It's a bit of a minefield with regards to finding a suitable trainer and behaviourist. Making the wrong decision isn't just a waste of money, it's also potentially damaging to your dog and can cause you (and your dog) significant problems in the long run.

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I have numerous academic qualifications, along with approval from Victoria Stilwell, Karen Pryor, and Veterinary Surgeons, to ensure you and your dog are in safe hands.

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To view my qualifications, experience and recommendations please read the 'About' page.

My approach uses positive reinforcement-based, force-free methods. We will motivate your dog to work for you whether this is when training a super fast recall around distractions or when working on changing unwanted behaviour.

We want your dog to do what you ask because they want to, not because they are scared of what will happen to them if they don't. When working on behavioural issues we will work on changing your dog's emotional response to a trigger (i.e. anxiety/fear/frustration to calm/positive feelings). If your dog feels better reactions reduce and stop!

I will demonstrate the training to you with your dog (if appropriate) and then I will support and guide you while you practice.

Quite simply, no. Nobody can guarantee anything when it comes to a dog's behaviour because they are not machines that we can simply re-programme. For that reason, you should be very wary of anyone who guarantees anything of the sort!

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The successful outcome of the situation depends on several factors: our assessment of the situation and advice, your involvement and active participation in the progress, and your dog's response.

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What I can guarantee you is that I will use my skill and expertise to determine the issues and develop a personalised plan based on sound, scientific understanding, using ethical and kind strategies to help you to achieve your training goals.

It is important to liaison with your Veterinary Practice and to view your dog's clinical history before we start behavioural training together. If working on training (i.e. teaching your dog new behaviours like recall, lead walking etc. rather than solving an issue like reactivity or separation anxiety) your Vet will not need to be consulted before we start our sessions.

Many medical conditions can contribute to behavioural issues, this needs to be taken into account when working on changing behaviour. Simply put - we could do all the training in the world to help your dog overcome their issues, but it is unlikely to help if a medical issue is fueling your dog's behaviour. We need to cover this base.

When you sign up to work on behavioural issues a Veterinary Referral form will be sent to your Veterinary Surgery for completion via email.

This ensures your Vet is happy for us to work together and keeps them up-to-date.

As a full member of the APBC many pet insurance companies will cover my fees. Please call your insurance company if you plan to claim. Claiming on your insurance is assessed on a case-by-case basis so it is best to check first. Please inform your company that I am a full member of the APBC - companies only cover fees of behaviourists who are members of particular organisations (the APBC being one of them).

To book in a behavioural session package the fee is required within two days to confirm your appointment days/times. Then you can claim the cost back from your insurance which will get paid directly to you.