Dog obedience training and behaviour consultations throughout the Gold Coast.
One of Australia's most respected and longest serving dog behaviour specialists and trainers.
I have been helping dog owners with their dogs behavioural issues and obedience training for over 36 years. I have recently returned from an extended stay in the USA, and now back offering services around the Gold Coast Queensland.
Helping to establish a well balanced relationship with your dog
I personally do not like to classify myself under a particular training type, however balanced trainer or dog whisperer would be the terminology that best describes my focus.
As a balanced dog trainer, behaviour specialist or dog whisperer I don't restrict myself to a 'one method suits all' ideology. I incorporate a holistic approach to helping rehabilitate dogs and to behaviour modification. I adjust my methods, tools and techniques to suit the particular dog or behavioural issue we are addressing. If we limit our options by subscribing to a particular method or ideology we greatly restrict the help we can offer our dog.
My focus is on respecting a dog's natural instincts and drives and utilising those to help dogs and their owners maintain a well balanced and harmonious relationship. I do not sit with a dog's owner and say this is the only method to use, as having this attitude greatly limits our ability to help dogs to the best of our ability. Importantly, I focus on the overall relationship between the dog and its owner, and the dog's environment, as in most cases, this relationship has become unbalanced, which is causing the dog to become confused, and therefore in many cases contributing to an overly anxious emotional state in the dog, and related behavioural issue
Anxiety and related behaviours
Dogs can suffer from anxiety when there are no defined rules and boundaries, or there is a lack of consistency in applying these rules correctly. When dogs suffer from anxiety, they turn to coping behaviours to help them deal with their current emotional state. These behaviours can include, aggression, incessant barking, avoidance, obsessive compulsive behaviours, self-mutilation, overly dependent behaviours, and so many other stress related behaviours. By understanding the dogs triggers for its anxious state, we are able to then modify not only the dogs coping behaviours, but also improve our relationship with our dog, ensuring a more well-balanced dog and relationship.
Dog aggression
I also specialise in dog to dog, and dog to human aggression. One of my major call outs for home consultations are for dogs that have on lead aggression. There are many reasons dogs become aggressive on lead. In many cases, these aggressive responses can be due to an overly anxious state of mind, whilst out walking, or the dog's response is nothing more than on-lead frustration that can be modified very quickly by teaching the dog to walk calmly on lead. To help with on-lead aggression, we need to understand the underlying cause, before we can help the dog.
Many homes have dogs that have become unpredictable and will display aggression towards the owners or visitors for no apparent reason. Aggression is a learnt behaviour, that the dog finds beneficial when needing to control its environment, whether that is due to an overly anxious emotional state, a fear response, or a dog that is dominating space, territory, or a resource. Many tend to focus on punishing aggression when in fact this could be the reason the dog is displaying these behaviours in the first place. By better understanding the triggers behind the aggression, we are then better able to help the dog.
Private Dog Obedience Training
I offer private one-on-one dog obedience training lessons at Burleigh and Labrador. Excellent for organising your lessons on days and times convenient for you. You also train in a natural enviroment around distractions, unlike the structured learning in a group class. Fast track your dogs training with these private lessons.
