For the last 17 years Jill has worked her dogs and loves nothing more than watching them do the job they were bred to do. Jill currently has 3 Labradors, Indy, Robyn and Meg, which she takes on her local shoot picking up and occasionally beating.
For a bit of fun Jill also trains and competes in scentwork with her younger two labs, and has in the past dabbled with competition obedience.
Training approach
It was through training her own dogs that led Jill to becoming involved in teaching others to train dogs, which she has now been doing professionally for over 6 years. In recent years Jill has transitioned across to being a force free trainer and believes in the importance of building a bond between handler and dog. She uses science based methods to mark and reward precise behaviours to build a dog’s confidence and trust in the handler.
Jill feels one of the most important elements of her job is showing owners how to motivate their dogs by giving them choices, rewarding the choices we want, and by making it fun.
Gundog experience
Her passion for the sport started when being invited to help out on a local shoot where she initially went beating, but after a couple of years caught the training bug and was asked to take on the role of picking up. She has worked mostly on commercial driven shoots, but also has experience of smaller family run shoots. Jill has experience in working tests and has successfully put one of her Labradors through the Working Gundog Certificate.
Particular breed knowledge
Jill’s speciality is in teaching retrievers, but caters for all working breeds, including spaniels and HPRs.
Qualifications and other Accreditations
Jill has been studying with the Gundog Trainers Academy for the last 2 years and will taking her final exams in March 2021. She also has an Advanced Canine Behaviour and Psychology Diploma with the PETbc. Jill regularly attends workshops and seminars to keep her knowledge up to date.
Services offered
Jill runs her own gundog training business, teaching group classes both in person and online, one to ones, puppy home visits, and workshops in and around the Marlborough and Andover areas.
Jill helps a range of clients from pet owners wanting to gain foundation skills through to those wanting to take their dogs out on a shoot, or aspiring to compete either in working tests or having a go at local scurries.
Her training ground offers an enclosed field with short grass for puppies and beginners, and varied farmland for advancing dog’s experience into realistic gundog scenarios.
She is a foundation instructor for the Gundog Club teaching grades 1-3.
Contact Jill
Jill is looking forward to hearing from you and discussing your gundog training needs.