About Me

My name is Valentina, I've been working with dogs since 2003, starting of as a dog walker and then working alongside a dog behaviourist, where I realised that this is what I wanted to do. I've always wanted to work and help animals as well as people. I found that working in dog training let me do both.

I have since completed various dog training courses and behaviour modules from

*Cambridge Institute of Dog Behaviour and Training  ( https://cidbt.uk/ )  - Common Canine Behaviour problems.

*Institute of Modern Dog Trainers(https://www.imdt.uk.com/ ) - Career as a dog Trainer

*Institute of Modern Dog Trainers Ofqual Regulated Level 3 Professional Day Care and Boarding

*School of Canine Science (https://www.caninescience.online/ ) -

  • 30 Days of canine Science, 
  • Fear short course,
  • Separation anxiety webinar, 
  •  completed year 1 & 2 (out of 3) year of  The Behaviour Bible and also started 3rd year.
  • The Puppy lab which is a work in progress.. 
  • Nutrition & Behaviour

 

Webinars & CPD

  • Webinar: The Neurobiology of Trauma in Dogs with Daniel Shaw BSc (Hons), GMBPsS, CDBC
  • Webinar: XL BULLY WEBINAR - Cooper & Co Law
  • Webinar: A Professionals guide to canine intelligence - School of Canine Science
  • Reactivity masterclass - Help My Dog with Tom Mitchell
  • The Dog anxiety Summit (4 Days of live webinars) hosted by Dr Edward Bassingthwaighte
  • Canine Anatomy - Rachel Jackson - National Institute of Canine Ethics
  • Predation Substitute Training - Simone Mueller - National Institute of Canine Ethics
  • Understanding Dog Aggression - 
  • Expert: Canine Nutrition & Wellness - Canine Principles
  • Canine Pain - Canine Principles
  • Wolf Awareness - Canine Principles
  • Dog Rescuers Guide - Canine Principles
  • Dogs Bred to Fight - The JRH Academy
  • Canine Reactivity Expert- Canine Principles (In progress)
  • Canine Trauma and rescue expert- Canine Principles (in progress) 

When it comes to my passion for working with dogs, I will never stop learning, so I do my best to equip myself with as much knowledge as I can in as many training methods as possible.

I aim to help you understand your dog and vice versa. Opening that line of communication is so important to be able to live with our best friends.

I have 2 kids, both have been raised around dogs. My eldest son is 14 and has not known a life without a dog, he sometimes comes with me as my cameraman/ assistant during school holidays. Our youngest is  4 years old  and absolutely loves the dogs, She loves copying what I do and wants to be involved with training, particularly the giving treats aspect of training . It's just as important to teach children how to be around dogs, as it is to teach dogs to be around kids. She sometimes comes with me to mini adventures and is the official treat dispenser assistant. 

I am fully insured and DBS checked and licenced by Bedford Borough Council to board a maximum of 2 dogs.

 

Bailey

Bailey, she's from Mauritius, I've had her since she was 6 weeks old. For those who have never traveled there, Mauritius has a massive stray dog population which is down to lack of understanding in animal care and sterilisations as well as very deeply ingrained corruption in the government animal welfare organisation.  I lived in Mauritius for 2 years (2013-2015) where I worked as a behaviourist and trainer and successfully ran my own Board and Train kennels. I worked alongside SOS (Saving our Strays) and MSAW (Mauritius Society for Animal Welfare) where we did many educational campaigns to help teach locals about caring for their dogs as well as picking up dogs in terrible conditions and helping to foster some of those. I have taken part in dog training demos at family events as well as educational events at universities and on national TV (in Mauritius).

When I moved back to the UK, I brought Bailey with me, she was 7 in May 2021. Bailey has been my trusty assistant and stooge dog all these years and always came with me to all the demos. She has now retired from her role as Stooge and assistant due to age and showing signs of arthritis. 

She is highly intelligent and quite an escape artist. Due to her nervous nature, I made sure to start her training as early as possible and with the basic training she has, we were able to build on it and teach her cues that would enable her to keep calm and focused on me when in stressful situations. Now at the grand age of 7 she continues to be nervous, but is easily reassured and relaxes easily. She has taught me what I always make sure to teach owners: training is for life, especially with certain behavioural issues, but as long as you are always keeping it up, your dog will learn to handle these situations better, with your help.

 

Rollo

In 2019 we adopted Rollo, a Romanian rescue, from Barking Mad Dog Rescue (https://www.barkingmaddogrescue.co.uk/ ), he's come a long way since and always learning something new all the time. He started off being very fearful of everyone, in particular, men. There is never a “quick fix” when it comes to teaching a dog not to be fearful, even as a dog trainer. Surprisingly, since the Covid-19 pandemic and the numerous lockdowns, Rollo has shown incredible improvement around men (even though he’s seen less of them) and although he still gets initially scared, he is much quicker to become friends with them once he realises they are not threatening. It has to be said, that teaching a dog the basic cues will help with behaviour problems, even the most basic command can help.
I am constantly working with Rollo and Bailey to improve and keep on top of their behaviour.
Rollo has now taken over the role of Stooge dog and assistant now that bailey is older and is starting to show signs of arthritis.

Both of my dogs are very nervous but with consistency and ongoing training they can overcome almost anything that comes their way. Their training will be for life. 
 
Both my dogs have taught me some invaluable lessons and continue to push me forward to understand more in depth knowledge of canine behaviour. 

 

Hazel

We first crossed paths with Hazel on a facebook post showing a terrified dog tied to a gate on a very cold frosty December morning (-2c). The dog warden had been called and was quite some distance away. We headed to the area armed with blankets and leads to attempt to free her from her predicament till the warden came. We were able to cut her free and walk her to the car where we waited to hand her to the dog warden. Legally, you can not just take home a dog that you find as that would still be classed as theft. She was not chipped, therefore we have absolutely no history about her or her past. The vets, rescue and warden say she is a Staffordshire bull terrier x.. We were able to make contact with the kennels where she was taken to and put our name down for adoption should no one claim her in the next 7 days. We visited her a couple of times and introduced her to Bailey and Rollo too. All went well and fortunately for us, she was unclaimed and by day 10, we were able to bring her home. She is a super intelligent girl who loves to play and learn. I look forward to getting to know her better and having loads of fun teaching her new stuff. 

She is still a puppy, when we found her she was estimated to be around 9 months old, she has grown loads in the 2 months we have had her so far, she is very tall so we think there may be Rhodesian ridgeback or dog de Bordeaux mixed in there somewhere.

She officially became part of our pack on the 9th December 2024.