Become A Guild Trainer
Teach gundog work to a national standard
The Guild Instructor Pathway offers a clear, practical and structured route into gundog teaching. It includes six days of in person training, delivered across a series of training blocks, supported by online learning, coaching and work between sessions. Training takes place in small groups and is open to established dog professionals developing a gundog specialism, as well as experienced handlers moving into teaching for the first time.
Who it is for, and who it is not
The pathway is open to two kinds of applicant.
Established dog professionals who want to build a serious gundog specialism, grow a loyal client base and take owners beyond a six week course through a clear pathway of progressive grades.
And experienced gundog handlers who are not yet teaching for a living but who have the ability, the dog and the temperament to move into it. The person others already come to for advice, ready to make it official.
It is not for anyone after a badge to print without doing the work. Every Guild instructor earns their licence, and is assessed against the same standard they will go on to teach.
Two things keep the standard honest at intake. First, you need to be training your own dog to Guild Grade 4 Advanced or equivalent before you enrol. That ensures the cohort can move at pace together. Second, entry is by a call. We talk through your experience, watch some video of you handling if it helps, and make sure the fit is right before you commit. This is not a course anyone can simply buy their way onto.
The problem, and what it costs you
Spaniels, retrievers, HPRs and gundog crosses are in pet homes on every street, and most of their owners are fighting the same things. Pulling, no recall, chasing, no steadiness, a dog that cannot settle. They are looking for someone who understands what their dog was bred to do, and they often cannot find them.
If you are an established trainer, meeting that demand means building your own gundog offer from scratch. Writing the curriculum, setting the standards, designing assessments, working out the progression, the handouts and the marketing. That can mean months of unpaid work, with no established framework or supporting brand behind the offer.
If you are an experienced handler ready to step into teaching, the problem is different. You know the work. You can see how many local owners need help. But turning what you know into a proper teaching role, with structure, standards and something to offer beyond your own opinion, is a wall most people never quite climb over.
The transformation
With the Guild, you teach a pathway that already exists and already works. You get licensed for the levels you are ready for, start delivering structured classes quickly, and build from there. Your diary fills with clients who progress through grades rather than drifting off after a six-week block. You have a clear specialism and a standard that owners recognise, whether you are adding gundog work to an existing training business or building one from scratch with a Guild licence and an established framework behind you.
The approach, and why it works
The Guild approach combines kind, ethical training with clear expectations, fair boundaries and consistent standards. Dogs are never trained through force or fear, but behaviour that needs to change is not ignored. Training takes place on real ground with genuine distractions, because that is where skills must hold up.
You are not simply handed content. You are trained to teach it to the Guild standard and assessed before you are licensed. So what you deliver actually holds up in the field.
Take the next step
What you get
Client Review
Training alongside Nikki for the past 4 years has had a lasting impact on both my own dogs and the way I work with clients dogs. The gundog skills and concepts she’s taught me have become an integral part of my training and I regularly use them to help dogs build confidence, improve recall, develop engagement and overcome challenges such as reactivity and over-arousal.
The skills and concepts she teaches aren’t just for gundogs—they’ve become an invaluable part of my everyday training toolkit. I’ve used them successfully with pet dogs of all breeds to improve recall, build engagement and encourage calmness. The practical exercises are easy for owners and handlers to understand and more importantly, they produce real, lasting results.
As a professional dog trainer accredited with IMDT, I regularly incorporate these techniques into my own training sessions because I’ve seen first-hand how effective they are. Whether I’m working with a pet gundog or a family companion, the foundations I learnt through Nikki’s gundog classes continue to benefit both the dogs and their owners.
If you’re looking to develop practical, ethical training skills that translate into everyday life—not just the shooting field—I couldn’t recommend Nikki’s Gundog Training classes more highly. Nicole Watson IMDT ‘Bea Pawsitive’
Video Testimonials
The founding cohort
The first cohort will launch in early 2027, at a founding rate for those who want to be among the first licensed to deliver the Guild pathway and the first listed in their area on the directory. Places are deliberately limited to keep the training personal, and a handful of places are already spoken for from interested applicants in the UK, Netherlands and Belgium.
Future intakes move to standard pricing. The next full cohort runs from June 2027.
What you might be wondering
No. The pathway is open to two kinds of applicant: established dog professionals adding gundog work as a specialism, and experienced gundog handlers moving into teaching for the first time. Both need to be training their own dog to Guild Grade 4 Advanced or equivalent, and both go through the same vetting call before enrolment. The programme itself, and the standard behind it, are the same.
You need to be training your own dog to Guild Grade 4 Advanced or equivalent before enrolling. That is the primary way we keep the standard honest at intake, alongside the entry call.
Hybrid. In-person practical days for the handling, teaching and assessment work, with remote content blocks in between so the programme suits UK and international applicants.
Both. If you already run a training business, the Guild pathway adds a clear gundog specialism and gives clients a structured route through the grades, encouraging them to keep progressing. It complements the services you already offer rather than replacing them. If you are starting from scratch, your Guild licence, directory listing, launch support and ready made marketing materials give you a professional framework from which to build your business.
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