Dog Training in Livingston & West Lothian

You should not have to drive into the city and sit in a church hall with eight other dogs to get help. Family First Canine works one-to-one, in and around your own home and on the walks you actually do — your street, the local park, the towpath and the shared paths that run between Livingston’s neighbourhoods.

That matters more than it sounds. A dog who behaves beautifully in a training hall and then loses the plot the moment a collie appears on the path has not really learned anything useful. Training in the places you go is what makes it stick.

Sessions are available across West Lothian — Livingston, Linlithgow, Bathgate, Broxburn and the surrounding villages — as well as Midlothian, East Lothian and Edinburgh itself. If you are not sure whether you are in range, get in touch and ask; we cover most of the region.

Scott Blair is the founder of Family First Canine. His dogs have earned Best Puppy in Breed at Crufts 2020 and 1st Post Graduate Dog & Reserve CC at Crufts 2022, alongside a background in IGP and personal protection work.

That depth of experience matters just as much for a family pet in Livingston as it does for a competition dog: it means your dog is read, understood and taught by someone who has produced dogs at the very highest level.

For everyday manners — lead walking, recall, settling — start with obedience training. If your dog is still very young, puppy training builds the foundations that make everything after it easier.

If the difficulty is lunging, barking or aggression toward other dogs or people, reactive and aggressive dog training deals with the underlying emotion first. And if you are looking for a trained family or personal protection dog, that is handled separately and to a much higher standard of obedience.

If you are east of the city instead, we also cover Musselburgh and East Lothian.