ABOUT ME

Hi I’m Niki…

I’ve been working with dogs for most of my adult life and started my career working WITH RESCUE DOGS AT YORK RSPCA. i ADORED WORKING WITH DIFFERENT BREEDS AND ALTHOUGH IT WAS A VERY EMOTIONAL JOB, SEEING THE DOGS BE ADOPTED AND START THEIR NEW LIVES WAS always WORTH IT.

AFTER LEAVING THE RSPCA, I PROGRESSED MY CAREER BY MOVING TO WORK AT DOGS TRUST IN LEEDS. I WORKED AS A CANINE CARER FOR A SHORT TIME AND THEN moved TO JOIN THE “Dog School” TEAM where MY CAREER AS A DOG TRAINER started. I SUCCESSFULLY TAUGHT PUPPY TRAINING CLASSES IN VARIOUS LOCATIONS AROUND LEEDS AS THEIR SENIOR COACH.

After leaving Dogs Trust DOG SCHOOL, I started working at “True Pawtential” in York WHERE i WAS ABLE TO expand the training that i offered CLIENTS INCLUDING PUPPY CLASSES, ADOLESCENT CLASSES, RECALL, LEAD WALKING, SCENT WORK, TRICK TRAINING, AGILITY and more. OVER THE 6 YEARS OF WORKING AT TRUE PAWTENTIAL, I BUILT UP A FANTASTIC CLIENT BASE OF PEOPLE AND DOGS WHO STARTED PUPPY CLASSES AND KEPT COMING BACK AGAIN TO CONTINUE THEIR TRAINING WITH ME - WHICH IS SOMETHING I ESPECIALLLY LOVE ABOUT MY JOB.

In 2025, I decided it was time to TAKE THE PLUNGE AND launch my own business… and EmBark Canine Club was born! THE AIM OF EMBARK IS TO TRY AND HELP DOG OWNERS START AND MAINTAIN A HAPPY LIFE WITH THEIR DOGS THROUGH TRAINING, SOCIALISING AND FUN DOG ACtivites. I can’t wait to see what the future holds!

Memberships and training

  • Full member of The Institute of Modern Dog Trainers

  • IMDT Easy Peasy Puppy Squeezy qualified instructor

  • Member of the Pet Professional Guild

  • One Mind Dogs online AGILITY foundations training course

  • Jo Rosie Hafferton Seperation Anxiety webinar

  • The Puppy Lab online course

  • Chirag Patel Puppy Socialisation Course

  • Heart Dog Online Summit

  • Reactivity Pet Summit

  • IMDT 4 Day Practical Instructors Course

  • dOG BEHAVIOUR CONFERENCE WITH VICTORIA STILLWELL

  • Jane Arden “Get Your Gundog” online seminar

  • Jane Arden “Puppy Socialisation Done Right” seminaR

  • IMDT Impulse Control course

  • Kay Atwood Fun To Focus course

  • Dogs Trust Dog School training course

ABOUT RONNIE

Ronnie is my little terrier mix rescue dog. We rescued him in 2019 from York RSPCA, a week before the first lockdown. He was 6 months old and had been brought into rescue as his previous owners had taken him to the vets to be put to sleep. It quickly became apparent that Ronnie had lots of anxieties: separation anxiety, fear of noises and handling issues and reactivity to dogs and people he doesn’t know. He’s definitely still a “work in progress” but we have worked through a lot of these issues and I am so proud of the dog he has become.

He’s a fab little scent work dog and has “turned his paw” to canicross and mantrailing previously. My aim this year is to do more agility training with him.

He’s definitely my muse when it comes to dog photography - the camera loves him - and he has currently hiked over 100 mountains with me!