The Dog Whisperer

Canine trainer Simon Wooler has helped thousands of fearful pets. But three years ago he took on his greatest challenge yet with 'Sophie from Romania', social media's most terrified pooch, owned by ex-BBC journalist Rory Cellan-Jones... Could the expert transform her?

- By Jane Warrwn

WHEN you collect a 45kg Rottweiler with "issues" in a Peugeot soft-top and try to buckle him into a seatbelt, you soon realise that you are going to have to make some changes to your life. This was the predicament faced by former sound engineer tumed.

Dog whisperer Simon Wooler, when he decided to give Tyson one last chance at a forever home.

"People at the dog rescue centre scattered when they saw Tyson - this probably should have been a red flag, and they told me he had to be kept away from people and other animals.

But I have a soft spot for the misunderstood," says Simon, with impres sive understatement.

"I was his last chance and I wanted to teach him to trust me, even if it took a lifetime." In fact, their bond of trust was destined to become an eight-year voyage of discovery together, and what Simon learned about Thomson - as he renamed him when he brought him to his home in Aberdeenshire - committed him to a new career.

"My own 'unhomeable' rescue dog led me to seek out effective training methods for troubled dogs and for the past 10 years I have run behavioural training classes," he says.

However, the dog that nudged Simon, 58, into the limelight, and led to his first book deal - More Than Just A Dog, which has just been published - was a very different kind of canine.

When former BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones decided to adopt a female dog from Romania, the animal in question looked very lively in videos sent ahead of her arrival.

But when Sophie got to west London in the early hours of December 2022, she proved to be desperately anxious.

She was trembling and terrified, and looked desperately vulnerable.

Her journey to confidence, with Simon's help, has now been followed by thousands online after Rory shared his experiences on social media, following an initial shout-out for help.