Chartered Physiotherapist, Veterinary Physiotherapist , K9 Clinical Hydrotherapist Specialist and Accredited Clinical Educator
My journey in physiotherapy started in the 1970’s and as a qualified Chartered Physiotherapist in 1982 I was incredibly fortunate and grateful to have amazing support and mentoring from inspirational colleagues, whilst working in the NHS for fourteen years.
Moving into an overlap of private practice, I had the opportunity to specialise in a range of areas, including hydrotherapy, paediatrics, neuro-musculoskeletal, orthopaedics, mental health and wellbeing. This is when I explored the possibility of uniting my great passions of physiotherapy, hydrotherapy and dogs. At that time, this was unheard of and to be honest my colleagues found it shocking that I would consider jeopardising my established human professional status for dogs!
I decided to go back to college as a mature postgraduate and applied for the world’s first Masters in Veterinary Physiotherapy at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC), London. Completing my studies and achieving a Masters of Science in Veterinary Physiotherapy in 2002 was a great platform to move forwards from.
My focus on education and training, alongside my role as a senior clinician has been a part of my physiotherapy career since the 1980’s. As an approved Training Provider for K9HS Courses, our ethical belief so to offer the very best experiences and opportunities to advance canine clinical skills, supported by a sound scientific knowledge base.
If you are a therapist passionate about working with dogs, no matter where you are on your career journey, then we have the perfect course for you.
My canine **clinical practice was based at K9HS, Suffolk since 2007, offering an integrated service of canine physiotherapy, clinical hydrotherapy and rehabilitation. As a solution maker for complex cases with movement dysfunction, my team had a passion to provide the very best canine service possible, embracing a practice ethos which was a dog centred, holistic approach and fully support their owners.
As the first UK Accredited Clinical Educator in veterinary physiotherapy (awarded by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy), my clinical and educational perspective and practice ethos combines over 30 years of lecturing experience with extensive clinical skills. This is a rare find and I wanted to break the cycle of expensive courses with limited access and develop a series of exciting, interactive and dynamic training opportunities provided by K9HS Courses.
This includes posts for ten years at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC), London, five years at the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science at the University of Nottingham and two years with the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists and Animal Therapists (ACPAT) Core Knowledge and Skills (CK&S) Course.
I love the challenge of devising and writing courses, delivering training and creating innovative and enriched clinical assessment strategies, especially when its about my favourite topics of canine physiotherapy and clinical hydrotherapy.
K9HS Courses focus on sharing a range of proven clinical skills, including Canine Movement Enrichment techniques (Canine Therapeutic Handling and Canine Clinic Enrichment techniques). These are based on an established clinical concept and method first introduced into the RVC Masters Veterinary Physiotherapy programme in 2003 by myself. They have evolved into a set of therapeutic canine clinical skills that work with each dog and offer a very high value proprioceptive rating experience, significantly improving canine balance, movement quality and functional abilities, compared to other lower value techniques.