In 2018 I opened my own dog walking business. Having been disappointed by what I found available for my own dog, I developed a service that was dog centred,  ensuring the dogs were mentally stimulated as well as exercised. 

Walking dogs gave me a time to work with lots of canine personalities, and also to observe their behaviour. 

Coming from a psychology and and social work background, my initial interests were in behaviour and this was the route I had intended to follow. However, in 2020 I attended a talk by Dr. Hannah Capon from Canine Arthritis Management about recognising pain in dogs and I was really intrigued to learn more. I was amazed at the link between pain and behaviour and instantly recognised some issues in my own dogs. 

It became apparent to me how often the dogs I was told were difficult or could not behave well also exhibited signs of discomfort and pain, and how often this was overlooked. 

 I began wondering how I could help dogs and their guardians where pain was an issue. I was drawn to massage as I had seen it have an amazing impact on one of my own dogs.