This is where we feature a student who has impressed us with their knowledge and understanding of behaviour modification, and their flexible, creative approach to solving problem behaviour.

Mwet David Gilman from Chorley in Lancashire

David Gilman, pictured here with Meg, tells us:

"I am over the moon that the team were impressed with my work (I have learned so much about dogs that pass or fail it would have been well worth all the work involved) and would like to thank them all  for taking the time to assess it and for the useful comments they made.  I found them very enlightening and they have given more of an an insight into the practicalities of dog psychology that will be very helpful in the future.  I am also very thankful for the future support which I will no doubt be calling on.

I have learned so much about dogs and myself from the Course; it was enjoyable, informative, certainly challenging and has prevented my mind from slipping into dotage.  It made me think more about both the physical and psychological problems dogs and humans have when they live together.  I didn't think there was so much involved with "just keeping" a dog.  I realise it is much harder and more interesting. But the most important thing I have learned from the Course is that you can have a much happier and more fulfilling life with your dog if you understand her as a dog and she can enjoy her life much more because you understand her.

The reason I enrolled was because of my latest dog Meg, a six year old Border Collie.  I have had dogs all my life but about four years ago I had to have my dogs Einstein (Border Collie, 12 - I did not give him that name) and Tammy (Jack Russell, 19) put to sleep on the same day.  This upset my wife and myself so much that we vowed never to have another dog.  But two years later we talked about giving another dog a good home so we came across Meg, who was five years old at the time.  She had been badly treated but "took to me straight away" so we brought her home, little knowing the problems we would have.  She didn't like dogs, was afraid of people abd didn't like coming home from walks.  But having seen programmes on dog behaviour which linked to dog psychology I becamse interested enough to try and put it into practice and decided I needed to do it properly so I enrolled on the Canine Behaviour Centre Course.  From the knowledge gained Meg is now a very well behaved dog who can handle dogs and people in her stride and gives us both so much pleasure.

About myself, I have been married 40 years to Pauline.  Next year I will have been a self employed barber for 45 years and think it's about time I let my daughters Joanne and Andrea run the business.  So, to stop me interfering, I decided on a new career and hopefully it will be in dog behaviour.  I am now in the process of setting up the new bsuiness but still want to improve my qualifications - I have already enrolled on the Advanced Aggression Course - and learn the skills required to hopefully makes the lives of of the dogs and their owners that I come into contact with happy and fulfilling.  I am now looking forward to my new career and hopefully it will last as long as my last one."

Please note that the views and opinions of our Top Students are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Canine Behaviour Centre.

Many people ask us how we select our Top Students. Quite simply, they are those students whose work is outstanding. They display all the qualities we are looking for - the ability to think of all possible options, an empathy with human as well as dog problems, flexibility, open-mindedness, creativity - and much more!