About Pam Haynes - dog trainer
My name is Pam Haynes and I have been training dogs for the past 16 years. Like most people in this job I originally started by training my own dogs, some 20 years ago, and became hooked!!
I have owned numerous breeds of dog over the years – Boxer, Labrador, Rotwieller, Springer, Collies, Cross-breeds - and quite often these have been rescue dogs. I Currently “share” my house with my Lab, a cross-breed and the newest addition, a Collie pup – the latter 2 both being from rescue centres.
Through the years I have trained and worked with my dogs in competitive obedience and have a passion for agility, having spent many happy weekends tracking around the country to compete in the licensed agility shows. I have won numerous “places” and a few trophies with my dogs. Mostly, however, I do it for fun!
From the late – 90’s I ran a very successful dog training club in Northamptonshire – “ 4-Paws” together with my friend and fellow trainer, Jean Larkin. The emphasis was on learning in an environment of fun and enjoyment for both dogs and owners.
Over time I have adapted my methods to ensure that I update my techniques accordingly. I keep myself up to date with all the training methods used today by attending as many training/behaviour workshops as I can. Some of the best have been held by Dr Ian Dunbar, Jean Donaldson, the APDT and Barbra Sykes.
I have attended Photo shoots with my dogs and they have appeared in Dogs Today and Countryside Magazine. I also did a feature about "how to get your dog on TV" for This Morning TV and have written articles on training dogs Following my relocation to Hertfordshire, and a couple of years out to have my 2 children, I have now established The Dog School.
The Dog School Approach to Training I firmly believe that training dogs should be fun and interesting for both parties involved if the best is to be achieved from everyone.
I love working with dogs and their owners and over the years I have learnt an awful lot from both. Dog training seems to be forever evolving and I for one want to evolve with it: so gone are the days of check chains and the “force-compel-insist” techniques, and in are the “ask-encourage-reward” techniques! - We now try to understand why the dog behaves like it does and work with their natural drives and learning abilities.
My experience over the years has taught me that there is never one way to teach a dog, they are all different and motivated by different things. But one thing is for certain - I do not believe in hitting or scaring dogs to get them to do what I want, I would rather use my brain and work with them - each dog is an individual and should be treated as such.
