Meet the BlackDogTan Trainers:
Julie Johnson
Lynsey Keatley
Paula Ansell
Julie Johnson
Julie got her first dog in 1996, a Rottweiler called Roxanne. She trained her at a local Club, obtaining the Kennel Club Good Citizen up to Gold level. (RIP Roxanne).
18 months later, having been bitten by the bug, Julie bought a male Rottweiler called Prince. It was whilst training Prince and encountering the usual problems with an adolescent male dog, that she sought out a different training school, and this change in training technique with Prince proved to be so successful that she was invited to assist instructing in the classes. Julie's husband John then went on to work Prince in competitive obedience.
Since then, Julie and John have acquired an Akita and three more Rottweilers - Diefenbaker (the Akita), Tia, Tinkerbell and Kitty - and between them, they train their dogs in competitive obedience. More recently John has concentrated on Schutzhund.
Since 2006 Julie and John have been invited by the Kennel Club to attend Crufts each year and spend four days demonstrating obedience to the public with their two Rottweilers. They give two half-hour performances a day, and are available to allow the public to meet and handle their dogs to discuss competitive obedience, and also to help people understand the true nature of the Rottweiler.
Each year at the All About Dogs week-end held at Brentwood in Essex, Julie and her group of colleagues help to organise the Good Dog Diploma, and they also run the fun agility at the RSPCA Danaher Home for Essex Fun Day.
Julie is qualified to assess dogs taking the Good Citizen Award, and she also holds Kennel Club 'Listed Status' which means she is also now qualified to instruct dogs through the Scheme.
To have her own training school was an ambition of Julie's for some time, and together with her two friends Paula and Lynsey, she founded the BlackDogTan Training School in 2006, where it quickly gained a reputation as one of the most progressive and forward-thinking dog schools in this area.
Lynsey Keatley
As a 14 year old, Lynsey was bought her first dog, Molly, a West Highland Terrier, with the strict rule that she had to look after her and train her.
Molly being a terrier was not the easiest dog to train, but with the knowledge that if she gave up, then Molly would be rehomed, not only did Lynsey go on to train Molly to competition standard, but her love of dogs and training took her into the world of instructing and competitive obedience.
Lynsey has been instructing now for 8 years. Having taught at Lead the Way and also at one of the biggest clubs in the South East. Lynsey has attended seminars, & training days, during this time.
Together with Julie and Paula, Lynsey set up BlackDogTan Training School and is one of the instructors, specialising in the Puppy Foundation Course as well as teaching the Bronze, Silver and Gold classes.
Molly is now in happy retirement and Deck, a lively Springer Spaniel is currently her working dog.
Paula Ansell
Paula's bubbly personality and curly hairstyle is the newcomer's first face of contact at the Blackdogtan Training School as she welcomes people and their dogs and explains briefly what the different courses (Bronze, Silver and Gold) are all about.
Paula got her first dog (a Rottweiler) 20 years ago and whilst she considered him just a pet, she had trained him to be well-mannered and sociable. Since then she has owned 2 German Shepherds and at present she has two Rottweilers - a male called Tui and a female called Jet.
Paula is a teaching assistant, with an 11 year old son called Kye. Kye also shares Paula's passion for dogs and attends the Club each week to help out.
When Paula obtained Jet, Kye decided that he would have a go at training her, so they joined the local dog club where Julie was one of the instructors. Paula attended each week watching Kye doing his training, and was then invited to become involved in helping Julie with the classes.
Paula became so enthusiastic about dog training the correct way, that she and Julie decided they would break away and form their own Club. The BlackDogTan Training School (because they both owned their chosen breed - the Rottweiler) was born. Paula is the Club's Treasurer and assists in the classes as well as managing all the administrative aspects of the Club.
Every year, Paula and her colleagues help run the Good Dog Diploma and companion Dog Show at All About Dogs in Brentwood.
