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

Meet Teresa Elswood from East  Sussex.

"Sixteen years ago I gave up work as a beauty therapist to move to a property that required a lot of work, with my husband and two sons.  Once the garden was secure, I could finally have my first dog, a GSP.  Thirteen years later, when I saw an advert for the Course, I had another GSP and a Border terrier and was regularly attending a weekly obedience class with all three.

I embarked on the Dog Psychology Course in the hope that it would at least help me to understand the sometimes aggressive behaviour of two of my dogs, it did a lot more than this!  Besides enabling me to work out why they were reacting as they did, it improved my management of the situations and their subsequent behaviours.  Both the Pointers have now died but Rolo the Border Terrier is slowly improving and it was surprisingly easy to introduce a new puppy, Harry.

I also became more aware of the "dog world", in particular how dogs learn and how important body language is for their communication and consequently how this can be used in training.  We now do agility, obedience, rally-o, tracking and heel work to music on a regular basis.  Being sidetracked in this way, it was three years before I finished the Course case studies but I'm so please that I did.  I was delighted to have passed but amazed that my work qualified me as a Top Student.  That was an added bonus to enjoying the Course greatly and helping me with my own dogs.

It is very tempting to start working as a canine psychologist but having seen some of the mobility problems suffered by elderly (Lacey was 15 when she died) and agility dogs, I have decided to use my beauty therapy knowledge and train in canine myotherapy first.  I have no doubt that what I have learned on this Psychology Course will prove invaluable in the future, so I will certainly be doing the Aggression Course at a later date, before setting up in practice, properly."

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 canine problems, flexibility, open-mindedness, creativity - and much more!  We don't select one on a regular basis - like monthly - but only when someone really impressive comes along.  Sometimes they come close together; other times there are long intervals between them!