I remember the first time that I took our family Samoyed, Silver, to the local dog show at the age of 12. I really enjoyed working with him and got a trophy for my efforts. My parents fostered Samoyeds and as a teenager I would teach them sit, down, walking to heel etc before they moved on to their forever home.
Whilst studying for my A levels, my aspiration was to be a Vet. My biology teacher was not confident that I would meet the grade requirements and suggested that I should consider an alternative career path. I still really wanted to work with animals, but my teacher convinced me that I was bright enough to get a degree. Inspired by the thought of helping humans instead, I decided to apply to study radiography.
Ultimately, this was not the career that I had dreamed of. I lost motivation and didn’t get the accepted grades for my chosen course. Still determined to get a degree, however, I went through clearing to get on a Computer Science course; I was always fixing the computer at home. At this stage, I left my ambition of working with animals behind. I graduated from university with a 2.1 degree and undertook various IT jobs within a college setting whilst still living at home with my parents. Then I got a job providing IT support for an accountancy firm based in London. Being more settled in my career, I really wanted to share my life with a dog once again, like in my childhood. As I worked full time and moved to a flat with my sister in London, however, having a dog wasn’t really an option for now.
My boyfriend at that time (now my husband) and I would “stalk” dog events in Hyde Park and cuddle dogs in the street for a “dog fix”. In 2012, my boyfriend started his own business and was working from home; I later joined him.
This change in circumstances meant that we frequently discussed having a dog in our lives and then one day Zeus appeared on our Facebook feed. Zeus’ owners were struggling to care for him, and a friend posted that he needed a new home. We had met Pyrenean Mountain Dogs at Discover Dogs and as Zeus was half Pyrenean Mountain Dog and half German Shepherd Dog (GSD), we decided to take Zeus into our family. He came with a problem that I had never experienced through the Samoyeds though – dog and people reactivity. This prompted the start of my journey into dog training. We saw a few behaviourists in London prior to our move to Hadleigh in Suffolk. Then we started training with a centre in Orsett, Essex which was recommended by GSD rescue as a reactive dog specialist.
After we moved to Suffolk, my Aunt asked for our help to rehome her GSD, Cindy, via our contacts at GSD rescue. Instead, we decided that Zeus needed a friend and took Cindy on ourselves. Cindy came training with me and she loved working. We covered agility and obedience; I thoroughly enjoyed working with her. We were asked to join the training groups display team and soon were travelling to shows to demonstrate our skills.
Through the training centre I met Shaun and Kim Ellis. I was fascinated by their work with wolves and the link with dog language. Shaun has lived with both wild and captive wolves. They have wolf packs in Cornwall that I have had the pleasure of interacting with. I signed up for a week-long beginner course in Cornwall. This course was an eye opener to the different dog characters and the way that they communicate. The Ellises teach a very caring, family-based approach to dog psychology. Their methods are founded on the principle that wolves see everyone in their pack as equal with different jobs based on their natural character.
After this course we took on a GSD called Bella. She walked in at 6 months old and raided the bin on day one. She was a handful. She responded to training but was a lot more independent than the other dogs. 3 months later I fell pregnant with our son. I carried on working with the dogs and read a lot about child psychology as our son grew up. I always wanted to attend a retreat with the Wolf and Dog Development Centre. The Christmas before lockdown my husband brought me a stay there as a treat. Then covid hit and everything stopped. I started reading books by Brené Brown and working on my own issues around shame with a workshop led by one of her European representatives online.
I finally got to visit the retreat and discovered how working on my developmental gaps has a direct impact on the relationships with my dogs. It is often that both dogs and humans repair their gaps together with Shaun and Kim’s Hemene approach. I was hooked again; all I had learnt pre-baby on my basic course 6 years earlier came flooding back and tied into my personal development. It was a completely different way of being -establishing a relationship before training, building trust and connection before sits and stays. It felt like a missing link to me. I signed up for another course and implemented the teachings with my own pack. The difference in Bella, Zeus and Cindy was massive.
I decided to become a trained instructor, I’d found my people. I knew this is what I wanted to do from now on and a lot of the core values were tied to how we were raising our son. It’s all about repair, empathy and connecting to dogs.
Sadly, we only have Bella left with us as Zeus and Cindy died over the last 18 months at the grand old age of 12 and 13. I will forever be grateful for the path they have led me down. Now my son is at school, it’s time for me to finally live my dream of the last 20+ years and work with dogs.
I look forward to caring for your pets.