About your tutor
Puppy School North Cotswold classes are run by Debs O’Kane
Hello and welcome to Puppy School North Cotswold
I live in Stow-on-the-Wold with my two children and my crossbreed ‘Paddy’ who is always by my side. I grew up on a farm with working sheepdogs who had many litters of puppies which taught me about dog and puppy behaviour at an early age. I am fascinated by animal behaviour and in addition to dog training I use kind, natural horsemanship methods with my horses. I regularly Canicross run around the Cotswolds and enjoy exploring with my dogs.
My first dog ‘Rodney’ was abandoned in Stow and I took him in, building his confidence to achieve obedience awards, competing in dog agility and qualifying him as a PAT (Pets As Therapy) dog. As a qualified primary school teacher, I am confident caring for and teaching – both humans and puppies. I really enjoy helping owners form a close bond with their dogs by using kind, reward-based methods and having fun in the process. I look forward to welcoming you to one of my classes. If you are interested, please do not hesitate to get in touch for further information and to book a place.
Puppy School tutors come from a wide variety of backgrounds. Apart from running our puppy classes, many have thriving careers in rescue shelters and some work as veterinary nurses, dog walkers, dog groomers, dog training professionals or behaviourists. What they all have in common is a passion for training puppies and a keen interest in animal welfare and behaviour.
Our Puppy School tutors and associate tutors must undergo extensive training before teaching Puppy School classes. This includes an application and interview process, six days of comprehensive theory covering a range of topics from animal learning to lesson plans (taught by founder and director, Gwen Bailey, APBC registered behaviourist), as well as three days of supervised practical work and a comprehensive correspondence course.
We monitor our Puppy School classes regularly to ensure the highest standards are consistently being maintained. Tutors are carefully overseen by Regional Managers to make sure they are using all the skills necessary to become excellent, positive, reward-based puppy trainers. Our tutors must uphold our Code of Conduct at all times and must complete a sufficient amount of continued professional development each year.
Puppy School is delighted to have been recognised as a Practitioner Organisation for the Animal Behaviour and Training Council (ABTC). The ABTC is the regulatory body that represents animal trainers and animal behaviour therapists to both the public and to legislative bodies. It is the only animal welfare charity that is primarily concerned with protecting the psychological welfare of animals undergoing training and behaviour activities. Debs O'Kane is working towards accreditation as an Animal Training Instructor with the ABTC but is not yet qualified.