Dogs are my passion

I have lived with, trained, listened to, talked about, learnt about, and loved dogs for as long as I can remember. I have shown dogs in conformation and obedience, and we have had lots of fun trying out many different activities, such as tracking, herding, dancing, fun games, agility, treibball, K9 Nose Work®, or whatever else they might enjoy.My love of dogs has taken me on so many journeys, both physical and mental.

I am a qualified dog trainer with a Certificate IV in Companion Animal Services from the Delta Institute. I am a volunteer instructor at Southside Dog School in Cheltenham, and have been a volunteer Behavioural Trainer at RSPCA. I have also been a sessional instructor with Wagging School, based in Brunswick.

In 2010 I read about the new dog sport of K9 Nose Work® in The Bark magazine. Wow, what a fantastic idea! Fancy letting our pet or companion dogs use their noses like the professionals? Why hadn’t someone thought of this before? I was hooked. I did lots of investigation and research, reading, watching videos, and chatting with online friends whose dogs were enjoying this new sport. I ran my first nose work course using the K9 Nose Work® methodology at Southside Dog School in 2010. This was closely followed by a nose work course at Northern Obedience Dog Club. Everyone was hooked. I have been running nose work courses since then. This lead me to pursue accreditation as a K9 Nose Work® instructor. I attended the pre-requisite 3 day workshop with one of the founders of K9 Nose Work®, Jill Marie O’Brien, in New Zealand in 2014, and completed 8 days training with the NACSW Instructor accreditation program in Pasadena, California, in 2015. I clocked up my training hours and became a Certified Nose Work Instructor (CNWI) in 2016. I was one of the first in Australia to gain my CNWI accreditation. I occasionally volunteer at the Lost Dogs’ Home in North Melbourne teaching employees, volunteers, and the dogs all the joys of K9 Nose Work®

To further my K9 Nose Work® knowledge, I have attended a number of K9Nose Work®-related seminars, including those presented by Amy Herot (one of the founders of K9 Nose Work®) and Fred Helfers, and sat in on classes run by Jill Marie O’Brien and Amy Herot, both in California. I shadowed the host team for a NW1 and NW2 trial in Huntington Beach, California in 2015, and assisted at Australia’s first Odour Recognition Test (ORT) in Sydney in 2015. In April 2016, I volunteered at 2 Elements Trials (Containers and Interiors) and a NW1 Trial on Ohau in Hawaii. I was a co-host, Judge and Certifying Official at Victoria’a first two ORT in 2016, and was one of the Judges and Certifying Officials at Victoria’s third ORT in January 2017.

In addition, I have attended nose-related conferences/webinars/seminars where the following have presented:Steve White, Nando Brown, Simon Gadbois, Nathan Hall, Scent Dogs Australia, Denise Fenzi, Roger Abrantes, and many more.

I want to learn as much as I can about the whole dog so I have attended many conferences/seminars/courses about dogs, including seminars given by Kaye Hargreaves, Steven Lindsay and Brenda Aloff.

I have attended most of the Australian Associaton of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) conferences, where presenters have included Ian Dunbar, Pat Miller, Jean Donaldson, Sue Sternberg, Debbie Calnon, Paul McGreevy, Peta Clarke, Dianna Cooper, BarbaraFougere, Kelly Gorman, Jonica Newby, Roger Abrantes, Nicole Wilde, Pamela Dennison, Jennifer Messer, Pamela Reid, Sarah Kalnajs, Kay Laurence, Kersti Seksel, Gabrielle Carter, Nic Bishop, Chirag Patel, Nando Brown, Ken Ramirez, Veronica Boutelle, Nina Bondarenko, and so many more.

I have completed Level One studies in Bowen Therapy for small animals as well as for humans, Tellington Touch introductory course, Pet Dog Grooming, and Bach Flower remedies for Animals.

I am sure I have a lot more to learn!