Hi! I'm Matt - The Canine Confidant.
I’ve grown up loving and learning about dogs for as long as I can remember. Since I was born my family has always had dogs, spaniels to be precise. Not to worry though, I’m not too biased! The passion that my parents have for animals was definitely genetic as it’s certainly been passed on to me. Over the years, watching them train all our dogs to become the loving and obedient companions they grew into has always inspired me.
My first job with dogs was at the rescue charity LoveUnderdogs in Waltham Abbey. As a member of the team there, it was our responsibility to care for the rescue dogs that sadly came in to us after suffering all manners of pain and abuse. This is where I really honed my skills as a trainer – seeing and facilitating the transformations from fearful, anxious, and aggressive dogs, to loving, social, family pets was incredible, and really opened my eyes to the possibilities of what can be achieved with caring, evidence-based training.
After this, I spent some time working as a detective in West London police, with an eye to training police and service dogs for work in the field. Ultimately, this environment wasn’t for me, but to see just how obedient and loyal these animals could be, really caught my attention. I became determined to see if those same results could be achieved with even safer and more ethical methods.
To develop my knowledge further, and to spend my days with dogs again, I began work at a doggy-daycare centre just North of London. Here I met and managed around 250 dogs a day, and got the chance to train and support those that had behavioural issues from minor anxiety to major aggression. However, seeing how unsuited some of these dogs were to a daycare environment, and observing all the unique aspects of each dog, I began to wonder how I could support each and every one of them, by specifically responding to their individual needs…
So that’s how The Canine Confidant was born! I branched out on my own, invested in some additional training from the IMDT to get accredited (and in a bigger bookshelf for all my new reading!), and started this business to bring my passion and care to as many dogs as possible. With the proper knowledge, the right intentions, and the flexibility to support dogs where they naturally thrive, the sky really is the limit.