Scent : Detect : Find
Me
Me
Nobody needs to read that I've lived with dogs and cats for over 30 years or that I've shared my home with guinea pigs ... and then there are the hedgehogs Too!
So many dog training sites begin with this type of information (and I have no wish to replicate any of this here), my intention is simply to give you a little bit of an insight into my abiding interest in, and engagement with, animals of all shapes, sizes and species.
And as for the hedgehogs ... well ... I've spent many years rescuing and rehabilitating these fantastic creatures before releasing them, safely, back into the wild.
In terms of qualifications .... the hugely edited highlights include a BScHons
in Education (Wolverhampton University), a MA
in Philosophy (Nottingham University), with a special interest in animal mind, and a PGDip
in Companion Animal Behaviour Counselling (Southampton University).
I first started working as a Trainer and Behaviourist in the early 2000s; Dogs, Cats, Exotic species. It was also about this time that I attended a scent detecting course with the internationally renowned Anne Lil Kvam and started to think seriously about scent detecting and its amazing possibilities for dogs and behaviour work.
Mabel. My first scent detecting dog
So ... fast forward fifteen plus years ... my interest in Scent Detecting has never diminished. Numerous Scent Detecting courses later and untold hours of practice, experimentation, skill-development and research has led me to create "Scent : Detect : Find"; A way of sharing my scent detecting knowledge and expertise with similarly enthusiastic people and their dogs.
Central to all my R+D has been Luytje, my long-suffering partner in all things scent!
"Scent : Detect : Find" has allowed me to combine my training and behavioural expertise into one package. I believe that scent detecting is one of only a very small handful of activities (Tracking is another. I founded the very successful UK Tracking Dog Association) that truly honours, and harnesses, our dogs natural abilities. It's an activity that, if allowed, your dog would actively choose to participate in.
With a thoughtfully constructed physically, and psychologically, safe learning environment, the dog who would usually struggle in other training environments ... and is all too often excluded ... is able to participate fully; the first step in a long rehabilitation journey. I encourage any "struggling" dog (and his owner) to get involved!
Another strong theme within "Scent : Detect : Find" is my insistence that not only should all training approaches be humane and free of the use of any type of aversive but that they must be underpinned by science ... studies, research, literature ...
my goal for the end of 2016 is to finally complete and publish the accompanying book. It's been taking me some time but I'm on the home stretch now ... So ... watch this space!
Scent : Detect : Find Ltd. Registered Office: Endelig, New Farm Road, Alresford, Hampshire, SO24 9QH. Registered in England and Wales No: 11060176
