My name is Avril James and I live in Daventry with my two Staffordshire Bull Terriers Saffi & Dakota.

I have always been a dog lover and after leaving school, I went to Kingston Maurward College where I gained the BTEC National Diploma in Animal Care. From there I started work at Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, gaining considerable knowledge and hands on experience of dog health and welfare. I also achieved the City and Guilds Kennel Staff Qualification at advanced level. From GDBA I moved to Dogs for the Disabled, a registered assistance dog charity that provides assistance dogs to physically disabled adults and children. I successfully completed their training programme to become a qualified Dog Trainer, taking dogs through assessment and early training by teaching appropriate behaviours and a toolkit of task-work in preparation for advanced training. I then went on to broaden my skills by becoming a Puppy Co-ordinator, giving advice to Puppy Socialisers on how to bring up a well behaved puppy and helping solve any problems they had along the way. During my time with the charity I also took on the additional role of Re-homing Co-ordinator, finding suitable homes for dogs withdrawn from training and retirement homes for dogs reaching the end of their careers.