IT'S a dog's life for Belgian Shepherd Lexi.

She spends her day at work with her owner, Jo Scott, where other dogs are not very nice to her.

They bark, growl and snarl, but Lexi tends to ignore them, which is exactly what Jo wants her to do.

For Jo is an animal behaviourist and she uses Lexi as a stooge dog to discourage anti-social behaviour in her fellow-canines.

"Around 70 per cent of my work is with aggression," says Jo.

"Lexi is very calm. The dogs bark at her until they realise it doesn't get them anywhere."

Jo is based at the Canine Care Centre, at Hangersley, just outside Ringwood, where she specialises in individual behaviour problems in dogs and cats.

The centre is part of Cedars veterinary service, in Ringwood, for whom Jo has worked for the last 23 years.

Twelve of those were spent as head veterinary nurse, before her burgeoning interest in animal behaviour led Jo to study and complete courses in companion animal behaviour therapy and canine and feline psychology.

She is a member of the association of pet dog trainers and also lectures on different aspects of pet psychology, in Bournemouth, Salisbury and across the south of England.

Jo (46) lives in Sixpenny Handley, with her husband, two children and a small menagerie of ten animals.

Her clients' all come to her via vet referral and present with all manner of different problems from aggression to other dogs, biting, and phobias to compulsive behaviour and destructive tendencies.

Her days are split between seeing new behavioural cases and following up on existing ones she has an average of 20-25 cases ongoing at any one time plus remedial training with dogs. Cats and their owners are normally visited at home.

In addition, Jo runs puppy socialisation classes once a week at the veterinary practice, gives talks to groups and organisations, and goes into schools to tell children how to look after animals and handle dogs safely. She also contributes regular articles to a specialist dog magazine.

Re-training an animal away from bad habits can take up to two years, although some cases may be resolved much more quickly.

"In an ideal world, we sort them all out, but some we just can't," says Jo.

"You have to look at what is best for the animal.

"But the owners are very involved because they have to do all the work and carry through."

She says she is very wary of television programmes like It's Me Or The Dog, which appear to simplify the whole process of altering behaviour, when it can take months of dedicated effort on the part of dog and owner, with Jo's help.

"The good thing," she says, "is that it makes people realise that behaviour can be changed, but don't try it yourself at home seek professional advice."

* The Canine Care Centre can be contacted on 01425 480721.