“In order to really enjoy a dog, one doesn’t merely try to train him to be semi human. The point of it is to open oneself to the possibility of becoming partly a dog.” – Edward Hoagland

I have been training dogs and their people for just over 20 years. I have trained nearly every breed of dog from Chihuahua’s to Great Danes and all varieties of cross breeds. I have trained Assistance Dogs, shelter dogs, deaf dogs, obedience and agility competition dogs but most important of all, I’ve trained many family dogs. I work with just about every training and behaviour issue and specialize in rescue dogs, dogs who need help with their social skills (with people and other dogs) and puppy training. I have qualifications in animal training, people training and also Bowen Therapy for dogs.

There is a direct correlation between your dog’s stress levels and their behaviour (or misbehaviour). We will work as a team to provide your dog with what they need to be the best that they can be. It can be confronting to hear that your dog may be experiencing some stress. Signs of stress are an indication that we need to examine your dog’s routine and make some changes to optimize their routine towards one full of relaxation, learning good habits and of course fun!

My initial visit is conducted in your home. During this 90 minute session, I can meet you, your dog, and your family and start to get to you know all. You and your family also get to know me a little and can observe how I work with dogs and their people. We discuss your dog’s routine, I may suggest some tweaks here and there to further increase your dog’s wellness and health. We discuss the goals that you have for your dog’s behaviour and then we make a plan on how to reach those goals. I answer any questions that you may have about your dog and their behaviour.

I do some training with your dog and then I coach you and your family how to execute the training games (important for practicing in between sessions when I am not there). 20 years of experience training dogs means that I can combine training games to work on more than one behaviour at a time, such as loose lead walking and recall within the same game. I will show you how to gain more calm behaviour from your dog and how to generalize that into other contexts such as walks.

If your dog is fully vaccinated, we may take a walk together (time dependent) and I demonstrate techniques to make your walks pleasant and pleasurable for you both. We work on your dog being calm when out and about, walking on lead without pulling and also the important skill of coming when called.

At our first session, after hearing your goals and behaviour wish list, we discuss how many sessions that it will take to reach these goals. Some goals will be easier to reach than others, especially if your dog has been practicing a certain undesirable behaviour for an extended period of time. Some of your goals may not be suitable for your dog, we can discuss these at our initial session.

I leave you with written material and I provide email support for what we cover in the session.

Follow up visits are 60 minutes only and we often meet out on a walk trail or at your local park (if the park is suitable for your dog). A follow up session may involve one of my teacher dogs, to assist your young dog or puppy with their social skills. We may be working on recall games, or covering the next level of loose lead walking with distraction, or meeting at a café for mat training (where your dog lies next to you while you sip coffee).

The 90 minute in home session plus a 60 minute follow up is $390. This basic training package requires up front payment to secure the 2 sessions.

I have several training packages available and may suggest one for you at the time of initial contact.

I may recommend that you try some agility or proprioception training or come along to a Social Walk. All of the services that I offer compliment each other and my goal is for people and their dogs to live in harmony while being able to communicate and connect on a deeper level.

I may suggest some Bowen Therapy for your dog if they are stiff and tight in their body. Humans find it hard to behave well when we are stiff and sore and dogs are no different. Bowen Therapy is consent based so your dog has a choice of whether to have treatment or not.

This package is available to clients living within 20km’s of 6024. This package is available via Zoom.

Contact us to make a booking.