About Me

My name is Steve and I am the founder of Positive Paws Dog Training Cambridge.

I finally took the plunge to become a full-time 1-2-1 dog trainer in 2018 after events in my family life made me realise I needed to dedicate mine to doing what I love which is bettering the lives of as many dogs as possible and stop as many dogs ending up in rescue shelters, being rehomed or euthanised as possible.

I spent over a year volunteering at rescue centres every Saturday morning, travelling over an hour each way early in the morning, to walk the more difficult dogs that weren't allowed to be walked by the members of the general public and so I had to go before they opened up as these dogs were often potentially dangerous and very stressed.

As well as completing many classroom and practical courses through The Institue of Modern Dog Trainers, I watched and then eventually took part in group classes several evenings a week for over a year but also wanted to train 1-2-1 to get to know both humans and their dogs(s) and therefore provide personalised training sessions that work at the dog’s pace.

I have since trained well over 4000 dogs through classes and 121 sessions, working 7 days a week for a number of years with around 22 121 sessions a week and running 6 group classes each weekend. I have trained 1000s of puppies and developed strategies to help with all stages of their development to make raising a happy, healthy and confident puppy a pleasure rather than a chore and to ensure a strong bond between dog and family. I have also worked to rehabilitate many stressed, nervous, anxious and ‘aggressive’ dogs over the past 5 years and really honed my skills working with on-leash reactive dogs using behaviour adjustment training and several specific techniques working with the dog in front of me, not a '1 size fits all' approach. Every dog is an individual, their needs and wants are unqiue to them and so are their circumstances.

I am extremely passionate and see it as my mission to help people understand that there is absolutely no need to punish or scare a dog into behaving. Science has long proven this but there is still SO much misinformation, outdated advice and trainers unwilling to educate themselves with modern, scientifically-proven methods of positive reinforcement. Through social media and popular television programmes, outdated quick-fix methods, that looky flashy for the cameras, are still all-pervasive and unfortunately make people believe that you can quickly fix ‘problems’ with what is clearly abuse and violence towards dogs. Punishments or ‘corrections’ as they’ve been branded as, do nothing but temporarily suppress behaviour and ruin our dog’s mental and often physical health, causing them to shut down and suffer silently. The emotion behind the unwanted behaviour does not go away when we punish or scare them and so other problems, usually much worse, pop up when we suppress our dog’s behaviour rather than help them and teach them alternative ways to behave and help improve their mental health.

My aim is not only to train dogs and guide humans through training but also to educate dog guardians about their often misunderstood 4-legged family members, to understand their needs, body language and communication, offering the most up-to-date advice on living with, training and providing for their dogs.

I am continually updating my knowledge through reading, seminars, liaising with other trainers and further qualifications.

I previously spent 10 years working in Horticulture and 6 years DJing at weekends but gave this up so that I could dedicate my life to working with dogs and their owners.

Get in touch today if you are expecting a furry new addition to your family or need some help with one you have currently! Please feel free to check out my popular dog training Facebook page here: www.facebook.com/positivepawsdogs to read some reviews and read articles and posts I’ve done with valuable information on dog beahviour and care.

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