Kevin McNicholas & Shirley Paine have both been training dogs for over 35 years, initially training their dogs for competitions in working trials, dog obedience and agility, followed by introducing ‘Flyball’ to the UK – a sport their dogs were hugely successful at, both at home and in Europe. Kevin has trained dogs for films and TV and also has many VIP clients from the world of business, music and film personalities.
In 1988, along with Annette Conn, they started running pet dog training classes as it was clear to them that a fresh approach to dog training was needed, with the training class designed around the needs of the average dog owner in London, thus their style of positive reinforcement, ‘hands on’ training methods was born. It was their vision that dogs should enjoy being trained and through positive reinforcement enhance their relationship with their owner. Since the club’s inception many thousands of dogs have passed through the classes, these days many clients return again with their second, third or even fourth puppy!
Kevin specialises in helping solve problems with difficult dogs, which is why he is dog behaviourist for the Mayhew Dog’s Home as well as a full time behaviourist and dog trainer covering a large part of London and the Home Counties. With 35 years experience to call on there are not many problems he hasn’t dealt with and we offer help and advice for dog owners. Kevin carries out all temperament assessments for the dogs on the highly successful Therapaws pet therapy programme, where dedicated volunteers take their dogs to care and dementia homes to interact with patients. Kevin also regularly travels to Asia to train help train dog trainers.
Shirley is the puppy training specialist and believes it is very important to help get puppy off to a flying start from the day he arrives in his new home. Preventing problems from occurring in the first place is crucial and can be achieved through having a united approach from everyone in the household.