Trainers

Ace Dog Training instructors are

Jo Burt MAPDT CAAB APDT
Lisa Dunwell ADTB
John Lofthouse CAAB
Sally Hunt

Jo Burt MAPDT CAAB (Certificate in Applied Animal Behaviour) APDT (Association Pet Dog Training)

I am the founder and owner of Ace Dog Training.

In my mind to be a good dog trainer you need to understand the psycology and mechanics of dogs. To gain practical experience with many different breeds of dogs and to understand people, their learning styles, motivations and needs.

I have a degree in Applied Animal Behaviour from Southampton University, a fantastic course covering how animals learn, genetics, mechanisms, evolution, communication, domestication and human psychology. I am also a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers.

I have attended 2 residential course with John Rogerson (top world behaviourist). Covering all aspects of training rescue dogs to the Gold level of the kennel club award and behaviour issues. Also an Agility Instructors course with Mike Bacon.

I have 4 of my own dogs, Molly my labrador, Merlin my Golden Retriever, Gem my Toy Poodle and the new addition bred from Gem & Harley, Max the puppy. All the adults are obedience trained to gold level of the kennel club scheme. Merlin and Gem both compete at agilty, Merlin is Champ at UKA and Grade 3 Kennel Club. Gem is Novice UKA and Grade 4 Kennel Club. Molly is retired. They are my best friends, great company and a great way to make new friends.

Lisa Dunwell Approved Instructor with Acadamy of Dog Training and Behaviour

I am an approved instructor with the Academy of Dog Training (ADTB) and a diploma with merit in dog grooming.

I have completed an Agility Instructors Course with Mike Bacon of Diamond Dog Training.

I am a great animal lover, luckly enough to be around them since childhood; horses, birds, rabbits, goats and dogs, mainly German Shepherds. The passion carrys on with my 2 horses and 2 dogs, Sully who is a Lurcher and Percy Lurcher cross Collie

John Lofthouse CAAB

I studied companion animal behaviour counselling at Southampton University and gained my M.Sc. in 2001. During and after my studies I helped to run clicker-training classes. I started holding classes for Ace Dog Training in May 2010, after being an assistant at Jo's classes since 2009.

My aim is now to become an APDT registered trainer and help to encourage the positive and reward-based training of dogs. I believe that this is the best way to build a good relationship with your dog and to make owning a dog the wonderful and exciting experience it should be. I particularly love clicker-training, which I think can be a very useful and interesting method of training.

I have a four year old rough-coated lurcher called Besnik (a Romanian name meaning loyal or faithful) with whom I do agility and have attained a gold level in the Kennel Club Good Canine Citizen Scheme. When we’re not doing this we explore the huge variety of walks available in Bristol and the surrounding area. I’m also a keen runner and cyclist and have a day job working with computers.

Sally Hunt

I start agility training with Jo, 2 years ago with my Yorkshire Terrier, Jasper. It started as a hobbie, though being a beginner with Jasper sniffing everything rather than doing the equipment, but with time and effort, he is now at competition level. He is novice at steeplechase at UKA and Grade 2 at Kennel Club. Because I love the sport so much, I got Harley my toy poodle, from the same line as Gem. He is super fast, and very quick at learning, and am very much looking forward to competing him when he is old enough, and now the new addition Lily a puppy from Gem and Harley.