I am David Alcorn, and I run Rapport Show Dog Training. 

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An experienced show dog handler, dog trainer, and behavioural advisor, I have over 20 years experience of working with dogs of all shapes, sizes and backgrounds.

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As a dog owner...

I have owned a variety of breeds of gundog, which I have shown with tremendous success. Alongside this I have also competed in obedience and dabbled in the sidelines of agility and flyball. 

At the moment I own Gordon Setters, Weimaraners, Irish Setters, Border Terriers and a Whippet. As we as having owned and bred a number of Show Champions across the breeds, I also owned the joint breed recording holding Gordon Setter who has 48CC's, and was the top winning gundog (across all of the gundog breeds) in the UK in 2017 - the famous Sh Ch Lourdace Fulcrum, and the current top winning Weimaraner Sh Ch Gunalt Hendricks who was the UK's top winning gundog (across all of the gundog breeds) in the UK in 2022.

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As a dog handler...

I have experience of handling a huge number of breeds across nearly all of the groups. I have had the pleasure of showing a great number of dogs to win CC's, championship show groups, best in shows, and many top awards. To date I have won over 150 CC's with a number of dogs of my own as well as those owned by other people.  The group winners I have handled include Gordon Setters, Pointers, Weimaraners and Welsh Springer Spaniels. 

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From the beginning...

I started off owning a labrador, and when I was 12 I competed him in obedience at local (with varied success, I might add!). He did gain places in competitions, won an Obedience Club Championship, and more than anything taught me a lot about dogs and introduced me to the wonderful world of owning and competing with dogs. Through this initial interest, I attended training days and educational courses all across the country, run by the likes of the APDT and the APBC, to learn more about dog training and dog behaviour. This early training has given me valuable experience when it comes to training show dogs today! 

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I set up basic obedience, manners, and socialisation classes, and also run puppy classes for early training and socialisation of puppies, which were hugely successful. I became a member of - and ultimately and assessor for - the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, in Scotland. Alongside this I volunteered at NCDL (now Dogs Trust) West Calder and Dumfries (the latter now, sadly, closed), working with all sorts of behavioural challenges with rescue dogs. 

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As my interest in pedigree dogs increased, my interest in dog showing increased, and as such obedience and training classes had to take a side-line so I could focus on showing - and ultimately breeding - my pedigree dogs.

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My interest in showdogs spiralled and, to cut a long story short, they have almost taken over my life completely!  I have had the joy of sharing my life with some wonderful showdogs who have not only won a lot, but more importantly taught me a lot. I have bred show champions, here and abroad, and I am also the proud breeder of only the second Weimaraner bred in the UK to have returned to their "homeland" of Germany and gained the VDH German Champion title (VDH/Pol/Int Ch Rutilus Oliver Sudden, who also holds hunting qualifications).

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My groundwork in dog behaviour, coupled with experience of showing dogs of a number of breeds, gives me the ability to confidently offer show dog training help for all breeds, in all groups.