As the saying goes, never work with children or animals but Alsager Nub News' newest sponsor has done both and is simply top of the class! 

Dog lover, Julia Hawkins, has always had a passion for our four-legged friends.

While working as head of maths at a Cheshire secondary school, Julia always had visions on starting her own business.

Julia with her two Romanian rescue dogs. (Photo: 'All to Play For')

But it wasn't until Julia and her husband Matt, adopted two Romanian rescue dogs, Hattie, and Dash, that this vision became a reality.

Julia, from Linley Grove, did several courses and worked with other trainers to qualify to be a dog trainer before setting up her own dog training business 'All To Play For'.

"I loved school and teaching but always thought I'd like to run my own business," said Julia.

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"I'm quite geeky and love science and what I do now uses a lot of science. 

"The aim is to help dog owners grow a happy, stress-free relationship with their pet through the power of play.

"It's about looking at the cause of any issues and helping to train dogs through play so that both the owner and pet are happy."

Julia uses some of the skills built up in her teaching career in her business which achieves positive, long-term results.

"It's almost always possible to change behaviour," said Julia. "We work as a partnership, helping to deal with behaviour and changing it."

Julia uses concept training which helps dog owners to see how they can reshape their dogs' brains using games.

She said: "This type of training is fun for both dogs and trainers and, instead of teaching traditional behaviours on cues (although some of this is included), it reshapes concepts within the dog's brain so that they are able to make better choices.

Concept training is a really exciting and innovative way to train your dog, it's backed by neuroscience.

Julia was drawn to concept training by training her own dogs - two Romanian Rescues called Hattie and Dash.

Conventional training meant they learnt behaviour brilliantly and could behave perfectly in a training hall but were still scared of other situations.

"When I started researching dog training methods, I discovered that there was a way of training which used this kind of scientific approach and gets incredible results," she added.

"More and more people are discovering concept training as a kind, fun and effective way of training their dogs for real life results."

Julia works with dog owners on a one-to-one basis but also does Zoom-type distance sessions.

She also offers tips on her blog https://alltoplayfor.co.uk/blog/ as well as other help and contact details on her website at https://alltoplayfor.co.uk/

Julia also has a Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/alltoplayfordogtraining and can be contacted on 07913 757304.