About

Sophie's Story

Prior to bringing my best friend and soul mate, Frank (a black spotted Dalmatian), home to live with me, I had a vision of the life that I wanted for Frank and I; I wanted to have a well trained and well behaved dog that I could take anywhere. I knew that this goal wouldn't just happen and I would need to work hard to ensure Frank could experience the life he deserved. Ahead of bringing Frank home, for months and months prior, I threw myself into learning as much as I possibly could about dog training - learning about different styles and approaches. This excited me, I enjoyed learning more about dogs and this was where the burning passion was ignited; at the time, I was working a full time role within the postal sector and any free time I had was fast being filled with all things dogs. 

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Fast forward to January 2024, a second best friend, Benny (another black spotted Dalmatian), entered my life, heart and home. Between the period of bringing Frank home and Benny joining the family, I have had the incredible opportunity to enjoy and gain hands-on experience with many dogs, their owners and refine my dog training skills. Throughout this time I continued my personal education, committing to learning from other trainers, exploring various different approaches and methods. 

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Through raising my own dogs and my experience of working with other dogs and their owners, I have been able to develop my own approach to training dogs. I take immense pride in being a Dog Trainer and I am passionate about being able to share my skills and knowledge with others, to enable them to have a life like the one I have with my boys: we can go anywhere together and, most importantly, they are happy, healthy and fulfilled. I have a holistic approach to dog training, for my own dogs and for clients' dogs - this means that the whole picture is considered (physical, emotional and behavioural wellbeing), dealing with just what is seen on a surface level, in my opinion, is not fair on the dog, nor will it achieve long-term results. My approach is a reward and balanced based approach, I have an open mind to tools (and I use tools with my own dogs), as I understand the benefit of them and the way they can open up the world for a lot of dogs and their owners. Tools are not a quick fix, they have their place, but they will never be more powerful than building upon our relationship with our dogs, or our ability to fulfil them and provide appropriate outlets for their genetic traits.

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My focus for all Spot On K9 clients is to coach you and help you master your dog's life skills: loose lead walking, recall, off switch and neutrality to the world around them. Mastering these skills will enable you and your dog to have a truly enriching and happy life together. Spot On K9 clients have access to a safe and secure space at the Spot On K9 site, a site you can use at any time during business hours, giving you the opportunity to develop your skills, train your dog and do so around likeminded people and their dogs, allowing you to reap the benefits of being a part of the incredible Spot On K9 community.