Sarah Whitehead, BA (Hons), Msc

Sarah Whitehead is an international lecturer and pet behaviour counsellor seeing dogs and cats with behavioural problems on referral from veterinary surgeons across the south of England, under her company name of the Alpha Pet Behaviour Practice. She has an MSc in Animal Behaviour and is a member of the APBC (Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors), past public relations executive for the APDT (Association of Pet Dog Trainers) and MD of Alpha Education - an organisation providing accredited education in the field of behaviour and training.

Sarah runs the Alpha 'Think Dog!' chain of puppy and dog training classes, all based on the most modern methods of teaching both people and their pets with several branches now established across the South of England.

Books and media

Sarah is the author of more than twenty behavioural and training books, booklets and videos including 'Puppy Training for Children' and 'The Puppy Survival Guide'.

Sarah is a regular contributor to the specialist press, is a feature writer for Dogs Today, and is frequently quoted in the nationals.

TV appearances include C4 'Pet Rescue', two series of BBC 'Barking Mad', ITV 'Give a Pet A Home', C4 Open House with Gloria Huniford, and Richard and Judy- to name a few!

Sarah is a favourite guest on numerous radio programmes including BBC Radio 4, including a phone-in show on BBC Radio Berkshire.

Lectures, demonstrations and workshops

Sarah has lectured in many different countries of the world, including Japan. She is known for her interactive and imaginative style in bringing her favourite topics to life. These include:

• Talk Dog © - understanding canine body language and facial expression
• Running Exceptional Puppy Classes - structure, content, challenging puppies and people, trouble shooting, methodology and clicker training!
• Dominance revisited - is your dog really trying to take over the world? A review of rank reduction and dominance.
• Clicker training for fun - tricks and games
• Clicker training and emotion - how this technology can be applied to behaviour modification
• Aggression - why dogs are aggressive, how to assess them and structure rehabilitation where appropriate
• Practical handling skills - training dogs, safety and behaviour assessment (practical - normally held in the shelter)
• Cats behaving badly - understanding feline behaviour and treating problems
• The other end of the lead - facilitating learning in owners
• A biscuit for the soul - avoiding professional burn-out, assessing personal risk and taking action where needed

Other interests

As well as animal behaviour, Sarah has a special interest in human psychology. She is an NLP Master Practitioner (a branch of cognitive psychology) and has a passion for successful strategies in adult learning.

Sarah lives in Berkshire, with Windsor, the Golden Retriever, Tao the crossbreed and Alex the cat.