Role at OhMyDog: Eager to learn more about dog training – especially scientific and ethical training methods – I joined the OhMyDog team. After completing an intensive learning programme, I started teaching my own puppy classes for OhMyDog. Teaching these classes really appeals to me: I get to give people and their young dogs a strong foundation for further obedience training. I can also share advice about animal welfare and the prevention of behaviour problems.
 
Credentials: After completing my propaedeutic year in social work, I ventured into various academic disciplines, from Safety Management to History. I found out that studying is not for me and decided to retrain as a dog trainer. That is why I am now following Tinley Academy's programme to become a certified dog training instructor.
 

[caption id="attachment_204" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Pjotr and Kyra, his German Shepherd cross.[/caption]

Dayjob: I am focusing on my rescue dog and my studies at the moment. 

Personal experience:  Kyra, a shepherd mix who was scared of other dogs, taught me so much about dog behaviour. Working on her fears taught me a lot about helping a high energy dog cope with stress and anxiety. I also learned about the importance of management, in parallel to actually working on the behaviour problems. I later also adopted Cooper – another high-energy shepherd mix. Cooper came to me with his own problems: because of his back issues, he is restricted in how much he can physically exert himself. So we had to find other ways to keep him mentally engaged and challenged. We learned a lot of tricks, regularly do nose work and have come up with all kinds of games.