Meet your coach!
Hi, I'm Tracey. Let me introduce Djambo.
By one-year-old my sweet puppy was a 40kg barking mess when it came to people and dogs.
In fact, both of us were a wreck. I had no idea how to manage him, let alone improve his behaviour. Puppy classes made it worse. ‘Socialising’ made it worse. The advice from Joe Bloggs in the dog park made it worse. I remember walking him when I hoped no one else would be around. A guy with a little Cocker Spaniel appeared from behind a bush. My dog had a complete meltdown. The man looked at me with disgust. And who can blame him? I felt useless, humiliated, and I blamed myself for my out of control dog.
Clearly I wasn’t a good enough dog trainer for Djambo, so he was going to have to go back to his breeder. Well, eight years later, he’s still here. I let myself grieve for the life I had intended to have with my German Shepherd.
Then I knuckled down and studied hard.
Through the Absolute Dogs training programme I realised what I had to change was the emotion that caused the behaviour (stay with me here!) because if I just work on suppressing what I don’t like, I’m not dealing with the root of the problem. And that means that not only will the problem reappear, it’s likely to be 10 x worse.
But, Djambo’s behaviour also coincided with pain during a particularly vulnerable time in his life… adolescence.
As a teenager he developed a condition in his shoulders known as osteochondritis dissecans, where the cartilage in the joint was damaged. If I’d known then what I know now, we may or may not have been able to minimise this, but I do believe I would have noticed there was a problem more quickly, which would have ensured prompt treatment, leading to less pain, fewer behavioural struggles and less likelihood of arthritis in the future.
And this why, in addition to becoming a dog trainer, I became a canine fitness coach, canine massage practitioner and rehabilitation practitioner, because we actually need to look at the whole dog in order to help them.
Background
I am lucky enough to have worked in a variety of areas, all of which have brought me here now, despite looking completely unconnected!
- Staff nurse
- Environmental experimental scientist
- Radiochemist
- Senior research fellow
- Medical writer/systematic reviewer
- PhD in environmental organic chemistry
- Degree in environmental science.
Working with dogs
I believe in looking at the whole dog, hence the range of training.
- Pro Dog Trainer Pro Dog Trainer Geek
- As a previously employed dog trainer, hands-on experience of working with hundreds of dogs
- Certified Professional Canine Fitness Trainer
- The College of Animal Physiotherapy, awarded certificate of distinction in Canine Sports Massage
- Attended group consultations with Dr Tom Mitchell on separation anxiety, dog-to-dog reactivity and cooperative care
- Courses on gait analysis and canine biomechanics
Currently studying
I love to learn and I love even more passing on the knowledge.
- Diploma in therapeutic exercise with Animal Rehab Health Academy
- Canine kinesiology taping
- Pro Dog Trainer Club
- Member of Four Leg Rehab Inc.
- Pro Dog Trainer Genius
- Member of Absolute Dogs Training Academy
- Scent4Six with School of Canine Science