Dog Behaviourist and Trainer - Bri

04/09/2024

After doing some more work with our 2 pack leaders we rewarded our packs with some off lead play and fun today.

Dog Trainer and Behaviourist. Macarthur/Wollondilly-Silvia

26/08/2024

International Dog Day 🐶

Life is better with a dog.. or 4 💜 I couldn't picture my life without them.

25/08/2024

Are you considering getting a dog?

You may have taken into consideration getting a breed that's suitable for your lifestyle, you may have done research to understand the breed better, to know what type of training, work or exercise they need everyday.

But have you also taken into consideration their grooming requirements?

This photo was taken after one quick brush of my short haired German Shepherd today.

Since then I've brushed him again and gotten just as much hair.

Alot of you may know I have 4 dogs, I spend countless hours a week brushing them and yet I still have to empty my industrial vacuum every second day due to their shedding.

My Mastiff has short hair and loses just as much as my German Shepherd, my Rottweiler is not far behind them either.

Some people honestly don't realise how much some breeds shed and how much it takes to maintain, even short haired dogs.

19/08/2024

I would like to apologise to everyone who has reached out to me over the past few weeks.
I have had to take a small break as I've been going through a few things in my personal life.

I will hopefully be able to get back to you all over the next week and continue with rebooking sessions and helping with online support.

19/08/2024

26/07/2024

Today we worked on Ellie being more comfortable hanging out with my pack and knowing that she is safe.
She is slowly learning that there is no need to be nervous as my dogs aren't going to hurt her, she is safe and her space is respected.

Dog Trainer and Behaviourist. Macarthur/Wollondilly-Silvia thankyou for your help today.

24/07/2024

Meet Ellie 💜
This gorgeous girl is patiently waiting for her forever home.

If you think you or someone you know could be the perfect fit for her, please reach out to me.

Thankyou to Dog Trainer and Behaviourist. Macarthur/Wollondilly-Silvia and Dog Trainer Menai Kat for your help and assistance with training and integrating this girl into my home.

Send a message to learn more

21/07/2024

⚠️ To the people who own friendly or non reactive dogs, please listen ⚠️

We know you don't understand the struggle of owning a reactive dog but as reactive dog owners we are trying to educate you to help keep you and your dog safe along with our own.

If you see us walking our dogs and notice we cross the road to create distance or we have stopped and are trying to keep our dog focused on us and not you and your dog.. Please just keep walking. Don't stop, don't walk closer to us, don't try to talk to us, don't say "it's ok my dogs friendly" or anything similar, we understand your dog is but ours is not.

Our reactive dogs still deserve to go for walks and enjoy sniffing and seeing the world. We are always on alert for triggers, we are always keeping our dogs in check, training and doing our best to help our dogs be more relaxed and less reactive.

It is physically, mentally and emotionally draining for us to take our dogs out in public, but we are doing our best..
So I beg you, PLEASE understand this, please help us and our dogs by being understanding and respectful.

17/07/2024

When taking your dog for a walk, do you set yourself up for failure before leaving the house?

Putting their collar and lead on should not become an exciting event. Leaving the house should be calm and controlled.

My dogs are excited to go for a walk but they know the rules, they sit calmly while leads are going on, they listen to commands and wait patiently.

Just because the door is open doesn't mean they rush out the door, they are to calmly walk out the door when given a command by their handler.

If they break their sit, jump around or try to rush out the door, they are corrected and we reset.
Resetting could be getting them to calmly sit again, other times I may leave their leads on, go back inside and sit on the lounge or do household jobs. This shows them that the lead going on or door opening doesn't mean anything, jumping around and not listening doesn't get them anything they want.

We only leave the house when they are in a calm state, listening and following commands. By doing this it means you don't get dragged and pulled out of your door, or have an overexcited dog who is pulling and carrying on at the beginning of their walk.

15/07/2024

09/07/2024

Fluffy 💙

Normally walking Fluffy is somewhat stressful.

While he respects the leash pressure and my commands his anxiety gets triggered by alot of different things which causes him to become reactive mainly to people.
Walking him is not always relaxing and is more of a working session over simply going for a walk.

I am working on new ways to help him with his anxiety and help us have a more relaxing time while going for walks.

I adopted Fluffy almost 2 years ago and I am always trying new ways to help him over come his past trauma.

When adopting a dog, please keep in mind they may come with a lot of trauma, anxiety from being surrendered and may not know how to behave according to your expectations.
This means you need to learn to read your dog, gauge what is causing the issues and work on reshaping their outlook on life and their behaviours.
It is not always easy, it can take a lot of time and work but it is worth it, they are worth it.

28/06/2024

Please help us save Harry

Hey Everyone, Kat and I are trying to raise funds to help with Harry's ongoing vet bills. … Daphne Cook needs your support for Please Help Us Save Harry

27/06/2024

Just a simple reminder to use every opportunity to add training into your daily activities with your dog

21/04/2024

Roxy 🥰

This gorgeous girl was rescued from a rural pound on death row early last year.
I had the pleasure of training and getting her ready to be adopted, she was placed in a foster home once her training was completed.
Unfortunately I lost contact with the foster carer and never knew how she was going or if she was adopted.

Until Yesterday!!

While out with Dog Trainer and Behaviourist. Macarthur/Wollondilly-Silvia doing training with a client I noticed a familiar face strolling down the street, I immediately asked her dad if he'd adopted her and when just to make sure I wasn't going completely insane and had the right dog 😂

Sure enough it was the beautiful Roxy who I'd lost contact with.
She has a loving family she so desperately deserved, she has a new little human sibling who I was informed she is amazing with.

I was so happy to receive some photos of her living her best life with the AMAZING couple who adopted her last year and gave her a chance to have the best life 💜

03/03/2024

Let's talk dogs diet..

This is what I feed my dogs every night.

They get raw chicken and beef mince, a mix of veggies and fruit, tuna or sardines, eggs, multivitamin and probiotic powders, apple cider vinegar and a little garlic, along with good kibble.

They get bones once a week to help keep their teeth and gums clean, they also have cow hooves laying around to chew on when they please.

2 of my dogs are on grain free lamb kibble while the other 2 are on a normal chicken kibble.
Some can stomach certain veggies and fruits while 1 may not do so well with them. It's taken me months, a few vet visits and a lot money, along with a lot of trial and errors to get their diets sorted for each dog.

How did I notice what dogs were reacting to certain foods?
It may sound gross but I took notice of their poo.

Also I've noticed that their breath is much better now, it used to smell so bad and I hated when they'd get in my face for cuddles 😅

I love my dogs, I want them to live long healthy and happy lives and in order for that to happen they need to have a good well balanced diet.

It's not cheap and most days I'm certain they eat better than I do 😂 but it's worth it to see them thriving and also they now have a nice healthy shine to their coats.

15/02/2024

Does your dog know its commands, yet it still lunges and pulls on the leash, whining, stealing things from your benches, whining and jumping around anytime anything remotely exciting happens within the house?

If you’re saying yes to any of this, just know this is extremely common. It’s a huge reason why I always say so much about why behavior and obedience are two totally separate things.

Obedience will help you a ton, don’t get me wrong, but obedience alone will not teach your dog certain decisions are not ok.

If you’re using obedience as a “crutch” and wondering why your dog is still a mess as far as their state of mind goes, it’s because state of mind training is a whole different form of training.

When you see those dogs who calmly greet you are the front door, walk nicely on leash, choose to lie down when it’s time to just chill out with the family. Chances are those dogs were taught how to do this.

It’s not something that comes naturally to them. With most dogs, the more you work them and exercise them, the more neurotic they become. You are accidentally creating a dopamine ju**ie, and that will never get you the calm dog you want.

Instead, focus on slowing your dog down, teaching them right from wrong, and give them a balanced state of mind by teaching them both what to do, and what NOT to do.

25/01/2024

Please bring your pets inside today.
It's already scorching outside.

If they are not able to be inside with you, make sure they have plenty of cool fresh water and good shaded areas. Hosing off shaded areas will help the area to stay cooler for them.

They can not cope in this heat, they rely on us to look after them and keep them safe.

16/01/2024

🎊 Happy First Birthday 🎉

I can't believe Duckie is already 1 year old.

09/01/2024

Lilo 🩷
My poor baby girl is still quite out of it after being desexed today, but she is back home and resting now.
When I went to pick her up she could barely walk but managed a tail wag when they brought her out to me.

09/01/2024

Lilo 🩷

08/01/2024

Fluffy 💙

Having a baby meant my dogs were not getting the time, attention and training they once did.
All their training since Ryker's birth has been in the home focusing on how they are expected to behave around my son, learning to respect his space, belongings and adjusting to the new way of life with a baby in the home.
All 4 of my dogs did amazing with this training. They are concious and respectful of Rykers space and behave in a calm manner when he is around.

However they have reached a point where they need more. More stimulation, training, walks, attention and my time. So that is the new goal and what I am starting to work on.

Yesterday was the second time walking with Fluffy out in public with Ryker strapped to me in his carrier.
It use to take me 15 minutes just to get Fluffy to calm down, focus on me and walk calmly at my pace without trying to pull ahead and worrying about everything going on around us.

But yesterday he was a different dog. As soon as he saw that I had Ryker, he calmly waiting while I put the lead on, sat at the gate while I opened it and calmly walked with me, keeping my pace and following every command I gave him.

I am beyond proud of how hard my dogs have worked learning to be respectful of my son.

The extra time I put into training them to understand how to behave and act while Ryker is in his pram or in his carrier has paid off. It means we can now go on walks, outings and new adventures with little to no issues.

05/01/2024

Lilo 💜

She was surrendered to me a few months ago due to the housing crisis a lot of people are facing.

She had no respect for the leash, she would pull, zig zag all over the place, she had no respect for my voice and wouldn't listen or follow commands. She was fearful of being out on the street with all the noises, people, cars, new smells and many things she had rarely experienced. She had only known a backyard for most of her puppy life.

With good leadership and a lot of training. Lilo has learnt that even if things are scary. She no longer has to worry as she knows I have it under control. She is able to be relaxed, walk on a loose leash and enjoy being a dog out in the world with me.

31/12/2023

Duckie 💜 almost 12 months old.

I had my 12 week old son in a carrier strapped to my chest while we went for a bush walk today with friends.

Walking through some of the tracks with a dog on a lead would have been impossible for me as I had to use both hands to manoeuvre through parts of the walk. The only time Duckie was on lead was for safety as we walked passed the cliffs edge.

The ONLY reason she is allowed off leash is because she has perfect recall and listens to my voice EVERY TIME I give a command.

This is a new place for her, new smells, sounds & doggy heaven for exploring.
However, none of that mattered to her when I gave a command.
I am her leader and she knows to listen to my voice, no treats needed and very rarely do need to give a command twice.

If you have perfect obedience at home with your dog, it does not mean you will have it on the street or in new environments. If you have not spent weeks, months or years training your dog in multiple areas, situation and settings to have perfect obedience, then I'm not sorry to say this...

YOU SHOULD NOT have your dog off leash. You do not have the right to put your dog or other peoples in danger because "she listens at home" or "he loves everyone and is friendly".

26/12/2023

Koda 💚

This gorgeous boy came to the facility after being rescued from euthanasia at a pound.

He was hyperactive, unruly, he wouldn't stop jumping, he had no training, did not know his own size or weight and on a number of occasions almost knocked people out.

With months of consistent training, love, support and leadership, he slowly became an obedient, respectful calm boy. Who loved to play but loved to lay around having cuddles even more, which was noy possible when he first came to us.

I was so happy the day Sydney Dog Behaviourist - George Tran told me he had been adopted.
Since then we have received a number of positive and loving updates from his family.

Some dogs are so misunderstood. But given the right attention and training they flourish into the most perfect awesome best friends.

24/12/2023

Merry Christmas from me and my pack.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day 🙂