Based in Northern Ireland, Jess began her career with Guide Dogs in 2008. As a Guide Dog Mobility Instructor she trained dogs, matched them with service users and taught the service users how to work with and care for their new partners.

More recently she was Training and Behaviour Advisor for Guide Dogs NI where she supported and coached the training staff to develop their use of positive reinforcement based training techniques. Stemming from her experiences in Guide Dogs, Jess has a specialist interest in human-animal interactions. In her MSc dissertation she researched how volunteer assistance dog puppy raisers interpret and respond to their dogs' behaviour.

She has always been passionate about learning throughout her career and has pursued numerous courses to develop her knowledge and skills, including Dr Susan Friedman's Living & Learning with Animals and Karen Pryor's Puppy Start Right for Instructors.

Jess completed an MSc with distinction in Clinical Animal Behaviour from the University of Edinburgh in 2021. She is a pre-certified Clinical Animal Behaviourist through CCAB Accreditation (www.ccab.uk), is a Candidate Member of the Fellowship of Animal Behaviour Clinicians (www.fabclinicians.org) and is a provisional member of the APBC(www.apbc.org.uk). Meaning her knowledge and understanding of Clinical Animal Behaviour has been accredited and she is currently working towards full accreditation as a Clinical Animal Behaviourist.