Nikki’s passion for the canine-human relationship inspired her to work with Assistance Dog charities, as a dog trainer in Bucks and beyond. Over a period of 20 years, she trained Assistance Dogs for Hearing Dogs for Deaf People – a role she loved and which gave her the opportunity to train one of the first Dual Purpose dogs. Her work within the Assistance dog field helped to create many life-changing partnerships and also helped to develop her passion for communication in general which led her working for Sense – a Deafblind organisation as a Community Support Manager where she went on to obtain her level 3 British Sign Language qualification and Deafblind Communicator Guide qualification.
The desire to get back to working with dogs was always bubbling away for Nikki so she was delighted when the opportunity came up to be part of a pilot project with Dogs for Good as a School Dog Handler in a special needs secondary school in Buckinghamshire.
“The benefits that the School Dog, ‘Patience’ a Labrador/Retriever cross brought to the students was incredible: her presence led to more effective therapy sessions; supported greater access to the community and improved pupils’ attendance and willingness to learn and participate.”
With a thirst for self development, Nikki went on to qualify as a Canine Massage Therapist enhancing her knowledge of canine anatomy and giving her a broader perspective on dogs’ wellbeing and behaviour which led her to train and qualify as a Puppy School and share her knowledge and passion for positive training methods with many puppy owners.
puppyschool.co.uk
She enjoys trick training with both of her dogs and loves the detail of training specific behaviours. Feel free to take a look at a fun video she created.
Zigs
In more recent years, her interest in nose work grew. She began training and trialing her own dog in sport scentwork and she was hooked! “Allowing the dogs to take the lead to do what they do best – It still gives me goose bumps watching a dog search.” She completed the Train the Trainers course for all levels with SWUK and Scentwork has become her sole focus.
“Taking complete beginners and supporting them to progress through to advanced scentwork teams is very rewarding. With many dog owners keen to undertake a hobby with their dogs, myself and a like minded Scent work trainer decided to set up a trials organisation.”
