My Story....

At the age of 21 I started working at ‘Pets & Gardens’ in Haslemere, Surrey. I worked here for 4 glorious years.

In 1996 I started Petwatch – taking care of your Pets when you can’t.

I started part time at Brinsbury Agricultural College in September 1996 studying Dog Grooming every Tuesday & staying on in the evening to study my first Canine Management course tutored by Harry Carter.

This was the beginning of years of study in to Canine Behaviour & Training with the very best of teachers within the modern & forward thinking professional canine & animal world.

I began assisting in classes with C C Guard in Midhurst in 2002 & also joined in with Puck my Duck Tolling Retriever.

I went on introductory courses with the APDT and it was through the APDT that I learnt about COAPE (Centre of Applied Pet Ethology) tutored by Professor Peter Neville, Sarah Whitehead, Val Strong & Robert Falconer.

I feel honoured to be part of such a forward thinking group of Animal Behaviour Consultants. I have worked through COAPE's education courses & am a Level 5 COAPE Practitioner & Trainer.

I have been assessed by the APDT (Association of Pet Dog Trainers). I have met a high standard of teaching skills and a strong understanding of how dogs learn.

I am a CBATI – Certified Behaviour Adjustment Training Instructor – qualifying under stringent & multiple tasks. Grisha Stewart is the founder of BAT and is an amazing inspiration to the modern forward thinking Science based dog training & animal world.

I am also proud to have worked with Sarah Whitehead at ‘The Clever Dog Company’ based in Windsor & I have recently been assessed to become a member of Victoria Stilwell's Training Team (VSPDT) which I am very proud of.

I am a Dog Yoga Instructor taught by the lovely & very talented Jo-Rosie Haffenden who is part of the Canine Science Team with Nando Brown.

I am a volunteer Trainer for the charity 'Dog Aid'. Supporting and training client's and their dogs to assist in day to day tasks and challenges. I am very proud to be part of Dog Aid.

All the training and behaviour work that I do is based on Positive and choice based learning. Teaching puppies, dogs & rescue dogs how to relax & learn, modifying tricky unwanted behaviours & re - establishing a balanced equilibrium between handler & hound.

No Positive Punishment and no intimidation or force.  Sometimes we allow the environment to reinforce, sometimes we allow the trigger to be the reinforcer, sometimes we the teacher reinforce, sometimes we use a training marker and sometimes we do not. The reinforcer is what the dog desires in that moment and this will commonly change depending on mood state and environment.

Much of my work now is 1-1, bespoke to individual needs. I am happy to run classes/workshops at a client’s request. Every dog is different & every handler is different — I take pride in my ability to adapt to an individual's need, breed specifics & owners realistic goals.

I have worked tirelessly over the years to excel at my job and I am very proud of my achievements thus far.  Dogs are my passion, and to understand how they learn and how I can help them when they need it, takes years of dedication to education.