When Shelina Duke started learning to train dogs back in 2020, it was just to help her own three barking poodles during lockdown.
She was shielding at home with chronic asthma, and those three dogs needed some serious help with their behaviour.
She didn't expect that teaching herself from a WordPress book while isolating would lead to building a thriving, global, poodle-only, force-free training business with clients around the world.
Shelina spent four years juggling full-time teaching as an assistant head teacher, 10 dogs, and running a growing online membership before finally leaving school in 2024.
She's won three Dog Trainer of the Year awards, qualified and shown Edith at Crufts, and built a business that fits around real life - school runs, clubs, and caring for 10 dogs - without cramming her diary full of one-to-ones.
She's also navigated a serious head injury, chronic illness, the sudden loss of her sister, and becoming a guardian to her young niece.
In this episode, Shelina talks about how she taught herself to build a website and membership from scratch, how she grew from local all-breed classes to a global poodle-only business, why she's so committed to kind, force-free training, and how she deals with the trolls.
Plus her mission to help both poodle guardians and other pet pros build businesses that work around real life, not the other way around.
Topics and timings:
0.20 - Episode intro and sponsor message from the 2026 Pet Business Content Planner sponsor.
1.45 - Shelina’s story overview, from shielding teacher to global poodle trainer.
3.26 - How it all started, from assistant head teacher to dog trainer: shielding in 2020, three barking dogs and deciding to learn dog training “just” to help her own dogs.
5.55 - Shelina’s experience of chronic asthma, nine attacks in 11 days, steroids and the fear of COVID that kept her shielding at home.
8.10 -Using shielding time to build a new future: teaching herself WordPress from a book, creating a website and setting up her first membership.
10.57 - The poodle family: how she went from four dogs to ten, and how Arthur, Albert, Edith and Ophelia each came into her life.
18.46 - Reaching ten dogs: adding Ophelia, her first standard poodle, and completing the four‑poodle crew.
19.50 - How her business changed from Go With The Flow - all breeds, local classes and agility - to poodle‑only, online‑first training.
21.22 - Growing the free poodle Facebook group into the thousands and launching her first poodle‑only membership (mostly US‑based owners).
24.04 - How Shelina stepped away from earning around £50k as an assistant head and beginning to plan how her poodle business could replace that income.
25.36 - What life looked like doing both - long school days, evenings and weekends filled with 1:1s and classes.
27.50 - Shelina's head injury: severe concussion, damaged vestibular nerve, migraines, nausea and learning to live with balance problems.
31.44 - How her life changed overnight following her sister’s sudden death and becoming guardian to her four‑year‑old niece.
35.58 - Changing her mindset from “I have to” to “I get to do this” to cope with grief, parenting and business responsibility.
38.05 - Having the best job - spending her days with her own poodles and poodles on screen all over the world.
39.29 - The Shelina effect and why her clients love her approach.
40.30 - Turning a hobby into a real business: challenges, masterclasses, membership and testing different offers.
42.50 - Using AI to organise her ideas into clearer content, messaging and launch plans.
44.40 -What makes a difference in terms of messaging and focusing on how behaviour feels for the owner (stress, embarrassment, overwhelm) rather than just the dog’s actions.
48.51 - The downside and how she deals with negative comments, one very abusive post and deciding “my group, my rules."
52.44 - Switching her personal Facebook to professional mode and seeing a big jump in reach and Reel views.
54.56 - What changed since 2021: why free challenges and masterclasses filled differently in 2024/25 and what she learned about buyer behaviour.
57.46 - Resisting hustle culture and designing the business around freedom instead of recreating a 9 - 3 school‑style day.
58.40 - How a business programme with non pet people helped with starting to think like a business owner, not “just a dog trainer.”
1.00.59 - How Shelina's business looks like now: membership, live reactivity programme, self‑paced barking course and 1:1s, all fitted around caring for her niece and 10 dogs.
1.06.57 - Her highlights - three‑time Dog Trainer of the Year (SE England & London), showing Edith at Crufts, mentoring pet pros and leading a mission to rethink traditional training for modern poodles.
1.15.02 - How to connect with Shelina and find out more.
Links mentioned in this episode:
Follow Shelina on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shelinathepoodletrainer/
Join her Free Poodle Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/434932511664042
On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shelinapoodletrainer
Shelina's website: https://www.withtheflo.co.uk/
Buy a planner: https://rachelspencer.co.uk/shop
Further reading/listening:
Meet Kellie Wynn the Beagle Lady
How to run a dog training business that works for you with Jane Ardern
Walking in your clients shoes with Helen Motteram
10 reasons to be an award winning pet business
How to get press coverage from Crufts
The rollercoaster that is running a pet business
Is my Pets Get Visible membership right for you?
Should you buy my pet business content planner?
