I’m very lucky to have a fantastic group of people working for me at Standish Dog Trainer.  All of my team are passionate about working with dogs, about the welfare of dogs and are committed to increasing their knowledge.

Cathy Birchall

Hi, my name is Cathy and I am a relatively new volunteer member of the Standish Dog Trainer team.

Originally my husband and I were clients of Jo Pay’s – we enlisted her help when our 2 German Shepherd/Yellow Labrador cross puppies proved to be quite a handful.  We had 1 to 1 sessions with Jo then attended her puppy classes and are just about to begin Rally classes in 2012 with both our boys.

My experience as a client of Standish Dog Trainer opened up a whole new world of all things canine to me – I felt sad when the classes had finished, but remained in contact with Jo and when a volunteer vacancy came up I approached Jo to ask if I would be suitable. I can honestly say it’s the best thing I ever did!!

I have already completed a canine first aid course, attended a seminar with Victoria Stilwell, and I am currently doing the Compass Education course “How Dogs Learn”!  I am confident that as a part of Jo’s team I will continue to learn and keep up to date with all that is new and important in the canine world.

I am thrilled to be part of a forward thinking team that offers an excellent service to its clients and their owners.

Emma Jones

Hi, my name is Emma and I have been working with Jo for over 3 years. I started at Standish Dog Trainer as a volunteer looking to gain experience with dogs while pursuing a dog grooming career. However, as much as I enjoy dog grooming I found my true passion was dog training.

I feel extremely lucky to have been given the opportunity to train dogs with Jo and as I have been trained and mentored by Jo I adhere to her standards and methods. With our non–aversive methods we teach dogs to think for themselves and choose the right behaviour, this is something I truly believe in and see the results every week at classes.

I have a soft spot for terriers especially Westies and Bedlingtons but love working with all breeds and types of all ages. I have a young Bedlington Terrier and we are very excited about starting Rally O together this year and hope to start CaniX once she is over a year old.

I am a qualified puppy trainer (Compass), a qualified dog groomer (City & Guilds) and have completed a Canine First Aid course. Like all of us at Standish Dog Trainer my learning is on going and I have attended seminars such as Grooming Difficult Dogs and more recently a seminar with Victoria Stilwell.