About Me
Michelle Kaye-Ackroyd BCCSDip.DogBhv

My name is Michelle, I previously enjoyed the hobby of showing dogs, I was a B list Breed specialist Judge for The Italian Spinone breed, An C list for Briards and Bracco Italiano. I stewarded regularly at local and championship shows and I am a qualified dog trainer and Behaviour specialist.

I started out at age 15 doing my work experience in the local council dog home, I mucked out kennels, did the feeding and exercising of the dogs, Settled new in takes and ocassionally dealt with customer relations.

I bought my first pedigree dog, Mia Monster as a family pet, Although she did show lightly and qualified for crufts at her first ever show, she didn't enjoy it, this coupled with environmental changes, a horrible boarding experience and a rather sensitive first season, Mia suffered adverse effects to her personality and confidence, becoming nervous reactive, This led to my journey in to Canine behaviour. 

I completed an open university degree in Canine behaviour and Dog Handling with IABTC (International Animal Behaviour Training Centre, A KCAI PREFERRED PROVIDER)  along side training my own dog through the good citizen scheme up to them acheiving gold. which is no easy task for Mia when she is reactive by nature, I've attended Numerous lectures and talks on animal behaviour, aggression, reactivity and pack evolution. I have taken instructor exams for puppy foundation, Bronze and silver with IDTA (International dog training and behaviour academy)  I attained my KCAI award, Accredited by the kennel club for outstanding standards in canine welfare. 

Most recently i have passed my Level 6 Accredited Dog Behaviour Diploma, The course is a Level 6 accredited course under the  NCFE IIQ Licence, using Ofqual’s QCF level descriptors. NCFE is a National Awarding organisation for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. I received my diploma from BCCS and a second Certificate of Achievement from NCFE acknowledging my Level 6 accredited study.

Lets face it every little helps when trying to be taken seriously in the dog training game.

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I previously served on the HDCA committe for 2 years and helped with leading good citizen classes, I also assisted at their Vetran Golden oldies shows plus their open and limit shows before choosing to break away, For 3 years I ran ringcraft, Match Nights and Education seminars with accredited tutors, Junior Handling days and Behaviour classes taking on dogs in the local community with complex behaviour issues.

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After much thought, i decided to persue the judging of dogs, I truly believe the only way to improve any breed is to be as true and exacting to the current breed standard as possible, Winning dogs make up the gene pool used for the next generation and if judges are promoting friends, big name kennels or the person they hope will give them a next CC in return, then in my opinion that spoils the potential of the breed, risks faults becoming large scale breed issues, ruins the sportsmanship and enjoyment of showing our dogs and discourages new exhibitors from joining the game because they can never get very far even if they happen to have the best dog on the day.

I love stewarding at shows and continue to lend a hand when asked to by societies across Yorkshire, North Lincolnshire and the Midlands, I have taken the seminars required of any aspiring judge, conformation & movement, Critique writing, The points of a dog exam and Requirements of a Judge exam, passing each one under the highly reguarded tutor Mrs Christina Chapman.

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Cats have always been in my life, My best friend was once a moggi named Milo and he understood my emotions and was the loyalist little chap, His passing was a difficult time, I introduced our first British shorthair 17 years ago and loved his cute cheeks, independent nature and quirky personality, My education in to the feline science is just beginning but I always have enjoyed learning.

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HOW DID I GET IN TO BERNEDOODLES?

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After the tragic loss of my previous dogs, I could not bring myself to love another, The abuse I dealt with and bullying drained the joy out of turning up, I expected fair treatment and support from the club I paid membership too and volunteered my time too but that was not the case and on principle I could no longer support a club I had no faith in.

Over a year after we lost our spinone, A local lady advertised a litter of puppies and they were cute enough, My family were missing the companionship of a dog so we went to look, An we came home with Maya, The most perfect, easy to train little lady you could ask for, I started to do my reasearch in to the hybrid breed, An what their temperament had to offer, Living with Maya I believed they made truly amazing pets, Large breeds suffer the curse of shorter life spans, An by crossing the Bernese mountain dog with the standard poodle, It is hoped to nurture the easy going laid back, calm traits of the Bernese with the hypoallergenic qualities and intelligence of the poodle, By being a hybrid genetics in a canine work to repair faulty genes and by selective breeding you can produce beautiful dogs who do well in assistance settings as a working animal while also being an adaptable larger pet breed with better hypoallergenic quality.

Going forward my own personal goal is to introduce consistent type, sound temperaments and better understanding to this Hybrid, To produce records for our history and health, Keep my Co% as low as possible and to have healthy long lived companions.

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