Hi, I'm Diane and this is my animal background:

 

Animals are and always have been an integral part of my life. From early childhood we have had numerous pets, from gerbils, rabbits and guinea pigs, cats and dogs to goats and horses.

 

As a teenager and young adult I competed with horses in showjumping and three day eventing but became hooked on dog agility over twenty years ago when I saw a competition running at a horse show and decided I wanted to have a go.

 

I started with my labradors, Bess & Cody, and then my collies, Jake, Bryce, Clay & Frase, who are sadly no longer with me.   I competed at advanced level with Bryce whose accolades included being awarded Agility Dog of the Year 2001 and runner up at Crufts. Jive also competed at Crufts and was invited to the Team GB tryouts. Over the years I have competed with four of my dogs in the prestigious dog agility finals at Olympia.

 

I have at present two retired dogs, Phoenix and Chi; four competing, Jive, Flint Rayli and Steel and Chi's granddaughter, Impulse, who has just started her agility training.

 

Having worked in an office based environment for most of life I consider myself fortunate that seventeen years ago I decided to further my love and care of animals and went to work as a nurse in a veterinary surgery. When I moved to Worcester in 2012 I worked at another veterinary surgery and then returning to Bristol I set up my own business Woofsteps as I wished to carry on interacting with animals on a daily basis. Now having moved to the beautiful area of Teesdale, I worked at the local vets for fifteen months getting to know the area and some of the people before restarting Woofsteps.