Blog Janet at HeartDog

About Me

 About Janet Finlay

Hi, I'm Janet Finlay and I'm the owner and primary trainer and coach at Canine Confidence. I began my 3-year training as a TTouch practitioner in 2004 and am now a TTouch Instructor (TTouch Guild), one of the few in the UK qualified to teach others to become practitioners. I am also an ACE Advanced Tutor, a certified member of the UK Association of Pet Dog Trainers (01046) and a qualified coach. I use only respectful, kind, and effective methods - I will never scare or hurt your dog in the name of training - and I apply that philosophy to you as well. I believe that to address reactive behaviour effectively it is important to work on building confidence at both ends of the lead! With that in mind my training focuses on building engagement between you and your dog, so that they can more easily disengage with things out there that are scary.

So that you have confidence in my ability to help you, here are my key credentials:

  • TTouch Companion Animal Instructor (TTouch Guild member): I have studied TTouch with the top instructors in the world including the founder, Linda Tellington Jones, her sister Robyn Hood, Kathy Cascade, Debbie Potts, Edie Jane Eaton, as well as fellow UK instructors Sarah Fisher, Tina Constance and Marie Miller. I am a full member of the TTouch Guild and, as an Instructor, I am able to teach both workshops to help people to work with their own dogs and Practitioner Training clinics and modules, teaching future practitioners.
  • Certified member of the UK Association of Pet Dog Trainers (MAPDT 01046) having passed both theory and practical assessments in 2009. To prepare for my APDT assessment, I successfully completed the Trainer Development Programme at the Tailwagger Club in Leeds, and worked as a trainer in the club for several years.
  • Qualified coach, holding an Institute of Leadership and Management Level 7 Coaching and Mentoring qualification.
  • PhD-qualified and have over 20-years experience as a lecturer (and later professor) in Higher Education, specialising in elearning. Nothing to do with dogs but lots to do with knowing how to teach and run online courses!
  • Attends regular seminars and workshops to keep up to date with new training methods and techniques, as well as dog behaviour and health. I have attended seminars recently led by the following experts: Sarah Fisher, Leslie McDevitt, Susan Friedman, Kathy Sdao and Ken Ramirez and have completed Professor Friedman's Living and Learning with Animals for Professionals course. 
  • Twenty five years experience working with dogs, including breed, pet obedience, agility and ring craft training clubs. A lifetime living with dogs, first with a pack of family Shelties, then with my own Maremma Sheepdogs for many years as well as Smooth Collies, a Lurcher and a Chihuahua/Miniature Pinscher mix.

Find out more about How I Work...