Leadchanges

Behaviour support using science based methods and positive reinforcement. Helping dogs gain more agency via problem solving to build confidence. Tamasine Smith worked with horses for over twenty years and taught and studied horsemanship for around half that time. For a number of years she was also a teacher and trainer of horsemanship at her own centre, around South Africa and other countries. Oft

en those coming to the centre would meet the resident Ridgebacks and ask if she also trained dogs – to which the answer would be “no, only horses”. However, over time, it became clear that although horses are considered prey animals and dogs predators, they actually both need the same thing when it comes to the humans in their lives – leadership and consistency given with calmness, confidence and compassion. She discovered that what she taught in horsemanship lessons: that it’s about “who we need to be more than a method of training” – also applied to dogs. This led to her taking up studies in dog behaviour and starting on a training programme for dogs. After working with a friend and colleague to create a self-development course called Inner Game (after W. Timothy Gallwey’s books) initially using horses as the teachers, it seemed that it might work just as well with dogs. Tamasine continues her studies, also attending workshops and gaining inspiration from others. One such group was DogsandAll in South Africa who prepare dogs for protection work and sniffer dog work including drug and bomb detection. Leadchanges is now based in Norfolk and in addition to the original workshops, has grown to encompass Tamasine’s own work and work with rescue groups such as Lab Rescue, Ridgeback Rescue (South Africa), Axarquia Animal Rescue and Alhama Street Animal Protection (Spain). This work involves fostering, rehoming, home checks and rehabilitation. Tamasine in particular loves helping with shy and fearful dogs, people and dogs who do best with individual one on one training and who do not thrive in group classes and confidence building both people and dogs - often those who have stopped enjoying going out and about because of the challenges they face. Tamasine studied for her Diploma in Dog Behaviour with the British College of Canine Studies in the UK and passed with Distinction. She also took her First Aid and Dog Law Certificate with the BCCS, also passed with Distinction. She continues with her CPD attending veterinary behaviour conferences, canine welfare conferences and has studied various behaviour, body language and other courses through Sarah Whitehead’s on line school. She is registered with the ITD (I Train Dogs) and is currently studying for her L6 in advanced dog behaviour with the ISCP (International School for Canine Psychology and Behaviour). She is a Friend member of INTODogs and member of ICAN (International Companion Animal Network)