Michelle Underwood, Head Coach
Michelle started her career as a musician in HM Royal Marines, but found her real passion for animals when she got her first dog 9 years ago. Since then she has become a full member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers and a Registered Animal Training Instructor with the Animal Behaviour and Training Council. She also continues to update her knowledge by attending lots of courses and seminars.
She leads a very busy life as a volunteer dog trainer for Veterans with Dogs charity, a force-free trick trainer and a fully qualified dog yoga instructor! In the spare time she has left, Michelle also enjoys Cani-cross and training her own dogs, Lucy, Buddy and Oppo, to do scentwork and positive gundog training.
Michelle aims to provide a fun and easy to follow learning experience whilst strengthening the bond between dogs and their owners. She is passionate about teaching them both about positive, reward-based training methods in a relaxed environment.
Emily Coombe, Senior Coach
Before joining the Devon Dog School team, Emily worked as a dog walker in Bristol where she enjoyed getting muddy with dogs of all breeds and sizes every day. She also volunteered at Bristol Dog School classes, where her passion for educating owners on positive reinforcement training methods grew. Emily has an Animal Behaviour and Welfare Science BSc Hons degree from Bristol University.
Emily loves to see the bond between dogs and owners strengthen in classes.
Fiona Strong, Coach
Fiona graduated from university in 2015 with a degree in Animal Behaviour and Welfare (BSc). She has spent the last 3 years working at Little Valley Animal Shelter in Exeter where she was able to put all the theory she had learnt to use! She loved being able to help make their time in rescue as stress free as possible.
Fiona is looking forward to starting her new adventure at Dogs Trust Dog School and is excited about helping dogs who may not settle as easily as others but also to watch the progression of each and every dog week by week!
In her spare time, Fiona enjoys keeping fit and getting out in the fresh air whether that’s for a long walk, out on horseback or a windswept ride on her bike!