Biography
Elaine Henley, who lives in Scotland, is a companion animal behavioural counsellor who has been working with humans and their pets since the establishment of the Animal Behaviour Clinic & Take the Lead Dog School in 1997. Elaine received an Honours-Level Degree, Certificate of Applied Animal Behaviour, and later a Post-Graduate Degree Diploma, Companion Animal Behaviour Counselling, from the University of Southampton. Elaine is a Full member of the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors (APBC), a Registered Clinical Animal Behaviourist with the Animal Behaviour and Training Council (ABTC), and a Certified Parrot Consultant with the International Association of Animal Behaviour Consultants (IAABC).
Elaine provides training and behaviour service to caregivers and their companion pets, dogs, parrots, cats, and rabbits, using a variety of methods including home visits, group classes, and SKYPE/Telephone consultations. Elaine also conducts a range of Continuous Professional Development offering for veterinary practices, local & national governments, Guide Dogs for the Blind (UK), Peoples Dispensary for Sick Animals, and re-homing organizations. Further, Elaine worked with the Scottish Government on the implementation of the Control of Dogs Act (Scotland), 2010, by co-authoring and delivering a training package to local government officials throughout Scotland.
Elaine has been contracted by courts and animal welfare organizations to contribute her expert opinion in legal cases involving dog behaviour, working with cases involving dog bites under the Dangerous Dogs Act (1991) and the Control of Dogs (Scotland) Act (2010), as well as noise abatement orders. Elaine does the aforementioned by providing assessments of dog temperament and risk posed by dogs as well as her opinion regarding prior aggressive events and all aspects of dog training and behaviour. In addition, numerous adoption and fostering agencies – for both humans and pets – have asked Elaine to undertake risk assessments on a variety of species of pets in homes.
Elaine is passionate about educating caregivers as well as those seeking to work with companion animals, and she has lectured extensively on the subject of animal behaviour and training. Elaine was invited to chair a special session on Animal Abuse at the ISAZ conference in Niagara Falls, Canada, to give a presentation at the 2nd International Animal Trainers Conference, Twycross Zoo, UK, and most recently, she presented at the ABMA conference in Denmark. Elaine will be presenting at the National Conference for the Association of Pet Behavioural Counsellors, UK, in September 2015. An external reviewer for the Journal Companion Animal, Elaine has also written articles on breeding puppies for the APBC and the very popular “Myths/Tips of the Day” articles on parrot behaviour.
Elaine is a “hands-on” trainer – skilled at applying modern methods of training to a variety of species (not least dogs and parrots) and, most significantly, demonstrating and explaining those techniques to caregivers. She continues to run dog training classes – from puppy to advanced levels – and, in the past, has trained her own dogs to the level of participation in many dog sports and events.
Living with 3 African Grey Parrots (2 CAG’s and 1 TAG), 4 Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, 3 human sons, and her husband, Elaine enjoys breeding dogs and helping them become socialized and habituated to the world that they will be living in as adults. Breeder accountability and responsibility is something to which Elaine is passionately committed.
