About
I am Amy and I am a Dog Trainer based in Sutton In Ashfield but covering both Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.
My love of dogs did come much later in life than some people, growing up with a fear of our canine friends for the first 16 years of my life. But one dog changed everything. My partner brought me my first dog in 2006. A German Shepherd named Kaiza. Today I work in a world where I believe forcing a dog to face a fear isn't the correct way and we should build confidence and train management techniques, I did things so wrong when it came to facing my own fear of dogs, but this gave me a better understanding of how we should train our dogs and their owners. I needed time to build up a positive association with the thing I was fearful of. But this didn't happen due to my partner having a love of the breed and lack of understanding of my fear. Although now I can look back and thank him for inviting me into a world so amazing and fulfilling. A world which over the years has made my life complete. At the time I didn't feel the same and I do know now how wrong this could have gone. German shepherds can be a very challenging breed and not always advisable for a first time owner, let alone a first time owner who was scared of dogs. Kaiza although a dream for the experienced owner, for someone like me at the time, he was the worst. I actually feel bad thinking about how I felt at first and often find it hard to believe I struggled so much and got to such a low point. Especially knowing now he's been the easiest dog I have owned over the years. Within a few weeks I desperately starting seeking a trainer when the angelic little puppy "growled" at me and to someone who had spent 16 years of her life scared of dogs felt he was about to attack, bite or even kill me. Yes I know....he was about 10 weeks old!! And now I know it wasn't even a growl. Wow do I feel silly now but those feelings of fear were so real. I quickly started training with an fantastic trainer who has become even more important to me over the years. The more I did and the more progress me and Kaiza made, the more I got interested in what I was doing and also more importantly the more my bond formed with my dog. Before I knew it, my life had become completely obsessed with everything dog related. I had books, signed up to courses and continued attending training sessions too. Before long my second dog arrived. Dooley was my second German Shepherd joining us around a year after kaiza joined our family. Then we planned on introducing a third who we named Dai-z. Now sadly this girl passed away whilst at her breeders so with thanks to our breeder they tracked down another puppy who we brought home and named Roe-z A job at a rescue centre in Derby led to what we planned on being a foster of a poorly puppy. Bobbee was our first Rottweiler. Abused and suffering injuries from his previous owner we knew we couldn't let him go and adopted him. So in the space of less than 5 years I had gotten over a fear of dogs, and grew my four legged family. I spent alot of my spare time working with rescue dogs, learning to understand different breeds and looking more at behaviour especially in different environments. Behind the scenes this made me work even more on studying and learning as I started to think there was more to training than what I was exposed to and learnt about previously. Over the years sadly it also meant I had to say goodbye to a number of dogs due to old age and awful diseases like cancer but also we introduced a number of new ones too. Missy Moo, Wade Wilson, Baby Dave and Bumblebee. Missy Moo was the dog that made me focus on my training more. A dog assessed by a rescue centre as ideal for our family, dog friendly, loved people and ticking all the right boxes towards our 'perfect' dog joined us in 2014. Soon realising this wasn't the case and we actually had a very reactive and at times aggressive dog on our hands I began feeling very out of my depth. Local trainers suggested anything from getting rid, putting to sleep or just didn't want to work with her. Methods I was told about failed and made things so much worse. She reacted to everything. From people, dogs, objects, she was causing harm to herself from her anxiety and didn't sleep at all. Suffering a multitude of health issues also which I now know also impacted her behaviour I was alone with a dog I didn't know where to start with. So I decided I needed to study more. Spending hours researching and planning what to do next, we introduced coping strategies and slowly helped build her trust enough to begin working with her. It also encourage my training in reactivity which is something today I continue working on and expanding my knowledge and understanding. I'm not going to lie, it's been hard and she's nowhere like I imagined our dog to be but she's Moo. We are in a place now we are all happy with. Sadly having now being diagnosed with dementia her training sessions have been adapted to take into account this. We have come so far that we have been able to introduce a number of other dogs into the home. She's confident being out and about in her own space and can even cope with new people in her life. Having Moo has taught me so much. And I believe it's help me become a better trainer. Each dog coming into my life adds more to my knowledge and improves my training abilities as no dog is the same and each dog brings new challenges or new areas I can learn about. Baby Dave started my interest in health and fitness whilst Bee introduced me more to enrichment. Wade Wilson learnt me more about building confidence and giving dogs choice and was the dog which made me realise there are better ways to train our dogs and they are talking to us all the time telling us how they feel. The world of the trainer is never ending learning. We know more and more about dogs, behaviour and well being each year and as trainers we also need to evolve to make us better trainers. I study on a weekly basis, from courses to simply reading books to look into techniques, research and anything I can find that might benefit my own training. In 2023 I decided I wanted to relaunch my business. I believe force free positive training helps set our dogs up to succeed and builds confidence. We don't need aversive methods or equipment to train our dogs. Giving dogs choice and using positive reinforcement is scientifically proven to have better results but also helps our dogs become happy, confident and show less behavioural problems. I am now blessed to work with such a range of dogs each week, from puppy and beginners classes, advanced training, taster classes and 121 consultations. I deal with so many topics too and behavioural issues so no day is actually the same. I absolutely love my job and working with such wonderful dogs and owners. |