My story….

I think it’s fair to want to know a little more about the person you are trusting with your dog’s welfare. They are our friends, companions and family members and finding the right professional help when you have a problem is important. So here is a little bit more about me and my journey into becoming a dog professional.

I’ve been animal bonkers for as long as I can remember, as a kid I plagued my parents with keeping fish, mice and a memorable bunch of stick insects who escaped all over the house. We had cats in the house and I spent every spare minute I has down at the stables as a kid. Horses were my life and when I left school I studied for an HND in Equine Business Management and worked as a groom for a few years after leaving college.

After one too many broken bones and the realisation that I probably didn't want to muck out stables for a living forever and that the dreamed of grooms jobs in the top professional yards were potentially out of my reach as a rider I decided to go for some different jobs and ended up working in sales for several years before deciding to join the military at the grand old age of 24, I was the Granny of basic training. I spent 7 years as a regular soldier in the Intelligence Corp and completed two operational tours of Afghanistan in that time. With a further few years in the reserves after I left the regulars I eventually hung up my combats at the rank of Sergeant in 2015 after my son, Rowan was born.

The year after leaving the regulars I started my own photography business, I think needing a total contrast to military life, plus I was (still am) a talented photographer and enjoy it very much, I loved working for myself and eventually became a dog specialist. Working with animals had been my first love after all. While I had the studio I was awarded a Judges special mention in the Kennel Club Dog Photographer of the year awards (only 32 prizes form 7000 entries) and was the Master Photographers Associations best new business of 2019 as ‘Fetch and Flash’ the name of my dog only photography studio.

When covid hit and photography was off the cards for a while I joined forces with a local dog trainer and started up an online dog training membership, because I needed something to do and having the momentum of my studio cut off at the knees was tough! So for 18 months I built, promoted and ran a successful online dog training membership site, through that I ended up learning more and more about training. Eventually realising that the trainer I was working with didn't train the way I wanted to with my growing knowledge and experience with my own dog. After parting ways with that business, Valley Dogs was born. I’m qualified in games based training through Absolute Dogs, I’ve also completed their ‘geek’ behaviour course and new more advanced ‘genius’ course. I’m a predation substitute training instructor and approved and vetted yearly by the Dog Training College amongst plenty of other ongoing learning and CPD.

So that’s me, human mum to Rowan, dog mum to Elvis and Beattie, hiker, mountain biker and photographer. Dog training nut, plant based eater, James Bond fan and general lover of the quiet life. Nice to meet you and hopefully to work with you and your dog in the future.