Beyond the Breed Arvostelua 

I attended Heather and her team’s workshop. What a truly enjoyable experience. I did know a bit about dog functional characters after reading Heathers book . I was keen to learn what my rescue dog would be assessed as . Heather and team made me feel totally at ease . And my dogs assessment came as a complete surprise! Now knowing why she behaves the way she does has given me so much more confidence in supporting her . Heather and team are highly professional and knowledgeable.! Can't wait for the next workshop!!

I got so much out of the workshop I attended, and learned so much. Finding out Saffy is a Follower has totally changed the way I train her, and I understand her so much better now. The most fascinating part was watching all the dogs interacting, especially seeing the different functional characters at work. Heather and the whole team were so welcoming. I can't wait to attend my next workshop and learn even more about the functional characters.

Attended a functional character workshop and was blown away! i have left with a better understanding of both of my dogs as well as others. Whole team (dogs included) were friendly and welcoming and no question was too much. We will definitely be back for more.

I attended a workshop for professionals about canine functional characters. I’ve had a couple of clients who have had their functional character assessed by Heather and have been reading around the subject so it was really great to get an in person look at what it’s all about.

It was super interesting and lovely to see a huge bunch of dogs hanging out together with no issues whatsoever. Everydoggy in attendance has had their functional character assessed and were there to illustrate how each character impacts the others in a group setting.

I think this way of assessing dogs provides an insightful way to approach mixing dogs in multi-dog settings such as daycares to reduce conflict but would be superb to be used to inform the appropriate placement of dogs in rescue or for helping breeders select the perfect homes for the different puppies they have in their litters. It provides a way of helping to make adoptions as successful as possible so dogs aren’t given up or returned to rescue.

Very glad I went, really well worth going to one if you share your life with dogs in any way.

Thank you to Heather and the team for another fun & educational afternoon at The Functioal Characters workshop at Centre Barks. The sessions with my adolescent hound have been so valuable in understanding him and his future development, it has also given me glimpses into the characters of all my past dogs and their characters, I can now see how I could have made training easier for them and for me if Id known their functional characters at the time...
Everyone with a dog could benefit so much from attending one from these workshops hugely xx

This was my first introduction to working with the functional character of my dog.
In fact before being introduced to this class I was blissfully unaware that dogs had functional characters. The whole experience was an eye opener for me, as it explained so many things about my dogs behaviour and temperament.
Heather and her team are hugely knowledgeable, kind, and supportive and the whole day very informative and enjoyable.
The use of different coloured bandanas, to indicate each dogs functional character, was very clever, as it made it easier to recognise where they each fitted into the pack.
I would highly recommend this class to anyone wanting to know and understand more about their dog, or considering buying a puppy.

A very informative & enjoyable day about dogs & their functional characters. A very good practical session in the afternoon, wish it could have been longer.

It was the first time that I have explored the concept of Functional Characteristics and the day was incredibly interesting and informative. The explanations with dogs in the morning made me really think about my own dogs and how their functional characteristics affect how they interact with each other - both positively and negatively!
The afternoon session provided a really useful insight on how to assess a dog's functional characteristic. The coloured bandanas, which indicated which functional characteristic a dog was, made it so much easier to make assessments when observing the dogs interacting with each other.
I have since purchased the Beyond the Breed book which is proving to be a fantastic read.

It's going to take a while for this to settle in, and longer for me to learn to implement it - but the ideas of how we might understand our dogs more deeply, regardless of their breed, seems a significant step forward in the evolution of our care. So much to digest and consider. And some really useful links. Thank you.