Claire North

Claire has been training dogs professionally since 2002 and holds a First Grade Honours Instructors Certificate from the British Institute of Professional Dog Trainers (BIPDT), and is a member of the Kennel Club Accredited Instructor (KCAI) scheme.

Since founding North K9 in 2012, Claire has worked with a multitude of dogs across various classes, one-to-one training, and behaviour consultations. She now only offers classes in conjunction with other local trainers, to focus on providing one-to-one dog dog training for pets, companions, and sport dogs.

Claire has been working as an operational Lost Dog Tracking handler since 2018; she is currently one of the leading experts in this highly specialist field, training and running the largest team of operational Lost Dog Tracking dogs and handlers in the UK. Claire has worked on cases across England, Scotland, and Wales, and delivers courses all across the UK and Channel Islands. She is also one of the founders of Scent and Track UK.

Teaching

Claire began her teaching career early; at the age of 16, she was teaching children from 3 upwards to ride horses. Over the years, she progressed into more advanced teaching and training, working with a variety of horses and riders in multiple disciplines. A keen love of dogs and dog training ran parallel for many years, before Claire finally made the decision to move from horses to dogs in 2003.

Claire has delivered training across the UK and Channel Islands; from specialist scent and tracking workshops to giving dog training talks and demonstrations at colleges, including presenting to newly qualified RVNs at the College of Animal Welfare and teaching at specialist animal & agriculture colleges at Askham Bryan and Bishop Burton.

She has presented at the Kennel Club teaching event “TOTIT”, and has worked with Pets at Home designing and delivering staff training as well as featuring in their series “Puppy Podcasts”.

Claire and Mavis have been featured in Your Dog magazine.

Claire with Lolly and Bertie

North K9 owes a debt to Claire’s first two dogs, beginning with her Border Collie crossbreed Lolly. Claire and Lolly tried out flyball and took to it immediately; they spent many years training and competing, including at the the national BFA Championships. Lolly was shortly joined by rescue Lurcher Bertie, who also competed in flyball nationally. Together Claire and Lolly explored various dog sports, including Working Trials, Scent Detection and Tracking, and Obedience. Lolly did not enjoy the show atmosphere and so never competed in Obedience, but through Lolly, Obedience became Claire’s first and biggest dog training passion, lighting a fire that may never go out.

Claire currently competes with her Belgian Shepherd (Malinois) internationally at IPO/IGP, and nationally at competitive Obedience.

Avonwolf Dynamite BH IPO3

Belgian Malinois Blitz competes in Obedience and IPO/IGP.

Mavis

Mavis is a rescue Lurcher, and currently works as an operational Lost Dog Tracking dog.

Xandoa Havoc BH IPO1

Havoc is a Belgian Malinois, currently happily retired after his IPO/IGP career.

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