Dogs & Puppy Experience
I have been involved with dogs for most of my life having had 13 dogs of various breeds and sizes in the past 35 years.
My introduction to dog obedience started in 2000 with the arrival of my first sheltie Timmy. Timmy and I started in dog agility but I quickly found that due to his timidity, this was not to be his favourite sport.
I then started reading as many books I could find to help me change this dog of mine. I also started dog obedience classes at a local dog club and this took me into the competitive dog obedience world. Timmy and I won a few ribbons but to be truthful, he was happier watching rather than taking part.
Then came Banjo, my second sheltie. He was the opposite in temperament which meant I had to find differing training techniques. So more books. I then joined up with a professional dog trainer who helped us along the path to the highest test and many more ribbons.
Since then, I have also trained Esther and Harriet through to the highest obedience tests. These two shelties, are now retired from competition and enjoy a romp in the park and a sleep in the sun.
After a 16 year break, I resumed agility with my three youngest shelties, Jemima, Dorothy and Nina. As you can imagine, this sport is quite different from years ago and now requires a very fit handler, both physically and mentally. It is a lot of fun keeping up with my dogs racing around a course. Unfortunately, my fitness levels no longer match those of my dogs. So a search was made for an alternative Dog Sport that suited me and the dogs. I found Rally. Perfect for keeping up the mental agility, fun for both me and the dogs, and plenty of opportunities to attend competitions - perfect!!
I now have a new sheltie puppy, Flute. Flute was bred from my Nina and is a beautiful Blue Merle sheltie. With the sad passing of Banjo, I now have another boy to balance the 5 bitches. Flute is very smart and loves to learn. I am currently teaching him basic skills for Rally along with some trick training. Eventually, I would like Flute to be a Therapy Dog and visit Rest Homes / Hospitals.
And of course, Dorothy, Nina and Flute love meeting the puppies and clients and work as my demo dogs showing off their skills at the workshop.
Understanding Puppy Behaviour
I have been involved in local dog obedience and agility clubs for many years, serving on committees and providing training expertise.
Prior to starting my own puppy training school, I worked as a dog trainer on a part-time basis for a professional dog trainer/behaviourist. After training many dogs of which 95% were puppies, I had come to realise the merit in specialising in puppies and their families. If you train your puppy right from the start, and continue the training in the home, you will have a well-balanced dog who will be a joy to share your lives.
I have been very fortunate to breed sheltie puppies from which I have kept Jemima, Dorothy and Flute. This has given me the opportunity to apply all the training skills I have developed over the years and enabled me to currently have six delightful, confident, smart and well-adjusted dogs. And of course, I now have the pleasure of teaching Flute.
Together with raiding the library of all the dog books and Amazon purchases, I have attended many seminars and completed a number of courses. Most recent have been Susan Garrett’s Puppy Peaks, Mark Vette’s Dog Zen and Jane Killion’s Puppy Culture. I have also been fortunate to attend the two day workshop run by the talented Faye Rogers on Animal Communication and Healing. I have also attended many agility seminars, mainly Shape up Dogs and Tracy Skylenar and obedience workshops with Anna Herzog, Kamal Fernandez and Mary Ray..