Give your puppy the best start in life
The Puppy Beast
There is nothing quite like staring into the bulging, excited eyes of a tiny puppy, as it wobbles towards you, tripping on the over-sized chew toy in its mouth, before attacking you with its tongue in an endless barrage of slobber.
But raising a puppy to be a strong and balanced individual, requires much more than just love and a smile. Environmental exposure, confidence building, playing, controlling drive, toilet training, teething, nipping and oh so much more.
Looks like we’ve got quite a bit to get on with!
Overwhelming excitement is not a good thing
The Boisterous Beast
Imagine this scenario; You start putting on your shoes and your dog starts whining. You put on your coat and he starts jumping up and down, barking as he goes. And when you grab your keys, he is just about ready to go into cardiac arrest. Sound familiar?
Hyper-arousal in dogs can lead to many undesirable scenarios; guests being jumped on, incessant pulling on the lead, dog-to-dog reactivity, kids being bawled over, separation anxiety and so on.
Let’s put a lid on the pot and turn down the flame, to stop it from boiling over.
Let’s break the cycle of fear
The Anxious Beast
We have all experienced that feeling. Our hearts sink in our chests, our stomach ties into a knot, sweat breaks out despise sub-zero temperatures and our lungs suddenly cannot get enough oxygen.
Despite a dog’s immense ability to adapt, this world we live in is created for humans, not for canines. That can be very confusing and frightening for our pets. So we need to work out what troubles your pooch and find a way to teach him how to handle the situation.
Because living in fear is not a beautiful life.
Aggression is usually rooted in fear and prior learning
The Angry Beast
Snarling, lunging, barking, snapping. Watching your beloved puppy roll its eyes and flare its lips is a truly humbling experience, and seeing the true predatory nature behind your dog’s eyes, can be terrifying.
Fight or flight. We’ve all heard the phrase, but do we truly understand it? It boils behaviour down to two simple states of mind, but what it doesn’t explain, is how we get there. Most dogs react in an aggressive manner due to fear. And chances are it has worked for them in the past, so the behaviour then becomes more likely to occur again.
We need to find the root of the problem, show the dog that the old ways won’t work anymore, and turn the habit on its head.
Dogs can be an invaluable support to people struggling with mental- or physical disability
The Assistant Beast
Numerous studies have shown that dogs have a positive effect on humans. They can provide freedom for those with physical disabilities and relieve anguish for those with mental health problems. Truly the gift of Gods.
If you are considering obtaining and training your own assistance or therapy dog, we can certainly help. We can guide you on your way to acquire your Public Access Test (PAT), and we also work with other trainers who specialise in training assistance dogs.
Ask us today how we can help you on the road to recovery.
It is truly beautiful to help another desperate being
The Foster Beast
Each year, far too many dogs end up in shelters around Australia (and even the world). Then there are the great men and women, who sacrifice their time, property, love and, sometimes, their couch to helping those who need it most.
We are dedicated to helping those who help and get even more dogs out of shelters, and into permanent homes. So we are offering discounted rates when helping anyone who is fostering through a registered group.
Please keep up the amazing work and get in touch should your foster need some guidance outside of the shelter.
Woah, hang on. What will it cost me?
This is a question we dog trainers get asked all the time. And I have yet to hear someone provide a clear answer. There are so many variables at play. Remember; we are dealing with a living, thinking, feeling creature here, not a V8 engine. What we can do is to assess the dog in its home environment, provide a structured plan and watch how the dog progresses. Your dedication to following the plan and working with your dog will certainly have an effect as well.
Every dog and every situation is different
We will always be straight with you. We will always stick to facts. We will never do more sessions than we need to. And if, for some reason, we can’t help, we will help you find someone who can.
An initial assessment with us, lasts for 1.5 hours, and will cost you $150. From there we can make a plan and discuss the future.
We are here to help
Having a dog in your life, we would argue, is the best thing ever. They get you off the couch to exercise, they provide a ton of laughs and endless love, and we plan to spend a lot of time with our beloved pups.