Last updated: August 2026

The Collie Whisperer respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store and protect your personal information when you visit thecolliewhisperer.com, contact us, purchase our services, join our mailing list or work with us.

It also explains your rights under UK data protection law.

1. WHO WE ARE

The Collie Whisperer provides dog training, behaviour support, online education, courses, programmes, workshops and related services.

For the purposes of UK data protection law, The Collie Whisperer is the data controller responsible for the personal information described in this Privacy Policy.

• Registered Business Name: The Collie Whisperer Ltd
• Website: thecolliewhisperer.com
• Email: info@thecolliewhisperer.com
• Registered Business Address: Kintail House, Beechwood Park, Inverness, Scotland, IV2 3BW

2. INFORMATION WE MAY COLLECT

The information we collect depends upon how you interact with us.

Information you provide directly

This may include:

• Your name
• Email address
• Telephone number
• Address where relevant
• Information submitted through our contact or enquiry forms
• Information provided when booking a consultation
• Information provided when purchasing a programme, course or resource
• Information contained in questionnaires and assessment forms
• Messages and correspondence you send to us
• Feedback, reviews or testimonials
• Photographs, videos or recordings you choose to provide

Information about your dog

When you use our dog training or behaviour services, we may collect information about your dog including:

• Name
• Age
• Breed
• Sex
• Training history
• Behaviour history
• Home environment
• Previous incidents
• Veterinary history relevant to training or behaviour
• Medication where relevant
• Training progress
• Photographs and videos
• Information about previous professional support

Although information about your dog is not itself personal data, information contained within client records may identify you or other people and will therefore be handled appropriately.

Technical information

When you use our Website, certain technical information may be collected automatically.

This may include:

• IP address
• Browser type
• Device type
• Operating system
• Pages visited
• Time spent on the Website
• Referring website
• Website usage information
• Cookie and similar technology information

Further information about this can be found in our Cookie Policy.

3. HOW WE COLLECT YOUR INFORMATION

We may collect personal information when you:

• Visit our Website
• Complete a contact form
• Contact us by email
• Contact us through social media
• Book a consultation
• Purchase a programme, course or resource
• Complete a client questionnaire
• Attend an online or in person session
• Communicate with us through WhatsApp or another messaging service
• Submit photographs or videos for review
• Join our mailing list
• Register for a webinar, workshop or event
• Participate in an online community
• Leave a review or testimonial
• Otherwise communicate with us

We may also receive information through service providers we use to operate the business.

4. HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION

We may use personal information to:

• Respond to enquiries
• Arrange consultations and appointments
• Provide dog training and behaviour services
• Assess your dog’s training or behaviour needs
• Develop individual training plans
• Prepare client reports
• Review training videos
• Monitor progress during a programme
• Provide between session support
• Deliver courses, webinars, workshops and digital resources
• Manage payments and purchases
• Maintain appropriate business and client records
• Provide customer support
• Manage our online communities
• Send information you have requested
• Send marketing communications where permitted
• Improve our Website and services
• Protect the security of our Website and systems
• Deal with complaints or disputes
• Comply with our legal and regulatory obligations

We will not use your personal information for purposes which are incompatible with the reasons it was collected unless permitted or required by law.

5. OUR LAWFUL BASES FOR USING PERSONAL INFORMATION

UK data protection law requires us to have a lawful basis for processing personal information.

Depending upon the circumstances, we may rely upon:

Contract

We may process your information where this is necessary to provide a service you have purchased or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract.

For example, we may need your contact information and information about your dog in order to provide a training consultation or programme.

Legitimate Interests

We may process information where this is necessary for our legitimate business interests and those interests are not overridden by your rights.

This may include:

• Responding to enquiries
• Maintaining appropriate client records
• Improving our services
• Protecting our business and Website
• Managing client relationships
• Preventing fraud or misuse
• Establishing, exercising or defending legal claims

Consent

In some circumstances we will rely upon your consent.

This may include certain marketing communications, cookies and the use of particular photographs, videos or testimonials.

Where processing is based upon consent, you can withdraw your consent at any time.

Legal Obligation

We may process personal information where this is necessary to comply with a legal obligation.

6. INFORMATION ABOUT HEALTH

During a dog behaviour consultation you may sometimes voluntarily provide information about your own health or another person’s health where you believe it is relevant to the dog’s circumstances or the practical delivery of training.

Health information is considered special category personal data under UK data protection law.

We do not generally need detailed information about your health.

Where such information is relevant and we need to record or use it, we will ensure that we have an appropriate lawful basis and special category condition for doing so.

Please avoid providing medical information about yourself or another person unless it is relevant to the service we are providing.

7. CHILDREN’S INFORMATION

Our services are primarily intended to be purchased by adults.

Where a child participates in dog training, we may occasionally process limited information relating to that child where necessary for the delivery or safety of the service.

We will only collect information that is reasonably necessary and will handle it with particular care.

8. EMAIL MARKETING

If you join our mailing list or otherwise agree to receive marketing communications, we may send you information about:

• Dog training and behaviour
• Educational resources
• Courses and programmes
• Workshops and webinars
• Events
• New services
• Relevant offers and business updates

Where required, we will obtain your consent before sending electronic marketing.

You can unsubscribe at any time by using the unsubscribe link contained in our marketing emails or by contacting us.

Unsubscribing from marketing will not prevent us from sending necessary service related communications about something you have purchased or booked.

9. WHATSAPP AND MESSAGING SERVICES

Some programmes may include communication through WhatsApp or another messaging platform.

Messages may contain information relating to your dog, training progress, appointments and other matters relevant to the service.

When you use a third party messaging service, that provider will also process information in accordance with its own privacy terms.

Please avoid sending unnecessary sensitive personal information through messaging services.

10. VIDEO AND PHOTOGRAPH SUBMISSIONS

We may ask clients to submit videos or photographs of their dog to help us assess behaviour or review training progress.

These may incidentally include images, voices or other information relating to people.

Please only submit recordings which you have the right to provide.

Videos and photographs supplied for client support will not automatically be used for advertising or promotional purposes.

If we would like to use identifiable client material for marketing, education, social media or another purpose beyond providing your service, we will ensure that we have an appropriate lawful basis and obtain permission where required.

11. VIDEO CALLS AND ONLINE SESSIONS

Online consultations, workshops and webinars may be delivered using services such as Zoom or another video conferencing provider.

These providers may process your name, contact details, IP address, device information and information relating to your participation.

Sessions will not normally be recorded unless there is a reason to do so.

Where a session is to be recorded, participants will be informed appropriately.

12. ONLINE COURSES AND CLIENT PORTALS

We may use third party platforms to provide online courses, client portals, webinars, memberships or educational resources.

These providers may process information necessary to create and manage your account, provide access to purchased content and monitor course participation.

13. PAYMENTS

Payments may be processed through third party payment providers.

We do not generally receive or store your complete payment card details.

Payment providers process your payment information in accordance with their own privacy policies and security requirements.

We may retain information relating to transactions, including the amount paid, service purchased, payment status and transaction reference, where necessary for accounting and business records.

14. THIRD PARTY SERVICE PROVIDERS

We use third party providers to help operate our Website and business.

Depending upon the services you use, these may include providers of:

• Website hosting
• Online course platforms
• Email marketing
• Video conferencing
• Messaging
• Payment processing
• Appointment scheduling
• Cloud storage
• Website analytics
• Accounting
• Customer management
• Forms and questionnaires
• IT and security services

These providers may process personal information on our behalf or, in some circumstances, as independent data controllers.

We only share information which is reasonably necessary for the relevant purpose.

15. SHARING YOUR INFORMATION

We do not sell your personal information.

We may share personal information where necessary with:

• Service providers working on our behalf
• Professional advisers such as accountants, insurers or legal advisers
• IT and technical service providers
• Payment providers
• Authorities, regulators or law enforcement where required by law
• Another party where necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal rights
• A successor business if the business is sold or transferred, subject to appropriate safeguards

We may also share information where you specifically ask or authorise us to do so.

16. INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS

Some of the technology providers we use may process or store information outside the United Kingdom.

Where personal information is transferred internationally, we will take appropriate steps to ensure that the transfer complies with UK data protection law.

Depending upon the circumstances, this may include relying upon an adequacy decision or appropriate contractual safeguards.

17. HOW LONG WE KEEP INFORMATION

We do not keep personal information for longer than reasonably necessary.

How long information is retained will depend upon:

• Why it was collected
• Whether you remain a client
• Legal and accounting requirements
• Insurance requirements
• The possibility of complaints or legal claims
• Whether information is required to maintain an appropriate professional record

Different categories of information may therefore be retained for different periods.

When information is no longer required, we will delete it, securely dispose of it or anonymise it where appropriate.

18. SECURITY

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information from:

• Unauthorised access
• Accidental loss
• Misuse
• Alteration
• Disclosure
• Destruction

However, no internet based system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

You should also take reasonable steps to protect your own accounts, passwords and devices.

19. COOKIES

Our Website may use cookies and similar technologies to operate correctly, remember preferences, understand how visitors use the Website and, where applicable, support marketing activities.

Some cookies are necessary for the Website to function.

Other cookies may require your consent before they are placed on your device.

Further information is available in our Cookie Policy.

20. SOCIAL MEDIA

We operate accounts and communities on social media platforms.

If you interact with us through social media, the relevant platform will process information about you according to its own privacy policy.

Please remember that information posted publicly on social media may be visible to other people.

21. LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES

Our Website may contain links to third party websites.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices of websites we do not operate.

We recommend reading the privacy policy of any third party website you visit.

22. YOUR DATA PROTECTION RIGHTS

Depending upon the circumstances, UK data protection law gives you a number of rights regarding your personal information.

These may include the right to:

• Be informed about how your information is used
• Request access to personal information we hold about you
• Ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information
• Ask us to delete your personal information in certain circumstances
• Ask us to restrict processing in certain circumstances
• Object to certain types of processing
• Request transfer of certain information in a portable format
• Withdraw consent where we rely upon consent
• Raise a concern about how your information is being processed

These rights are not absolute and some exceptions may apply.

23. REQUESTING YOUR INFORMATION

If you wish to exercise a data protection right, please contact us using the details at the end of this Privacy Policy.

We may need to confirm your identity before responding to a request.

We will respond within the timescales required by applicable data protection law.

You will not normally be charged for exercising your data protection rights, although the law allows fees or refusal in certain limited circumstances.

24. COMPLAINTS

If you have concerns about how we use your personal information, please contact us first so that we have an opportunity to address your concerns.

You also have the right to complain to the UK’s data protection regulator:

Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)

Further information about your rights and how to make a complaint is available through the ICO.

25. CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to our Website, services, technology or legal obligations.

The latest version will be published on this page.

The date at the top of the Privacy Policy indicates when it was last updated.

26. CONTACT US

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, want to exercise your data protection rights or have concerns about how your information is being used, please contact:

The Collie Whisperer
info@thecolliewhisperer.com
Kintail House, Beechwood Park, Inverness, Scotland, IV2 3BW