Underdog Training and Behaviour Consulting

13/02/2025

Up-scale your dog's skills, or sharpen existing ones. We've got you covered at our Underdog Group Training classes. BOOK NOW! bookings.underdogtraining.com.au

30/01/2025

Run don’t walk into your career as a Professional Dog Trainer with Underdog. For the seek advertisement jump on our page!

30/01/2025

We Are Hiring! Make 2025 the year you pursue a dynamic and always interesting career in Dog Behaviour- please read through the link for further details.

We are also looking for someone to assist with promotions/ social media- these roles can be combined or separated for the right applicants.

https://www.seek.com.au/job/81701210?ref=hirer-jobs-list

30/01/2025

Time to get your dog's grades up! Book your Group Training NOW! bookings.underdogtraining.com.au

22/01/2025

Newcomer Novice Agility class now available. Limited places - Book NOW! Contact us at: [email protected] to secure your place.

20/01/2025

20/01/2025

The Happy Dog, Happy Family seminar series is coming! Join us for full day seminars to refine how you read and respond to dog behaviour.

Run in conjunction with reputable rescue group Victorian Dog Rescue, these sessions are exceptional value. Ideal for dog owners, foster carers, shelter staff, and dog industry professionals, these seminars have something for everyone!

Book now at https://www.victoriandogrescue.org.au/shop/

11/01/2025

VALE- Fergus Roberts

Today we received the incredibly sad news that little Ferguson has crossed the rainbow bridge, aged 17.

Fergus was Underdog’s longest serving client, having started with us at around 1 year old.

But more importantly Fergus was a friend to all those who had the pleasure of training with him. Fergus trained with multiple Underdog trainers and was friends with every Underdog- from Cosmo to Gilbert and Oakley and everyone in between.

He helped dogs to feel comfortable around him and made people smile when they saw him. An always easy, delightful, happy personality we feel very lucky to have spent so much time with Fergus at training and in our home when his owner was away.

Thanks for trusting us with him Megan, we know how dear he was to you and we are thinking of you and his little mate Frankie today.

Never will a dog have more friends to welcome him over the bridge than Fergus 🌈

08/01/2025

We've got loads of group training classes starting this month. Primary, Novice, and ELEMENTARY enrolments now open!

06/01/2025

DON’T PANIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It’s the worst advice I could give you. But that doesn’t mean it’s not essential for you to hear it.

Panic rarely yields a more successful outcome than a calm, considered response. Panic can make us react too fast, too slow or simply not react at all. It compromises our ability to problem solve and make decisions about what to do in challenging situations.

This is never truer than in situations with our dogs, where our panic can increase the intensity of both negative emotions and challenging behaviour in the dog. Panic will not help to improve your dog’s behaviour.

So why will I never tell you “Don’t Panic”?

Because people don’t choose to panic. People panic when they feel they cannot control a situation, where negative consequences are imminent.

So instead of telling you not to panic, I want to give you the tools you need so that there’s no need to panic. How do we do this with our dogs when we’re walking our reactive dog and there’s an off lead dog ahead? When our dog is quick to slip past a door or gate and there is a busy road ahead?

ANTICIPATE- Can you see a situation that could unfold in a problematic way? The off-lead dog ahead? The child about to swing the door open to greet the delivery man? Are you still using the lead with the fraying material? Has your dog slipped out of their harness before? If you can foresee, you may be able to avoid.

USE TOOLS- A second gate. A crate. A high-quality lead. A back up collar or second lead. A vest for walks that says “In Training” in big letters.

REHEARSE- Practice the 180 degree turn to get away from an off-lead dog- before there is an off lead dog. Practice your front door swinging open and your dog being reinforced inside, away from the door. Practice a child running to the door and sending your dog to their bed or mat.

Don’t Panic. Anticipate. Use Tools. Rehearse.

Happy Training

29/12/2024

Last days to take advantage of our 2024 prices. Book your group training course now - places disappearing fast!

25/12/2024

Merriment and Joy from us all at Underdog Training. Have a safe and fun festive season! See you in 2025!

24/12/2024

Book your 2025 Group Training now and beat the January 1st price rise! Places are disappearing fast. Go to bookings.underdogtraining.com.au 🎉

18/12/2024

Here's a little preChristmas gift for you! Book an In Home Training session for January or February with Underdog before December 24th and get a bonus 25% off equipment. That means you get to train in 2025 with shiny new stuff!

24/11/2024

You Don’t Love Your Dog Less If…

There is a TV advertisement that has been grating on me of late. The ad, for a pet product says-“We’d do anything for our dogs- like giving up the couch” and shows a dog on the couch and two owners sitting on the floor.

I know it’s just an ad. It looks funny. I get it. But I can’t help but feel this particular ad feeds into a more problematic narrative around how we live with our dogs and the relationships we have with them. That, in order be living with dogs the ‘right way’ we need to treat them as furry humans, instead of respecting and loving them as dogs. I’m not sure this way of thinking is what’s best for our dogs.

I speak to more and more dog owners who have a sense of guilt around training and even general management of their dogs. There are a lot of assumptions about what a dog needs to be content in their life. More and more people believe that a dog’s needs are the same as a humans needs- and that if we give them these things, even if it comes at the expense of our own needs, we are demonstrating just how much we love them.

Sometimes this thinking is at the expense of what your dog ACTUALLY needs to be content- drive satisfaction, consistency, guidance, pro active management and more.

Love your dog the way you want to. But also understand that it doesn't mean you love your dog less if-

- You set boundaries for your dog
- You restrict your dog’s access to certain areas
- You prevent your dog from saying hello to a person- or you say no to a person that wants to pat your dog
- You don’t let your dog play with strange dogs
- You use leads or crates to keep your dog safe
- You consistently expect certain behaviours, like staying on a mat when you eat dinner or not jumping on visitors to the home

22/11/2024

Why wait for Black Friday sales? Our 12 month subscriptions to Underdog's online video library is on sale now, all the way until Christmas. Buy for yourself or as a gift for a dog loving friend.

Daily Dog Library contains over 70 videos covering a huge range of topics including-

Puppy Essentials
Resolving Behaviour Problems
Environmental Enrichment
Fears and Phobias
Dog to Dog Issues
And much more!

For all subscription options and purchases, go to www.members.underdogtraining.com.au

Prefer face to face training? 30 days of Daily Dog Library is included with every Private Consultation booking. See www.underdogtraining.com.au for all training options.

20/11/2024

Picture this. You’re training your puppy. A child approaches and asks if they can pat them. Do you-

(A) Say no, you’re training (this would be fine to do- it’s your choice!)

(B) Say yes and cross your fingers the puppy doesn’t jump or mouth (your crossed fingers are unlikely to help you achieve your desired outcome!)

(C) You weren’t paying attention when the child came up and the puppy has already jumped and mouthed them (uh oh!)

(D) Use it as a training opportunity (Yes!)

Last week, with confident English Setter puppy Percy- I chose D and-

- Crouched down, with a handful of food in one hand so I could be fast and effective in my reward delivery.

- Held Percy’s collar so that I maintained control, and he couldn’t pull on lead or jump up.

- Immediately started food rewarding on the ground, using the food to position Percy side on to the little girl so she could gently stroke near his shoulder, whilst he was taking food off the ground. After a few rewards, I could let go of Percy’s collar and continue to reward without a change in his behaviour.

- Paused the food rewards for just a moment at a time- when Percy didn’t immediately jump (because he still had his head down where the food has been), I verbally marked and rewarded.

- This was repeated, pausing for a little longer each time, until Percy had time to choose behaviours- to orient towards his new friend, look up, step towards her, offer a sit in front of her, turn his head to me for a reward- these were all behaviours he confidently offered- no commands, only a well-timed YES marker during or at the end of each behaviour.

When you are trying to establish good habits, you need to CREATE desired behaviours. REINFORCE what you’ve created. Gradually withdraw your assistance until the behaviour is OFFERED INDEPENDENTLY by the dog and continue to REINFORCE until the independent behaviour becomes habitual. It is only after this process that you can start to think about reducing/ weaning reinforcers.

Questions welcome!