top of page

Shamyla GascoigneBSc (Hons)

Advanced Junior Trainer East Grinstead, West Sussex

279171587_571461494573903_2454982169859829173_n.jpg

Shamyla has been training for over 3 years and is a valued member of the Adolescent Dogs team. She has completed her BSc (Hons) in Canine Behaviour Management, is a member of the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors (APBC), and is a UK Sniffer Dogs Bronze Level Instructor.

 

She also holds a Home Boarding License with Mid Sussex council, upholding the highest standards and care. Shamyla is one of our few trainers who can accommodate dogs with separation anxiety and those who prefer to sleep freely at night out of a crate

​

Shamyla has experience working with a variety of breeds and experience working with assistance dogs.  She owns 5 dogs of her own whom she competes with in Agility, Scentwork and Competition Obedience (Havanese, 2 Collies and 2 Cocker Spaniels). They make for excellent role models for the dogs who stay with her for training.  She is passionate about reward-based training and all of her training is done using treats, toys, games and lots of praise to ensure your dog enjoys their stay and learns effectively whilst maintaining high welfare standards

​

Shamyla is able to offer training in a busy family home, with 4 children (6, 8, 10 and 12) with easy access training around horses, countryside walks and the town centre.  This makes Shamyla a popular option for those needing training around children, as well as those seeking controlled socialisation opportunities and distraction training. 

​

Courses & memberships

​

​

  • Licenced with Mid Sussex District Council. 4 star Licence number: AW085

  • BSc (Hons) Canine Behaviour Management – 2022

  • Dog Training College Approved Instructor

  • UK Sniffer Dogs Bronze Instructor

  • Adolescent Dogs – Instructor Course with Mike Newland - 2022

  • Pet Professionals Pet First Aid Course 2019 & 2022

  • DBS Checked – 2022

  • Reinforcement strategies Seminar with Anna Herzog - 2023

  • Advanced Training Skills Seminar with Anna Herzog - 2023

  • School of Canine Science – Separation Anxiety Webinar 2022

  • Morag K Heirs – Evidence Based Practice for Animal Professionals Webinar 2022

  • Mike Newland – Resource Guarding Webinar 2022

  • Kamal Fernandez – Annoyingly Adolescent Webinar 2022

  • Kamal Fernandez – Relabeling Reactivity Webinar 2020

  • School of Canine Science – Puppy Lab 2020

  • Absolute Dogs Pro Dog Trainer Certificate 2019

  • Absolute Dogs Geek Certificate (Canine Behaviour) 2019

  • Dog Training College – Reactive Rascals Seminar 2019

  • School of Canine Science – Nutrition 2019

  • School of Canine Science – 30 Days of Canine Science 2019

  • Victoria Stillwell – Positively confident - Webinar 2019

  • Victoria Stilwell – The confidence building blocks – Webinar 2019

  • Craig Ogilvie – Communicating with your stimulated dog – Webinar 2019

  • Alex Wilson – 2 Day Tellington Touch Workshop 2019

  • Kamal Fernandez – Living with high drive dogs – Webinar 2019

  • Dog Training College – Canine body language – 1 day course 2019

  • Nancy Tucker – Using desensitization and counter-conditioning to treat fearful behaviour in dogs – Webinar

  • Canine School of Science – Fear – Webinar 2018

  • Ian Dunbar – Treatment and prevention of dog aggression : Biting and fighting – Online course 2018

review.png
review.png
review.png
Maisie the Labrador x Cocker - 3 Weeks Residential Dog Training
04:35

Maisie the Labrador x Cocker - 3 Weeks Residential Dog Training

Maisie the 3 year old Labrador x Cocker Spaniel has completed her three week residential training holiday with us. Her family were having to deal with attention barking on walks and at home making entertaining guests very difficult. During her stay we helped Maisie to feel comfortable being independent by introducing a crate as her place to settle giving her owners an option when they are entertaining. We established the causes and made changes to her routine and set up to help her to self settle during the day when she would normally struggle and bark at her owners. We also taught her to settle on cue to help deal with visitors at the door and counter surf. In time this can be extended and used for longer periods and utilised in public. Maisie also liked to bark at outdoor sounds whilst in the house, by teaching her to disengage and combining this with her settle cue her owners have a tool to stop this unwanted behaviour and redirect her attention. During her stay we covered all of her basic obedience and strengthened these behaviours in public places with varying environmental distractions. Although Maisie had all the basics in place she very quickly became over aroused and would bark so the timing of her reward was key. Maisie’s owners are very committed to her training and we will be helping them to transfer these skills into their home environment. She is a lovely young dog that is now on the right path and we look forward to seeing this team succeed. www.adolescentdogs.com 08002229007 Info@adolescentdogs.com
Miley the Labradoodle - 2 Weeks Residential Dog Training
03:39

Miley the Labradoodle - 2 Weeks Residential Dog Training

Miley the 9 month old Labradoodle has completed her two week residential training stay with us. Her owner is struggling with her physical health and needs Miley to take on the very important role of being her Assistance Dog. Her owner was physically struggling to train Miley as she is a very lively girl. During her stay we have covered all the basic obedience foundation training focusing heavily on her heel work and recall as her owners was struggling to take her out without these skills. This was having my an impact on her exposure so we have helped Miley build her confidence by making novelty a positive experience which has reduced her barking at dogs and vehicles. We have taught Miley to settle on cue to help her owner deal with her repeated jumping and counter surfing and to help Miley to remain in a calm state. Miley struggled with her food and toy motivation so we helped her owner to increase this giving her the tools she needs to move forward with her training. Miley is a lovely girl who has been a pleasure to live with and train. We are looking forward to helping this team through their training journey as part of our Assistance Dog Training Programme www.adolescentdogs.com
Ike and Abe the Cavapoos - 4 Weeks Residential Dog Training
04:36

Ike and Abe the Cavapoos - 4 Weeks Residential Dog Training

Ike and Abe have completed their four week residential training holiday with us. Their family were struggling with them barking both in the house and out on walks and also their loose lead walking. During their stay we have given the boys some new skills to help them to disengage from the many environmental distractions that resulted in barking, including joggers, cyclists, and unknown men. This will help their owner to manage them in unpredictable situations and begin to relax when they are out and about. In the house the boys struggled with anyone at the door and unknown guests would result in continued barking inside. We have taught the boys to settle on cue to help them to be calm when required to help their owner to entertain. Ike and Abe’s loose lead walking was unreliable and lead walks with two dogs was becoming very difficult, we have taught the boys a few new lead walking exercises to help their owner to enjoy walks with both dogs by her side. These two can be anxious and have a number of environmental triggers making outings very difficult, with their new skills their owner can begin to move forward and make progress ready for the busy summer months ahead. www.adolescentdogs.com 08002229007 Info@adolescentdogs.com
Dora the Jack Russell Terrier - 4 Weeks Residential Dog Training
04:50

Dora the Jack Russell Terrier - 4 Weeks Residential Dog Training

Dora the four year old Jack Russell has completed her four week residential dog training holiday with us. Her family were struggling with some of her obedience skills, barking at unknown people and guarding her bed in the house making it difficult to entertain at times. During her stay we strengthened all of Dora’s obedience skills and applied them in areas of varying distractions. To help her with her barking we taught her to disengage from unknown people and maintain focused on her handler to help her to handle difficult situations. Dora had an intense guarding reaction to her bed so we introduced the crate to help her owners to manage this situation when entertaining and also encouraged Dora to leave her resting space when called to avoid her feeling anxious when people approached her. Dora is a lovely little girl that needs a combination of management and training to help her to feel more confident and reduce any unwanted behaviour towards people in the house and out on walks. Dora’s owners are very committed to help their little girl and we will continue to assist them to make progress to ensure they are successful with their training. www.adolescentdogs.com
Mylo the Labrador - 4 Weeks Residential Dog Training
04:37

Mylo the Labrador - 4 Weeks Residential Dog Training

Mylo the 3 year old Labrador Retriever has returned home after his 4 week residential training holiday with us. Mylo is a very well trained dog but due to his elbow and hip dysplasia he has to spend a lot of his time on a lead to prevent injuries. Mylo had become lead reactive so his owners were struggling when taking him out on walks. During his stay we helped Mylo to have more controlled freedom by using a long line and harness and closely monitoring his exposure. This also allowed him to interact with dogs more comfortably and reduce his need to be reactive. We helped Mylo to disengage from unknown dogs and turn to us for guidance instead of bark and lung towards them. By repeating these positive experiences Mylo can begin to change his emotional response to these situations and be calmer helping him to make the right decisions in the future. Mylo had a strong obedience foundation so we strengthened this by asking for these behaviours in areas of high distractions and near unknown dogs allowing his owners to have more control over him during unpredictable situations. Mylo has been a superb house guest and has been great with the dogs and children he has lived with. His owners are very dedicated to his training and we look forward to seeing them progress as a team. www.adolescentdogs.com 08002229007 Info@adolescentdogs.com
Hector the Miniature Schnauzer - 4 Weeks Residential Dog Training
04:54

Hector the Miniature Schnauzer - 4 Weeks Residential Dog Training

Hector the 3 year old Miniature Schnauzer has returned home after his four week residential training holiday with us. His owners were struggling with his reaction towards unknown dogs and people, in particular children. During his stay we have helped Hector build his confidence around novel items and environments, reducing his sensitivity to sudden movement and noises. We have taught him some key disengagement skills to help his owners to control unpredictable situations. Hectors reaction to young children was a concern for his owners so we have spent time proving him with positive experiences with little people and teaching him to ignore children when out in public. Hector is a very intelligent boy and had a good level of obedience so we have strengthened this by asking for these behaviours in areas of varying levels of distractions. This allows his owner to deal with unpredictable situations and help Hector to remain calm and make the right decisions. Hector is a lucky boy to have such dedicated owners. We are confident that this team will make good progress and look forward to helping them on their journey. www.adolescentdogs.com 08002229007 Info@adolescentdogs.com
Bobby the Xoloitzcuintle - 3 Weeks Residential Dog Training
04:30

Bobby the Xoloitzcuintle - 3 Weeks Residential Dog Training

Bobby the 8 month old Xoloitzcuintle has completed his 3 week residential training stay with us. He is a young dog that can quickly become anxious both in the house and in public. His owners were struggling with this as it was having an impact on all his obedience training, his ability to be left alone and his reactions to environmental distractions. During his stay we covered all of Bobby’s obedience foundation skills to help his owner have more control over him at all times and help him to understand what was expected from him. We have taught him some key exercises to help him walk nicely in a lead and allow his owners to continue to make progress. This will also help them to deal with dogs, children, people and wildlife. We have improved Bobby’s recall by encouraging him to interact with us and engage when faced with distractions. In the house Bobby can be lively at times and jump up, counter surf, disturb meal times and bark when separated from his owners. To help him through all these situations we have started his calmness training by teaching him to settle on cue, change his diet and provide him with plenty of enrichment. Bobby finds sudden noises and children difficult to deal with. To help him we have focused on building his confidence both in the house and in public, allowing him to explore and learn under controlled conditions. Bobby is a young dog that is lively and naturally sensitive, typical for his age and breed. His owners are very committed to his training and have made the right decision to seek help whilst he is young to ensure he is on the right path as he enters adolescence. He is very intelligent and was a pleasure to train, we look forward to helping this team grow and make progress. www.adolescentdogs.com 08002229007 Info@adolescentdogs.com
Mabel the Sprocker Spaniel - 3 Weeks Residential Dog Training
03:38

Mabel the Sprocker Spaniel - 3 Weeks Residential Dog Training

Mabel the 3 year old Sprocker Spaniel has completed her three week residential training holiday with us. Her owners were struggling with her lead walking and recall making outings very stressful and unenjoyable, equally she could not be left home alone so had to be dropped off to relatives when her owners had to work or go out for the day. During her stay we helped Mabel to become more confident and independent and she can now relax whilst being home alone. We taught her some new loose lead walking skills to help her to maintain her position allowing her owners to take her out in busy environments and not have to worry about her constant pulling. Mabel can be a little cheeky when off lead near wildlife so we have strengthened her recall training and added some new cues to let her know she needs to leave and return to her owner. Mabel has been an absolute pleasure to have with us, a delightful girl with a loving temperament. Her owners are very dedicated to helping her with her training and with some patience and consistency she will maintain her skills and her owners can enjoy more family outings with her by their side.
bottom of page