Meet our instructors
Jane joined Four Paws with her puppy Ellie, a Labrador Retriever, in
January 2011, with the aim of socialising her young dog. Ellie progressed to adult classes and subsequently passed her Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards in the Kennel Club Good Citizen Dog Scheme.
In 2013 Jane adopted Lottie, a Labrador Retriever cross puppy, and she also achieved the Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards. Lottie and Jane “found each other”
as Jane is a volunteer for Labrador Rescue.
In October 2015 Jane adopted Dolly, a rescue dog from Yappy Ever After. Dolly was a “street girl” in Romania, who was abandoned after giving birth to a litter of puppies. Dolly passed her Bronze, Silver and Gold KCGC Awards and has also passed her assessment to be a Pets As Therapy (PAT) Dog. Dolly is a popular visitor to a Primary School in Oxford.
Jane Armitage
In 2020, Jane moved to Cornwall but continued to be a keen member of the Club and came to Oxford once a month to be part of the Four Paws team. Most of the time during the Covid pandemic lock-down was spent walking dogs on Cornish beaches & renovating their house. In August 2021 Clemmie, a Labrador Retriever puppy, (a real Cornish Maid) joined their family and in early 2022 Jane, and her husband John decided to relocate to Bodicote and you will now see much more of her at the Club. Jane's aim as a Four Paws Instructor is for you and your dog to enjoy classes, learn much and have fun while doing so!
She has attended many relevant courses since she started instructing in 2012 including:
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PDTI (Pet Dog Training Instructors) Advanced Instructing Skills Teaching Workshop.
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2014: PDTI at Harper Adams University, “Exploring your Dog’s Potential and Bringing Fun to Dog Training.”
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2015: “The Canine Collective Noun” – Ross McCarthy and Lez Graham.
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2015: “Dangerous Dogs – Are Puppy Parties to Blame?” – Jane Hanshaw and Jeannette Watson.
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2015: The“Reactive Dog” workshop – John Rogerson.
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2015: Pros and Cons of 5 Reward-Based Training Techniques – Ian Dunbar.
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2015: Analysis of Existing Learning Theory – Ian Dunbar.
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2016: Canine Behaviour – Dr Muriel Brasseur, University of Oxford.
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2017: PDTI Analysing Instructing Skills.
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2017: The Aggressive Dog Seminar – Nick Honor, Puppy Stars.
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2017: Animal Aiders – First Aid for Dogs.
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2017: PDTI Practical Instructing Skills and achieved the Applied Instructing Skills Award with Merit
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2018: “Making Your Classes Fun and Effective”, a seminar given by Kamal Fernandez.
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2018: “Shaping Skills”, a seminar given by Kamal Fernandez.
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2022: The Ultimate Dog Training Instructor Course by Russell Becque, CEO. The Academy of Modern Canine Behaviour & Training.
Jane an approved Examiner for the Kennel Club Good Citizen Dog Scheme Bronze & Silver Awards and is a member of the PDTI (Pet Dog Training Instructors) Membership Number 1939.
Jane is an Instructor and the Chair of Four Paws Committee.