Dog trainers to the stars scoop national award
PLATINUM K9’S ‘HOME AWAY FROM HOME’ FOR CELEBRITIES’ PETS
A NOTTINGHAMSHIRE dog training business – popular with celebrities, like the England rugby union captain Jamie George and The Saturdays star Frankie Bridge – has won an award.
Platinum K9 in Southwell has won a national award for its residential dog training services.
Services include the team’s trainers using their expertise to work with aggressive and reactive dogs and helping the pets with obedience and companion dog training, which is tailored to each individual dog.
The business won the Exceptional Pet Trainer for 2024 in the Pet and Animal Care Awards, which is part of Business Awards UK.
The business was set up in 2017 by John Gardner and Ben Luton, who are thrilled by the award.
Ben said: “It’s brilliant because we have been working a long time towards it and when we set the business up in 2019 we wanted to strive for excellence.
“I think it shows that we must give people confidence, which is the biggest thing, and all the dogs that come to us, we treat them like our own. We try and treat every single client, whether they are a footballer or rugby player or singer, the same way, but it’s nice to work with people that you would go and watch at a concert or play at Twickenham.”
Although based in Southwell, the team helps owners and their dogs from all over the country. This includes Frankie Bridge, best known for being in The Saturdays and on the Loose Women panel, and her husband, former footballer Wayne Bridge.
Frankie had been struggling with her two dogs, Turbo and Leia, and explained that it was difficult to take them on walks as they were barking at other people and dogs, and not listening to their owners.
Opening up about the experience in a video, Frankie stated she “couldn’t be happier” with the trainben
ing. She explained they were looked after and got regular updates over the four weeks, and the animals came back “like different dogs”.
Recently the team has also worked with comedian Romesh Ranganathan and his dogs Reggie and Ivy, who had six weeks of residential training.
In a video on the business’s Facebook page, Romesh says he was “really really impressed” with the service, and that the team was “very well equipped”.
“The whole experience has felt very, very premium. We were expecting a lot but it was even over and above what we were expecting.”
Ben explained that the pair created the business after seeing a gap in the market, and really wanted to create somewhere that was “a home away from home” for the dogs. added that one of their key strengths was the handover between trainers and families at the end of the training, as this usually takes at least half a day and is incredibly detailed. This is because the staff want to ensure that owners understand all of the training received by their dog, and how to continue with progress going forward once they take their pets back home, he said.
We try and treat every single client, whether they are a footballer or rugby player or singer, the same way Ben Luton