Hello, my name is Jade Hughes, I own and run Colin’s Leap.

My love for dogs started from an early age. My first dog Charlie came along when I was seventeen, a tri-coloured Jack & Beagle cross, nose down, tail up!! Charlie is still with me today at the grand age of seventeen. I have always loved animals, with a passion for horses too. I have a Welsch section C and a couple of Shetland ponies, riding across the New Forest when I have the time. I’ve also had cats, goats, sheep, and rabbits in the past. This all lead me to my initial set of life skills working in a specialist veterinary practice, starting as a kennel assistant, and working upwards within the laboratory running tests. This passion for caring and helping animals has remained with me throughout life and has driven my choices both in work and social.

My interest in dog agility started when I went to Crufts dog show in my early 20’s, I was fascinated with how well trained the dogs were, and the amazing relationship between dog and handler. I started doing agility with my second dog, Colin. When I met my now husband, we decided to get a dog together. Colin was rescued from a lady who couldn’t care from him properly. We had to help him learn how to eat (because he’d only been fed treats), how to walk on the lead and how to be with other dogs. He was obsessed with Charlie for the first 6 months, never having been socialised as a puppy. To further Colin’s recovery we took him to classes to socialise him and on from there to an agility course. He is a very active terrier, wiry haired, dachshund cross, ginger with a white tip tail and feet like a fox, he absolutely loves agility. I started a beginner course with him and quickly found that he was quite good at it, so together we had a great time learning and growing our love for it. From there we went on to do further courses and I decided I would like to tutor other people and their dogs.

I started Colins leap in January 2021 however it’s been in the planning for a number of years, I have been furthering my education in agility to ensure the training I give is professional and up to date. I have called the company after Colin who loves it so much. He’s now famous, he’s the dog on the logo!

Agility is great fun; it helps build a good bond; trust for both owner and dog; as well as being good physical exercise for the both of you. It is exercising the dog’s brain too, sometimes people forget the dog needs to be mentally stimulated just as much as it does physically. The increased thinking required of the dog to learn the different obstacles, and the right way to do them, wears them out. Agility is for all breeds of dogs, at any ages from 8 months. It isn’t about huge jumps so don’t be worried if your dog is older, it’s exercising the mind as it is the body. They learn to navigate obstacles, and these can just be poles on the ground for dogs that cannot or don’t want to jump. Anything is possible, it’s about having fun.