6 Women Kicking Ass in the Dog World

Inspired by my friend John McGuigan (Glasgow Dog Trainer) and his recent post on sexism in the pet industry. I wanted to draw people’s attention to some women in the dog world that are doing incredible work.

All of those listed are a huge inspiration to myself and I’m sure many others. I’ve also had the honour of talking to many of them in my regular Dog Talk podcast and will insert links to the relevant episodes as we go.

Grisha Stewart1) Grisha Stewart

Grisha Stewart is best known as the author of Behaviour Adjustment Training (Amazon US). A book that revolutionised the way that we work with dogs that have social issues such as reactivity or aggression. Before Grisha’s book the world of dog rehabilitation was very much stuck in an outdated model of rigid counterconditioning training that didn’t fully embrace the dog’s natural behaviours.

Not only has Grisha pioneered behavioural rehabilitation she’s embraced empowerment training which gives the power back to the dogs. This enables us to build stronger relationships and achieve husbandry and training goals on a much higher level than previously.

Where you can find Grisha: 

Website: https://www.grishastewart.com

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/grishastewart1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/grisha.stewart

Twitter: https://twitter.com/grishastewart

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grishastewart

Dog Talk Podcast: https://nickbenger.com/podcast-a-conversation-with-grisha-stewart/

Jemima Harrison

2) Jemima Harrison

In 2008 Jemima shocked and appalled the dog world with her BBC documentary Pedigree Dogs Exposed. The documentary revealed the horrendous health and welfare issues surrounding pedigree dogs.

After the documentary Jemima didn’t just move on, she did it all again three years later in a follow-up documentary and continues to blog on dog health issues to this day.

Even after the initial two documentaries and huge amount of blogging these breeding practises are still a huge problem. For the work Jemima continues to do despite continual abuse from those with their heads in the sand she commands great respect from me.

Where you can find Jemima: 

Jemima’s Blog: http://pedigreedogsexposed.blogspot.co.uk/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JemimaHarrison

Dog Talk Podcast: https://nickbenger.com/podcast-a-conversation-with-jemima-harrison/

Patricia McConnell

3) Patricia McConnell

I attended Patricia’s seminar when she visited my hometown of Bristol, England. The depth of knowledge she possessed was obvious and her talk was excellent. Patricia has to be one of the most experienced and well-informed people in the dog world.

McConnell is an author of several highly-commended books including For the Love of a Dog: Understanding Emotion in You and Your Best Friend (Amazon US) and The Other End of the Leash: Why We Do What We Do Around Dogs (Amazon US) among many others. 

She is also the Adjunct Professor of Zoology at the University of Winsonsin-Madison and she has seen clients for severe behavioural problems since 1988. Pretty impressive!

Where you can find Patricia: 

Patricia’s Website & Blog: http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/PatriciaMcConnell

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PatriciaMcConnellPhD

 

victoria stilwell

4) Victoria Stilwell

Victoria’s dominance has been so clear in the last few years. I almost didn’t include her in the list as she seemed too obvious. It would of been wrong to deny her the place though.

‘It’s Me or the Dog’ was one of the most popular dog training television series of all time. As a result Victoria has become one of the biggest advocates for positive dog training in the world and for that we owe her a lot. 

Through her blog posts, podcast and television projects Victoria is changing the world of dogs for the better. She’s done and is doing so much it’s hard to put it all into one short bio. I encourage you all to follow her work for yourselves. For those unfamiliar with her Victoria’s book Train Your Dog Positively (Amazon US) might be a good starting place. 

Where you can find Victoria: 

Website & Blog: https://positively.com/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/victoriastilwell

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VictoriaStilwell

Twitter: https://twitter.com/VictoriaS

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/victoriastilwell

Risë VanFleet

5) Risë VanFleet

Risë brought empathetic listening and people skills to the dog world in a big way with her book The Human Half of Dog Training (Amazon US). She is known internationally for her work in Animal Assisted Play Therapy and gives regular seminars and workshops. Risë is also very active on a Facebook group which shares the same title as her book. It’s lovely that someone so respected and well-known takes so much time to answer the questions of readers and group members. 

Where you can find Risë

Website: https://www.risevanfleet.com/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/VanFleetPlayTherapy

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PlayfulPoochProgram

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/HumanHalfDogTraining/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PlayfulPoochOrg

Pam Mackinnon

6) Pam Mackinnon

Pam isn’t quite as much of a social media extrovert as some of the others on this list. Which makes her achievements easier to miss but they’re no less significant. An Ex-HM Customs and Excise drug detection dog handler; Pam is very experienced and knowledgeable.

Through her Talking Dogs Scentwork and Talking Dogs Rally workshops she’s brought both sports to hundreds of dogs that would never of otherwise experienced them. Pam has also wrote Talking Dogs Scentwork: The Manual (Amazon US) for those that can’t attend her workshops and if that wasn’t enough there are also the Scent 1: Learning to Sniff and Scent 2: Handling Skills DVDs. 

Where you can find Pam: 

Scentwork Website: http://www.talkingdogsscentwork.co.uk

Rally Website: http://www.talkingdogsrally.co.uk

Scentwork Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TalkingDogsScentwork

Rally Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TalkingDogsRally

Scentwork Twitter: https://twitter.com/Scentworker

Rally Twitter: https://twitter.com/tdrally

Dog Talk Podcast: https://nickbenger.com/podcast-a-conversation-with-pam-mackinnon/

 

Further Reading: 

7 More Women Kicking Ass in the Dog World

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