I feel fortunate to own and train two wonderful and very different dogs Tyler a 7-year old Red Tri Border and Archie a 4-year old Pyrenean Sheepdog.

My journey with dogs began when I was a child as we always had pet dogs. However, the very first dog I owned was a wonderful crossbreed called Beauty. Being in my early teens, still studying and living at home, a prerequisite to me having a dog was that I agreed with my parents I would take her to dog training classes, which I duly did. I really enjoyed going to classes and began helping and participating in club events and shows. I became a trainer for the club and my interest in obedience grew so I began to compete.

Other dogs that have shaped my life over the years included a Brown Jack Russell called Smudge. He completely changed my perception of the breed. It wasn’t a breed I would have considered owning but due to a change in a friend’s personal circumstances I gave him a home as a pup and I was so pleased I did. He was such a wonderful character. My next dog came from Battersea Dogs Home, she was a small crossbreed called Saffa. She was quite young when I got her, although we never knew her real age because she was found abandoned and spent most of her short Battersea life in one of the workers homes because she was so poorly. Over time her confidence grew and it was amazing after her previous experience how gentle and friendly she was. She was a joy to live with.

In my Professional Career I worked in sales and personal development for a number of large organisations such as Cadbury and for the last 15 years I have run my own business. This meant lots of International travel for work so dog ownership and training took a back seat. I then decided to stop the travelling and focus on working in the UK, which meant I could rekindle my dog passion.

Tyler arrived as an 8-week old puppy and we began puppy classes. As he got older I searched for clubs running competitive obedience classes, which proved quite difficult. Then I finally found a place in St Helens. Soon after joining she introduced us to Heelwork to Music classes and clicker training, which we enjoyed and this took me up the Heelwork to Music route rather than obedience. I went on to attend Richard Curtis, Heather Smith and Mary Ray workshops and competed in my very first Heelwork to Music class in August 2011. A couple of years later I began to run Heelwork to Music / Freestyle and Clicker training classes in Cheshire. I love the sport of heelwork to music and coming up with new ideas and choreographing routines. I particularly enjoy freestyle.

As I progressed in the sport I decided to attend a judging seminar to get a greater understanding of what judges are looking for. I actually attended two seminars, the first one with Richard Curtis and Lesley Brocklehurst and the second with Kath Hardman, both of which I found very useful. Soon after attending the workshops I was invited to Judge at the Canine Freestyle GB show. It was my first experience as a judge so I was a little nervous. It felt such a responsibility because you want to do the right thing for both the competitors and the sport. I enjoyed the experience and since then I’ve gone on to judge different classes at various shows across the country.

In 2015 Tyler and I made the Crufts Freestyle final which was a wonderful and exciting experience albeit a little daunting at the same time. We exceeded our expectations and came runner up in our first finals. Tyler is such a happy, wonderful dog to train and perform with. We were delighted to get to the finals again this year where we again came runners up. It was exciting to achieve this 2 years in a row.

Meanwhile my Pyrenean Sheepdog, Archie, is such a different dog to train compared to Tyler and has certainly helped me hone my training skills. He is such a busy, enthusiastic dog with a huge zest for life that on occasions he finds it difficult to focus on the task at hand and often wants to run off and say hello to people. Mind you I just love this part of his character. He is now maturing into a wonderful freestyle dog and with that maturity we’ve successfully got into Advanced.

It’s wonderful to look back on both Tyler’s and Archie’s achievements. I love the sport and feel really grateful to all who have made me feel so welcome and have been so supportive.

Heelwork to Music has given me the opportunity to build a great relationship with my dogs, meet so many great people and create wonderful new friendships. My goal in setting up Paw Performance and Simply Canine Freestyle is to let more dog owners know about the sport and provide them with the knowledge and skills they need to easily teach their dogs great moves and build a great relationship.