Joe Nutkins
Main Instructor
‘I have been taking classes from puppy level through to advanced for 14-15 years now and have worked with a great many breeds with varying personalities! I qualified in Dog Training and Canine Behaviour with my diploma Level III several years ago and since then have continued taking part in training for both myself and my own dogs to keep us up to date!
In 2016 I am proud to have achieved accreditation with the Kennel Club in Pet Dog Obedience, which I am continuing to keep up to date with. I also retrained to become a Certified Tricks Dog Trainer with Do More With Your Dog in 2014, and also qualified to be a Kennel Club Good Citizen Bronze level Examiner in August 2014, meaning I can help even more people and their dogs! In November 2015 I completed my Pet Bereavement Counsellor Certificate meaning I can help owners at a sad and difficult time of their lives where needed, and throughout 2015 and Spring 2016 I worked on my Canine Fitness Trainer certificate with Debbie Gross from Wizard of Paws and am thrilled to be able to offer Canine Conditioning, Fitness and Strengthening to dogs of all ages for general fitness, strength post injury and operation (after signing off from vet or physio) and strengthening for older dogs. In October 2014 I was also thrilled to be nominated for the Kennel Club’s Accredited Instructor’s Award by my clients and members of our classes, which was amazing!
I was even more thrilled to be nominated by several clients again for the Royal Canin GCDS Award, Outstanding Achievement category and to be through to the final 4. In fact I’m proud to say the finalist was one of our own class members who I had nominated for the same award!
I enjoy working with owners and all breeds, but do have additional knowledge with training terriers and small breeds also for both safety on walks and up to competition level.
‘I have been the proud owner of 4 Norwich Terriers, starting with Cassie and Taylor through hard work and enjoyment have worked through all levels of classes to result in Cassie competing at Open and Obedience and Taylor competing at Agility and Jumping classes. Both dogs thoroughly enjoy the ‘work’ they do, and additionally have all achieved their Kennel Club Good Citizen Gold. Taylor became the world’s first Norwich Terrier Trick Dog Champion in May 2015, which Cassie also achieved aged 16 years and 2 months old!
‘Cassie enjoyed dabbling in Heelwork to Music, K9 Multsport and UK Rally O. Taylor has done Working Trials training, also enjoys K9 Multisport and is a registered Pets as Therapy dog!! Both Cassie and Taylor have also been taking part in demonstrations and displays at shows including All About Dogs for Obedience and local shows for Agility and most recently Taylor took part in Sports Relief Top Dog to help with this worthwhile charity.
Merlin came to us in February 2012, being Taylors Nephew and started in Breed Showing, which was a brand new discipline for me too so we were both learning plenty! Merlin passed his Bronze Good Citizen award in May 2012 aged 5 1/2 months along with his pal Bronte (Lancashire Heeler) and started his showing in June 2012. He qualified for Crufts 2013 during East of England Show, and returned to Crufts in 2014 and 2015, this time with his Aunt Cassie and Uncle Taylor in the Veteran classes too! Merlin went on to achieve his GCDS Silver and Gold by age 20 months. He enjoyed being in Panto for Beauty and the Beast Christmas 2017 for 28 shows and back on stage playing Sandy the Dog in Annie with the Clacton Musical Youth Theatre. ‘Merlin and his buddy Piper’s latest project is Britain’s Got Talent 2019 which all four of us thoroughly enjoyed being part of!
Our newest addition is Ripley, our female Norwich Terrier who turned 9 months old at the end of February 2019. Happy, confident and outgoing she is a joy to work with, just like all my others, and has so far achieved her Bronze Kennel Club Good Citizen, Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, Expert and Champion Trick Titles plus has done her first Trick Dog Displays at the Classic Festivals and Events shows at Weald Park in September 2018, Five Lakes in November 2018 and during 2019 – which she loved!! Ripley also has passed her Foundation Good Hoopers Award, entered her first HTM competition in August 2019 and has done her first official filming for a TV advert and documentary too! – which she loved!!
Sadly we lost Cassie and Taylor in 2017 – Cassie age 16 1/2, Taylor age 13 years 7 months, and they continue to inspire me to help as many dogs and owners in the best way I can.
I thoroughly enjoy working with both owners and their dogs on all levels, and find it so very rewarding seeing owners and dogs working together, enjoying each other’s company and progressing in whatever they aim to achieve!
Kate Gasson
Obedience, Clicker & Tricks Instructor
I have been part of the Dog Training for Essex & Suffolk team since summer 2014 and have completed Instructor Training with Joe in 2015 and became a Certified Trick Dog Instructor in May 2015.
My own dog, Boo, Border Collie (with 1/8 Poodle!) and I have worked in Competition Obedience, Tricks Training, Clicker Training and have started Agility and some Heelwork to Music fun also! Boo is currently finishing her Expert Level tricks and will soon be on her Champion Trick Title! I have passed my CAP 1 Assessment with Distinction in October 2015!
My previous work as a Horse Trainer along with my Diploma in Canine Behaviour and Training through Compass has helped me develop my skills as a Dog Training Instructor and I am really looking forward to working with dogs and their owners, especially with the new Clicker and Tricks classes that I am teaching!!
I’m thrilled to also introduce Billy, our Terrier pup! He is JRT x Lakeland Terrier and is just 4 months old in this photo taken during his Intermediate class training! Billy loves working, learning and showing off, and has many advanced tricks already under his belt! Training another breed type is very different – there are specific traits to Collies and different traits to Terriers – and I’m loving finding out how best to adjust Billy’s training to suit him best!
Charlotte Jones
Agility, Obedience Trainer & Pet Gundog Trainer
Charlotte is Certified in Dog Training through Dog Training for Essex & Suffolk and has been a member of our training team since 2015 as well as working her Working Cocker Spaniels Inda and Isha in various types of training for several years before this! Inda and Isha not only work at Advanced Obedience level, but have also done Gundog Training, Agility, and various Retrieve training!
Charlotte is our second member who is also a Zoo Keeper at Colchester Zoo, plus has been a Presenter and Keeper, and is now in the same area as Hannah too! Charlotte takes both Agility and Obedience classes with us, and is also wonderful at covering our classes during instructor holiday. To keep up her training experience Charlotte also helps in many of our 1-2-1 sessions and works other team members dogs to give her more experience of different breeds, including Terriers and Golden Retrievers.
Canine First Aid Training completed during May 2022!
Our most recent Canine First Aid Training was hosted by us in May 2022 and run by Dog First Aid – A fabulous afternoon learning about looking after our dogs, understanding how many injuries and accident can be managed before reaching a vets, and of course how we can help our canine clients during our training sessions.
