Leigh Shenker
BADA (Hons)(WITS), DipCABT (COAPE) OCN, CAPBT SA Practitioner
Leigh’s studies and career path started in the field of human behaviour, working primarily with youth at risk. However, her love of four legged creatures led her to change direction towards all things related to animal behaviour. Leigh was volunteering in shelters and recognised a real need for behaviour practitioners, both for the animals in the shelters and for post-adoption support. She therefore embarked on obtaining her qualification as a companion animal behaviour practitioner through COAPE. Leigh now holds the OCN UK accredited Diploma through the Centre of Applied Pet Ethology and is a COAPE SA lecturer.
She has also completed her clicker training qualification and has a real interest in natural medicine for animals, and therefore grows and sources many unusual medicinal plants. Leigh spends the majority of her time involved in shelter work and working with clients. Her dedication to shelter work is reflected in several programmes and systems she has set up, and she is committed to changing the traditional model for animal shelters and improving basic conditions for all animals, as well as assisting families who choose to adopt a rescue. She joined the ThinkingPets team in 2014 and became the proud owner of ThinkingPets in 2015.
Judy Post
MSc (Entomology), CertCAB, Guild certified TTouch Practitioner, CAPBT SA Practitioner, Animal Behaviour Practitioner
Judy grew up with a great passion for all creatures great and small, so after school she naturally progressed to completing a degree in Zoology and Entomology. After her studies she took a break from her books and worked as a veterinary nurse at the Cape of Good Hope SPCA. She then went back to her studies to become a research entomologist working for the Agricultural Research Council for many years. Her passion for working with animals prompted Judy to enrol for the 3 year TTouch Practitioner’s course in South Africa in 2007. She qualified as a TTouch Practitioner in September 2009.
Following that, Judy completed the COAPE C01 Dogwise Stage 1 course in 2010 and then went on to complete the COAPE Diploma in September 2014 and now is a practicing animal behaviourist. She is also a qualified Puppy and Kitten school Instructor and has been running puppy classes in the southern suburbs of Cape Town since 2011. In January 2013, she and two other ThinkingPets dog trainers / COAPE animal behaviourists opened an adolescent and adult dog training school, Dog Hub, in Rondebosch which is going from strength to strength.