The Complete Canine Ballarat

23/04/2023

If you are going to have a dog, you are going to have to make sacrifices. You cannot expect to have an animal that was designed to live primarily outside and bring it into your house and not have to make changes or adjustments. A dog is not an ornament, a commodity or a display. A dog is an animal. You are sharing your life with another species. This is life with a dog.

Your yard will not be pristine. The grass will get burned from their p*e. Holes will be dug, bushes shredded, mud will come in the house. You cannot ask them to not p*e in your house and then also try to control even their outside bathroom. Please see how unfair this is. This is life with a dog.

You house will need management. Your counters will need to be clear. Shoes will need to be put away. Laundry room blocked. Kids toys picked up. Some things will get destroyed anyway. This is life with a dog.

They will bark at noises. They will protect their territory. Sometimes fiercely. They will not welcome strange people into the home easily even if you “know them” because this is in their genetic DNA. They don’t understand family gatherings and they don’t always see things the way we do. They won’t love playing with every dog they meet. This is life with a dog.

They will need enrichment and work and productivity. They will need training that is kind and fair and consistent and then maintenance to maintain that training. They will need guidance and coaching and lots of reinforcement to help them perform unnatural behaviors against their natural phenotypes. This is life with a dog.

They will mature and change and modify in their likes, behaviors and preferences as they age. Their behaviors aren’t guaranteed. They are not robots and they can be mercurial as they grow into their own personalities. They are allowed to change their mind and shift naturally just as we do. They need to be seen for what and who they are, not what and who YOU want. This is life with a dog.

Life with a dog is not a human right. It is a privilege and a responsibility and an education. They are animals and should be treated and expected to behave as such. That doesn’t make them any less loved or family members and it doesn’t make them any less deserving of respect, in fact it makes them more so.

Enjoy your life with a dog, and help them enjoy life with a human.

Helen St. Pierre

21/02/2023

If anyone in Werribee are looking for some awesome puppy classes- go visit WTF dog training 😉🔥

05/02/2023

😉💕

🤣🤣🤣

02/02/2023

Oreo and Marley!

Doing their first session training session and both aced it!

This session was all about building markers and basic foundations for obedience. As well as discussing the importance of separating these two as much as possible when training & walking!

Have a new puppy you want to get on the right track with? Get in contact 🔥

www.thecompletecanine.com.au

25/01/2023

🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

I hope you all give yourself good days too 💓

canineaesthete.etsy.com

25/01/2023

So good to see Kora again 💕

Kora struggles to walk past certain houses down her street where other barking dogs live, and being 45kg doesn’t make it easy for her owner when she decides to react!

This session was all about working through her reactivity and neatening up her heeling!

Do you have some behaviour issues with your dog you need help working through? Or is your dog already fantastic and you just wanna learn cool stuff? Get in contact 🔥
www.thecompletecanine.com.au

24/01/2023

This is Hazel’s world, we’re just living in it 🤷‍♀️

Ended our last session building Hazel’s confidence to be able to run through the doggy door- she’ll do anything for a toy!

24/01/2023

Do you have a new puppy?

Does your dog pull on walks?

Is your dog reactive towards other dogs and people?

Are they over excited and jump on guests?

OR are they already a model canine citizen and you just want to do more cool stuff with your dog?

These are just a few of the many things we can help you with our personalised in-home training sessions. We come to YOU!

Now servicing Ballarat, Bacchus Marsh, Ballan and surrounds.

Our specialty is creating happy owners and fulfilled dogs!

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in contact!

For more info, prices and BOOKING, visit our website: www.thecompletecanine.com.au

22/01/2023

What a good start to my working week! How cute are these Amstaffs 🥺

Need help with obedience training or behavioural issues? Or just wanna do cool stuff with your dog? Hit us up 🔥
www.thecompletecanine.com

14/01/2023

Keep cool today!

🌡️☀️IMPORTANT INFO AROUND TODAY'S HEAT WAVE 🌡️☀️

DO RIGHT BY YOUR DOGS 💖

24/12/2022

I still have hope.

All decals and tees are 25% off, today only! canineaesthete.etsy.com 💸

29/11/2022

To all my lovely clients with KELPIES & HERDING BREEDS

Get in quick!!!

Sheep dog herding training, Herding training for city dogs. Working dog training. Specialist working breed dog trainer / behaviourist.

29/11/2022

🔥🔥🔥

Dog training doesn't have be a chore, take up heaps of time and be planned in. Everyone has a spare 5 minutes. 5 minutes is better than 0 minutes.

29/11/2022

Every time 🤦‍♀️

😬

Shop our Cyber Monday Sale! canineaesthete.etsy.com

28/11/2022

👉MORE TOYS DOES NOT EQUATE TO A WELL BEHAVED DOG!

Too many dog owners feel that the more toys they buy for their dog, the less likely their dog will be bored or will decide not to play (damage or destroy) with the furniture or other objects around the home. More toys will not solve these behavioural issues.

A dog has NO concept of what a toy is. The entire environment is its playground. You need to focus on your puppy or dog, and help condition the dog to what is appropriate to play with and what isn't. This means 100% supervision when your puppy or new dog has freedom around the home, until it understands the rules.

I go to so many homes, and see a living area full of toys or a toy box full of toys for the dog. Some even buying a new toy every week, because "their dog got bored of the old toy", or "didn't like its new toy", and continually finds other objects around the home to play with.

A dog will only focus on a toy if it considers it high enough value to focus on. That is your role, to condition your puppy or dog that a particular toy is of high value. Leaving heaps of toys laying around is not going to condition your dog to play with them in most cases. A toy becomes high value, when it is presented by you when interacting with your dog, and then putting it away once the game ends. If you repeat this process over a few weeks you are conditioning the dog that a particular toy is of high value.

Don't keep buying toys because you are not supervising your dog, to try and prevent it from finding other objects around the home to play with. Also toys, once the dog is conditioned they are of high value, should be kept to a minimum, only 1 or 2 out at a time, and rotating them if you have many toys. Having said this, there is no substitute for supervision, if you have a dog that likes to pick up or chew things around the home. Don't get angry at your dog, because it chooses to "play" with things other than its toys. Its your fault for not supervising your dog, and teaching it what is appropriate to play with and what isn't.

Sure, there are always exceptions to the rule, however, if you do have a high energy dog, or a dog that requires lots of physical and mental stimulation that continuously runs around the home playing with objects it shouldn't, a toy box full of toys is not going to solve this.

Everything for a dog has a value level, the higher the value, the more it will want to interact with it. There are many things you can do to stimulate a dogs brain and help it exhaust physical energy in the home. One way is stop feeding your dog from a bowl, make your dog work for its food. Or at the very least, cut right back on how much food your dog receives from its bowl. A good toy is a bob-a-lot, shown in the image. (or similar) This toy can hold all of your dogs daily food requirement, and dispenses it slowly as your dog interacts with with. To receive its full meal for the day can take many hours of exhaustive play.

However, once again, there is no substitute for supervision. If your dog is destroying things around the home, you cannot blame your dog. If you find something your dog has chewed or destroyed, you cannot punish your dog for doing this. Your dog will have absolutely no concept of why you are punishing it. All you are doing is acting out your anger and frustration, not helping your dog understand what it did wrong. You cannot punish your dog for past deeds. Just as you cannot reward your dog for past deeds. Your dog is focused in the now.

Even if you catch your dog with an object in its mouth it shouldn't have, and you chase your dog to retrieve it, that object has instantly become high value for the dog. Then if you catch your dog and punish it, your dog was only punished for getting caught and taking away a high value item from it. Then we can condition behaviours such as resource guarding, to make sure it maintains possession of what you inadvertently conditioned the dog is of high value, by chasing the dog to retrieve it. I have been to numerous homes over the years, where a dog will find a high value object, and if the owner tries to retrieve it, will guard it aggressively. And this started from not supervising their young dog, then chasing the dog because it has something in its mouth it shouldn't have, then aggressively removing it from the dogs mouth in anger.

I guess for many, it would be so much easier if we could give our dog a tablet to play video games on! 🤓

25/11/2022

Who makes this mistake!

THIS 𝙊𝙉𝙀 𝙎𝙄𝙈𝙋𝙇𝙀 𝙏𝙍𝙄𝘾𝙆 WILL IMPROVE YOUR DOG’S OBEDIENCE & BEHAVIOUR

𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 & 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘂𝘀𝗲.

If you’re confused, imagine what your dog is going through.

19/11/2022

😉

this is too true

19/11/2022

A constantly available food source is the perfect way to wind up with an overweight pet. ❌

Keeping your pet at a healthy weight is key to improving their quality of life and longevity. 🔑🐈🐕 Check out today’s free article to learn how to get your pet’s weight under control.

Here are the dos and don’ts of keeping your pet at a healthy weight: http://bit.ly/3GczJdL

16/11/2022

🥪💭 𝙁𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩..

I spend a lot of time in public spaces with dogs, both mine and other peoples. To be fair, many people people ask if they can pat a dog I’m with before they do, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘰.

𝗜 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝗻𝗼 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀:
👉 Maybe the dog is fearful of new people, direct interaction without the right set up isn’t going to help this
👉 Maybe the dog is over excited about new people, I don’t need them finding yet more external value outside of those that matter
👉 Maybe we’re just busy and don’t have time to stop, dogs are not public property and they are not there for others
👉 Maybe the dog just doesn’t get much enjoyment out of meeting strangers

I frequently see people interacting with dogs in public that look bored or uncomfortable. 𝙄𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙜, 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢.

𝘌𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘨𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴. 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙭𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙚𝙣𝙟𝙤𝙮𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙗𝙚.

14/11/2022

Toc helping out with Milo’s training session 🔥

✨ This session was focused on Milo’s loose lead walking, and his ability to disengage from other dogs he passes by.

✨ We also problem solved and worked on reducing conflict in our training. Not every session goes perfectly, and not every dog is motivated to work for food or toy all the time!

14/11/2022

This session with Mikey was all about the puppy basics: toilet training, biting/mouthing/chewing, crate training and PLAY ✨

14/11/2022

Absolutely agree

14/11/2022

The Complete Canine is *finally* moving to Ballarat next year!

✨ This will mean that from December 1st, we will not be taking on any new west Melbourne/Werribee/Point Cook clients for in-home training!

✨ All current clients will not be missing out on training sessions!

✨ If you wish to book with me and you live in those areas, please book in before December 1st of this year!

13/11/2022

When your client promises you a reactive dog and you’re just like ‘where?’ 😂

Fae is currently doing the bootcamp program with me, working on her leash walking skills and reactive behaviour around dogs.

The first week we spent solidifying her heeling, and building her engagement. This week I brought Brea out to work around and Fae did fantastic ✨

13/11/2022

I love this 🔥

I saw this next to the front door when I arrived at my clients house this week. They have a 5 month old lab puppy that gets quite excited when people arrive.

When I see my clients take the initiative like this it makes my heart happy.

You can either create your own environment or you can become a part of the environment. Even in your own home.

11/11/2022

Last session with .thecutestboy today!

Being a gsp/German shepherd mix means he is drivey, active, and SUPER WILLING to work. His owner has done an amazing job putting in the hard yards, he’s turning into such a beautiful dog.

This last session we practised our loose lead walking at the local shops, as well as some mat practise, and we even included some fun trick training.

Such a pleasure working with this gorgeous boy ✨