The Dog Whisperer

Ingrid has done some incredible work with dogs over the last decade. She has worked extensively with guide and companion dogs. From puppy selection to training and the complex process of matching a dog to their person. The are many elements taken into account, the living arrangements, family size, specific needs but they also have to consider height and stride for instance as well as personality and temperament. It's a tremendously labour intensive process. Not to mention very costly. She has seen some miraculous transformations when buddy dogs have been matched to autistic children. Which is especially rewarding for her.

She handles bomb detection dogs and dogs trained to find mobile phones in prisons. Which are linked to drug dealing and gang activity. Dogs that can sniff out minute aphids which destroy entire vineyards in no time at all. Several years ago Ingrid told how they were using dogs to sniff out cancerous tumours. She has also trained dogs to detect ketones on the breath of diabetics. A warning sign that the body is insulin deficient.

Ingrid moved back to Spain four years ago. She is currently presenting on a veterinary television show but comes back to London every other month to do intense training with puppies. I have seen her turn snarling aggressive dogs into calm perfectly mannered family members. Although she says it is much more about training the humans then training the dogs. She is doing six hours today on Primrose Hill and Cosmo and I walked over to have a walk with her between clients. He absolutely looses his mind the moment he gets whiff of her. He walked to (her) heel for the entire hour and cried like a baby when she departed.

I hope she won't mind me saying that when I puppy sat her 5 month old Rottweiler for a week we thought she was the naughtiest puppy ever! Just goes to show.