Hello and welcome to the blog!

Our beautiful rescue Xena

What’s my background? 

I’ve always worked with people, and now I work with people and their dogs!

Almost the first decade of my career was teaching - adults, children, including children with special educational needs. After that I moved into HR for almost another decade. where I was mostly involved in coaching and conflict resolution. 

That background has really helped me realise my dream of launching Lead & Follow.  Even when you hire a trainer, you’re still training your dog for many more hours each day than the trainer does, so it’s even more important for me to be able to train you as well as your dog.  Just as we’re all different and learn in different ways, so do our dogs. So my teaching experience is the biggest thing aside from my dog-related qualifications, that has shaped me into the trainer I am. When you work with me, you know you'll get up-to-date science-backed methods that are fun for your dog, and that I will be able to work with you to help you and your dog reach your goals.

Why did I change careers?

Apparently it’s becoming more common for people to change career several times in their life, and so it turns out I’m not that special! I’ve always dreamed of working with dogs. After we adopted our beautiful rescue dog, Xena, and I got more involved with the science behind dog training, I started to realise that this is how I wanted to spend my time. Without sounding really cheesy, I found my purpose. So I studied and qualified as a Dog Trainer and Mantrailing Instructor and within a year gave up my full-time HR job to dedicate all my time to you and your dogs!

Things I most like about being a Dog Trainer/Mantrailing Instructor

Working with nervous/anxious dogs and watching them come out of their shell!

Spending my time surrounded by dogs.

Seeing how proud my clients are when their dogs succeed.

What do I do when I’m not training dogs?

It’s no secret that I’m really passionate about what I do, and I continue to study, to improve my knowledge, and be the best trainer/instructor I can be. I’m currently working for my Canine Behaviour Diploma, and at the end of 2024 I completed my Scentwork Instructor course, so there’s announcements about that coming soon!

Playing (I mean training) with Xena on the beach

I’m a real geek - I love delving into the why behind things, so I’m always reading dog books/magazines alongside the courses I sign up for.

But when I’m not doing anything dog-related I love dancing, reading, travelling,beach walks, boxsets and learning to play the guitar.

Three things you possibly won’t know about me?

I once danced a Viennese waltz for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip!

I speak several languages, including fluent Spanish, and I used to live and teach in Spain.

I'm not great at maths ;)

What can you expect from the blog going forward?

Dogs :) I'll write about dogs, dog training, behaviour, the science, mantrailing, the science around mantrailing and scent, scentwork... I will take requests - anything you want to see, just let me know and I'll see what I can do!

In the meantime if you'd like to see multiple photos and videos of my gorgeous pup Xena, or see updates from mantrailing sessions, checkout my social media pages:

Instagram

Facebook