About Me
I can tell you a bit about my background, which is important in making an informed decision about choosing the right trainer to work with.
I have a BSc (Hons) degree in Animal Behaviour and Welfare.
My interest in dog training started as a child I was also fortunate enough to have persuaded my parents to let me have a dog, what we didn't realise until we got our new puppy home, was that she was actually completely deaf. She responded very well to sign language and learnt many different signs.
Following university I joined Dogs for Good, where I trained young dogs to support people with physical disabilities. This included teaching the dogs a range of tasks such as retrieve, targeting, walking well next to mobility aids in a many different places, recall and working through any behaviours that were problematic.
I then progressed to becoming an instructor working with many parents of autistic children and their family dog(s) through running workshops and providing ongoing support. The emphasis was on teaching families about dog behaviour, their communication, how to manage dog and child interactions to ensure they were safe and enjoyable for everyone, the importance of positive reward training and building relationships.
Working with families taught me a lot about behaviour, communication and therapy. After 8 years I decided to pursue my interest in therapy and worked as a therapy assistant for 3 years for a local authority, supporting children with disabilities.
I am a provisional member of the Association of Pet Behaviour Councellors (APBC), provisional members are individuals who have achieved specific academic accreditation to degree level or higher and are able to conduct behaviour consultations but have not yet achieved the requisite experience to become full members.
I regularly attend seminars, conferences, workshops, training days etc to build on my skills, knowledge and to ensure training methods are up to date with current thinking. The dog training and behaviour world is always advancing and staying up to speed with it is important, to see what training I have attended click here.
I am part of a collection of qualified professionals (including a holistic groomer, physio, myotherapist, vet nurse and behaviourists) that have set up a support village for owners called 'Succeeding Together'. There is a private FB group that we monitor and reply with advice on (everything is written from the dog's perspective) and we hold weekly Q and As (not via Facebook) so there is plenty of individual help and advice available.
It is important that you feel confident in your trainer’s abilities. Please read more of the website and see if it resonates with you, if it doesn’t then do keep up the search for the right person to work with. The training industry is currently unregulated, with lots of trainers proclaiming all sorts of qualifications and using, in some cases, shocking and dangerous training methods.
