Meet the trainers…

Karen Henley

Karen is a Professional Certified Dog Trainer (VSA-CDT)

Certified Separation Anxiety (SA) Pro Behaviour Consultant - CSAP-BC

Romanian Rescue Recommended Pro Trainer

Puppy Start Right Instructor - Karen Pryor Academy

Fear Free Certified Trainer

UK Sniffer Dog Trainer

LEGS - Family Dog mediation

Kids Around Dogs

Pro Instructor with UK Hoopers

Pro Dog Trainer - Absolute dogs

Rachel Bean First Aid Trained

 

I’ve been mad about animals since I can remember, a passion I share with my parents and particularly my nan and grandad. I had dogs and cats as child and have always ridden horses. When I left school, I went to Rodbaston Agricultural College and did a two-year animal care course. Alongside this I worked in a veterinary hospital, which I loved, I was going to train as veterinary nurse. But life happens and I decided to train as a human nurse which has led to a long and very fulfilling career in critical care and most recently vocational rehabilitation.

My journey into dog training really began when I adopted Rupert and Mila. They both came with difficult beginnings, with Mila being particularly challenging (I was her third home not including foster and kennels). I found it difficult to get consistent advice and began reading books on dog behaviour and training. I bought Victoria Stillwell’s book ‘Train Your Dog Positively’ and there was a passage in it that just resonated with me. I noticed that she ran a training academy and after much research started my training in August 2018. It was the most amazing course, I learnt so much and met the most wonderful people and dogs. I was thrilled to learn that I passed with distinction in March 2019.

I am passionate about dogs and I’m sure you will enjoy training with me. My aim is to make dog training fun and build happy and lasting relationships for you and your dog.

I live in Kinver with my two dogs, two cats and my partner Paul.

 

"Brilliant!"

“Karen was professional and very friendly, Holly took to her immediately and the experience was so much fun and enjoyable, she did not realise that the fun she was having was in fact training, brilliant. Will definitely be recommending Karen!”

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  • 100% recommend Bark-ology. 🐾

    Honestly Karen is amazing, such a warm & welcoming person that put me at ease straight away. Her training is easy to follow & she puts no pressure on you when you make mistakes (everyone makes mistakes). Karen has drilled into me that training is supposed to be fun & she makes it fun. I'm quite a reserved person around new people but like I said she made me feel very welcome from the beginning & has helped chill me out. She has gone above & beyond for me & my boy Bailey. Wouldn't go anywhere else I 100% recommend Bark-ology. 🐾

  • Positive, friendly and encouraging

    From the first conversation on the phone, Karen was positive, friendly and encouraging. We booked a series of 5 lessons.

    Karen helped us understand Penny’s behaviours better, taught us tools to bring her attention back to us and after each lesson sent us an email recap with links to helpful videos so that we could practice at home.

    I also really appreciated the fact that even though it was obvious we hadn’t always practised as much as we should have, Karen always found something positive to encourage us.

    Penny also thoroughly enjoyed the lessons and it was nice to be working as a team rather than against one another.

  • We can already see an improvement

    We first used Bark-ology for puppy training last year which we all found really useful. We have recently had a few one to one sessions with Karen to work on recall and lead walking which have been great. We can already see an improvement in our dogs behaviour on walks. We would definitely recommend .

  • Everyone has noticed the difference

    Absolutely fantastic experience. Karen is very knowledgeable about canine behaviour and changed our very reactive Border Collie into a calm and focused sweetheart. Everyone has noticed the change and although the training was at times intense the outcome of it is invaluable.

Julie Russon

Dog Trainer

Julie runs the Wolverley training classes alongside Jen. 

Julie Russon has over 20 years experience as a dog trainer and has competed at Crufts with her own dogs in agility and obedience. She runs her own successful training business focusing on Agility, Hoopers and Scentwork and has many specialist instructor qualifications to her name.

Jen Hobson

Dog Trainer

Jen runs the Wolverley training classes alongside Julie. 

Jen has a wealth of experience with all types of dogs - having eight living with her at home, including fabulous demo dog Ellie the labrador who also helps with classes. Her relationship with her dogs really stands out and is something to strive for.

Outside of class Jen is studying hard to be a veterinary nurse and enjoys training tricks as well as competing in hoopers and scentwork. She loves going on forest walks with her gang, her favourite being Mallards Pike or going away in the caravan.