finish. You’ll have my ongoing support for two months afterwards as you continue to apply what we’ve built together. The foundations we’ve laid don’t need to be carried alone.
Access to the Holistic Dog® community A private community of guardians on the same journey, sharing wins and difficult weeks alongside you. A proper supported space rather than an unmoderated group.
The Regulation First Model™ applied to the foundations The methodology that runs through everything I do, applied here to the calm, connection, and clear communication that make every future piece of work easier.
Training doesn’t begin with behaviour. It begins with regulation.
Who Calm & Connected is for
Calm & Connected is the right starting point if any of the following sounds like the situation you’re in with your gundog:
- You’ve brought home a rescue gundog and you’re building the relationship from the start. A new dog, a history you don’t fully know, and a desire to build the foundations properly this time rather than rush into training before you’ve understood each other.
- Your gundog is your first one and you want to build the right foundations. You didn’t know what you didn’t know when you started. Now you do, and you want to build the foundations you wish you’d started with.
- You’ve done previous training and it didn’t give you what you hoped for. Your dog learned the cues. The classes ticked along. But you wanted a partnership and what you got was an obedience routine, and that gap has stayed with you.
- Your gundog is wonderful and something still feels unsettled underneath. You love each other. The bond is there. But the flow you imagined isn’t quite there yet, and you’ve decided it’s worth doing the work to find it.
- Your dog struggles to settle and you want to help them properly rest. Home life feels constantly busy. Your gundog finds switching off difficult. You want them to learn how to rest, and you want to learn how to support that.
- You want to learn to read your gundog rather than guess. Their breed, their nervous system, their instincts. The way to deeper connection isn’t more obedience training. It’s understanding the dog in front of you well enough that the partnership can actually grow.
If you’re not sure whether Calm & Connected is the right starting point for your situation, that’s what the Consult and Pathway Plan session is for. You don’t have to work it out alone before we speak.
“When your dog can’t relax, neither can you, and that takes a toll no one else sees.”
Here’s one guardian’s experience of working with me, in her own words.
“We have been working with Nina with our rescue GSP Nancy from Cyprus for the last few months and she has really helped all of us with her kindness, understanding of these breeds (and their prey drive) and her flexibility in every session, encouraging our dog to progress whilst also going at her pace. We completed a programme with her and would really recommend it. Nancy takes a while to warm up to people but she quickly came to love Nina (and her pâté!)”
— Lucy Hoare, Gundog Programme
Lucy’s story isn’t a guarantee, but it isn’t a one-off. This work, done properly, lands.
Training doesn’t begin with behaviour.
It begins with regulation.
Your First Step
If Calm & Connected sounds like the foundations work you want to do with your gundog, the first step isn’t signing up for the programme. It’s having a chat.
The first chat is free, with nothing to commit to and nothing to pay. We talk about your dog, what’s going on for you both, and what you want to build together. Afterwards I’ll send you full PDFs of all three adult programmes with pricing and exactly what’s included, so you can read everything properly in your own time.
From there, if you’d like to move forward, the next step is a one-hour Consult and Pathway Plan session at my fully fenced venue in Purleigh, currently £140. I’ll meet your dog properly, see what’s actually going on, and give you a written write-up with actionable guidance you can start using straight away. After the session we’ll talk through what I’d recommend, what you’re thinking, and how you’d like to move forward together.
You’re free to choose what feels right, including a different programme from the one I’ve suggested, or to take the plan and work with the information yourself. The hour is yours either way.
If you’re not sure where to begin, that’s exactly the right time to get in touch.
“You’re not here to fix your dog. You’re here to build a relationship with them. Calm & Connected is for exactly that.”
Results Disclaimer:
Our programs are intended to help you train your dog, training your dog takes a normal, expected amount of work and discipline just like any worthwhile endeavour. Please don’t enrol in one of our programs if you believe in “magic solutions and results without work”. Only serious people dedicated to helping their dogs move forward, whatever the reason, need apply. We cannot and do not guarantee your ability to get results with our training, ideas, information, tools or strategies. Nothing on this page, any of our websites, or any of our content or curriculum is a promise or guarantee of specific results. No results or examples mentioned by us or our students should be expected as definite for you and your dog. You alone are responsible and accountable for your decisions, actions and results in life, and by your registration with us, you agree not to attempt to hold us liable for your decisions, actions or results, at any time, under any circumstance.