Volunteering and Community

While helping her clients, Helen also dedicates time from her work schedule to provide training assistance to shelter dogs. Helen volunteers at Animal Rescue Cumbria and loves the time she spends up there with the staff and the dogs who come into their care.  She works with each dog, one to one, after consultation with staff and together they tailor the session to the needs of each individual dog.  They may need a good run in the field, time sniffing, toy play, to learn how to fetch, to walk politely on lead, recall, to practice handler focus skills, to learn tools and skills to cope in certain situations, to learn to love wearing a muzzle, help with relaxation or reactivity, and more.  

Helen is always excited to talk about dog body language as she feels it's such an important part of building a trusting relationship with your dog.  Learning how dogs communicate is a big part of her training philosophy, and she loves to share this knowledge with anyone she meets.  Dogs give us many subtle body language cues to show how they are feeling in any one moment.  It's our job as caregivers to improve our understanding of what our dogs are trying to tell us. This will help us to be proactive and to better understand their needs. 

Helen has presented several seminars for the community and for rescue volunteers, in conjunction with Animal Rescue Cumbria, to help spread the word.  If you would like to learn more about dog body language, or would like to organise a seminar or webinar for your company, school, community group, or office then get in touch!

Over her career, Helen and her husband have fostered a variety of dogs from Chihuahuas to Border Collies with a wide range of needs.  They help to provide a calm, relaxed environment for dogs who need a break from the rescue or a little extra help to learn how to fit into our human world.  Through kindness, patience, relationship building, training, and enrichment they provide the dogs with the tools they need to succeed in their future homes.