Sophie Cayford

💜 Hi, I’m Sophie – the founder of Cay9 Companions
i’ve spent the majority of my life surrounded by or working with animals… a good chunk of my experience has come from working with big cats – i spent several years working at a safari park as a carnivore keeper, then travelling to south africa on & off for a good few years working with & training captive bred cheetah cubs, living in the bush & volunteering in a wildlife hospital, rescue & rehab (went off piste here & as a long term vol was entrusted to help manage the primate nursery. can safely say that baby baboons love to use human beings as moving jungle gyms 😂)

on return to the UK, i went & got myself a ‘proper job’ working in a “super” referral vets. an alien environment for sure with the surgical side being totally new to me… i decided that pushing myself out my comfort zone was a risk worth taking & enrolled onto a foundation degree course studying animal behaviour & welfare. terrifying as a ‘mature student’!

training & enriching animals lives has always been a passion of mine… the FdSc only fuelled that further so i left the veterinary industry & landed myself a place at a local doggy daycare as well as starting my journey to become a qualified & accredited positive reinforcement dog trainer.
at daycare, i forged a lifelong friendship with a fellow pet professional – watching her set up her own business certainly gave me the confidence to take the leap myself (thank you wise owl 🦉)

& so here we are!
cay9 companions is born from passion, determination, love & an unwavering desire to learn & keep myself educated… utilising this not only as part of my 121 training sessions, but walks too. glutton for punishment, i am now also studying to become a canine nutrition consultant – an interest i never even knew i had before starting my own business & not forgetting maui, affectionately nicknamed “the brows of fury”, my little partner in crime 😏 without her, none of this would’ve ever crossed my mind 🐾