Moira Meyer DipCABT, MHERA Practitioner Moira always loved dogs and cats and trained from a very young age, much to her brother’s horror as she was taking his border collie away from the sheep and teaching her tricks. In addition to always training her own dogs, she owned and ran a security company for many years and was horrified at the manner in which security dogs were trained and treated. This started her on the path of learning better ways to train, after all she had used treats to teach the border collie to tap dance, surely, she could teach these dogs in a similar way! Through her security company she then started an outreach program in the local township where she ran dog training classes for the children and their dogs each weekend. What started as a July holiday concept was so well received that it continued and grew into an ongoing weekly schedule. The training and living condition of all dogs is always close to Moira’s heart and she still works closely with the local SPCA and rescue organizations. Moira then went on to study with Shannon McKay, Canine Culture and passed her instructor courses through them despite always arguing about dogs having emotions which at that time was considered totally incorrect. Following this she studied through the University of Pretoria for her Early to Advanced Canine Development before going on to study the COAPE CO1 which she passed in 2013 at the same time that she left the security industry. During the next few years her passion for teaching people and their animals grew and with her husband’s support and encouragement they expanded the business from dog training classes to a dog hotel which included a hydrotherapy pool and assisted with rehabilitation of injured or post operative dogs. Working with many different people and their pets across a broad spectrum of behavior, Moira developed her passion further wanting to “be the bridge” between pets and their guardians to enable them to live in harmony together. Moira’s husband then enrolled her to study the COAPE Diploma in Animal Behaviour, after an initial shock at the depth of the material that she would be expected to study she found that what she had always argued about animals having emotions was fully supported in the course. She loved the course and graduated with her final assignment using the MHERA technique. Moira is also an affiliate of the Dunbar Dog Academy and has really appreciated being mentored by Dr Ian Dunbar. Moira is currently completing her Animal Emotions course with Dr Karolina Westlund and has recently completed her Level 3 EMMETT for Dogs. Moira has a beautiful black German Shepherd called Shotgun, a white Swiss shepherd called Ice, a Maltese called Sugar and a cat called Piper. All her dogs were fully involved in her studying and gave her lots of moral support during the long hours of study required, Derek always jokes that he could probably answer the questions for Moira as he fell asleep listening to her lectures. If it was not for Derek’s support and encouragement, she would definitely not have graduated. Moira and Derek live their passion with animals and have a total of 10 dogs (yes that is not a typo)and 3 cats. Moira and Derek run “K9” Academy based in the KZN Midlands and North Coast and she offers group classes, private lessons, behavioral consultations and dog accommodation. They also teach dog training instructors as they want to ensure that pet guardians are taught how their animals learn and ensure that all training is force and fear free. Moira’s special behavioral love is for teenage dogs and aggressive dogs.
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