Having been pulled flat on my face by my young German Shepherd puppy in the middle of the park.
I knew that there was a need to train my dog.
I will always be thankful for that first dog trainer, who befriended me and guided me and my pup towards the wonderful world of obedience.
Quickly followed by the desire to help others, I have always been a teacher, I absorbed all I could. I have trained and worked with many brilliant trainers and behaviourists and some terrible ones. What it taught me was the need to consider the whole problem, not just what the owner was telling me. Look at the dog and understand the owner and work from there.
Over 30 years I must have helped trained well over 10,000 dogs and the problems usually come down to 3/4 reasons. It always starts with the dog pulling on a lead or not coming back. But go deeper and then we find there are bigger challenges to face. How we teach has changed of course and everyone has to find their niche.
The dogs haven’t changed though, with the four legs a waggy bit and bitey bit, all the dog really needs is for you to be fair and consistent. Teach him what’s needed and the result is happy home.
Fast forward and three dog training clubs later, television appearances and lots of working with the press, I put all this into my academy trainers course. Many have joined me and completed the course but only a few have turned into a business. Now we include support and ideas for the business side of the course as well.
The Academy offers students the chance to shadow me and learn. We will cover all the basics and understand how diet affects behaviour. If the dog is a rescue there is a story there. A reactive dog doesn’t happen overnight and our students will learn what questions to ask.
Find out more about your possible future, then please get in touch. The New Year is a great time to start in a new direction so get in touch and find out more at info@thewalkaboutway.co.uk
