Lauren Langman

Lauren Langman is one of the UK’s leading experts in dog training and care. Her company Devon Dogs offers a comprehensive range of canine care services including a wide array of training classes at her state-of-the-art dog facility named Bowerland, online training materials and courses, and programs to become a dog trainer. She is also the founder of A-OK9, a dog supplement company.

Lauren’s passion for dogs started at an early age, and by the time she was studying at university she had already begun offering dog training sessions on weekends out of her back garden. During that time she honed what has become her signature methodology in dog training, focusing on games and prioritising enjoyment for both the dogs and their owners. Lauren’s methods emphasise that while everybody will have their own unique challenges when it comes to dog training, moving through the process with optimism and a positive mindset will invariably bring about the best result.

Today, Lauren has headquartered herself at East Bowerland Farm in Okehampton, Devon. Featured on the popular television show “Relocation, Relocation,” she purchased the abandoned commercial property and renovated it to become an extensive facility with a 70-metre Astroturfed area amongst other amenities. Also built on the property are a number of cottages that are offered as rustic and cosy dwellings for dog training-focused retreats.

Beyond her role at Devon Dogs, Lauren has made a significant impact on the canine community. She has co-hosted a dog training podcast, written four books on dog training strategy, and developed a number of dog behaviour courses, videos, and resources. She operates an online shop offering natural A-OK9 nutritional supplements, and will often serve as a consultant in dog training for organisations such as the UK Police’s K-9 unit.

What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?

A typical day would start with doing my very best to get up super early. I normally start around five to six and from there it’s: taking care of the dogs, ponies, goats, chickens, and sheep, exercising, drinking lots of water, and reaching out to lots of different people. I like to try and ensure there’s no roadblocks as much as I can, making sure that everyone has what they need, and staying very active and busy throughout the day.

I will sometimes be on-site at our facility, so dog training and being hands-on with people and dogs. On any given day I may be working in a different aspect of the business, whether that be with our holiday cottage guests, dog owners, and some days I’m on the computer a lot. For me, being on the computer is probably when I feel my least productive, and working hands-on with people is when I feel most productive.

Later in the day, I try to always pick up my daughter from school, and make an effort to put my calls in when she’s busy so I can spend as much time as possible with her. I also definitely get in some exercise for my dogs, if I get a chance either in the water treadmill or the swimming pool.

For me, being productive is all about net time. So, you know, I might be chatting on the phone while getting in a good stretch – killing two birds with one stone, no extra time needed. I try to do a level of multitasking where possible.

How do you bring ideas to life?

I have an amazing team, and I know I can count on them to take things and run with them. For example, I’ve got an idea I’m really excited about, and I have no doubt in my mind that we have the ability to bring it to life, it just needs someone to champion it. I’m also so proud of the recent launch of our new line of supplements for dogs, and the success of these projects is all because of the hard work and dedication of our team. Ideas are flowing freely, but it’s the people who can execute them that matter.

What’s one trend that excites you?

Healthy feeding for dogs, and healthy lifestyles for people. Supplements, and looking after yourself, and longevity and wellness all really excite me. Whether it’s for dogs, people, or rather all animals, really. I like the idea of longevity and wellness.

What is one habit that helps you be productive?

I think getting up early really helps me to be productive. The earlier I’m up in the morning, the more I can get done. I think I’m the type to get stuff done right away, not leave it until like 6 o’clock at night. I actually really enjoyed the time I recently spent in America because it felt like my evenings were more free compared with back home where my evenings are often busy because every other time zone works into that time zone. In America it was really nice, because by about 6 o’clock no one needed me, which was lovely. Either way, getting up early is how I best ensure I have a productive day.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Delegate effectively, and have systems in place to follow up. Equally though, have as many adventures as you can, and never feel guilty for them; you will never regret having them. So take all of the adventures and enjoy them, and try and add as many in as you can to your day.

Tell us something you believe almost nobody agrees with you on?

I truly believe if you really set your mind to something, anyone can do anything, and I feel that a lot of people don’t truly believe that for themselves. So for me, if I’ve got a really strong intention, I know I can make it happen and I know it will happen, but a lot of people I don’t think have that strong intention. So I can believe someone else will be able to do something, but until they believe themselves it doesn’t come to fruition. I really believe I’m very good at creating a strong mindset and focus in that regard, and I can also believe that for other people, but they often don’t believe that for themselves.

What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?

I drink more water, drink more water, drink more water. I think that water drinking and finding a way to drink more water and stay hydrated is massive. Again, while I was recently travelling in the U.S. I found it really hard because I didn’t like the water. I’m really fussy about water, but you’ve got to find water that you like drinking, and then make it a habit. So that’s a really, really good habit, and an easy one that serves you well. And on that note, I’m going to drink more water.

When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?

Take a walk. So if I can get outside, take a walk, go somewhere else, change my scenario or scenery, or whatever I’m doing. Stand up, move, turn the music on, but definitely don’t stay sat still.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?

Probably taking on staff and having a team, I think, is really big, because you can suddenly do so much more when you’ve got a team. It can come to a point where you’ve made your team too big and you need to scale back – there’s really a critical point – but I do feel like having a great team on hand is really important, and I think that’s massively helped.

The second probably is having a great venue. The move to having a brilliant venue changed everything, it was a big game changer to have a great space to teach in. Those two things have been mega for us and having the right place to grow.

What is one failure in your career,  how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?

I think it would be probably knowing how to respond in a crisis, or in a situation where you might not have seen something coming. So you’ve become completely overwhelmed. You might be flighty, or you might try and run away from something, or you might just try and safeguard yourself.

I actually think the thing that I learned most importantly from being in any sort of crisis would be to have really good confidence in people that you can talk to, like sitting on the shoulder of giants. People who’ve been through life a little bit before and bringing them in quite early on. So you’ve got someone that you can chat something through with equally. What you need is someone who can help you navigate through something that maybe can be easily pulled out of context. I think it’s really important to have something like a panel or advisory board, advisors who are really life-schooled. I’ve got one person in mind who I feel has got a very good life grounding which for me is very important.

The second thing is to take your time. Be patient, don’t rush. Because my nature is very, very fast paced I will want to immediately try and respond to everything, but actually you must take your time because in a crisis how you respond is really, really important. People can take things out of context very easily, so rather than rushing into responding to something, you probably need to do the exact opposite and observe it and decide more carefully. If you rush, things can get taken in completely the wrong way, but my nature is such that I find it very hard not to. So that would probably be my biggest fail, being too reactive, being too fast-paced and actually working out how to slow down.

What is one business idea you’re willing to give away to our readers?

I think the biggest business idea I’d give to anyone is, don’t be afraid to give away. Think things for free, whether it’s your time, whether it’s your knowledge, resources, a sample — I think you should give things for free. We have huge amounts of free resources with Absolute Dogs. Initially, you may think that when you’re giving away lots for free, that people wouldn’t then come to you for more learning, but actually for me I think the more you give for free, the more you get back and you get back tenfold. So don’t be afraid to give stuff away, give it away freely and then they will come for more.

What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?

I’m the most awful person to ask a question like this. I’m not very organised, so I would love advice on this question. I hate tech. I struggle on tech. I think the biggest thing for me is having a really good team who have the skills that you don’t. So often I lean on people, like I have a brilliant PA, that can manage tech for me.

Do you have a favorite book or podcast you’ve gotten a ton of value from and why?

I think Brené Brown would come quite high up there, and Tony Robbins would be high up there for me as well. I also have a great friend that has a lovely podcast on women and vulnerability. I love the idea of empowering women in business and women in society. I think there’s a lot of women who don’t get to where they should be just because of society, and I feel that there’s still a lot to be said for celebrating women in business, and women in life really.

There’s also a dog training podcast that I quite like. They swear a lot and they’re really rude, and they probably don’t even align with where we train., but I really like how honest they are. I really like how real and how hard some of the things hit home for me when they’re talking about dogs, dog training, and dog ownership. All of those would stand out to me.

What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?

I would never have expected to like Beckham, but I thought it was absolutely brilliant in a sense that he’d been through adversity, and he turned it from someone who was involved in football to actually realising this is his whole life, his whole passion. The level of public support and hate, all in the same sort of period, like how we can go through the ups and downs of being what he is and what he isn’t—I really would not have expected to like it.

Probably something that’s more aligned to me that I really liked, and I expected to love was Clarkson’s Farm. I just thought that was brilliant. I thought that it was just like living here. I just found it really funny, and because you could just imagine the same scenarios. Living and running a business in Devon definitely has its ups and downs—we’re in a very remote space, so I could relate to a lot of what Jeremy Clarkson was going through. So I loved Clarkson’s Farm, and I expected to love it. I loved Beckham, and I expected to hate it. So I liked both of them for different reasons.

Key learnings

• Being productive is all about net time.
• Take a walk!
• Never underestimate the power of an adventure!