My name is Valentina, and I’ve been working with dogs since 2003. I first started out as a dog walker and then worked alongside a dog behaviourist, where I realised this was what I truly wanted to do. I’ve always had a passion for helping both animals and people, and I found that working in dog training and behaviour gave me the opportunity to do both.

Over the years, I’ve worked hard to expand my knowledge and skills through a wide range of courses, seminars, and hands-on experience. I’m proud to share that in 2024 I was awarded Dog Behaviourist of the Year, and most recently, in 2025/26 I won Dog Trainer of the Year for Bedfordshire — achievements that mean the world to me and reflect my dedication to this field.

I have completed various courses and modules with:

• Cambridge Institute of Dog Behaviour and Training (CIDBT) – Common Canine Behaviour Problems

• Institute of Modern Dog Trainers (IMDT) – Career as a Dog Trainer

• IMDT Ofqual Regulated Level 3 Professional Day Care and Boarding

• School of Canine Science – 30 Days of Canine Science, Fear Short Course, Separation Anxiety Webinar, The Behaviour Bible (Year 1 completed, currently in Year 3), The Puppy Lab (ongoing), Nutrition & Behaviour

Webinars attended include (amongst others):

• The Neurobiology of Trauma in Dogs with Daniel Shaw BSc (Hons), GMBPsS, CDBC

• XL Bully Webinar – Cooper & Co Law

• A Professional’s Guide to Canine Intelligence

• Reactivity Masterclass – Help My Dog with Tom Mitchell

• The Dog Anxiety Summit (4 days, hosted by Dr Edward Bassingthwaighte)

When it comes to working with dogs, I will never stop learning. I do my best to equip myself with knowledge in a wide range of training methods, so I can tailor my approach to each individual dog and family.

My aim is to help you understand your dog — and for your dog to understand you. Building that two-way communication is key to a happy, balanced life together.

At home, I’m also a proud mum of two children, both raised around dogs. My eldest son (15) has never known life without a dog. My youngest (5) adores dogs and loves getting involved in training — especially the treat-giving side! Teaching children how to be around dogs is just as important as teaching dogs how to be around children, and I love involving my kids in that process.

I am fully insured, DBS checked, and licensed by Bedford Borough Council to board a maximum of 2 dogs.

We first crossed paths with Hazel on a facebook post showing a terrified dog tied to a gate on a very cold frosty December morning (-2c). The dog warden had been called and was quite some distance away. We headed to the area armed with blankets and leads to attempt to free her from her predicament till the warden came. We were able to cut her free and walk her to the car where we waited to hand her to the dog warden. Legally, you can not just take home a dog that you find as that would still be classed as theft. She was not chipped, therefore we have absolutely no history about her or her past. The vets, rescue and warden say she is a Staffordshire bull terrier x.. We were able to make contact with the kennels where she was taken to and put our name down for adoption should no one claim her in the next 7 days. We visited her a couple of times and introduced her to Bailey and Rollo too. All went well and fortunately for us, she was unclaimed and by day 10, we were able to bring her home. She is a super intelligent girl who loves to play and learn. I look forward to getting to know her better and having loads of fun teaching her new stuff. 

She is still a puppy, when we found her she was estimated to be around 9 months old, she has grown loads in the 2 months we have had her so far, she is very tall so we think there may be Rhodesian ridgeback or dog de Bordeaux mixed in there somewhere.

She officially became part of our pack on the 9th December 2024.

Bailey, she's from Mauritius, I've had her since she was 6 weeks old. For those who have never traveled there, Mauritius has a massive stray dog population which is down to lack of understanding in animal care and sterilisations as well as very deeply ingrained corruption in the government animal welfare organisation.  I lived in Mauritius for 2 years (2013-2015) where I worked as a behaviourist and trainer and successfully ran my own Board and Train kennels. I worked alongside SOS (Saving our Strays) and MSAW (Mauritius Society for Animal Welfare) where we did many educational campaigns to help teach locals about caring for their dogs as well as picking up dogs in terrible conditions and helping to foster some of those. I have taken part in dog training demos at family events as well as educational events at universities and on national TV (in Mauritius).

When I moved back to the UK, I brought Bailey with me, she was 7 in May 2021. Bailey has been my trusty assistant and stooge dog all these years and always came with me to all the demos. She has now retired from her role as Stooge and assistant due to age and showing signs of arthritis. 

She is highly intelligent and quite an escape artist. Due to her nervous nature, I made sure to start her training as early as possible and with the basic training she has, we were able to build on it and teach her cues that would enable her to keep calm and focused on me when in stressful situations. Now at the grand age of 7 she continues to be nervous, but is easily reassured and relaxes easily. She has taught me what I always make sure to teach owners: training is for life, especially with certain behavioural issues, but as long as you are always keeping it up, your dog will learn to handle these situations better, with your help.