I’m Holly and I love chocolate buttons, late night movie re-runs and a morning cuddle with my pups (yes, I’m a dog pro and my dogs are welcome to sleep on my bed!).

It all started with my own wonderful dog, Riggs (more on that lovely boy below). Everything that he has taught me and that we continue to learn together, I have now passed on to 50,000 dog guardians and trainers all over the world!

Our focus here at Paws Up is about building safety and connection between dogs and their people and between people and their trainer. This means better dog-human communication and the ability to work through difficulties together.

As a dual trained clinical psychologist and clinical dog behaviourist I offer a unique way of achieving just that.

Yes, we are force-free, but we also work in a Trauma Informed Way, which means that we don’t ask “what’s wrong with this dog?” or “why is this person so difficult?” but instead “how are they feeling that is causing them to struggle in this way?”. 

Often we think of “trauma” as a big scary event that has happened to a person or a dog. It can be this, but the truth is that MOST of us have experienced trauma of some sort in our lives. It’s not always obvious but it does impact how we feel and react to the world around us.

Being aware of this and understanding how to work with it, allows both dog and human to be more patient and compassionate with each other and to start making positive changes together.

We support our students in this way across the board, from puppies to older age dogs, rehomed dogs, agility students and more!

We also like to laugh around here because life can feel very heavy and serious sometimes and dogs have a wonderful way of helping us stay in the present moment and remind us how to be playful and silly sometimes!