Born and raised in Essex, we grew up surrounded by wildlife and dogs, but I never for one second thought my professional life would involve working alongside these wonderful animals.

It is worrying and often stressful for the owner of a dog who is exhibiting problem behaviour.

I’ve just got off the phone to Rachel, a lovely dog owner who called to ask for advice about one of her dogs, only now I can’t remember what the problem was. Partly it’s my middle aged, menopausal brain, but mainly it’s because what she told me about her dog, Phoebe, was so shocking, enlightening and (eventually) heart-warming, in equal measure the original problem paled into insignificance as a result.

These days we’re all much more familiar with the adage “ you are what you eat’.