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If you’re here, chances are things with your dog feel harder than you expected.
You might dread walks because you never know what’s around the corner.
Maybe you’ve tried advice online, watched videos, or even worked with trainers before, but nothing seems to stick.
Instead of enjoying life with your dog, you’re constantly managing situations, avoiding triggers, and wondering if things will ever feel easier.
Owning a reactive dog can be exhausting. It can feel embarrassing, isolating, and confusing. Many of the people I work with feel exactly the same way when they first reach out. They care deeply about their Collie and want to do the right thing, but they’re overwhelmed and unsure where to turn next.
Over the years, I’ve worked with many Collies and their owners who feel exactly the same.
Before specialising in herding breeds, I worked with a wide range of dogs. Different breeds, personalities, ages, and challenges. One thing became very clear early on: no two dogs are the same, and good training always starts with the dog in front of you.
Every dog brings their own history, temperament, and way of experiencing the world. When we take the time to understand that properly, things start to make a lot more sense. And the relationship between dog and owner matters just as much as the behaviour itself.
Once you start looking at the whole picture rather than just the obvious problem, progress becomes possible.
Over time, I found myself drawn more and more to herding breeds. particularly Border Collies and the unique challenges they can face living in busy, modern environments.
A lot of that understanding came from my own Border Collie, Jasper. He played a huge part in shaping how I work today.
Jasper was a wonderful dog, but like many herding breeds he found modern urban life challenging. His sensitivity and awareness of the environment meant that everyday situations could feel overwhelming. Like many Collies, he noticed everything. Movement, sounds, changes in the environment, things most owners and dogs wouldn’t even register.
He showed me first-hand exactly how difficult urban life can be for sensitive, high-drive herding dogs.
Helping him navigate the world calmly became a real journey, it took time, patience, and a lot of learning. I travelled across the country learning from different professionals and deepening my understanding of behaviour, training, and the needs of herding breeds. Searching for approaches that truly supported dogs like him.
Through that journey I realised something important:
Many training approaches weren’t designed with sensitive working breeds in mind.
Since then, I’ve made it my mission to help Border Collies, learn how to live calmly and confidently in environments that weren’t originally built for them.
My goal isn’t to change who your dog is.
It’s to help them cope better with the world around them.
My training is force-free, ethical, and grounded in behavioural science.
But more importantly, it’s practical and focused on real life.
We’re not aiming for perfect obedience, competition heelwork, or tricks. The goal is something much simpler and far more meaningful: helping your dog feel calmer, more capable, and better able to handle the situations they currently struggle with.
Border Collies are intelligent, sensitive, and highly responsive to their environment. When those traits are misunderstood, problems often develop.
When we understand them, things start to change.
When we work together, we look at the bigger picture. Behaviour doesn’t exist in isolation, so we often explore things like routine, stress levels, enrichment, and the relationship between dog and owner.
In many cases, progress comes from small, thoughtful changes that build your dog’s confidence and ability to cope over time.
I work solely with owners of Border Collies and other herding breeds who are struggling with reactivity, sensitivity, or overwhelm in everyday life.
The clients who get the most from working with me are those who are ready to learn and willing to take an active role in helping their dog.
They care deeply about their dog’s wellbeing and want to understand them better, not simply control their behaviour.
My services are not designed for quick fixes or instant results. Behaviour change takes time, consistency and patience.
But for owners who are committed to the process, the results can be truly transformative.
Everything I do is guided by a few core principles:
- Your dog’s welfare always comes first
- Training should be kind, ethical, and science-based
- Every dog deserves to be understood as an individual
- Owners deserve clear guidance and honest support
- Being respectful to your Collies heritage and innate behaviour traits
I also believe training should feel collaborative. My role is to guide and support you so that you feel more confident helping your dog in everyday situations.
Alongside hands-on experience, I’ve spent many years continuing my education in behaviour and training.
I hold a degree in BSc Animal Behaviour and Training and regularly invest in professional development to stay current with modern behavioural science. I also hold a Level 7 PGCE.
I’m also proud to be affiliated with several professional organisations including:
- Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT)
- Institute of Modern Dog Trainers (IMDT)
- International Companion Animal Network (ICAN)
These organisations assess members for knowledge, training standards, and professional conduct.
If you’re living with a reactive or overwhelmed Collie and you’re ready for some guidance, you’re welcome to explore my services or get in touch to learn more about how I work.
Helping these incredible, intense, and sensitive dogs thrive in an urban world is something I genuinely care about, and I’d love to help you and your dog find a calmer way forward.
ABOUT ELLEN
BSc (Hons), APDT, IMDT, ICAN
Living with a reactive Collie is nothing like you imagined it would be.
You pictured weekend walks, off-lead runs, a dog that moved through the world with you. What you got instead is a dog who needs managing. Every outing is a calculation. Every stranger, every car, every dog in the distance, logged, assessed, braced for.
You’re exhausted. And somewhere along the way, you’ve started wondering if this is just how it is.
It isn’t. But standard training advice isn’t going to fix it either. And if you’ve already tried that route, you already know.
I didn't plan to specialise in Border Collies. Jasper led me there.
He was mine, and he was wonderful. But watching him move through the world told me everything I needed to know about how poorly modern life fits dogs like him. He noticed things most dogs walk past without blinking. A distant sound. A flicker of movement at the edge of his vision. A shift in the atmosphere I couldn't even detect. For a dog wired the way he was, every walk was already a full-time job.
I spent years looking for answers. I travelled across the country, studied under different professionals, and pulled at threads until things started making sense. What I found wasn't in any standard training manual.
Most training approaches aren't designed for sensitive, high-drive working breeds. They're designed for dogs that experience the world differently. When you apply them to a Border Collie, you're not solving the problem, you're just managing the surface of it.
Jasper showed me what it looks like when someone finally builds an approach around the dog, rather than the other way round. I've been doing that work ever since.
I hold a BSc in Animal Behaviour and Training and a Level 7 PGCE. I'm a member of the APDT, IMDT, and ICAN, and I've been working specifically with reactive and overwhelmed herding breeds for years.
But the qualifications aren't what gets results. Properly understanding your dog does.
When we work together, we look at the whole picture, not just the moments when things go wrong. What's driving the reaction. What your dog's daily stress load actually looks like. What small, consistent changes will start shifting things over time. Behaviour doesn't exist in isolation, and treating it that way is why so many people stall.
My methods are entirely force-free and grounded in behavioural science. The goal isn't perfect obedience. It's a dog that feels genuinely safer in the world, and an owner who understands them well enough to keep things moving forward long after our work together ends.
This isn't for everyone.
If you're looking for quick results, or a trainer who'll take your dog and hand them back fixed, this isn't that. Behaviour change takes time, repetition, and an owner who's willing to be an active part of the process.
But if you're ready to understand your dog properly, and you're committed to putting in the work, the change you're hoping for is possible.
These dogs are extraordinary. Helping them find their feet in a world that wasn't built for them is genuinely the work I'm most proud of. I've seen the difference it makes more times than I can count, and I'd love to help you get there too.
Ready to find out if we’re a good fit?
ABOUT MILLIE - ADMIN
BSc (Hons)
