About
Life with a dog can feel very different to what people expected.
You bring home this dog you love deeply, expecting companionship, fun, walks together and a dog who slots naturally into your life. Instead you find yourself feeling stuck. Walks become stressful. Your dog pulls on the lead, barks at other dogs, struggles to settle, panics when left alone, or just always seems “too much.”
Often people arrive feeling exhausted by expectation. They’ve tried advice from books, social media, trainers, friends and family, yet nothing quite fits the dog standing in front of them. Many feel guilty admitting how hard they’re finding it, especially when they love their dog so much.
What I help people discover is that so often the problem isn’t a “bad” dog. It’s a dog who’s misunderstood.
We live in a world that expects dogs to fit neatly into human lives, but dogs are individuals with their own needs, instincts, sensitivities and ways of experiencing the world. When we stop focusing purely on controlling behaviour and start understanding why it’s happening in the first place, everything begins to feel calmer, clearer and far more connected.
At Love Your Paws, I help people build a life with their dogs that feels enjoyable, realistic and fulfilling for both ends of the lead.
The experience that shapes how I work
I’ve spent years working with puppies, adolescents and adult dogs through classes, scent work, mantrailing, workshops and community sessions across West Cornwall.
Again and again, I saw the same pattern. Dogs labelled “difficult,” “over the top” or “naughty” were often simply overwhelmed, misunderstood, or constantly micromanaged without ever being given the chance to think, problem solve or just be dogs. Their owners, meanwhile, were trying incredibly hard. They cared deeply, but had become trapped in cycles of frustration, conflicting advice and unrealistic expectations about what living with a dog “should” look like.
Working in rescue reinforced this even more. So many dogs end up struggling because their needs were never truly understood, or because no one ever helped their people understand what life with that particular dog would realistically take.
Living with my own dogs shaped me just as much as any course or qualification ever could. My collie Sam in particular changed the way I see dogs completely. He’s an incredibly sensitive dog with very low frustration thresholds, and living with him taught me how much dogs communicate long before behaviour ever escalates. He taught me about agency, advocacy, body language, emotional safety, and the importance of giving dogs time and space to process the world.
He also taught me how transformational scent work can be. I’ll never forget watching him walk into a training hall full of dogs and people, somewhere that would normally have completely overwhelmed him, and calmly search a pile of boxes for his Kong. He had a job to do, and because it made sense to him, everything else melted into the background. The first time Sam ever chose to approach a stranger was while he was tracking. Watching what scent work did for him shaped the whole philosophy behind Love Your Paws.
The thinking behind Love Your Paws
I believe many dogs are deeply loved but fundamentally misunderstood, and that misunderstanding creates huge amounts of frustration on both ends of the lead. People are often taught to focus on obedience, control and compliance, and far less on understanding why their dog behaves the way they do, what their dog is communicating, or what they genuinely need in order to thrive.
For me, training isn’t about creating dogs who blindly obey. It’s about helping people and dogs learn to live well together. That means giving dogs the chance to use their incredible noses, solve problems, make choices, build confidence and engage with the world in ways that actually mean something to them. When dogs get those opportunities, behaviour often changes on its own. They become calmer, more fulfilled and more capable, because their needs are finally being met in a way that makes sense to them.
I want people to stop blaming their dogs and start getting curious about them. Curious about why the behaviour is happening. Curious about what their dog is finding hard. Curious about what they might need more of. Curious about just how clever and capable their dog really is. So much of what I do is helping people see their dogs differently.
What working with me is like
I also want the dogs to enjoy it. They’re built for play, exploration and interaction, and training should reflect that. I often say we should think more primary school teacher than university lecturer. Our dogs didn’t choose to come to a training session, so it’s on us to make learning clear, rewarding and fun.
Whether you join me for scent work, mantrailing, workshops, walks or classes, the focus is always bigger than teaching cues. It’s about helping you understand your dog more deeply, build confidence together, enjoy everyday life more, feel calmer on walks, and find things you genuinely love doing side by side. And one of the things I’m proudest of is the community that’s grown around it all. People arrive looking for help with their dogs and often find friendships, encouragement and a group of people who care just as much as they do.
Who Love Your Paws is for
It’s probably not the right fit for anyone after an instant fix, pure obedience drilling, or approaches built on punishment or “showing the dog who’s boss.” My focus will always be on understanding behaviour, building trust, and helping dogs and people work together in a way that’s fair and sustainable for both.
What I stand for
I also believe owners deserve honesty and support. Real progress rarely comes from more, louder or stricter. More often it comes from slowing down, watching more closely, and building situations where dogs can actually succeed. I hold high standards for how dogs are treated here, I ask people to come at their dogs with curiosity rather than blame, and I don’t use or support punishment-based methods. Kind training doesn’t mean no boundaries or letting dogs run riot. It means teaching thoughtfully, communicating clearly, and helping dogs make good choices in a human world while still respecting who they are.
At the heart of all of it is one simple idea: dogs shouldn’t spend their whole lives trying to fit into our world without us making equal effort to understand theirs.
Come and say hello
If you’re after thoughtful, scent-led training that helps you understand your dog, build a calmer and more connected relationship, and become part of a supportive community of like-minded people, I’d love to welcome you.
Whether you’re starting out with a new puppy, riding out the adolescent chaos, working through everyday challenges, or just looking for meaningful ways to enjoy life with your dog, there’s a place for you here.
