Curlabull Canine Training
The Trainers
Best of breed Crufts 2019
Mechelle Jacques BSc PGC PGCE KCAI(CD)
Mechelle, the lead trainer, is an experienced hand and is both a qualified and accomplished dog trainer and behaviourist with over 30 years of experience. She has trained with top coaches such as Ian Dunbar, David Ryan and Robert Alleyne. Mechelle is the first trainer accredited by the Kennel Club in companion dog training in County Durham. She is also qualified in Clinical Animal Behaviour, with the Royal Veterinary School at Edinburgh University.
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Her particular talents lie in puppy training, especially older pups and difficult adolescents as well as complex behavioural cases. She has a gift for working with shy dogs, including those who have become fear aggressive.
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Mechelle loves to compete in Rally Obedience and is currently working her new puppy to success.
She continues to lightly show her retrievers, which are all Crufts qualified for life, through the many awards they have won and Mechelle is recognised internationally for her breeding, showing and working with her Curly Coated Retrievers, as well as judging at the highest level.
Amanda, associate trainer.
Amanda started her training story with German Shepherds and after many years moved to border collies. She is a gentle handler but is very effective at handling dogs with lots of energy.
She competes with her collies at Agility as well as Rally Obedience and a small amount of showing. She loves to train dogs in a multipurpose way and has had success in all of her fields. She was recently recognised for her incredible skills, by winning the Kennel Club Good Citizen Dedicated Person of the Year Award 2023.
Claire, Assistant trainer.
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Claire has always been around dogs, from childhood where she grew up with Poodles and Westies, to her early working life at a boarding & breeding kennels and finally to her current 2 spaniel boys who are as different as chalk and cheese.
She started training over 30 years ago with her Bernese, rescue Ridgeback & a Deerhound. Later Claire brought Border Collies into her life and now currently owns spaniels.
She has always been interested in breed characteristics and breed histories and how they affect training and therefore their suitability for different lifestyles.
Her current canine hobbies are Rally & Agility for fun and she has decided that she would take the plunge into the world of training others with the skills she has developed in her canine journey. She hopes her experience with a range of breeds, coupled with her experience of both rescues and pups will be a good starting point in this new chapter of her life. She is Canine first aid trained and she will be developing her skills with both practical training and external learning.