 From Scotty
“The response and back up from the canine profession has been absolutely unbelievable and beyond my wildest dreams! I cannot thank all contributors enough for the time and trouble they have gone too in order to supply the site with the necessary articles. A special thanks goes to Hills Dog Food who have sponsored the flyers that will be sent to the vets to help spread the word. Hopefully, together as a profession, we can assist in lowering the number of dogs being sent, so often unnecessarily to shelters, and to strengthen the bond and relationship between people and their dogs. So, although the original idea came from me, I consider this site to be the work of all those wonderful people in the canine profession that have the same goals as me – a heartfelt thanks to you all”. Friends of the Dog is the brain child of Scotty Valadao. Over the years, Scotty realized more and more, that many dog owners were totally confused by the proliferation of information on the Internet, with its mixed messages and dubious experts and very often, more harm than good was occurring. In order to remedy this, she decided to put together a ‘one stop’ site full of reliable information, written by professionals, to help dog owners with their dogs. Scotty has been involved with dogs her whole life and has been working in the canine profession, on a full-time basis since 2002. She has obtained accreditation from the ABC of SA™ (Animal Behaviour Consultants of SA™), and is a qualified dog training instructor, endorsed to instruct Puppy Training Groups and Basic Home Obedience classes and is a veterinary nutritional adviser. She has completed a Basic Animal Behaviour (Canine) certificate course at Technikon Pretoria as well as a course on Modern Theories of Canine Psychology, Behaviour & Obedience with the Animal Care Collage (UK), obtaining a distinction. Scotty is also qualified as a Tellington Touch Practitioner, and finds that the combination of behaviour modification and Tellington TTouch brings about fantastic results. Her passion is sharing this knowledge with owners, as she says that “when you understand why your dog is engaging in a particular behaviour, you then have the knowledge and tools to change that behaviour”. In order to share this knowledge she is a regular guest on 702 radio, and is the Dog Behaviour Expert on Health 24. She offers regular workshops on different aspects of canine behavioural concerns to educate owners, contributes articles to various publications, and has completed in-depth research into storm fear phobia in dogs. Under the auspices of the ABC of SA™, she was instrumental in starting a free general newsletter to the general public, giving them further knowledge and a wealth of information on their pets. Qualifications Cerificate: Animal Behaviour (ABC of SA) Certificate: Tellington T-Touch Practitioner Certificate: Puppy Socialisation and Basic Home Obedience (SAADOI) Certificate: (Basic Animal Behaviour(Dogs) Technikon Pta Certificate: Louise Hay (Facilitator) Certificate: Modern Theories of Canine Psychology Behaviour & Obedience ( Distinction) Animal Care College (UK) Certificate: Veterinary Nutritional Advisor I (Hills) Certificate: Clicker Training Registered with the South African Board of Companion Animal Professionals. Scotty Valadao – 082 928 0102 : scotty@scottysdogs.co.za www.scottysdogs.co.za : www.animal-behaviour.org.za : www.ttouch.co.za |
 From Charmaine
I am absolutely delighted and honoured to be co-founder of this website. I stumbled into the world of Dogdom quite coincidentally but then again there is no such thing as a coincidence - I just was not planning on it! I have been privelaged to be under Scotty's mentorship for just over two years now and have aided in various workshops which has been an utterly fantastic experience. Through the excellent knowledge I acquired by completing her Foundation Canine Behaviour Course and the practical experience gained from workshops I realised that I was in a position to educate dogs and owners and to help us humans understand our best friends better. Thus a passion was born. So as mentioned I have been involved with T TOuch workshops, completed a clicker course, the Foundation Canine Behaviour course and am currently working towards becoming a Hills nutritional advisor and my law degree. (that's my day job :) ) In addition to this I have been assisting in puppy and obedience classes with another excellent trainer and behaviourist, Paula Jordi who is helping me hone my knowledge and again acuire a wealth of practical experience. I have now been given the oppertunity to begin my own Puppy Phase 2 classes in Edenvale! How miraculously the doors have opened and the teachers and oppertunities have presented themselves to me exactly when they were needed. My learning is an exciting and ongoing process and I relish every second! The best part is the willingness of people like Scotty and Paula who are prepared to share their knowledge and skills so generously. How amazing that each contributor has been so open to this project and given freely of their time and their knowledge to contribute. My vision for Friends of the Dog is that it will benefit every person who visits it and that people will come away with a better understanding of their Best Friend. I am grateful to you, our "friends" for your support and for making this such a reqarding endeavour and Scotty and I look forward to sharing this journey with all of you. Qualifications: Certificate : Foundations in Canine Behaviour Certificate : Clicker Training 
proud sponsor of ask the behaviourist |
