Dean Hart, has been working as a Behavioural Consultant on Veterinary Referral for the past 15 years. He is seen here demonstrating clicker training using a ball point pen with two of his five dogs.
He is a Full Member of the Canine and Feline Behaviour Association and the Companion Animal Behaviour Therapy Study Group and a Master Trainer with The Guild of Dog Trainers.
Dean has worked with many different and more challenging of the domestic breeds and specialises in aggression problems and phobias. His particular interests within behaviour are animal learning theory, neuroscience and communication. 
As well as running the busy Behavioural Clinic, Canine Specialist Referrals Ltd. Dean also works as an advisor to several local welfare and rescue centres. Dean teaches Canine Behaviour Studies at The Canine Studies College in Barcombe, East Sussex and has written several courses for local Colleges and the Open College Network. He is currently working to produce courses for his City & Guilds NPTC work and is working on his first production of a series of educational DVD's. He has also piloted programmes for television and has appeared on Ultimate Questions, BBC South East and is producing his first book due to be launched 2012.
He is well known for delivering lively lectures where audience participation is actively encouraged and he raises money for several local and national charities throughout the year by delivering entertaining talks. Dean is also the behavioural advisor to The Boxer Rescue Service (Southern) who provide an excellent service to help re home and support Boxer Dog owners. Dean is due to deliver his first international talk within Europe and has been invited to Hong Kong to run training rehabilitation classes.
When leaving school in 1979 Dean worked within livery, stud and racing stables as a stable hand and then moved to work with animals that performed on television where he first became interested in training and behaviour. His family owned horses when he was in his teens and the natural career path was to work within the equine industry.
But at this time pay and accommodation was very poor and Dean decided to make a big change and worked within a blue chip company on the sales floor but soon worked his way up the ladder, and was head hunted to work within Human Resources as a divisional trainer, he then became a Company Trainer covering the UK and Northern Island running a team of 12 Divisional trainers. During this time he qualified as an instructor and gained his Certificate in Training & Development from the then 'Institute of Training & Development' and was a member of the 'British Institute of Management'.
Not happy working away from animals Dean used his business skills to develop his own dog walking and dog training business when he was 31, and left his company flat and car to pursue his own passion for animal behaviour, hanging up his daily suit for a pair of walking boots and a transit van, this was 19 years ago.
During this time he also taught canine behaviour, canine hydrotherapy, canine handling skills, dog training instruction at FE Level and Animal Behaviour at Foundation Degree level at Plumpton College, East Sussex and left to set up his own Private and Independent Canine Studies College in 2007. Details of the Canine Studies College can be found on his sister web site http://www.thedoghut.biz.
In 2006 Dean attended Southampton University and completed his post graduate studies in the following: animal learning theory, human psychology and counselling, UK animal law and ethology, neuropsychology and psychopharmacology. He is currently working on his MA and as part of his ongoing CPD dean has recently attended seminars on animal law, myotherapy, rehabilitation methods and understanding the wolf dog and is about to start his teacher training qualification to comply with current legislation. He is working on a pilot study examining the effects of body patterning and colouring within domestic dog communication systems and is about to write a research paper on handling methods applied within dog grooming.
Dean is also available to deliver talks for Seminars, local clubs and organisations.
He was also involved within the Management Committee of the National Association of Registered Canine Hydrotherapists during its launch in 2009 and is an advisor on the Management Committee for the Association of Accredited Canine Myotherapists recently established to promote and maintain professionalism within the industry.
He is not sure what his next challenge will be but as he says 'finding the time maybe the first challenge'.........
