Sian Ryan - Behavioural Expert and Trainer

Sian gave up a long-standing career as an NHS manager ten years ago to focus on working with dogs and gaining qualifications in both animal behaviour and in dog training. She can tell you not just how to do something with your dog, but why it works.

She believes first and foremost that owning a dog should be fun, and she uses her in-depth knowledge of a dog’s mind to create a life-enhancing relationship between her clients and their pets. She prefers to think of what she does as educating rather than obedience training, where there is no separation between training and everyday life. Dogs and owners learn how to connect with each other in ways that becomes second nature and make life happier for both of them.

Sian has an MSc in Clinical Animal Behaviour, passed with distinction, from the University of Lincoln and is a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, UK where she passed her membership assessment with full marks. Sian’s MSc dissertation project looked at the development of practical ways of teaching self-control to dogs and she regularly gives seminars on this and other topics nationally and internationally.

She was the first trainer in the UK to offer courses in dog parkour, where dogs work to conquer obstacles and their fears by jumping, balancing and climbing.

Biography

Naturalist and broadcaster Chris Packham has had a long and successful career on TV, beginning with The Really Wild Show in 1986 and more recently Springwatch, Autumnwatch, and Winterwatch, Nature’s Weirdest Events, World’s Weirdest Events, Inside the Animal Mind, Operation Iceberg and Secrets Of Our Living Planet.

In 2010 Chris was awarded the Dilys Breese BTO Medal for his outstanding work in promoting science to new audiences. He was voted Conservation Hero Of The Year (2014) in the Birders’ Choice Awards (Birdwatch magazine). In 2015 he reached second place in The Wildlife Power List featured in the BBC Wildlife Magazine. In October 2016 Chris earned the top honour at the Wildscreen Panda Awards - The Christopher Parsons Award for Outstanding Achievement - in recognition of his significant contribution to wildlife filmmaking, conservation and the public’s understanding of the environment.

Earlier in 2016 he was made honorary Doctor of Science by the University of Southampton, where he had graduated 30 years before.

Programme Information

• Episode one
• Episode two