AN author and businesswoman is inspiring positive change and training resilience through the power of the "human-canine bond" in homes around Wrexham and North Shropshire.

Marie Yates' innovative approach to dog training involves taking on learning from dogs and she says it has helped her to change the lives of survivors of rape and sexual violence across the UK.

She says that is all thanks to her best friend, Reggie, the inspiration behind the canine character in her teen fiction trilogy and who, sadly, she lost last year.

Marie launched social enterprise, Canine Perspective CIC so she could share her Canine Hope programme with survivors. This programme brings her books to life and with a rescue dog as a co-tutor she trains resilience-building skills in humans, trains the rescue dog and has a lot of fun along the way.

Reggie's legacy continues through the programme and beyond, with 121 dog training sessions and Marie said: "The importance of the human-canine bond cannot be underestimated when we're training our own dogs.

"Living in a home designed for humans and venturing out into a society designed for humans can be very confusing for our canine friends and we help our human clients to understand what's going on from the dog's point of view.

"For people who love their dogs and want to help them change elements of their behaviour there's a process whether your dog is pulling on the lead, running in the opposite direction when you're calling, barking at other dogs or showing you that they're anxious about certain things."

Marie says owners can help their dogs in so many ways alongside teaching and training the cues that they need.

"We all have days when we don't behave at our best, when we snap or don't do the thing we know we should be doing. If we struggle, then just imagine how difficult it can be for our dogs," she added.

For more information about Canine Perspective CIC see www.canine-perspective.com or find them at @TeamCanineP