About me
Hi, I’m Amy. I am a dog and puppy trainer based at our very own classroom on Love Lane in Cirencester but I also cover Cricklade, Swindon, Wootton Bassett, Malmesbury, Cirencester, South Cerney, Stroud, Tetbury and surrounding areas.
It can be nerve wracking contacting a trainer, I can assure you there will be no judgement on my part, I am here to help.
My aim is to support you and your dog as best I can, help you understand each other better and meet your training goals. My training style is relationship, welfare and positive reward based, using modern, dog friendly and safe methods.
I am not a self made trainer, I have both qualifications and practical experience.
I have been a dog trainer for over 15 years. It’s no good just saying I’ve been training for years though, I could have been doing it wrong the whole time or might not have moved with the times! It is important I remain current and up to speed with all things dog. As part of my professional membership I must complete 30 hours a year of continued professional development (which I regularly exceed, this is at the trainer’s own expense and time) covering a range of topics. I regularly attend seminars, conferences, workshops, training days etc, to see what training I have attended please see my CV.
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. I have been a dog guardian/owner ever since.
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. At the same time I started my own dog training business at the end of 2016.
While continuing with my own business, I went back to Dogs for Good and worked as a Community Dog Handler with the wonderful Community Dog ‘Rita’, we worked on many projects supporting people in community settings that would benefit from dog assisted interaction/therapy. I am now solely self employed but I still work in assistance dog training on a voluntary basis to keep my hand in.
I am a provisional member of the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors (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 am part of a collection of qualified professionals who work collaboratively 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 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. Please be wary of those (especially on social media) offering guarantees or a quick fix, using aversive methods or equipment. When in doubt always view training from the dog’s perspective/what is their experience and advocate for your dog. Please note that I don’t allow the use of spray collars, water sprays, slip leads, choke collars, remote collars, prong collars or any other punishment based equipment or methods in classes / sessions.
We can’t be an expert in everything so if I am unable to help you with your dog’s particular area of difficulty I will do my best to recommend someone who can. I regularly work with other professionals to give a holistic approach.
