About Me
I spent my childhood with a Border Collie x Labrador called Skippy. She really was a 'child's best friend' and we had many adventures together. I have very fond memories of those years but can remember the nipping, wetting, chewing and pulling on the lead too!
Fast forward through marriage, child birth and full time work to 2000 when, working part time from my home office, I decided to keep the young dog that was left in a friend's garden. Jess was my first dog as an adult and she came with problems! She was a beautiful German Shepherd Dog but when she came at seven months old she was not house trained, could not walk well on a lead or come back when called, was terrified of fireworks and was sometimes nervously aggressive towards people and dogs. What a first dog to take on!
Over the next two years I had help and assistance from a professional dog trainer, was introduced to clicker training and, through Cheltenham and District Dog Training Club, developed an interest in competitive obedience. I received a great deal of help and support from people and learned a lot about dogs.
It then came time to repay this assistance by helping others and passing on the knowledge I had gained. At the beginning of 2003 I was invited to start taking classes at Forest of Dean Dog Training Club, and later that year also began teaching at Cheltenham and District Dog Training Club. I decided to complement this practical teaching experience with academic and practical study.
I graduated from Bishop Burton College with full distinctions and a HNC in Canine Behaviour and Training in November 2005. I followed this with a further two years study and graduated again in November 2007 from Bishop Burton College/Hull University with a Foundation Degree (FdSc) in Canine Behaviour & Training. The advantage of these courses is that they not only required me to complete written assignments but also to train my dogs for various disciplines and tests and to be examined on my ability to teach classes and individuals.
In addition to teaching at the training clubs and studying, I began taking on private clients. This led me to launching one to one training as Animal Magic in July 2007 and Animal Magic group classes in July 2008.
Now as well as running Animal Magic Gloucester - canine training and pet care services - I share my life with my daughter and our four rehomed dogs, Bosch (Dobermann/English Springer Spaniel), Harvey (Cocker Spaniel), Sapphire (Labrador/Border Collie) and Carney (Border Collie).