I don’t just train gundogs
I’ve lived it
Nina Fotara KCAI (WG) is a proud winner of two Pet Products & Services Awards 2026
Holistic Gundog Training Specialist of the Year and the Canine Behaviour Excellence Award.
I’m Nina Fotara KCAI (WG) – Holistic Gundog Specialist, Energetics Practitioner (Reiki Master/Teacher), and the founder of Confident Canine®.
Before I share what I do, I want to show you what I’ve done.
Every method I teach, every approach I recommend, I’ve tested with my own dogs. My Longhaired Weimaraners have competed at Crufts, worked rough shooting, placed in gundog working tests, obedience and agility, and hold multiple trick dog Champion titles. We’ve worked through reactivity, done blood tracking, mantrailing, and scent work together.
I don’t come to this work as a theorist. I come to it as someone who has trained in the rain, made mistakes, and kept going until the partnership worked.
That’s the standard I hold myself to, and it shapes everything I bring to working with you and your dog.
I help gundogs and their guardians build trust, understanding, and calm confidence through a relationship-first, science-grounded approach. My unique Regulation First Method™ includes signature frameworks like PAWS to Pause™, Soft Speak™, Flow Walking™ and my Canine Ease™ 6×6 Framework.
My
credentials
Experience, Qualifications & Credentials
I have a wealth of qualifications, certifications and experience:
🏅 KCAI (WG) — Kennel Club Accredited Instructor, Working Gundogs
🎓 Diploma of Canine Behaviour
🐾 Member: The Guild of Dog Trainers (Specialist — Gundogs)
🐾 Member: Pet Professional Guild, NICE & IICE
📚 Currently completing: Clinical Canine Behaviourist — Level 6 (Degree level)
Canine Behaviour & Training
- BAT (Behavioural Adjustment Therapy) — 1st UK Instructors Course
- Scentwork UK Train the Trainer — Levels 1–8
- Scentwork UK Judges and Trial Managers Certificates for levels 1-4
- Mantrailing Global/UK Certified Instructor
- Canine Hoopers UK Accredited Instructor
- Canine Merisha Massage & VIS Ultrasound Certificates Lvl 1-2
- Pet Bereavement Counsellor Diploma
- Canine First Aid & Human First Aid Certificates — renewed 2025
- + additional courses from leading practitioners including Susan Garrett, Dr Ian Dunbar, Michael Shikashio CDBC, and the late amazing Sarah Fisher
Holistic & Wellbeing Practice
- Reiki Master/Teacher (since 2006)
- Certificate in NLP
- Certificate in MBSR
- Meditation Teachers Certificate
- Animal Communication Certificate
- Crystal Healing & Ho’oponopono Practitioner
Continued Professional Development
- ABK Conferences — “Resilience” (2025), “When Dogs Bite” (2024)
- Edition Dogs Live 2025 — Speaker
- Edition Dogs Live 2026 — Invited to run the “Gundog Hub”
- Tony Robbins Unleash the Power Within
- Gaia House 3-day silent retreat (2019)
- Plus numerous gundog training days, working trials, and breed-specific seminars.
Misc
- Do More With Your Dog Animal Actors Academie Certified Assessor
- Do More With Your Dog certified Trick Dog Instructor
- Previous Captain of a Kyra Sundance ‘All Stars’ Team
- IOSH Managing Safely Certificate
With my own dogs I have:
- Worked my dogs rough shooting
- Worked my dogs beating
- Worked through reactivity
- Competed in and won/placed consistently in all the following: Gundog working tests, Obedience, Agility and Showing
- Worked my dogs in commercial video and photographic shoots for major household brands
- Shown my dogs, placing at Crufts (including a 2nd in BASC class and achieving Best Longhaired in Show awards) and in FCI abroad and winning a companion BIS.
- My dogs hold various trick dog Champion titles and KC good citizen awards
- Won numerous breed club awards with my dogs including numerous “Best All-round Longhaired” awards.
- We’ve tried our hand at working trials and blood tracking and had fun mantrailing and doing scentwork
- Bred two litters who are all doing amazingly, they all leave home recall trained, crate training, used to all sorts of experiences and noises and surfaces etc
Experience
me & my dogs
and real world experiences such as:
- Regularly write for several publications (dog & therapy related)
- Judging the Weimaraner breed at confirmation shows
- Have handled dogs professionally on commercial filming and static shoots for major household brands
- Have featured on Dream 107.7 Radio
- Have titled all 4 of the dogs we have had in Trickwork (including two Champions)
- Opened Essex’ 1st Kyra Sundance Training & Testing Centre
- Have many, many years of clicker training experience
- Have successfully competed in Gundog Working Tests, Agility Shows & Obedience Competitions (including the Discover Dogs KCGCS PB semi-finals) obtaining numerous places
- Represented Weimaraners as a breed at the International Festival of Falconry
- Successfully shown our dogs to Championship level including at CRUFTS, obtaining breed class and BASC placements at CRUFTS
- Have taken part in various Working Trial days
- Have completed Blood Tracking days with both Puppies and Adult dogs
- Have successfully worked our dogs to the gun and in GWT’s
- Have hosted ‘The International House of Reiki’ UK events
- Have bred dogs ourselves
- Have taken part in International Dog Events
- Breeder of Longhaired Weimaraners that both show and work successfully in various disciplines (field, agility, obedience).
More details
MORE courses
and additional training completed:
- Susan Garretts Recallers 3.0
- 30 days of Canine Science – School of Canine Science
- Scent for Six – School of Canine Science
- Puppy Development & Socialisation (Puppy Lab 1 & 5 of 5) – School of Canine Science
- Canine Genetics – School of Canine Science
- Nutrition & Behaviour – School of Canine Science
- Fear – School of Canine Science
- Separation Anxiety Webinar – Jo-Rosie Haffenden
- Resource Guarding: For dogs who growl or bite to keep their stuff with Diane Garrod
- Understanding Dog Aggression – Michael Shikashio CDBC
- Dr Ian Dunbars SIRIUS Dog Trainer Academy – All 4 days
- Dr Ian Dunbar online – Simple solutions for common dog behaviour and training problems
- Animal Centred Education (ACE): Understanding dogs needs and how to do Freework with Sarah Fisher
- Amy Cook Webinar – Play Way! For reactivity and aggression challenges
- KC Conformation and Movement Certificate
- KC Conformation and Movement Hands on Assessment Certificate
- KC Requirements of a Dog Show Judge Certificate
- NEWS Breed Specific Seminar Weimaraner Certificate
- Pointing Breeds Training Day Certificate
- HPR Course with Trevor Rigby
- Mullenscote HPR Live Training Day
- Numerous Gundog individual days/courses including water days, shot-over days, rough shooting, Dortanza
- Numerous Dog Training individual days/courses including Jenny Lunn, Jo Hill and Lorraine Bennett
- The International House of Reiki Remembering Course
- Craig Ogilvie – Interactive Play Workshop
- Kachina Canine Wellness Course