Dog Trainer • Mentor • 20+ Years Supporting People Through Learning and Change
Helping dog trainers who know a lot but still doubt themselves grow in confidence and trust their judgement.
Reflective, supportive mentoring for dog trainers who want to develop their confidence, judgement and practice — without feeling they need to become somebody else.
Grow in confidence and trust your judgement: Develop the confidence to make thoughtful decisions without constantly wondering whether you're getting it wrong.
Navigate the human end of the lead: Build stronger client relationships, communicate clearly and feel more confident supporting the people alongside their dogs.
Create a business that works for you: Explore boundaries, workload, systems and the often-invisible labour that can make running a dog training business feel overwhelming.
Develop through reflection, not comparison: Make space to understand your own patterns, values and strengths so you can become the trainer you want to be.
Accreditations
What Trainers Say
“I realised I didn’t need more qualifications, I just needed mentoring.”
Debbie Seymour
“Laura will always bring a question back to a foundation principle… empowering you to be able to solve problems when working with your own clients.”
Sarah Oatley
Hey! I just wanted to message you to say thank you so so so much for all your advice. I absolutely smashed my week 2 of puppy class, structured my lesson plan properly and used your style of teaching to help my clients understand, I stayed calm and breathed and had so much extra stuff I didn't even have chance to get through, I'm on such a high right now and can see a clear path way of what my business can look like!!
Thank you so much!
Sophie Bretherton
Dear Laura,
A heartfelt THANK YOU is in order for the incredible guidance provided by you, Laura Mars of GOOD DOG with Laura. Your mentorship during my professional dog trainer certification journey has been nothing short of amazing. Your ability to praise when needed and gently guide when necessary made every session a joy, and I find myself missing them now.
Your knowledge and warm-hearted approach radiated even from a distance. Thank you, Laura, for being truly amazing!
With gratitude and love,
Kamila
About Laura
Before becoming a dog trainer, I spent more than 20 years in social work, including 11 years as a Senior Social Worker supporting adults with learning disabilities.
That experience continues to shape the way I mentor today. I’m interested not only in what we know, but in how we learn, reflect, make decisions and support the humans at the other end of the lead.
I now bring together my experience of working with people, dog training and mentoring to support trainers to develop confidence in their own judgement, work in ways that align with their values, and build practices that are sustainable for them as well as the people and dogs they support.
What I bring to mentoring
20+ years in social care, including nine years at Advanced Practitioner level in Learning & Development.
Postgraduate study in advanced social work practice, reflective practice, risk assessment and professional decision-making.
PEPS 2 qualified Practice Educator, with experience teaching, supervising and assessing developing professionals.
Experience developing professionals at every stage, from students and newly qualified practitioners to experienced practitioners and senior managers.
Around nine years as a professional dog trainer, bringing that background in professional development into the realities of dog training practice.
Why Mentorship Matters
Reflection & Perspective
Space to step back, think things through and make sense of what’s happening, with support and another perspective when you need it.
Confidence & Judgement
Support to apply what you know, navigate uncertainty and trust your professional judgement when there isn’t one obvious right answer.
Your Practice, Your Way
Develop a practice that reflects your values, strengths and life, rather than feeling you need to work like everybody else.
Mentoring that helps you trust yourself
You probably know more than you think you do.
My mentoring isn't about giving you more and more information or teaching you to become my version of a good dog trainer.
It's about helping you make sense of what you already know, apply it to the messy reality of practice and develop confidence in your own professional judgement.
Together, we can explore the things that don't always get covered when you learn how to train dogs — the human end of the lead, boundaries, comparison, workload, invisible labour, difficult decisions and building a practice that works for you as well as the people and dogs you support.
Because the aim isn't for you to leave thinking, “What would Laura do?”
It's for you to increasingly think, “What do I think? Why do I think it? And do I trust myself to act on it?”
Not sure what kind of support would be right for you?
If you’d like to talk through where you are, what you’re finding difficult and what kind of support might help, you’re welcome to book a free discovery call.
Looking for The Mindful Dog Trainer?
The Mindful Dog Trainer is my structured mentoring programme for dog trainers who want to grow in confidence, trust their judgement and develop a way of working that feels ethical, sustainable and their own.
It brings together reflective learning, the human end of the lead, professional identity, boundaries, business and wellbeing, alongside live mentoring and peer support.
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