Welcome to Maher & Hound

I first discovered Karen on Instagram shortly after getting my first working cocker spaniel puppy, Finn. When watching her content I was struck by the amazing results she was getting with her clients and decided to reach out to her for some help with working through a few puppy behaviours with Finn (chewing furniture and humping my leg!) Karen is fantastic to work with. She approaches training with kindness and the dog’s best interests at the forefront. Not only that, but her understanding of gundogs and what motivates them to do the things they do is incredibly insightful and has helped me massively with giving Finn an outlet for what he was bred to do. Finn is now out of the puppy phase, and I truly believe that Karen’s guidance and training ethos has contributed to him becoming the more mature and fulfilled spaniel he is today. Nowadays, Finn and I continue our training through Bonzo’s Happy Gundog Club, Karen’s online hub. This gives us access to loads of training videos related to different behaviours as well as regular Q&As that give me the opportunity to ask any further questions I may have. The videos are broken down in a really digestible way and have made planning training sessions a lot easier for me! I still regularly keep up with Karen’s content on social media and love listening to any wisdom she has to share! I’m now training to become a dog trainer myself and will take forward Karen’s kind and patient approach to working with dogs and their owners. Thank you for all your help Karen!

Short version: Karen has done more for Poppy, and our relationship with her, than anything and anyone. We highly recommend her. She’s kind, thoughtful, straight talking, and really prioritises Poppy’s wellbeing. Long version: Poppy crashed into our lives as a 15month old sprocker, with more baggage than Heathrow! Generalised anxiety, fear of raised voices, sticks or anything resembling one, touch aversion, threshold anxiety, resource guarding, and bite history. Oh, and massive separation distress. We had a lot to work on. Looking back, she was also exhausted from a kennel environment, hypervigilance and not enough sleep. We worked with a behaviourist from the rescue. It was helpful - but only up to a point. Their advice was pretty generic, the rest we muddled through ourselves. And then I found Karen. Watching her posts and her beautiful relationship with Bonzo told me everything I needed to know - she was the one to help us help Poppy. Alongside this, she had moderate to severe bilateral hip dysplasia diagnosed, plus intervertebral disc disease and some muscular damage. We are managing this with physiotherapy, hydrotherapy, and multi modal pain management. What I want to say here, is that Karen REALLY took this into account when working with us, to ensure what we were doing was safe for Poppy and wouldn’t increase pain. Her priority has always been Poppys welfare and enjoyment. After working with Karen for several weeks via Zoom, curiosity won and I also joined Bonzos Happy Gundog Club. It’s been a fabulous addition to our zoom training, and has a ton of step by step videos, to teach skills, and really build connection between dog and human. It’s a bargain for what is provided, and the live Zoom calls with Karen are a goldmine of information. Poppy is happier, calmer, she looks to us for her ‘work’ on walks now, and has really developed her love of searching. MUCH less self employment, and it’s clear that having breed specific outlets really does tick her happy box. She’s having half the exercise but doing twice the brain work (same goes for us!) and she comes home ready to relax and sleep. Her anxiety and hypervigilance have also improved as she is more focussed on the good stuff I would absolutely recommend Bonzos Happy Gundog Club, whether as a standalone or alongside working individually with Karen. She’s a wonderful human whose fundamental values about how we train and care for our dogs are about kindness and connection. She’s also very realistic and pragmatic and lets dogs be dogs too!

I originally contacted Karen having seen her on Instagram regarding an incident of resource guarding with my Working Cocker Spaniel, Ziggy and got so much out of our sessions. She gave me the tools to manage this with him, she helped me understand why it happened in the first place and taught us to work with his natural instincts. I’ve since done some gun dog training sessions with her and she’s helped us with loose lead walking. I’ve recently joined her online training group, ‘Bonzo’s Happy Gun dog club’ which is fantastic. For a low monthly fee I get access to a wealth of training films and can participate in regular zoom Q&A sessions with Karen and expert guest speakers. I find it really good value for money as I always have access to advice and guidance when I need it. It gives me and Ziggy a focus for our training, allowing us to take what we’ve achieved already to the next stage without the need for a 121. Plus I still get to ask Karen any questions I have in the Q&A sessions. It’s nice to be in a community of other working breed owners who have been where you are, or who are at the same stage as you with their training.

We love everything about Karen and her training, we started on 121 zoom sessions for my 6month old sprocker spaniels which was invaluable, everything she she suggested was a hit for training them and done in a way that was fun for all of us, her immense knowledge of working breeds is outstanding and I have learnt so much from her that has helped me to better understand my dogs and their needs. We are now part of Bonzos Happy Gundog Club which just furthers our training and knowledge for the breed, the regular info and training guides are fantastic and all the live q&a’s sessions as well as specific topic ones like loose lead walking are a lifesaver! If it wasn’t for Karen and the club I do not think my pups would be half as happy as they are now!

Karen is sheer brilliance! If you want to work with a kind, compassionate trainer who gets results then look no further. Karen has a calm, caring and patient manner that immediately puts you at ease. Her training isn’t generic, instead she really takes the time to get to know not only your dog but you and this is where the magic happens - even after the first session, I felt so much more confident and empowered to be able to help my dogs. As well as giving me the tools to work on what we needed to work on, in mine and my rescue hounds’ case a more reliable recall, she enabled me to remember that my dogs and I are a team and that working together means putting your trust in them as much as they need to put their trust in you. Karen works holistically - she focuses on meeting the dog’s needs with kind methods that are practical and easy to use on walks and in short, fun bursts at home. There are no gimmicks or ‘quick-fix’ tricks, but useable exercises that work in real-life. Before working with Karen, I had become overwhelmed with reading so much conflicting advice, but now I know exactly what works because my dogs are thriving and I am so much more relaxed and happier on walks. During our time working together, I took on a foster pup and Karen was incredible in supporting me with the unexpected addition. What Clover learnt in just a couple of weeks, she naturally took to her forever home and amazed her new family! In short, Karen is utterly wonderful! Thank you Karen, from me, Bert and Olive (and Clover) for enriching our lives!

We have been working with Karen since we brought our rescue Springer Spaniel home in January 2024 and since the first call she has simply been incredible. Karen understands and cares deeply about all dogs, and with Finn being a rescue she really helped us understand him and his needs and helped us work with our vet through his pain and gut issues which we had never considered until working with her. After working with Karen through zoom, we joined Bonzo’s Happy Gundog Club which has proved to be an invaluable resource. The many many films of Karen and Bonzo are brilliant, they mean we can tailor Finn’s training and work at our and his own pace. The live Q&As are also great and by hearing other people’s questions answered in this format has helped us understand specific areas in even more detail. Working Karen has been a game changer and we honestly would not have the dog we have today if it wasn’t for her

After initially working with Karen via one to one WhatsApp coaching, I joined Bonzo's Happy Gundog Club when it opened to continue training my springer spaniel Obi. The club has 100s of training films on a variety of different exercises. They are short and snappy so you can focus on what you want/need to at each particular time and easily re-watch whilst out and about. Karen hosts regular live q&A's and zoom lives where she deep dives on particular topics. She also brings other experts e.g. on nutrition and separation anxiety. The club is an excellent resource, whilst focused on gundog activities it would be suitable for all dog owners who do not simply want to throw a ball for their dog. Karen has a dog first focused ethos about meeting their needs and it shines through in everything she does.

I started following Karen on Instagram as initially I just loved watching the reels of Bonzo. As I started listening to what she said, so much resonated with me regarding our 4yr old cockapoo, who is definitely more spaniel than poodle! I was thrilled when Karen launched Bonzo's Happy Gundog Club wondering could pet gundog training really help us face some of the issues we were experiencing with Archie. We joined and we're so pleased we did. The HUB is an outstanding source of information. Easy to use, through an app. No set programme to follow, you decide what category you want to work on, tailor making it for your dog. Each category contains clear concise step by step videos. The subscription also includes 2 live Q&A sessions with Karen each month, where members can ask any question. Karen has also used these sessions to invite guest speakers; polling HUB members for topics of interest - dog nutrition and separation anxiety were very insightful. The training has definitely increased our bond with Archie. It's great fun, we can certainly see progress and the resources we have used so far is just the tip of the iceberg. Karen is regularly adding new items; she really listens and responds to her HUB members. We can totally recommend joining Bonzo's Happy Gundog Club - thanks for all your hard work Karen and Bonzo! 🐾

I contacted Karen after seeing her posts on instagram as was then looking for guidance with my then 7 month working Cocker Spaniel. We have worked together for 5 months and her insight and knowledge about this breed have been invaluable and have helped me shape my dog’s behaviour and give him a great start. I have now joined Bonzo’s happy Gundog Club which is an absolute mine of information with training videos and regular live Q&S which are amazing. I would be lost with it now. It feels like I have ongoing support and has made training my dog an absolute joy.

As first time dog owners of a working line Labrador, we honestly had no idea where to start with training. We came across Karen’s online club through her Instagram (which is amazing in itself - so helpful, positive, and packed with useful advice!) and decided to join Bonzo’s Happy Gundog Club. It’s hands down the best decision we’ve made for our dog. We were blown away by the variety of content available, from getting your puppy settled at home to breed appropriate outlets. It’s all presented in such a clear, easy to follow way that makes training feel achievable and genuinely enjoyable. It’s been such a game changer for us in building confidence, understanding our Labrador’s needs, and giving him a proper outlet for her working instincts. We’ve also loved the extra touches that make the club feel so personal, the live Q&As, discount codes, and supportive community where you never feel silly for asking questions. Even small things like the advice on diet have been eye opening; we would never have realised how much difference good nutrition can make to training and behaviour. Karen’s calm, knowledgeable, and down to earth approach has completely transformed how we train and connect with our dog. We’re so grateful for her guidance. It’s made the journey of owning a working line breed not just easier, but so much more rewarding. Thank you Karen! 🙌🏻