Meet The Team

At Best Behaviour Dog Training we have a highly dedicated team who work with you and your dog in classes, 121s and Behaviour Consultations.

We have built a repuation of excellence over the last 10 years and have a carefully selected team of highly skilled and qualified indivduals. The team have high ethical standards in teaching and animal welfare as well as a never ending desire to always do better for the humans and dogs we help.

We have the the most dedicated, skilled, passionate trainers who were hand picked from a large number of trainers in the region. At Best Behaviour Dog Training the team eat, sleep, breathe dog training and everything that goes with it. The work that everyone does behind the scenes is truly incredible, this is not a job, it's not a hobby, it's a true vocation.

The team is one of the areas of the business Zoe is most proud of because this allows us to give our dog owners the best help and support.

Zoe Willingham

I am founder/ owner of Best Behaviour Dog Training, and I started my career with animals when I was 13 years old when I worked at my School Farm at weekends, looking after the farm animals there. My career has spanned working in Veterinary nursing, Veterinary pharmaceuticals, pet nutrition and much more. My drive to become a dog trainer came when I wanted training for my own dog and was horrified of the methods being used.

I retrained as a trainer and then as a behaviourist whilst holding down a full time job, where I was eventually able to start Best Behaviour Dog Training and took the plunge to make it my full time job. I have never looked back since.

I also rescue and rehabilitate dogs and cats which is funded with the proceeds from Best Behaviour Dog Training, at present we have 17 dogs and over 50 cats, 4 rabbits, 4 guinea pigs, 2 birds and a hamster in our care.

Jen Makin

I am Head Trainer at Best Behaviour Dog Traning and I've been training dogs and horses with positive reinforcement for almost a decade. I started my dog training career at the beginning of 2018.

I got the training bug when learning how best to support my family's reactive boxer dog - seeing not only the practical impact good training can have on our lives with our animals, but also how it can enrich every aspect of our animals' lives, inevitably made training a huge passion of mine.

I would say my training super power must be clicker training! Clear communication makes the magic happen and is a vital part of making training fun - for us and for our animals. A clicker is a fantastic tool that can bring our training to the next level. I've successfully trained dogs, rodents, horses and even cats with a clicker!

Emily Noble

I am a Trainer at Best Behaviour Dog Training, Taking Classes and 121 Training. I've loved animals my whole life, but really began my training journey 15 years ago with a 2 year old horse my parents let me pick up from a French meat market. It was a certainly a journey, but that little horse taught me so much, and thanks to him I learnt how to grow a partnership.

I discovered my passion for dog training after finding myself with a very damaged rescue puppy in 2019, who needed more help than I knew how to give her at the time. I haven't been able to stop learning since!

My dog training super power is definitely working with reactive dogs! I find it really special to be able to help them learn to trust the world again.

Victoria McDonald

I am a Trainer at Best Behaviour Dog Training and I teach classes and 121s. I have been teaching dog training for 14 years and in that time I have seen some really amazing changes in the industry to better positive reward based training where our dogs emotions are cared for and nurtured.

I feel very passionate about helping other dog owners to achieve the amazing bond and enjoyment we are rewarded with when taking the time to train our dogs.
I have had many dogs over the years from puppies to rescues and have enjoyed working with the many different traits we get from each dog.

My training superpower is that I do love training energetic dogs and have always shared my life with a boxer, They always remind me that training can be so much fun!

Alex Hammond

I am a Trainer & Behaviourist at Best Behaviour Dog Training. My career started with the traditional route of education. Whilst completing my undergraduate degree followed by a Masters degree, I found myself drawn to all things dog related and started volunteering at local rescue centres and training classes. My key takeaway from my time in education was that we often overlook the needs and natural behaviours of the animals that we are so lucky to share our lives with and my passion for training started from there!

Since graduating several years ago, I have built on my practical training skills working with owners and their dogs, but particularly with the addition of my two Border Collies. They love to learn anything new, but we particularly enjoy scentwork and trick training.

My favourite thing about training is the relationship and trust that builds between owners and their dogs. There is nothing like seeing a dog’s enthusiastic face anticipating a fun training session with their favourite person!

Lucy Wilson

I am an Assistant Trainer at Best Behaviour Dog Training. I’ve been using positive reinforcement for as long as I can remember and continue to expand what I’m passionate about.

I would always use play growing up to train and bond with my animals, it was when I rescued my 1st cat that I started to throw myself into positive reinforcement properly. Seeing the results I had with her opened my eyes as to what could be achieved with positive training methods.

My training superpower would be bond building! Trust and communication are the foundations to a great partnership for all those 2 legged, 3 legged and 4 legged! I’ve successfully trained cats, dogs, horses and even fish by building a good, strong bond to build upon.

Adam Burrows

I am an Assistant Trainer at Best Behaviour Dog Training. My involvement with dog training came about in a very unusual way. I was working as a Postman delivering mail and was attacked by a dog whilst carrying out my duties leaving me with PTSD and a fear of dogs.

I tried all the usual routes of counselling and therapy and when I found nothing worked, I contacted Zoe to ask if she had any experience helping people who are fearful of dogs. Zoe said she could work with me as she would a dog with a behavioural problem as she was not a human psychologist but had studied human psychology as part of her education. We chatted about it and thought it was worth a go after everything else had failed.

Fast forward three years and within 12 months with Zoe's help I was handling and training dogs and soon after found I loved working with dogs so much that I became an Assistant Dog Trainer and have been building on my training and knowledge ever since.