Lynda Hammond

It’s all about the dogs!

My journey to becoming a ‘dog trainer’.

From an early age I knew that animals were my passion, with dogs right at the top of my list. I brought my first puppy home when I was 10 years old and have never been without a dog since.

I knew nothing about training, other than watching Barbara Woodhouse and Johnny Morris on the TV (many of you may need to Google them), but knew that one day I would be following in their footsteps. Their TV programmes fuelled my desire to learn more and I knew that I wanted training to be fun and force-free.

Over the years I have been lucky enough to share my home with dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, budgies, canaries, parrots, stick insects, ducks, chickens, goldfish and tropical fish — to name but a few — all rescued or adopted from various sources.

I became the go-to lady down the road who could help with lost dogs, advise on rescue centres, vets or re-homing, either to myself or a forever home. My family were dragged out at all hours of the day and night on rescue missions, and continue to be!

I have been a volunteer for breed-specific rescue charities for many years and am especially fond of bulldog breeds and brachycephalic (flat faces, such as pugs), both of which are extremely popular but can carry all sorts of health and behaviour problems. As such, I am a champion for their cause when old clichés are recycled.

In 2017 I was in the fortunate position to be able to concentrate on the launch of my dog training and behaviour business — Puppy Dog Tails. I gained professional dog trainer status after formal training and mentoring from an established and successful trainer who is well known within the dog training community and more recently in the literary and media world.

Initially, with no premises, I could be found training in local public areas, until 2018 when I was lucky enough to gain access to a scout hall for two hours on a Sunday morning. This evolved into our highly successful Sunday morning group sessions that are beneficial to those looking for socialisation.

Since then I have extended the depth and breadth of my knowledge and experience — from both a practical and theory perspective — to continue to keep my skills current and to reflect my expanding interest in specific aspects of training, such as sniffer work and ‘kids around dogs’.