WE HAVE MOVED
Check out our new website and facebook page for full details
www.thedogacademygalway.com
www.facebook.com/thedogacademygalway
WE ARE NOW OPERATING AS
"The Dog Academy Galway"
We have moved premises to Rosshill, Roscam, Galway
Meet The Team
Oonagh O'Brien
Certified Dog Trainer / Owner
Trusty Pet Pals was set up in 2010 by Oonagh O’Brien.
She studied/worked in accountancy and finance for over 7 years while volunteering part time for the GSPCA.
She then started to walk and care for dogs professionally on a part time basis. The demand for this service grew and she saw the need for a new type of service in Galway, dog daycare. It had been successful in Dublin and Cork and now was needed in Galway city.
The methods used in dog training have also changed. The new science of positive reinforcement/reward based training is now being used by many trainers throughout the world including the very succesful Victoria Stillwell. These methods do not include the use of choke chains, prong collars, radio fences or anything that will cause discomfort to your dog. These are aversive training methods and used by very old school dog trainers, most of whom are not certified/educated dog trainers by any standard.
Oonagh has two rescue cats (Phoebe and Sammy) and three rescue dogs (Harvey, Arnie and Benny) from MADRA. Harvey is a brindle cross, Arnie is a terrier cross, Benny is a rottweiler and all three are at dog daycare everyday to play with the other dogs.
Oonagh is a certified dog trainer. She has a FETAC level 6 in canine obedience and training with Dog Training Ireland.
She is also certified in canine first aid.
Oonagh has travelled to Namibia in Africa to study animal behaviour and to volunteer and work with wildlife. While there, she worked with domestic dogs aswell as wildlife, from lions, cheetahs, baboons, meerkats, leopards, vervet monkeys, wild dogs and more.
Oonagh regularly attends seminars in pet care, covering a wide variety of topics including, dog training, pet nutrition and diseases.
Noel Doherty
Certified Dog Trainer
Noel is a Qualified Dog trainer. He has a fetac level 6 award in obedience and dog training from Dog Training Ireland.
He has been training dogs professionally since 2009; he runs group classes and one on one training classes at Trusty Pet Pals, as well as working with dogs and their owners in their homes. The methods used are strictly positive reward and absolutely no aversive training methods are employed.
Noel is currently studying to take his APDT (Association of Professional Dog Trainers) qualification. And is also studying canine and animal behaviour with COAPE (Centre of Applied Pet Ethology)
Noel has trained his own dog Darby to a very high standard and Darby appears in TV3 programme Deception which is based in Galway.
Rebekah Hernon
Daycare Centre Supervisor / Groomer
This is Rebekah. She has been professionally working with animals for 9 years now. She is from the states and has worked in numerous locations such as Petco, Shaker Veterinary Hospital, Farview Veterinary Hospital and Reigning Cats & Dogs. She qualified as a dog groomer in the states and is bringing her expert grooming skills to Trusty Pet Pals. She also successfully completed canine obedience training using positive reward based methods.
Winifred Noone
Daycare Centre Assistant
Winifred's background is in human physiotherapy and equine studies. She is currently studying for her certificate in Introduction to Canine Behaviour with AniEd. Winifred ensures our daycare dogs are well looked after every day.
Fraser Bremner
Daycare Centre Assistant
Fraser has been working for Trusty Pet Pals since 2013. He is a certified dog trainer having qualified through Dog Training Ireland. Fraser works in the daycare department and takes care of our daycare dogs everyday.