Stuart was known as the Animal Kid during his years growing up on the South Island of New Zealand. He had more pets then he could count: from possums to magpies and many more homeless species, all living in and around the house, with a large number in the closets and drawers of his bedroom.

At the age of 15, he became a shepherd with 15 sheep dogs and 4 horses of his own. This experience became the foundation for his training as he was able to watch how they communicated with each other during their months alone in the remote outback.

Now, Stuart has his team to present shows all over the UK in the summer season. During his demonstrations, his system educates people, in a humorous Kiwi style, on how to understand domesticated animals and their behaviours, and how animals work as a pack and communicate with each other.

Chantal was born in Vancouver, Canada. Growing up, she took various jobs working with animals, from being a naturalist on a whale watching boat to working with the marine mammals at the Vancouver Aquarium, while at the same time studying to be a marine biologist.

Her life path changed on her first trip away when she met Stuart Barnes in Vietnam.

Chantal is now the administrator and the glue for the business, as well as assisting Stuart to write ‘The Way of the Dog’. Chantal has also written her own book ‘The Way of the Explorer’, a story of their travels around the world together, and is writing a series of children’s books, called ‘The Adventures of Duke and Dolly’, based on an Indian Runner Duck and Collie Dog (the stars of the Dog and Duck Show).

The first 3 books in this series have been released, look out for more to come...

Since his childhood on the veldt in South Africa, Warren has only ever wanted to work outdoors with animals.

During his studies, he was privileged to spend a fortnight watching wolves displaying all of their fantastic pack instincts, reminiscent of the wild dogs in Africa that he was lucky enough to observe during his childhood hunting trips with his Grandpa. Witnessing these animals has led to an insight into the instinctive way that dogs interact with sheep and handler.

Lauren has been surrounded by animals since she was first born. From horses to hedgehogs, she took an interest in them all. Lauren received her first pony ‘Billy’ when she was three and later rescued her first sheepdog ‘Manny’ who she trained to compete in trials.

Lauren attended Otley College to study horse management and care and would sit for hours watching her own ponies and the college horses seeing how they functioned in a herd, eventually learning how they communicated with each other in their pack. After college, Lauren then went to work on a farm assisting in the care and training of the working sheepdogs and sheep.

Lauren joined the Dog and Duck Show in 2016.

My passion has always been the art of working Dogs. Having grown up on a family farm I have been lucky enough to have had some wonderful sheepdogs in my life from a young age who have taught me along the way. In my early twenties I set up a business to help other people train their working sheepdogs. I have worked with many different types of sheepdogs, not just border collies, breeds including huntaways, Kelpies and Beardies. I also offer obedience training for pet dogs or gundog around my livestock and I’m a contract shepherdess helping different farmers with their livestock around east Anglia and the midlands.

I have been working with the dog and duck show for around 8 years now and I’m very much looking forward to doing another show season this summer with my current team of dogs.