I was 10 years old and won my first Obedience competition with a Dalmatian called Lady. I lived in England and I wanted an Alsatian (English version of a German Shepherd) because I had seen how well they worked in obedience trials. But since I was a small 10 year old, my parents bought me a Dalmatian (believing I would not manage a large German Shepherd!). Back then, there were no Dalmatians in obedience trials so we were a bit of an oddity. But we got noticed when we continued to win trials throughout Southern England, winning from Novice competitions to Tracking Trials!
I changed breeds and bought my first Golden Retriever in 1980 and have bred, showed and trialled Golden Retrievers for the past 30 years. From my first Golden, I went on to raise Show Champions and Obedience winners as well as many litters of pups.
In 2000, I set up my own business as a Dog Behaviourist, doing ‘in home’ training for problem dogs, as well as running a successful puppy preschool and adolescence dog group training class. My clients mainly came from recommendations from local veterinarians and dog training schools.
I was asked by a client to help train a dog for a child in a wheelchair with various disabilities. Seeing the difference an assistance dog made to the independence of this child, I was on a mission to train more assistance dogs!
To learn as much as I could about training assistance dogs for children, I went to the USA to join 4Paws4Ability and worked a 6 month internship. Seeing for myself the amazing success of dogs helping children with disabilities, I was convinced the internship was well worth it to have this knowledge and train these dogs back in Australia.
Smart Pups was launched in 2011.
