Roz Pooley with her 2 dogs: Mowhawk and Amigo

Roz Pooley

Business owner & clinical animal behaviourist

For four years I worked full time as a dog walker for my own business. Walking thousands of groups of dogs over this time put me in a great position to observe them and intensively learn about their behaviour.

I got my first dog, Denzel (a Spanish rescue) in my first year of business and my second Spanish rescue dog Leto arrived a year later. Kanita, my Thai street dog followed –I credit her for advancing my understanding of canine body language and behaviour.

Sadly, only Kanita remains, and I have since adopted three rescue dogs, two of whom have also passed away. Kanita’s current entourage consists of Amigo (my fourth Spanish rescue dog) and Mohawk the Turbo Badger (Border Collie) who was my first puppy!

Follow me on Facebook

Work with Roz Pooley

Get in touch

I’ve been working as a trainer/behaviourist since 2012/2013 and am now one of a handful of Certified Clinical Animal Behaviourists in Bristol who has passed accreditation with both The APBC and ASAB. This means I have reached the highest accreditation possible as a non-veterinary professional.

As a full member of both The APBC and ASAB I am required to complete more than 30 hours of ongoing education a year and adhere to a strict code of practise (ASAB / APBC)

My dogs often work alongside myself and the team, providing an effective approach towards socially rehabilitating dog-dog over-reactivity and aggression. Due to having had five overseas rescue dogs to date I have become the go-to person for my work with street dogs and rescue dogs from abroad.

I focus on a proactive approach to dog behaviour and training, creating free content on Facebook and our blog, plus affordable educational resources to help prevent behaviour problems starting or escalating. I am also a firm advocate against the use of aversive tools and corrective methods in dog training, writing extensively on these topics as well as demonstrating results obtained using kind and gentle methods. 

I have written extensively for media outlets, veterinary journals (including peer review) and have presented seminars and webinars internationally. More information can be found on media & events.

In addition to mentoring my own team across the years, in 2024 I started to mentor other professionals internationally. I have also featured frequently as a mentor for PACT.

Qualifications, accreditation, practical & theoretical experience

  • Full CAB member of The Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors (The APBC)
  • Accredited CCAB (dogs) with ASAB
  • Full Member of PACT
  • Registered CAB (Clinical Animal Behaviourist) with the ABTC
  • Registered ATI (Animal Training Instructor) with the ABTC
  • Master’s degree in Clinical Animal Behaviour with the University of Edinburgh.
  • A diploma (merit) in canine behaviour with the British College of Canine Studies
  • A diploma (merit) in canine aggression with Compass Education
  • A diploma in canine applied zoopharmacognosy
  • A certificate for seven days up close and personal tuition with the Norweigan dog expert Turid Rugaas.
  • A certificate of attendance for 3 days study at Turid Rugaas’ dog trainer school in the Netherlands (Focus of unit reactivity & stress).
  • A Certificate for full attendance at the Sheila Harper IDBTS 2013-2014
  • Two-day Foundation Tracking workshop with Pat Tagg
  • Two-day dog-dog Tracking workshop with Pat Tagg
  • Certificate of attendance for the Life Skills for Puppies course (with The University of Lincoln)
  • Certificate for Completion of Level 1, 2 & 3 Practical Training Skills with Chirag Patel (Chicken Workshop)- total 9 days
  • Certificate for Completion of Practical Skills 4-day workshop with Chirag Patel and the legendary Bob Bailey
  • Certificate of attendance for the 7-day puppy instructor course with Chirag Patel
  • Certificate of attendance for the 5-day practical ABA (applied behaviour analysis course) with Susan Friedman and Chirag Patel at Yorkshire Wildlife Park (working with exotic species).
  • 8 days training experience (across 2 years) at Heythrop Zoological Gardens working with a variety of non-domestic and exotic animal species.
  • Two-day husbandry workshop with Chirag Patel
  • Two day ‘biology of behaviour’ practical workshop with Kay Laurence
  • 5/6 days completed with Amber Batson on Canine Aggression (couldn’t attend the final day due to senior dog issues!).
  • Advanced Canine Aggression Course with Amber Batson 2022-2024
  • Canine first aid certificate (repeated multiple times)
  • Canine Emmett practioner Levels 1,2, & 3 (EP1, EP2, EP3)
  • Sheepballs 2: Border Collie skills practical 10-week course with Kay Laurence in 2022 and again in 2023 (practical training).
  • Learning about Border Collies/ Sheepdogs online course with Kay Laurence, 2021

I take a keen interest in neurobiology, physiology and psychopharmacology and frequently complete webinars on these topics as well completing continued professional development on many other canine behaviour and training topics.

Recent articles

Check out our ever growing resource of free dog training and behaviour articles

Visit the blog