ABOUT LIZ

When I was five years old, I fell in love with my first dog. He was my grandparents' Jack Russell called Copper who I used to walk every night after school until he died at the great age of fourteen from an old age related illness. It was my first experience of a broken heart. One year later, I was lucky enough to have my own dog, a Bearded Collie cross called Lucy. Lucy was given to me by my Mum as an eight week old puppy on my thirteenth birthday. My favourite game to play with Lucy was to hide in the farmer's barley and wait for her to come and find me; we were inseparable. Since I sadly lost her to Diabetes in 2003, I have gone on to own and foster many other dogs and I now have a Staffie cross called Sparkle who I recently adopted from Battersea Dogs & Cats Home after having fostered her for several months. Sparkle came into Battersea a scared and neglected three month old puppy with no fur as she had demodex mange. I nursed her back to health and now, with lots of hard work and training, she has become a wonderful pet.

After leaving school I studied for a National Diploma in Animal Care and a BSc in Animal Management at Mid Kent College and Hadlow College. Since then, I have gained a great deal of experience in many dog -based businesses and charities. These include various boarding kennels, dog grooming parlours, RSPCA re-homing kennels and five years at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home from 2006 to 2011. During my time at Battersea I have worked with hundreds of dogs of all breeds, ages and temperaments with a countless variety of behavioural and health problems. In 2010, in my spare time, I started assisting Adrian at ABC for Dogs training classes with both the puppies and dogs. During this time I have been able to work closely with individual dogs and their owners with a wide range of behavioural problems including; aggression, fears and phobias. I am also currently studying with the Guild of dog trainers.