About Lady's k9
Why Lady's K9 Academy Exists
This business wasn’t planned. It was built from necessity, shaped by loss, and driven by a question that had no good answer: why is it so hard to find proper support for a dog who really needs it?
It Started With Lady
In 2016, Joanna Emslie began dog walking. She had always wanted to run her own dog business. But the turning point came when she rehomed Lady, a former military dog whose life had been defined by trauma.
Lady arrived with severe behavioural issues. She required patience, specialist knowledge, and constant learning. At the time Joanna was working full time and managing everything alone. She quickly discovered that most local dog walkers didn’t have the skill set to handle a dog like Lady safely. Most local trainers wouldn’t take her on at all.
It was isolating. It was exhausting. And it made her realise just how many other owners must be sitting in that same impossible position.
The Hardest Year
In April 2024, Lady was diagnosed with cancer.
Joanna made the decision to leave her job. She wanted to give Lady the best possible end of life. Comfort, dignity, and love. And in those final months, the idea that had been forming for years became something she could no longer ignore.
If she had struggled to find real support for a dog like Lady, then other owners were struggling too. And most of them had nowhere to turn.
Lady’s legacy lives on in every dog Lady’s K9 Academy works with. Her story is not a footnote. It is the reason this business exists.
What Joanna Brings
Joanna’s background spans years of hands-on dog walking, specialist handling through her time as a military reservist, experience within the military working dog rehoming sector, and the kind of practical, real-world knowledge that only comes from working with dogs that don’t forgive mistakes.
She built Lady’s K9 Academy around the dogs that general services can’t help and the owners who feel like they’ve run out of options. The specialism is deliberate. The depth of care is non-negotiable.
The Team
Gemma Knott | Lead Dog Trainer
Gemma brings a science-based approach rooted in positive reinforcement and evidence-based practice. Her professional foundation was established at the Waltham Petcare Science Institute, where she delivered complex research tasks and advanced-level training across species. She holds a BSc in Equine Performance and Management and is currently pursuing her IMDT Level 4 qualification in complex behaviour modification.
Gemma’s specialist experience includes coordinating standards for Assistance Dogs International candidacy, designing bespoke training plans and structured video resources, and working across disciplines including Mantrailing, scent work, agility, and Canicross with her own dogs. She leads the Puppy Programme and handles the full range of breeds across Lady’s K9 Academy’s training services.
Donna Jarvis | Specialist Trainer, High Drive and Complex Cases
Donna is one of the most experienced trainers in the region for high drive and complex breeds. With over a decade of hands-on work spanning a wide range of disciplines, her methodology is grounded in behavioural science with a positive but balanced approach that is tailored to each dog’s individual temperament, drive, and purpose.
Donna holds an Advanced Canine Behaviour Diploma and a BSc in Animal Behaviour and Welfare. She has spent the last five years working with military working dogs, giving her an understanding of the structure, training, and enrichment that high drive dogs need to genuinely thrive. Outside of professional work she competes successfully at Crufts across agility, flyball, field trials, ringcraft, and obedience with three of her five dogs.
Donna focuses on the cases that require the most specialist input. She is not a trainer for easy dogs.
Our Approach
Lady’s K9 Academy works with balanced, science-based methods. We are not a force-free service in the strict definition of that phrase, because the dogs we work with often need clear boundaries and real-world guidance that goes beyond reward alone.
What we are is honest, consistent, and ethical. Every dog is assessed as an individual. Every owner is treated as a partner. And nothing we do is ever about shortcuts.
The tagline is three words because the three things that matter most are three words: Boundaries. Confidence. Trust.