Yes, the name is a pun. I couldn’t resist.
I’m a dog trainer in the UK with an obsession with sighthounds, and a passion for challenging expectations.
“Impossible” is not in my vocabulary.
Hello! I’m Serena, the human at Serene Sighthounds.
There’s a lot about running dogs that isn’t “normal.” Luckily, neither am I.
I know what it’s like to love a fast, powerful, prey-driven, dog. Social media breed groups are buzzing with horror stories of Borzoi, Greyhounds, Salukis, lurchers (and everything in between!) escaping and getting lost or even killed by cars.
This fear was my day to day life for 3+ years after I got my first Borzoi, Raoul.
But I saw a select few sighthound breeder-trainers hiking with their hounds every weekend, taking them through forests and crowded beaches alike, and most of all, letting them RUN — and I thought, I want that! How do they do it?
That’s what gave me the courage to push past the doomsayers and online and embrace a different style of training. It was magical, the missing puzzle piece in our training. We made more progress in 3 months than I had made in three years with all the popular advice.
Over one summer, Raoul was heeling calmly, off lead regularly, and it completely changed our relationship for the better.
All of a sudden I wasn’t living in fear every time we stepped outside the house.
I didn’t have to hold onto his leash for dear life.
I didn’t feel like my dog was an infant to be protected and paranoid over.
Instead, when he came back to me and stuck by my side off leash,
I felt like we were finally equals.
I want every owner with a sighthound, longdog, or lurcher to know that incredible feeling.