A DYSLEXIC dog trainer who talks to animals through massage and adapting their posture has spoken of his empathy with unwanted pets.

Ryan Neile, from Carterton, near Witney, struggled in the classroom as a child and was later diagnosed with dyslexia, freeing him to learn in a different way.

He now applies his own experiences to retrain difficult-to-teach animals at the Blue Cross animal adoption centre near Burford.

The 33-year-old, who has worked at the centre since 2001, said: “I’m dyslexic so I learn in a very different way from other people, but it doesn’t mean I’m in any way less intelligent.

“It’s the same with dogs.

“No two dogs are the same, so we devise a training programme or course of action based on that individual animal, on how it behaves.”

Mr Neile uses the Tellington Touch method as part of his work.

He said: “Tellington Touch looks at the link between behaviour and posture. The way a dog may move has a bearing on how it behaves.

“Improving an animal’s posture will result in it changing its behaviour.

“The technique involves small circular movements — like an all-over massage — over the body.

“The physical-contact side of it helps to unlock the tension within an animal’s body and gives them a different sensory experience.

“We also look to improve spatial awareness, which makes them more receptive to learning things.

“For instance, if we place objects on the floor a dog has to be very mindful of where it places its feet, so it draws their attention away from something concerning them.

“It is massively successful and we have some incredible success stories, where this has been a part of the plan to prepare a dog for training.

“People are a bit sceptical initially, but we definitely believe it works.”

He added: “I sort of relate to the experience because that was me when I was young, because I couldn’t be motivated to learn in a traditional way.

“When I was diagnosed as being dyslexic I was treated in a very different way.

“Because I learn in a different way to most people it made me very empathetic with the cases we see.

“People write off dogs as though they cannot be trained or taught in a conventional way, but we can change them.”