ABOUT US

Confident Canines is owned and run by Emma Cowie-Shaw, B.Eng (Hons), Cert.TPTD, ADTB AI, ACHUKI, UKHPI. 

Emma built and ran a very successful dog walking business for several years alongside working on her training qualifications.  During this time, she built up a busy loyal client base, gaining vast hands-on experience catering for many different breeds, personalities and skillsets of dogs.  She now focuses purely on the training side, offering 1:1 training, group classes and workshops. 

Confident Canines is now in it's 9th year, with Emma having trained thousands of dog and human partnerships to date.

As well as excellent qualifications and a wealth of experience in the world of dog training, Emma also has a qualification in training humans.  As a dog trainer, the bulk of the coaching is in understanding what a client's precise needs are and tailoring the training plan to help each partnership achieve their training goals.  Everyone has different learning styles and preferences and she understands that one size does not fit all!

Emma graduated with distinction from Waggawuffins Canine College, having completed a rigorous training regime involving academic studies and also practical hands-on experience working and training with many different types of dogs.

Emma has also completed all of the ADTB (Academy of Dog Training & Behaviour) courses and has been assessed to the highest standard to gain Approved Instructor status.

In 2018, Emma qualified as an Accredited Canine Hoopers Instructor (the first in Lancashire to obtain this status!), and is also a Pro Platinum Instructor with UK Hoopers, teaching skills to competition level.

As well as gaining professional instructor status within these organisations, Emma has also completed many varied dog training courses to gain a wide spectrum of experience.  Whether in a group environment or on a one-to-one basis, she strives to make all sessions clear, informative, comfortable and engaging for all attending.  The humans enjoy the training just as much as the dogs, and people even sometimes form friendships with other dog owners because the class learning environment is so sociable!  The classes are relaxed and fun whilst being educational too.

Emma has also been accepted as a member of the PPG (Pet Professional Guild) and is proud to follow their code of ethics for positive, reward based, ethical and force-free training.

In January 2020 Emma completed training with the amazing Veterans With Dogs charity and works with them on a voluntary basis to help veterans train their dogs to become fully qualified assistance dogs.  For more information about this wonderful charity, have a look here: https://veteranswithdogs.uk/

To keep up with the latest training techniques, Emma regularly attends workshops and seminars all over the country to gain further knowledge from various top trainers within the industry.

Emma is fully insured, has an enhanced DBS check and is also qualified in Canine First Aid, having been trained by Rachel Bean, RVA MCFBA.