Les Smith and Jo Crosby-Deakin have both been involved with dogs for many years. In August 2003 they decided to move away from the club they were with to  go it alone and so K9 Solutions was born. We come from rather different backgrounds but this allows us to have differing techniques and ideas available and as we are such a good team we are able to discuss the best way forward for each individual dog as no one dog is the same.

Over the years we have shared our homes and our lives with many dogs but rest assured that we have owned the original "un-trainable" dog. We have experienced the sleepless nights, hair pulling and frustration this brings so we really do understand the problems that many dog owners face.

Les is an ex-army dog handler but don't let that put you off, he is no Sergeant Major!! He has had many different dogs over the years but one in particular always crops up in conversations as he was such a ‘character’ shall we say. Chester was a German shepherd x Collie who manifested more problems and issues in his life than most dogs. We learn the most from our problem dogs and Les certainly learnt a lot from Chester.

Les currently shares his home and life with Cruise, an ex-police dog with the sweetest personality. He is convinced he is a little dog and not the great big dog he really is.





Jo became involved in instructing under the guidance of the late Don Blackwell. Don believed that the best instructors were those that had owned the hardest dogs and Sian was definitely a hard dog.

Jo has a passion for Weimaraner’s and her home is currently taken over by 3 of them, each with such different personalities and quirks. She has bred, shown and trained these 'special' dogs for over 12 years and everyday learns something new from them. 

We both learned much from the late Don Blackwell and the dogs we have shared our lives with but we believe strongly in on-going learning to keep abreast of new methods and techniques. Although the dogs themselves are the best teachers we both attend courses and seminars on training and behaviour and are constantly working to add to our knowledge. In dog training you will never know it all.

We are members of PAACT- The Professional Association of Applied Canine Trainers and adhere to their code of conduct.