ABOUT ME
Ollie, Ewan and Polo
My name is Ewan Mackenzie . I am the manager of K9 Behaviour Services. I live in Dunfermline and am married with 3 children. I have worked as a psychiatric nurse for the past 24 years and have always had an interest in psychology, learning and behaviour.
I do not use positive punishment methods to train dogs, ie leash corrections, dominance, alpha rolls, electric, prong or choke collars. This old style traditional training of pack/dominance reduction models has no place in dog training. Positive dog training is the humane and scientific way forward.
We currently share our home with a rescued 6 year old German Shepherd Dog who is now the epitome of exhibiting good manners (90% of the time!!) and continues in daily training. We also adopted a 13 week old lab/rott x in January 2010 to add to our family. You can read about our trials and tribulations on Ollie's Blog
I have owned and been around dogs for most of my life and I am never ceased to be amazed by the wonderful myriad of dog breeds and their own individual needs. For this reason, every dog and their owner(s) are individually assessed.
I have learned (and continue to do so!) how to assess and read canine signals thus gaining an insight into the underlying triggers of unwanted behaviour. My training in dog behaviour, as with the majority of experienced trainers, initiated from the theories of domesticated dogs emulating the behaviour and pack hierarchy of captive wolves. The main thrust of this model was the dominance theory, primarily focusing on being Alpha dog.
This theory is now regarded as nonsense by reputable wolf ethologists and professional dog trainers and as a result I "crossed over" to positive training techniques. This involves humane and non punitive interventions of teaching the dog good manners using classical and operant conditioning. This translates to well behaved and confident dogs. Seeing is believing.
I am now embarking on the Advanced Diploma Canine Behaviour and Management Level 5 which will satisfy the academic requirements for membership of the UK Registry of Canine Behaviourists (UKRCB.)
Following on from this, I plan to further my studies to top it up to a BSc in Applied Animal Behaviour.
I am also interested in canine massage, homeopathic and Bach's flower remedies as a brief intervention to compliment the positive training package. These have attracted very favourable reports and are completely safe. I have recently introduced Sound Therapy as a canine relaxation tool with remarkable results. I have also recently introduced Thundershirts TM and Calming Caps following advice from Dr Patricia McConnell.
I have full public indemnity and liability insurance to work as a canine behaviourist/ fun agility instructor/ puppy and adult dog obedience trainer. I am applying to be a member of the Kennel Club's accreditation scheme.
I am a member of the International Society of Animal Professionals (ISAP)
I also currently volunteer where possible at the Dogs Trust and also at a local boarding kennels. In August 2009, I had an informative time spent working alongside my local vet in Rosyth.
I am really encouraged that my teaching and methods have been so successful that word of mouth has created new assessments and enquiries almost on a daily basis. If you need to speak to or get references from any of my previous clients, please contact me and I will forward contact details to you.