About Us
So, Who are Wagtails?
We are Mother and Daughter team Ingrid and Kristina Elias offering a friendly, professional, and a highly personalised service to help with all your pet dog trainng needs in Surrey, Hampshire and West Sussex.
Our History
Wagtails began in late 1997 when Tina began seeing behaviour referral cases. In the summer of 1998 she attained her 'Post-graduate Diploma in Advanced Studies in Companion Animal Behaviour Counselling' (better known as a 'DAS CABC' for obvious reasons!) AND Wagtails Behaviour Referrals was born.
From conducting these consultations, the need arose to offer a regular training group to assist owners addressing their pet's every day problems. At the same time we realised the need for puppy socialisation classes to prevent the onset of behaviour problems in later life, and Wagtails Puppy Playschool was established to provide puppies with the ideal start to life.
In 1998 our classes and teaching methods were assessed and we were proud to both become full members of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (UK), an organisation committed to the training of pet dogs by 'kind fair and effective' methods. This means no choke chains, no alpha rolls, and no outdated "dominence theory". In addition, all members have to keep up to date with new developments in dog training and attend regular seminars to sharpen their skills and develop their knowledge.
In the past year, both Tina and Ingrid have attended a Canine First Aid Course, the APBC Annual Conference, and "Introduction to Behaviour Adjustment Training".
Since our move from Farnham in Surrey, to Fernhurst in West Sussex in 2008, we have expanded Wagtails to offer classes in the Haslemere / Midhurst and Chichester areas in addition to our original base in Farnham / Fleet.
