Alja Willenpart

My story with dogs began in 2013, when I started volunteering at a local animal shelter as a dog walker. There, I had the opportunity to meet dogs of different backgrounds with all sorts of behaviour and other issues. Spending time with these dogs, I learned that each is an individual, facing their daily challenges in the best and only way they know. I also realised that to help them, you very often need to think outside the box and adjust your approach to each individual.

I started studying dog behaviour with Turid Rugaas, and it was there that I first learned about the connection between physical pain and behaviour. This helped me see so called “problematic” dogs in a completely new light. Once you know what to look for, musculo-skeletal pain is difficult to miss - and I see a lot of it in dogs exhibiting unwanted behaviours.

A holistic approach to dogs proved time and time again to be the only way to successfully manage behaviour issues in the long term. So, after nearly 10 years of working as a dog behaviour consultant, I decided to study Galen Myotherapy, which I completed in 2025.

I am happy to finally be able to support dogs not just through behaviour work, but also by offering myotherapy treatments.