This is our story. In loving memory of Scrappy, to whom I owe everything!
I started my journey with rescue dogs in 2006 when I spoke to Graham Shelbourne, a course leader at Nottingham Trent University who inspired me to follow my dreams, and do a Foundation Science Degree in Animal Studies and Bachelors of Science with Honours in Animal Biology, all with canine-specific modules that I focused on behaviour.
I got my first rescue dog in 2007, Scrappy the Jack Russell had an entire fleet of behavioural problems, severe separation anxiety, a lack of impulse control, no bite inhibition, he was extremely reactive and afraid of other dogs, and it took many years to work through all of his problems, and initially, I did everything wrong, I made massive mistakes!
"When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad, and that is my religion." - Abraham Lincoln
This is also my approach to dog training. At the beginning of my training journey, I was what you could call a balance trainer, this meant I was instructed to do many things that made me feel bad, giving the lead a good tug when my dog pulled on it, using a loud noise to interrupt watchdog barking etc. I did these things because I was told to and initially, it seemed to stop the behaviour issues with my dog almost at once, at least for a couple of weeks until my dog learned to ignore what I was doing but not before it had soured our relationship previously based on trust.
I did not understand how my behaviour was damaging my dog and how suppressing behaviour was having a terrible knock effect. What I should have been doing is helping my dog choose a more desirable behaviour in a kind, compassionate force-free way. My dog forgave me and fortunately for the last part of his life I had already learned the error of my ways, but it still upsets me now that I made those mistakes.
Since my degree studies, I have dedicated my life to training and working with rescue dogs, through many different roles, such as an animal welfare visitor for the police commissioner for 7 years where I personally was responsible for having the kennel cough vaccine introduced at the Nottingham police headquarters after presenting my case. I have volunteered as a behaviourist for many rescues, and still devote some of my time to this, currently fostering for a wonderful rescue to whom I offer support. I worked professionally as a dog trainer for a large organisation in 2007 which I did for nearly two years, homing my training skills with many different breeds and gaining invaluable experience with puppies. I have achieved accreditation with the International Association of Animal Behaviour Consultants as an Associate Certified Dog Behaviour Consultant. All while promoting no-pain, no-fear and no-force dog training.
Nobody gets into dog training because they don't like dogs, everyone wants the best for them and to help them, I certainly did, and hands up I got it wrong! Really wrong! Not everyone has an understanding of behaviour to help dogs like they want to, and I didn’t at that time. For the last ten years, I have been putting that right, and assisting others to people and trainers to help our companion dogs live their best life!
If you are ever asked to do anything to your dog that makes you feel uncomfortable, question it, training should not make you or your dog feel bad, it should be uplifting, enjoyable and both of you should be working as a team. Through the work the PDBC does we can spread the message about force-free dog training, help balance trainers use kinder training methods by recognising not everyone has the exact same beliefs as us and making sure our training programmes are inclusive as long as our codes of conduct are followed throughout our sessions. Together we are working with the general public, a fantastic network of other dog trainers and behaviourists, and a couple of amazing rescues to raise awareness and improve the welfare of our canine companions, not just in our local area but all of the world.This is our story. In loving memory of Scrappy, to whom I owe everything!
I started my journey with rescue dogs in 2006 when I spoke to Graham Shelbourne, a course leader at Nottingham Trent University who inspired me to follow my dreams, and do a Foundation Science Degree in Animal Studies and Bachelors of Science with Honours in Animal Biology, all with canine specific modules that I focused on behaviour.
I got my first rescue dog in 2007, Scrappy the Jack Russell had an entire fleet of behavioural problems, severe separation anxiety, a lack of impulse control, no bite inhibition, he was extremely reactive and afraid of other dogs and it took many years to work through all of his problems, and initially I did everything wrong, I made massive mistakes!
"When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad, and that is my religion." - Abraham Lincoln
This is also my approach to dog training. At the beginning of my training journey I was what you could call a balance trainer, this meant I was instructed to do many things that made me feel bad, giving the lead a good tug when my dog pulled on it, using a loud noise to interrupt watchdog barking etc. I did these things because I was told to and initially, it seemed to stop the behaviour issues with my dog almost at once, at least for a couple of weeks until my dog learned to ignore what I was doing but not before it had soured our relationship previously based on trust.
I did not understand how my behaviour was damaging my dog, and how suppressing behaviour was having a terrible knock effect. What I should have been doing is helping my dog choose a more desirable behaviour in a kind, compassionate force-free way. My dog forgave me and fortunately for the last part of his life I had already learned the error of my ways, but it still upsets me now that I made those mistakes.
Since my degree studies I have dedicated my life to training and working with rescue dogs, through many different roles, such as an animal welfare visitor for the police commissioner for 7 years where I personally was responsible for having the kennel cough vaccine introduced at the Nottingham police headquarters after presenting my case. I have volunteered as behaviourist for many rescues, and still devote some of my time to this, currently fostering for a wonderful rescue to whom I offer support. I worked professionally as a dog trainer for a large organisation in 2007 which I did for nearly two years, homing my training skills with many different breeds and gaining invaluable experience with puppies. I have gained accreditation with the International Association of Animal Behaviour Consultants as an Associate Certified Dog Behaviour Consultant. All while promoting no-pain, no-fear and no-force dog training.
Nobody gets into dog training because they don't like dogs, everyone wants the best for them and to help them, I certainly did, and hands up I got it wrong! Really wrong! Not everyone has an understanding of behaviour to help dogs like they want to and I didn’t at that time. For the last ten years I have been putting that right, and helping others people and trainers to help our companion dogs live their best life!
If you are ever asked to do anything to your dog that makes you feel uncomfortable, question it, training should not make you or your dog feel bad, it should be uplifting, enjoyable and both of you should be working as a team. Through the work the PDBC does we are able to spread the message about force-free dog training, help balance trainers use kinder training methods by recognising not everyone has the exact same beliefs as us and making sure our training programmes are inclusive as long as our codes of conduct are followed throughout our sessions. Together we are working with the general public, an amazing network of other dog trainers and behaviourists, and a couple of amazing rescues to raise awareness and improve the welfare of our canine companions, not just in our local area but all of the world.
