She Leads the Field – Emma | Foxhope Gundogs

“Firm but fair. And never afraid to prove them wrong.”

Some journeys into field sports are inherited. Passed down through generations, shaped by family names and long-standing traditions.
Emma’s wasn’t.
There was no gamekeeping background, no farming roots, no obvious path laid out in front of her. Just a young girl who loved animals and followed instinct over expectation.

What she built came slowly. Through experience, resilience and a stubborn refusal to accept what other people said she couldn’t do.

Today Emma runs Foxhope Gundogs in Scotland. She manages a team of sixteen dogs, trains clients from across the country, and has built a reputation that now stretches far beyond the UK. But the road there wasn’t straightforward and it certainly wasn’t easy.

Emma’s first dog was a rescue English Springer Spaniel named Tyler. She was around ten years old when he arrived and like many children with their first dog, she started experimenting in the garden jumping poles, exploring woods, climbing trees together.

Dogs were always part of her world. But at that stage, they weren’t the plan.
Horses were.
Emma spent years working with eventers and hunters, fully immersed in that lifestyle. But an opportunity shifted everything. She began working for someone who ran a gundog display team alongside falcons and heavy horses, an unusual combination that opened a door she didn’t even knew existed.

Then came the experience that truly shaped how she sees dogs today.

Working with hunt services meant spending time around huge packs of foxhounds, sometimes more than ninety at once. Watching them move, communicate and operate as a pack without constant human direction changed her understanding of dog behaviour entirely.

“It’s amazing what you can see when you just watch them,” Emma says. “There’s a structure there that doesn’t always involve us.”

That observation, learning from dogs rather than simply controlling them still sits at the heart of how she trains today.

Ironically, the dog that defined Emma’s path into gundog training wasn’t a Labrador or a Spaniel.
It was a Dalmatian. Talia.
At the time, many people questioned whether a Dalmatian had any place in the field. But Emma decided to try anyway. She took Talia onto the grouse moors in the North Pennines not really knowing what to expect.

What followed surprised everyone.

Talia hunted. She pointed. She retrieved.
And she did it well.
So well, in fact, that Emma earned a feature in a gundog publication, where Talia was nicknamed “the Spotty Labrador.”

There’s one moment Emma still remembers clearly. A pigeon had been shot over a hilltop. The head keeper turned and asked, “Did your Dalmatian mark that?”
Emma wasn’t entirely sure.
But she trusted her dog, and she sent Talia anyway.
Moments later, the Dalmatian appeared over the hill carrying the pigeon.

That was the moment everything shifted. What had once been curiosity became belief, a belief that she might be able to do this properly.

Foxhope Gundogs didn’t start with a business plan. It grew quietly, almost accidentally.

In the beginning Emma worked remotely for a plumbing company while training dogs on the side. She helped friends at shoots, often without charging. She simply enjoyed working with dogs and helping people understand them better.

Gradually the word spread.
People saw her dogs work, they saw the results and they started asking for help. And more clients followed.

The move to Scotland became a turning point, not just in Emma’s personal life but in her career. It was there that she stopped being “Emma who likes training dogs” and became Emma the dog trainer.

“There’s people who train dogs,” she says. “And then there are dog trainers.”

For Emma, the difference lies in instinct, the ability to read a dog, to notice the subtle things others miss, and to communicate in ways that aren’t always obvious but simply work.

Ask Emma to describe her training style and the answer comes immediately.

“Firm but fair.”
It’s a philosophy rooted in respect and responsibility.

“You should never tell a dog off unless you’ve taught it properly first,” she explains. “That’s not fair. But once they know, once you’ve shown them, then I expect them to do it.”

Her approach isn’t about dominance or rigid systems. It’s about communication. Every dog is different. Every training approach adapts. But the foundation always stays the same: honesty, consistency, and understanding how dogs naturally think and behave.

Being a woman in field sports hasn’t always been easy. Emma is open about the assumptions she’s faced, moments when her success was questioned, when effort was overlooked, or when people suggested her progress had more to do with appearance than ability. Instead of arguing, Emma took a different approach. She proved people wrong.

“I’ll just go out and do it,” she says.

And over time, that approach worked. Respect didn’t come from defending herself it came from results. But Emma is clear about what she hopes the future looks like.

“I don’t want it to be ‘women in field sports’,” she says. “I just want it to be field sports. If you’re good at your job, that’s it.”

Motherhood and the pressure to stop

Moving to Scotland brought its own challenges. Emma had barely settled in when she lost Talia, the dog that had started everything. The loss was devastating, especially in a new place where she had no friends or family around her. Then she became pregnant. And with that came a chorus of voices telling her what she couldn’t do.

“You can’t run a business and have a child.”
“You won’t be able to train dogs anymore.”

Emma’s response was simple. She did it anyway. When Charlie was born, Emma brought him onto the moor during shoot days. She built routines around drives, feeding and changing him between them. Charlie would sleep in a carrier on her chest during the first drives. Later, she’d carry birds in the game bag behind her.

Baby at the front. Birds at the back.

And somehow, through sheer determination.
Foxhope didn’t shrink during that time. It grew.

From the outside, life in field sports can look idyllic. Dogs, countryside, crisp mornings on the moor. But Emma is honest about the realities behind it.

Being a gamekeeper’s wife comes with its own pressures. Unpredictable hours. Weather dictating entire seasons. Long days working alone. Trying to balance your own business while supporting someone else’s demanding career. There’s very little routine. And when you’re raising a child within that world, bigger questions begin to surface.

What will the future of the industry look like?
Will it still exist in the same way when Charlie grows up?

Those questions sit quietly in the background of Emma’s story, part of the reality many families in field sports are navigating today.

Despite the challenges, Emma’s focus remains simple.

Growth. Opportunity. Progress.

She hopes to expand Foxhope, build something independent and lasting, and take advantage of the opportunities her work has created, including growing interest from the American market. But beyond business goals, there’s a deeper motivation.

“Everything in life is an opportunity,” she says.
“It’s up to you to take it.”

Quick-fire with Emma

Must-have bit of kit in the field:
A dog lead, always.

Favourite type of day in the field:
A warm day where you’re not freezing and not sweating.

After a long day:
Something stronger.

One word that describes you in the field:
Stubborn.

For anyone watching from the sidelines

Emma’s advice to women curious about gundog work is refreshingly simple.

Show up.

“Just come and try it,” she says. “What’s the worst that can happen?”

Because her story proves something important.

You don’t need the perfect background.
You don’t need to fit the mould.

Sometimes the people who build the strongest paths into field sports are the ones who had to carve them out themselves.

All you really need is the courage to start.

A note from Amanda
Founder, Nordic Field & Sport

What struck me most about Emma wasn’t just her skill with dogs, it was her honesty.

There’s no filter. No pretence. Just a woman who has built something from the ground up, navigated the hard parts and kept going anyway.

Emma’s story is a reminder that there isn’t one way into field sports. You don’t have to follow tradition, you can create your own path. And often it’s those unconventional journeys that shape the most capable, grounded, and inspiring people in the field.

She represents exactly what She Leads the Field stands for: resilience, authenticity, and quiet determination.

Amanda

Follow the Series

Emma’s story is just one chapter in the She Leads the Field series where we share the real journeys of women shaping the future of field sports.

If you enjoyed this conversation, you can follow along as we continue to shine a light on more women working, training, managing, and living within the field sports world.

Sign up to the Nordic Field & Sport newsletter to receive upcoming stories, interviews, and behind-the-scenes features straight to your inbox.

And if you have a story of your own, whether you train dogs, work in the countryside, run a shoot, or have simply found your own path into field sports, I’d love to hear from you.

Because the future of this community is built from the stories we share.

📩 Subscribe to the newsletter or get in touch to be part of a future feature.