Toni
My life with dogs began at an early age with my parents dog, Prince. He was a cheeky, misunderstood black lab cross, who excelled in escapism and bin raiding. I was around 9 and he was a joy to be with. This set the groundwork for my love of dogs.
Buster
My next dog, Buster, was a Collie Cross, a rescue pup who I took to classes. He was a bright little button who was eager to learn. He seemed to excel in this environment and achieved everything I asked of him, such as the Kennel Club Bronze, Silver & Gold, Good Citizen schemes. On the other side of the coin, he was a very sensitive boy, who needed assistance in dealing with noises and other dogs. It was these challenges that drove me to seek help from training classes. We went on to do clicker training and agility over the next few years.
Buster taught me lots of invaluable lessons and sparked my love of training, particularly reward based. He will always have a special place in my heart.
Seeking to Improve my understanding of dogs and their behaviours has always been a direction for me and I have attended varied courses through the Institute of Modern Dog Trainers, including "Career as a dog trainer", "Practical instructors course" and a Dog Body Language Course, and more recently I attended a seminar, which taught me to recognise the ways that dogs show muscular pain.
Over the years I have shared my life with varied rescue dogs, all of whom have taught me new and important lessons. Their difficult start in life and experiences, have helped me to focus on the importance of training and to learn how to understand their respective needs and consequently to improve both their and our lives.
It is with this knowledge that I strive to help others to understand and enjoy their dogs as much as I do my own.
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